About the course
The S-Course is designed for future students of linguistics and literature. It provides advanced language and literary competencies and prepares you specifically for the requirements of linguistic studies.
In addition to deepening your language skills, you'll also develop a solid understanding of literature, culture, and intercultural communication. You'll learn scientific working methods and practice analyzing and interpreting various types of texts.
Course structure
- Introductory Phase (1st Semester) – Linguistics fundamentals and literature analysis
- Main Phase (2nd Semester) – Deepening knowledge and specific preparation for the assessment test
The S-Course subjects in detail
The S-Course is the most language-intensive course type at a Studienkolleg. German is not just the language of instruction here but a subject in its own right: text analysis, literary studies, rhetoric and your own writing take centre stage. English follows with language practice, literature and the basics of linguistics.
A second foreign language — French, Spanish or Italian, depending on the Studienkolleg — completes the profile, while area studies cover the culture, history and society of the German-speaking countries. That combination of language practice and academic text work is exactly what awaits you at university.
What a typical week looks like
The S-Course is full-time study in a fixed class group with a fixed timetable. Lessons alternate between language practice, reading and analysis: you work through literary and academic texts, build vocabulary and grammar, and formulate your own interpretations, often orally in class.
Attendance is normally monitored and you write tests throughout the semester. Languages grow through daily repetition — reading, writing and speaking a little every day takes you further here than long study blocks shortly before the exam.
What the Feststellungsprüfung tests in the S-Course
The two semesters end with the Feststellungsprüfung (FSP). It covers German plus the core subjects of your course — in the S-Course usually one or two foreign languages, at some Studienkollegs literature or history in addition. Each Studienkolleg sets the combination and decides whether an oral exam is added.
Passing gives you a subject-linked university entrance qualification for the language and literature field group. It is recognised nationwide and can normally be repeated once. As the oral component carries particular weight here, speaking practice from day one is worth the effort.
Which degree programmes the S-Course opens up
The S-Course leads to linguistics, translation and interpreting, literary studies, intercultural studies, international communication, cultural studies and media studies. Teacher training in languages builds on the same profile.
The S-Course is offered by only some Studienkollegs — noticeably fewer than the T-, M- or W-Course. If a language degree is your goal, check early which Studienkollegs run the course, and consider the G-Course as an alternative route into the humanities field group.