FAQs- Foreign language courses
Before registering for a course
If you have no prior knowledge of a language, you do not need to take a placement test. If you have minimal knowledge or if your language acquisition took place a long time ago, you will have to take a placement test.
Note: The placement test at the ZFS does not replace the obligatory placement test before starting a Romance Studies program!
If you have prior knowledge of a language and have not yet taken a course at the ZFS, you must take a placement test at the ZFS before registering online. This also applies if you hand in a language certificate from another institution.
The placement test is not a language level test, but is used to assign you to our course system. The result therefore does not indicate your language level, but which of our courses or which level you can register for. The result does not have to match your subjective assessment (your wishes, expectations or past experiences). Also, language skills can change quickly if, for example, you have not done anything for them since you graduated from high school.
The placement test is valid for two semesters and cannot be taken twice in a row.
If you have already attended (and passed) a course at the ZFS, you can attend the course of the next higher level. You do not need to take a placement test.
Registering for a course
Register for your language course online via WueStudy, except if you are a guest student.
You can register for different courses at the same level of a language. It is also possible to register for courses in different languages.
It is not possible to register for courses of different levels or for several parallel groups of the same course.
You can see whether you have been accepted for the course in your timetable on WueStudy. You will not receive a separate message. If you have not yet been accepted in a course, you will be on the waiting list and we will notify you accordingly.
Only students who have successfully registered online may be accepted into a course. If a course still has slots open, you may write the lecturer within the 1st week and ask for a late admission, provided you meet the course prerequisites.
A change of group is only possible in justified exceptional cases. Please contact the responsible department.
During the course (participation and examination)
Regular attendance and active participation in the course are absolutely necessary. When learning a language, interaction among participants and with the teacher is essential to developing language skills.
You can cancel your course registration via WueStudy (take note of cancellation deadlines!). In addition, please inform the instructor. Participants who have not properly cancelled their registration and who no longer appear for the course/do not take part in the examination will receive a "fail" on their record.
As an admitted course participant, you are automatically eligible to take the exam. If you wish to have your grade recorded for your degree program, you must also register for the exam online (online exam registration via WueStudy). Please note that having your grade recorded depends on whether the corresponding module is anchored in your degree program. The exam registration deadlines will be announced in the course.
You do not need to register for the exam.
Upon the successful completion of the course, you will receive a (digital) certificate of having passed the course. This will be sent to you by email.
Corrected exams can be viewed at the earliest 4 weeks after the end of the semester in the Mediothek at the ZFS (in the case of in-person exams). Examination papers will not be handed out and no copies may be made. Please note the opening hours of the Mediothek.
Please check whether the language course you have taken can be credited to your studies on the basis of your degree description.
Before and after studying abroad
As an outgoing student of the Erasmus program, under certain conditions, you can be prioritized in the course placement process of the ZFS. Please contact the International Office for information on the registration deadlines. Here you will also receive an appropriate registration form.
If the work done at a foreign university is graded and corresponds in type and scope to the courses offered at the ZFS, it is possible to receive credit/have it credited to your field of study. Credit for external achievements is granted upon submitting the application to the relevant language departments. Please inform yourself in advance about the evidence and documents required for recognition.
Please be sure to obtain the necessary documents for the recognition of credit already during your stay abroad.
For external interested parties
As an employee of JMU, you can take part in ZFS courses free of charge, provided that there are still places available in the course you would like to take (please note: there is a fee for taking DaF courses). Please first take an online placement test so that we can check your prior knowledge and assign you to the correct course. Then come to the first day of class of the course recommended to you after having taken the placement test.
Please note: Courses for beginners with no prior experience usually have long waiting lists of students, so these courses are generally not open to staff and guest students.
Prospective students from outside the university can attend courses as guest students (attendance fee required). Please first take an online placement test so that we can check your prior knowledge and assign you to the correct course. Then come to the first day of class of the course recommended to you after having taken the placement test.
Guest students must – if there is an open slot – register in person at the Office of Student Affairs, pay there, and present the certificate to the instructor of the course. Information on registering as a guest student can be found on the Office of Student Affairs page.
Please note: There are usually long waiting lists of students in courses for beginners with no prior knowledge of the language, so these courses are not usually open to staff or guest students.
The fee for guest students is based on the total number of semester hours of the course(s) taken.
The fee is at least €100.00 per semester, and is staggered:
1 to 4 semester hours per week: €100.00
5 to 8 semester hours per week: €200.00
from 9 semester hours per week: €300.00
Guest students from the University of Music Würzburg are exempt from the fee.
