University language learning centres are never very heavily advertised

It is of course a question of if the shoe fits, but one way of combining value and validity is to consider one never very heavily advertised option, namely university language learning centres.

Most European higher educational establishments attracting international students will have a facility to allow learners to tighten up their knowledge of the local language and offer the opportunity to pick up more.

And in Berlin at least the Humboldt University is happy to offer spare places to outside students once all those full-time interns have been signed up, and at a snip of a price – EUR 60 for a whole semester comprising 15 weeks, a four-hour session in each one.

'Gasthörer' learners who are complete or basically newcomers to German have to pay more as additional teachers are brought in, but at EUR 300 I wouldn’t think there was much to complain there.

It’s all a bit of a secret, even the 'Sprachenzentrum' is keen to keep it quiet, so my advice is to make contact with the appropriate language head in advance to ensure your name is first up for any spare places.

I have been lucky enough to find myself a seat in the 'Deutsch als Fremdsprache' class, the 'Mittelstufe' level which, at the pace we appear to be going, is expected to set me up for the top-level 'Oberstufe' class after February. My goal is fluency by June.

But it’s not just German on offer. For those considered already fluent but who want to branch out further, the current list of languages offered includes also French, Italian, Polish,  Russian, Spanish and Czech.

The German as a Foreign Language course is graded internally and involves regular testing to ensure people are prepared for the next level.

For the other languages the university is signed up to the UNIcert® system which benchmarks standards in modern language ability.

The 'Humboldt Universität' has many other selling points, not least its location.
The main building is of course on Berlin's grand boulevard, Unter den Linden with the language centre behind on Dorotheenstraße.

If you want to embark on some historical name-dropping then some 29 Nobel Prize winners have carried out some of their studies at the Humboldt University, including Albert Einstein, while philosopher Karl Marx, former German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and revolutionary Karl Liebknecht were also enrolled at one time or another.

But getting back to the business of languages, it is reassuring to know your future German or other choice is in good hands, and for a good price.

And OK let’s face it, having 'Humboldt-Universität' somewhere on the CV is surely not going to cause you any harm!

February 2005

[Copyright Expatica 2005]

Subject: Life in Germany, Education, learning German, language courses, Humboldt University