The TestDaF

The Test Deutsch als Fremdsprache (Test of German as a Foreign Language) TestDaF is a language test suitable for learners of German at an intermediate to high level of language proficiency who want to prove their knowledge. The competent organization for the creation and carrying out of this exam is the TestDaF-Institut in Hagen.

The TestDaF provides the universally recognised proof of the language skills required for admission to any German university.

The TestDaF is administered by a worldwide net of licensed test centres and thus can be taken in the candidates home country.

TestDaF as a proof of language proficiency is suitable for:

* students who wish to start or continue their university studies in Germany,

* students who need a proof of their proficiency in German for other purposes,

* academic staff who want to establish their level of knowledge of the German language prior to a study visit in Germany,

* professionals who have to document their proficiency in German,

* students coming via programms of the European Union who want to obtain a qualified certificate at the end of their stay in Germany.

The DSH-examination

People who wish to study at the university level, take their degree or do a doctorate in Germany have a lot of things to see to.

First they have to file an application for university admission, secure the financing, and arrange all the other formalities. But that's not all. In addition, they must take an examination to demonstrate their knowledge of German, named DSH, the Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang ausländischer Studienbewerber.

Most higher-education institutions expect foreign students to sit the DSH as a requirement for admission to a full course of academic study.

Why does this have to be so? one asks oneself, when I can already communicate very well in German?

With the DSH, the point is not general knowledge of colloquial speech. The DSH tests one's understanding of German as a formal language, with all of its technical peculiarities, which one has to face in lectures, seminars and scientific literature at university.

This is a sort of German which differs a lot from the normal colloquial spoken German. In the DSH-examination one must prove one's ability to use the language in studies requiring a kind of German necessary for reading and listening comprehension, writing and speaking.

EXAM-PREPARATION COURSES

Our school helps with the preparation for both DSH and TestDaF. In our intensive courses for the exam-preparation DSH/TestDaF all elements of the respective examination will be presented, analyzed commonly and afterward intensively trained.

We also help with the formalities of the enrolment process and with the decision as to which examination would be best in each individual case.