Language proficiency
Improve your language skills before you leave
To ensure that your international experience is a success, prepare for your mobility at a linguistic level by improving your knowledge and/or learning the basics of the language of your destination country, if this is different from your language of instruction or work.
The Centre des langues at the Université Bourgogne Europe offers public courses in a dozen languages at different levels, TOEIC certification, a self-study facility that lets you use programs specially designed for learning English, and the possibility to talk to native tutors in various languages who can also help you discover the culture of their country.
Numerous websites exist where you can find your free tandem: a person who will help you learn or improve a foreign language while you help them learn your mother tongue. Exchanges can take place over the Internet or in person, and can also be an opportunity to share your cultures.
Examples of tandem sites
You can also join the Tandems group on the UBE TEAMS platform. This space is dedicated to students – French and international – at our university who want to learn a language or improve their language skills, while helping others to learn the language they know best. This is an informal program – you organize your exchanges with your partner as you see fit.
Take part in conversation groups organized by associations.
Practice a foreign language over a drink in a Dijon bar – examples of associations:
- Café Polyglotte Dijon;
- ESN InsiDijon Language Café.
On the Partir à l’étranger (Going Abroad) conversation group on TEAMS check out the summer and winter school offers that the UBE regularly receives from our partner universities and other establishments around the world.
These schools offer the opportunity to learn a foreign language or take courses in various fields of study in English or in the language of the host country. They take place over several weeks during the winter and summer vacations, and usually include excursions to get to know the foreign country better, all in a multicultural context with students from all over the world.
The cost of these schools is borne by the student.
Use free online resources to improve your language skills. Take a look at our list of useful links for improving your German, English and Spanish, and don’t hesitate to search the Internet for similar resources for other languages.
These resources can also be useful for training if you’re preparing for a language certification (TOEIC, TOEFL, CLES, TestDAF, ZD, ZDfB, DEFE, ELYTE…).
If you’re going abroad on an exchange or internship as part of the Erasmus+ program, you’ll be able to take free, unlimited online courses financed by the European Union. You’ll be able to train whenever you want, for as long as you’re abroad.
How do I access this learning facility?
Create your account on the EU Academy platform; then choose the online courses that interest you according to your language level in one or more languages from all over Europe.
This system gives you the opportunity to :
- improve your existing knowledge of the main language used in your course/internship;
- learn the basics of a new language: that of your host country or that of another country you’d like to discover.
Language support is available in the following languages: Czech, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish , Swedish.
Proficiency tests
You’ll also be able to take proficiency tests, at any time and as often as you’d like, to measure your progress. These tests will assess your language skills – listening, reading and writing – according to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). At the end of each test, you will be offered a course program adapted to the result obtained, as well as certification in the form of a diploma. You’ll be able to use this official assessment of your language skills for future study, work or volunteer projects abroad.
What happens to test results?
Only you have access to the test results, which will not be communicated to your host organization abroad or to the UBE. The results will not influence your departure abroad or the payment of your Erasmus+ grant. You will not be penalized for a poor result. The aim of these tests is to help you assess your level and give you the opportunity to progress.
The EU Academy platform also offers hundreds of courses and podcasts on a wide range of topics: culture, education, environment, food, health, foreign rights and policies… also available free of charge.
Co-funded by the European Union
Don’t hesitate to read in foreign languages, even if you don’t understand everything. The aim is to be able to understand the text as a whole, and to progress little by little. Some publishers offer simplified books with limited vocabulary and simple sentences to get you started.
Download radio apps to your phone and listen to programs and songs on foreign radio stations.
When you watch TV and Internet content, try to do so in a foreign language.
Multiply and vary your methods, and above all, don’t get discouraged !
Contact
International Office
Maison de l’université
