English, a Germanic language, is the most widely spoken language in the world. English is the official language in many countries, the language of communication in others and most international organisations also use English as their official language.
In total, around 340 million people speak English as their mother tongue. Another figure:
38% of EU citizens declare that they have sufficient knowledge of English to hold a conversation.

In­form­a­tion about the courses

For general information on enrolment and certificates of achievement, please read here.

Placement takes place with the help of a compulsory placement test, for which students can register via PAUL during the first enrolment phase. The test takes place at the Centre for Language Teaching (see Paul).

After the test, they can register for the course that corresponds to their level via PAUL:

Oxford English result
Placement Test		Course recommendation 
40-49English B1.1 
50-59English B1.2 
60-69English B2.1 
70-79English B2.2 
80-89English Fluency Lab: Speaking Skills for Academic and Professional Life (B2/C1) 
80-89English Wordcraft: Writing Skills for Academic and Professional Life (B2/C1) 
90-99English C1.1 
100-109English C1.2 
from 110English C2 

 

Course numberCourse name
L.ZfS.04005English B1.1
L.ZfS.04006English B1.2
L.ZfS.04007English B2.1
L.ZfS.04009English B2.2
L.ZfS.04011English C1.1
L.ZfS.04013English C1.2
L.ZfS.04017English C2
L.ZfS.04010English Fluency Lab: Speaking Skills for Academic and Professional Life (B2/C1)
L.ZfS.04020English Wordcraft: Writing Skills for Academic and Professional Life (B2/C1)

Students with previous knowledge of English who are attending an English course at the ZfS for the first time are placed with the help of a compulsory placement test, for which they must register via PAUL during the first enrolment phase. In the second registration phase, students can then register for a course that corresponds to their level (test result).
Students who have already successfully completed a course can register directly for the follow-up course.

Please note that attendance is compulsory for the courses and that students are expected to spend 3-6 hours per week preparing for and following up on the course content.

Course content and textbooks
For initial orientation, the level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) that is achieved in the respective course is indicated in the course names. The global scale provides an initial impression of the 6 levels of the CEFR (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2), while the self-assessment grid provides a more precise overview.

For more detailed information on the course content, please click on the course name in the table below.

The following textbooks are used in the courses. Please note that this information may be subject to change

Course numberCourse nameTextbook
L.ZfS.04005English B1.1English File fourth edition Intermediate Student's Book with Online Practice (Units 1 - 5)
L.ZfS.04006English B1.2English File fourth edition Intermediate Student's Book with Online Practice (Units 6 - 10)
L.ZfS.04007English B2.1Life - Second Edition B2.1: Upper Intermediate - Student's Book
L.ZfS.04009English B2.2Life - Second Edition B2.2: Upper Intermediate - Student's Book
L.ZfS.04011English C1.1Oxford EAP: A Course in English for Academic Purposes. Advanced/C1 (Units 1-6)
L.ZfS.04013English C1.2Oxford EAP: A Course in English for Academic Purposes. Advanced/C1 (Units 7-12)
L.ZfS.04017English C2will be announced in the course
L.ZfS.04010English Fluency Lab: Speaking Skills for Academic and Professional Life (B2/C1)will be announced in the course
L.ZfS.04020English Wordcraft: Writing Skills for Academic and Professional Life (B2/C1)will be announced during the course