Campus GATE celebrates three students achieving a C1 German level in just two years!

The Campus GATE team is proud to celebrate a significant achievement: three of our students in the ‘Hydrogen Engineering Transnational’ Hosted Programme have successfully reached the C1 level in the German language after only two years since its launch. This accomplishment reflects their hard work and dedication, as well as the exceptional teaching at the German Language Center (GLC) of the German Jordanian University (GJU).

The GJU’s German Language Center,  the largest centers of its kind worldwide, supports Hosted Programme students through various levels of German, ensuring they reach an almost native level of proficiency within their studies in Jordan. Students begin their language courses in the pre-year without requiring any prior German knowledge and continue to receive intensive instruction throughout their first years of studies in Jordan. By the end of the first year, all students achieve a B1 level, and by the end of the fourth semester, they are expected to have achieved a B2 level before transferring to Germany to complete their studies. 

“We are making history at the GJU and the German Language Center!” states Jacqueline Rogler, Director of the GLC. “For the very first time, we have offered a study-accompanying German programme all the way to C1, and I am delighted to celebrate our first students who have mastered this immense challenge while also pursuing a demanding degree programme”.

This achievement also highlights the unique advantage of the Hosted Programmes offered by the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (THWS) in collaboration with GJU, where German language acquisition is an integral part of academic preparation. “I will be honest; initially, I had my doubts”, Rogler admits. “The workload in this course is exceptionally high, requiring students to attend intensive German courses also throughout their summer break. But the success is proof of a powerful combination: a well-designed programme on our part and enormous commitment and hard work on the part of the students”.

We know that the Hosted Programmes are very demanding, as technical courses are always accompanied by German language courses that are specially tailored to the needs of our students and the transnational programme. However, all of our students’ efforts until graduation will be highly rewarded with excellent international employment opportunities, especially in Germany and Jordan. These opportunities will, of course, be further enhanced by the intercultural and trilingual skills gained through the Hosted Programmes. After graduating with a German degree, students will have the opportunity to stay in Germany for 18 months to seek employment. Therefore, having excellent German language skills is crucial for our students, both to help them master their technical classes (which are also taught in German in higher semesters) and to enable them to work in German companies. 

Reaching C1 proficiency in such a short period also demonstrates the great work of the GLC staff, who, according to Rogler, are “highly motivated” and “able to inspire students”, and excel in preparing students for their transnational experiences. Abdalsalam AlHuda, German lecturer at the GLC, emphasised the importance of the Language Center’s support and careful course planning, as well as the university’s rich learning spaces such as language tandems, language cafés, and regular consultations with teachers. Students requested more conversation opportunities in class; therefore, AlHuda “introduced daily discussion rounds (...) based on thematically prepared questions”. “In addition, the students developed independent approaches and consistently learned outside of class”, highlighted the lecturer.

However, AlHuda highlights that “the teacher’s contribution accounts for perhaps ten percent of the learning success - the decisive ninety percent is their own responsibility”. He adds, “It was particularly significant that they consistently communicated with each other in German, even outside the university. In doing so, they corrected each other and consciously applied the principle of ‘learning with and from each other’”. This has enabled our first three students to achieve their C1 German language level in a short period of time.

At Campus GATE, we believe that milestones like this demonstrate the true value of our Hosted Programmes in preparing our students to become globally competent, linguistically proficient, and culturally aware. Rogler also encourages prospective students not to shy away from applying to one of our programmes due to the language requirements. She acknowledges it “is a big challenge, but you don’t have to do it alone”. “That’s exactly what we at the Language Center are here for, and we offer comprehensive support”, and encourages all students to seek support from fellow peers to exchange and learn together.

We would like to congratulate our excellent students on their outstanding success and thank the GLC staff for their dedication and expertise. We look forward to celebrating many more achievements in the near future, as more of our Hosted Programme students progress towards advanced German proficiency.