Particular attention is paid to preparing students for the experience of living and studying at a university in a German-speaking country. Students will also engage critically with foreign language media and use these as resources for independent research. They will be able to communicate information and arguments of some complexity in the foreign language and will express and defend opinions on a wide range of current and abstract issues. They will also be able to advance their linguistic competence independently, with limited guidance. Learning activities are supported by various media, including audio, video, and, where appropriate, computer software.
Teaching is conducted, where appropriate, in the target language.
There are weekly coursework assignments. Listening comprehension skills are developed via teaching, where appropriate, in the target language. Both parts aim to develop and reinforce the student's oral, reading comprehension, listening and writing skills. The supplementary course focuses on listening comprehension and essay writing skills. The students are presented with off-air video and audio recordings, typically of short talks or news broadcasts, and produce oral summaries of or answer specific questions about them.