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German as a foreign language (DaF)

German is spoken as a first language by around 90 to 105 million people worldwide. In the European Union, German is even the most widely spoken language. The German language has over five million words. There are many interesting facts about this language: the letter ß ("Eszett") only exists in the German alphabet and seemingly endless words can be formed by stringing nouns together. There are also words that only exist in German, such as Abendbrot (eating sandwiches and nothing warm in the evening is typically German) or Fernweh (the opposite of Heimweh).

© Universität Siegen
Siegen

Intensive course in September 2026

Registration is possible from July by e-mail.

German intensive course - target level B1.1 (6 ECTS)

Registration and deregistration

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Registration for our German courses in the summer semester takes place via unisono and is possible in the first and second enrolment phase:

Registration phase 1: February 16 - March 08, 2026
Registration phase 2: March 23 - April 05, 2026

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If you are unable to attend a course after all, you can deregister from March 9 to 22, 2026 via unisono. After this date, please cancel your registration by e-mail to daf@spz.uni-siegen.de
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Registration for the intensive course B1.1 in September 2026 is possible from July 2026. Please register by sending an email to daf@spz.uni-siegen.de.

Placement test

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The placement tests take place exclusively in person. Please only come to the date for which you have been admitted.
If you are unable to keep your appointment due to illness or another important reason, please let us know by email as soon as possible. If you do not show up for your test appointment without an excuse, you are not entitled to a new appointment.

Please note that there are only a limited number of placement test dates. You can see these in unisono, there are no other test dates.

If you can foresee that there will be a delay in your arrival in Siegen, please contact us by e-mail in good time.

 

New students
Students who have been admitted to one of our general language DaF courses in the past 2 semesters
  • Passed the course: Register for the follow-up course.
  • Course canceled / not passed: Register again for this course.
Registration for placement test

Further offers

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UNIcert® certificate

About UNIcert®
zertifikat

TestDaF

About TestDaF
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Writing advice German

To advisory services
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Tandem

To Tandem
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Language café

To language café
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Movie nights

For movie nights

Cultural resources

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Movies & Series

  • The Goldfish, directed by Alireza Golafshan (2019)
  • Good Bye, Lenin!, Director: Wolfgang Becker (2003)
  • Wunderschöner, director: Karoline Herfurth (2025)
  • Balloon, directed by Michael Herbig (2018)
  • Honey in the head, directed by Til Schweiger (2014)
  • Keinohrhasen, directed by Til Schweiger (2007)
  • Tschick, directed by Fatih Akin (2016)
  • The Canoe of Manitou, directed by Michael Herbig (2025)
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Music

  • Major Tom - Peter Schilling (1982)
  • Auf uns - Andreas Bourani (2014)
  • Breathless through the night - Helene Fischer (2013)
  • Rainbow colors - Kerstin Ott (2018)
  • Through the monsoon - Tokio Hotel (2005)
  • Days like these - Die Toten Hosen (2012)
  • That's how you are - Peter Maffay (1979)
  • Just a moment to save the world - Tim Bendzko (2011)
  • How beautiful you are - Sarah Connor (2015)
  • Weekend - DJ Herzbeat feat. Sarah Lombardi (2020)
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Literature

  • Faust - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1808)
  • William Tell - Friedrich Schiller (1804)
  • When will things finally return to the way they never were - Joachim Meyerhoff (2013)
  • Ostfriesenblut - Klaus-Peter Wolf (2009)
  • Perfume - Patrick Süskind (1985)
  • The Midday Woman - Julia Franck (2007)
  • Summer of Truth - Nele Löwenberg (2011)
  • The School of Magical Animals - Margit Auer (2013)
  • The white horse rider - Theodor Storm (1888)
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Newspapers & Magazines

  • Time Knowledge
  • Mirror
  • Star
  • GEO
  • Spectrum of Science
  • Colorful

Language learning links

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26

That's how many letters there are in the German written language, plus the three umlauts ä, ö and ü and the eszett ß.

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6

German is the official language in 6 countries: Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

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The German language has three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine and neutral.

letters
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The 5 most frequently used letters in German are e, n, i, s, r.

Impressions from Germany

The A2 course helped me a lot. I've learned German well and can now speak and write better.

Lana J.

The course is very good and the exercises are very helpful. The learning activities are fun.

Shubham S., studiert Mechatronics

The course is very well structured and motivating. I learned a lot and gained more confidence when speaking.

SK Saqlain, studiert Informatik

I learned a lot in the course. It's very interesting and I've learned good grammar. The course is a bit fast, but our lecturer is very accommodating.

Akif Z., Mitarbeiter

Do you have any questions? Feel free to contact us:

Language Center in the Student Service Center (Building F-S)

Sandstraße 16-18
57072 Siegen


German as a foreign language department at the Language Center of the University of Siegen
© Sprachenzentrum Universität Siegen
Dr. Kristina Seibert
Dr. Kristina Seibert (Departmental CoordinatorDaF)
(Departmental Coordinator German as a foreign language)

Room: F-S 308
Phone: +49 271 / 740 3016
daf@spz.uni-siegen.de

 

 

Jessica Berger
Jessica Berger, M.A. (Administrative support of the German as a foreign language courses)
(Administrative support of the German as a foreign language courses)

Room: F-S 308
Phone: +49 271 / 740 3005
daf@spz.uni-siegen.de

Registration for consultation hours

 

Please visit us on the 3rd floor, we will be happy to advise you.

 

SSC Sandstraße

Our DaF teachers

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This section is currently being edited.

Eva Dammers
Teacher for DaF, at the Language Center since winter semester 2025/26
© Sprachenzentrum Universität Siegen
Cornelia Grauel

Cornelia Grauel lives and works in Siegen. She has been teaching German as a foreign language at the Language Center since 2018. The dialog with students from all over the world is very important to her. She attaches particular importance to structured and practical teaching that specifically supports and encourages learners in their linguistic development. She has been able to expand and deepen the skills required for this in numerous further training courses.

Cornelia Grauel
Teacher of German as a foreign language, at the Language Center since summer semester 2018
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Christine Islamov
Teacher for DaF, at the Language Center since winter semester 2016/17
© Sebastian Kaufmann
Sebastian Kaufmann

Sebastian Kaufmann teaches as a GFL lecturer with great enthusiasm for languages, people and life - in his free time, he enjoys reading, doing sports, traveling and meeting friends. He particularly enjoys thinking back to places like Lübeck, Cologne or Hamburg, loves sushi (and also green jelly) and appreciates inspiring books such as The Neverending Story. His motto "Come as you are" accompanies him in class, and he is looking forward to meeting lots of curious people from all over the world.

Sebastian Kaufmann
Teacher of German as a foreign language, at the Language Center since summer semester 2010
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Petra Kindgen
Teacher for DaF, at the Language Center since summer semester 2020
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Dr. Edith Münch
Teacher for DaF, at the Language Center since summer semester 2021
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Olena Alexandrovna Oshchepkova-Scheppe
Teacher for DaF, at the Language Center since winter semester 2025/26
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Svetlana Weber
Teacher for DaF, at the Language Center since winter semester 2017/18