Thirty years ago, the h_da Language Center was founded, initially located in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Social Work and between 2017 and 2023 in the newly founded Faculty of Social Sciences. Since April 2023, the Language Centre has been a central organizational unit of the university, responsible for the language skills and intercultural communication of our students.

Over the past few years, the range of courses on offer has grown and expanded considerably. The permanent program includes extensive language courses in modern European languages (English, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese) as well as in Chinese, German as a Foreign Language (GFL) and, as of this winter semester, Turkish as a Language of Origin. These courses are open to students from all faculties. Faculty-specific courses such as Legal English, Technical English, Business English, Español Económico and subject-specific coursesin the area of academic German such as the GFL academic writing workshop and GFL academic presenting workshop round off our wide range of courses. In order to prepare our students for the challenges and opportunities of globalization, we also offer courses that strengthen their intercultural communication skills.

In addition, we support all students and departments in their mobility to and from abroad with a range of measures and offers that promote this exchange. Innovations in the context of EUT+ and beyond include the intercultural program DaCaDu, Languages for Staff, the BIP Spanish project and Campus Leonardo; many other projects and activities are in preparation.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like further information on our program. We look forward to informing you about current developments at the Language Center twice a year via newsletter.

In order to strengthen networking with EUT+ partner universities, the Spanish department at the Language Center has been actively involved in a new BIP project (Blended Intensive Programme) initiated by the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Spain (UPCT). The objective of this innovative project, which took place in July 2024, was to bring together students from different European countries to teach them not only language but also intercultural skills.

Marcela Constenla, in her role as coordinator for Spanish and French at the h_da Language Center, carefully developed the didactic, linguistic and intercultural aspects of the program together with colleagues from UPCT and Technological University (TU) Dublin, Ireland. Each of them then taught one week out of a total three of an online Spanish course at level A2, with students from h_da and its EUT+ partner universities in Spain, Ireland, Italy as well as Białystok University of Technology taking part.

They then all met in Cartagena, Spain, for an intensive face-to-face phase in the fourth week. During this stay, the students not only had the opportunity to apply and improve their language skills in real-life situations, but also to participate in various cultural activities such as excursions, workshops and intercultural encounters, which gave the students a deeper understanding of the Spanish culture and way of life.

Through close collaboration and exchange with students and teachers from different countries, the participants were able to gain valuable experience that will enrich them in their further studies and professional life.

This BIP project represents a significant step in the international networking and cooperation of the participating universities and underlines the importance of intercultural learning and language education in a globalized world.

A few impressions of the partner university in Cartagena.

From 2023, the EUT+ language departments and centers have been offering online language courses for all employees of the EUT+ partner universities starting each spring. The aim is to promote multilingualism and interculturality within the EUT+ community and to facilitate cooperation and collaboration between EUT+ employees.

An upcoming professional stay abroad is not a prerequisite; all employees are explicitly invited. Each EUT+ college/university offers its national language(s). During the trial phase in the 2023 summer semester, the courses for each language were offered at one level only. Based on the high level of interest, this year many EUT+ partners offered two courses at different levels. The h_da Language Center offered courses at A1 and B1. Furthermore, the language program was expanded: Irish and Italian were included as well. In 2024, the project received over 500 registrations overall, including over 50 from Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. Regular participants are awarded an EUT+ certificate of attendance. In the future, the h_da Language Center aims to achieve a general accreditation of the courses as part of the continuing education program for executive h_da staff.

Given its great success, the “EUT+ Languages for Staff” program is set to continue over the next few years. EUT+ language courses for staff will be offered annually from March to June.

Contact: Dr. Stefanie Morgret 

EUT+ Multilingualism & Interculturality Office / h_da Language Center

The “DaF2L” project  is funded by the Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching and offers an innovative learning program for international students at h_da and the EUT+ partner universities. The project, a collaboration between the Language Center (LC) and the Faculty of Media at h_da as well as Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) under the project management of Dr. Stefanie Morgret (h_da LC) and Dr. Matthias Springer (LMU) in partnership with Prof. Dr. Paul Grimm (h_da Faculty of Media), aims to improve and expand the German language program offered for international students and at the same time to allow LMU students to acquire relevant professional skills.

With coursework based on the learning platform Deutsch-Uni-Online (DUO/g.a.s.t.) and virtual reality (VR) units, the “DaF2L” project is bringing a breath of fresh air and innovation to the German language programs. The VR applications are being created specifically for the project by two doctoral students from the Media Campus under the direction of Prof. Dr. Paul Grimm. In March 2025, students from LMU will sit in on the German courses in order to complete the practical part of their online tutor qualification, which is part of their Master's degree in German as a Foreign Language (GFL).

The “DaF2L” documentation will be available to view after the project is completed at the end of March 2026. Since September 2024, the new format has been introduced in three of the offered GFL courses and, in collaboration with staff from the Faculty of Media, continuously developed and the teaching approach optimized.