Bielefeld University attracts participants from all over the world

This year marks the third round of the International Summer German Courses and the number of participants has already tripled since their introduction – now reaching a record number of 150. “The courses were already fully booked a month before the registration deadline,” reports Heike Brandl, director of Bielefeld University’s German Language Centre PunktUm.

The International Summer German Courses take place over the duration of four weeks in August and offer an extensive programme to international students and graduates that includes general German language lessons for different levels as well as projects tailored to academic disciplines. Especially the terminology projects for Law, Economics, Mechatronics, Society and Politics and Academic German spark a high amount of interest among the participants. These projects are made possible by cooperation between PunktUm and in-house institutions, for example Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rückert and his colleagues at CITEC conduct the Mechatronics project. In addition to the language courses, there are 17 different working groups in regional and cultural studies in the afternoons such as “Bielefeld mit der Kamera entdecken [Discover Bielefeld through the camera]”, “Hip Hop” and “Mit Liebe gekocht [Cooked with love]”. The programme is topped off with a wide range of leisure time activities and excursions: bowling, hiking, exploration of the city as well as trips to Düsseldorf, Cologne, and Bremen.

This year’s participants are from 25 countries, including Japan, Uzbekistan, Oman, Mexico, and China, and from 7 partner universities of Bielefeld University. Also among the participants is a group of 22 refugees who wish to study, some of whom have already participated in Orientation Courses in Sciences at Bielefeld University. For the duration of the Summer German Courses, the participants are accommodated in student halls and with relatives, but also in the homes of guest families from Bielefeld.

The participants of the International Summer German Courses do not only have the opportunity to improve their knowledge of the language and gain a linguistic insight into the subjects, but also to get to know Bielefeld University and the city of Bielefeld. Especially students from partner universities often plan to continue their studies at Bielefeld University and use the International Summer German Courses as their first steps in the language and culture.

PunktUm hopes to catch the attention of even more students from partner universities in the future to interest them in studies at Bielefeld University. The success of the Summer German Courses once more illustrates the international orientation of Bielefeld University.

Further information:
www.uni-bielefeld.de/sommerkurse