Language courses

German Courses

Whether at home, at City Hall, at work or at school, it is always an advantage to be able to understand those around you and express yourself in the local language. Aristoteles Institut offers a broad array of languages learning options with the goal of helping you start making progress in the German language or improving your exiting knowledge and skills to such a degree that speaking German becomes effortless.

Levels

A

A1 (Breakthrough or Beginner) The learner is able to:

  • Understand and use everyday phrases and simple sentences
  • Ask and answer questions about personal details
  • Communicate on a basic level.

A2 (Waystage or Elementary) The learner is able to:

  • Understand common phrases
  • Communicate in everyday situations
  • Describe his/her own origin in context with direct needs.

B

B1 (Threshold or Intermediate) The learner is able to:

  • Understand the main points in texts of standard language texts
  • Cope well in most situations on a journey
  • Make a simple and coherent statement about well-known topics
  • Talk about experiences and events and give short explanations.

B2 (Vantage or Upper Intermediate) The learner is able to:

  • Understand the main ideas of complex texts on abstract and concrete topics.

C

C1 (Effective Operational Proficiency – EOP or advanced) The learner is able to:

  • Understand sophisticated texts
  • Communicate spontaneously and fluently
  • Use language flexibly in social life
  • Make a clear statement about a complex situation.

C2 (Mastery or Proficiency) The learner is able to:

  • Understand basically everything he/she reads or hears without any problems
  • Summarise information from different oral and written sources
  • Communicate spontaneously and fluently

Intensive courses

Our German intensive courses allow for a fast and successful progress in German.

In international groups, we teach the levels A1 to C1, the four skills: reading, listening comprehension, writing and speaking. In an atmosphere that fosters communication, we teach different methods, for example, new grammar can be acquired independently. We use new textbooks and materials on current topics such as studies, profession, leisure time, everyday life and health. Listening comprehension is expanded to listening and visual comprehension. We always encourage our students to actively use the language – also in their everyday life.

Our students are supervised by native speakers who introduce them to the language in their own comfortable and entertaining way. Our very experienced and highly motivated instructors make it easy for our students to learn.

TestDaF preparatory courses - A must for foreign students

The test of German as a foreign language (TestDaF) is an exam for anybody who already has a basic knowledge of the German language and wants to verify that fact. Anyone wishing to study in Germany needs to provide evidence of sufficient language skills in order to register at a university or college. These skills can be verified with the TestDaF exam, which is organized by the TestDaF Institute in Bochum and is held on the same day in 75 countries worldwide – including at the Aristoteles Institute in Bremen.

The TestDaF exam is also suitable for students who need to provide proof of their German skills in their home countries, as well as for academics who plan to stay at a university or college in Germany and wish to put their language abilities to the test.

Apart from the training of the four skills (listening comprehension, reading, writing and speaking) our TestDaF preparatory course also includes a mock test. Participants can take this test to get an impression of how the real test works. The mock exam can also be taken without the preparatory course.

Requirements for participation: C1 or very good B2 German skills (assessment test).

Integration courses - For smooth integration

On 1 January 2005, a new Immigration Act was passed in Germany. This act provides for and regulates integration programmes for immigrants. Integration courses form the basis of such integration measures.

The Aristoteles Institute offers such courses at three levels: Elementary, Intermediate Language and Orientation. The programme includes 700 lessons. The course participants are immigrants and foreigners without sufficient German skills. We offer the following courses:

A. Elementary Language Course

This basic language course covers 300 lessons (each lasting 45 minutes). Participants in this course are immigrants whose language level is lower than A2. The content of this course includes topics such as:

  • Personal details/social life
  • Accommodation
  • Grocery shopping/commerce/consumption
  • Food/drink
  • Localities
  • Human body/health
  • Everyday life
  • Services/administrative bodies/public authorities
  • Work and profession
  • Education/training/learning
  • Traffic and transport
  • Leisure time
  • Nature and environment

This includes the necessary linguistic resources such as:

  • Vocabulary
  • Grammar
  • Topics/situations/language patterns

B. Intermediate Language Course

The intermediate language course covers 300 lessons (each lasting 45 minutes). Participants in this course have either participated in the basic language course or have A2 language skills according to the Common European Frame of Reference. The course finishes with the German Test for Immigrants (DTZ).

C. Orientation Course

The orientation course covers 100 lessons. Participants in this course are immigrants who have already finished the language courses or have a sufficient command of the German language. The course finishes with the naturalisation test. The content of this course includes topics such as:

Legal system

  • Institutional structure of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • Democracy
  • Political influence
  • Right to vote
  • Status of federal states and local authorities
  • Constitutional state
  • Social welfare state
  • Fundamental rights
  • Responsibilities of citizens
  • Europe
  • Social market economy

History

  • Formation and development of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • European integration
  • German reunification
  • History of migration in Germany
  • Regional history

Culture

  • Anthropology
  • Concept of time
  • Law
  • Religious diversity
  • Cultural and regional diversity
  • Separation of personal and professional life
  • Symbols

Occupational Language Training (per

We offer B2 and C1 courses in vocational German. These courses are financed by the state and free of charge for you. The Job Centers/Arbeitsagenturen decide who can take part in these courses. 

However, the basic requirements are:

  • Unemployment, the receipt of benefits according to SGB II (Hartz IV) or SGB III (ALG II) or you are looking for an Ausbildung, are already doing an Ausbildung or are in the process of having your foreign degree recognized by the German authorities;
  • you are a refugee with good prospects to stay (Syria, Iran, Iraq, Eritrea, Somalia)
    or
    you are an EU citizen
    or
    you are a German whose family has recently migrated back to Germany (Spätaussiedler
  • If you are employed, you can take part in special modules of national, job-related language training, provided that you do not yet have sufficient language skills to cope with (future) everyday work. You have to pay 50% of the costs per lesson. Your employer can also handle the cost contribution.

Source: Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, Nürnberg 
http://www.bamf.de/DE/Willkommen/DeutschLernen/DeutschBeruf/Bundesprogramm-45a/bundesprogramm-45a-node.html

Special module "Academic Health Professions"

If you…

  • ... have completed a degree in medicine, dentistry, or pharmacy in your home country,
  • ... are able to present a certificate of general or technical knowledge of German at the B2 level (CEFR - Common European Framework of Reference for Languages),
  • ... aim to gain employment in your area of expertise,
  • ... have begun the foreign degree acceptance procedure and working to receive a German license to practice medicine,

Then you can take part in one of our German courses for academic health professionals offered by BAMF.

 

 

BAMF grants the right to participate on request. Please contact BAMF   directly and send the completed form to:

Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge 
Sachsenstraße 12 + 14
20097 Hamburg 

The course has a duration of 5 months, includes 400 teaching hours, and takes place every weekday afternoon from 1.30 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. At the end of the course, you will take all the relevant exams that you need for your German license to practice medicine.

During the course, you will learn all the most important communication skills so that you can then cope with everyday work on the hospital ward, at a clinic, or at the pharmacy.

Private tutoring

For those in need of a linguistic qualification beyond our regular offer who are not flexible enough to visit our regular course or need specific training in a certain field, we offer private tutoring. More information as well as registration upon request