Centre for Modern Languages - FAQs
Find the answers to your questions about how to study at the Centre for Modern Languages: how it works, its methodology, its calendar, and its requirements, qualifications and recognitions.
About
The UOC's Centre for Modern Languages is a place where anyone can improve their language skills. With courses in a variety languages, including Catalan, it provides the guarantees of academic rigour together with the advantages of online learning. The classrooms are shared by students on university degree programmes and students who are just studying the language (without having to meet university admission requirements).
Currently, the languages taught are English, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Catalan and Spanish for foreigners.
We currently offer all levels from A1 to C1 in English, levels A1 to B2 in French and German, and levels A1 and A2 in Chinese and Japanese. Our intermedi (B2) and suficiència (C1) level Catalan courses provide students with the training they need to obtain the certificates approved by the Government of Catalonia. There is also a basic Catalan course for Spanish speakers and two level A1 courses in Spanish for foreigners.
If you're interested in enrolling, you can do so directly from this site. When you enrol, we'll contact you to help you get started and to make sure that all your doubts and formalities have been cleared up before you start the course.
Yes, the Centre for Modern Languages lets students who have no academic qualifications enrol on its courses. If you're interested, read the description of each course carefully and consider whether it meets your needs. Before enrolling on any of our English, French, German or Catalan courses, you should take the level test (on the same website) to find the best course for you.
For our English, French and German courses, you should take the level test if you already have some knowledge of the language. For Catalan courses, the test will help you choose between the intermedi (B2), suficiència (C1) and superior (C2) levels. If you want to study Japanese or Chinese and you already have some knowledge of the language, please read the details for each specific course.
In UOC's bachelor's degree programmes, language courses (Modern Language I and Modern Language II) are compulsory. These courses are equivalent to B2.1 and B2.2 level courses at the Centre for Modern Languages. Students who have passed them at the Centre for Modern Languages can count them towards UOC's bachelor’s degree programmes.
The synthesis test consists of a short essay that must be done on-site in sixty minutes, answering a question on a general topic. No dictionary or any other resources may be used during the synthesis test.
- The text produced demonstrates the degree of linguistic accuracy that is expected for the level.
- The language level is consistent with the content of the student's continuous assessment (CA) tasks. (The test mark will be "0" if there is a clear discrepancy between the result of the synthesis test and the level seen in the continuous assessment activities.)
- The student's essay answers the test question directly and appropriately. (If not, the test mark will be "0".)
When the assessment model for the course is CA (continuous assessment) + ST (synthesis test) and the student has passed the CA.
The synthesis tests are taken on-site in various locations, including Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Tenerife and Mallorca. Students can choose the centre where they want to take the final assessment test. All students can find this information in Procedures > Assessment and final tests > Choose the final test timetables. They will be able to consult it when their personal final test schedule opens, at which time they can choose the dates and centres to do their final assessment tests.
The intermedi (B2), suficiència (C1) and superior (C2) Catalan courses are aimed at people with a good command of the Catalan language. You do not need to have any academic qualification, but you should take the level test on the website in order to identify the most suitable course for your level.
Unlike our foreign language courses, the main objective is to prepare you for the exams to obtain a Catalan language proficiency certificate approved by the Government of Catalonia. In any case, you will receive a UOC diploma that certifies that you have passed the course. After you have passed the course, you will be able to register for the exams for the official certificate, which are organized by the UOC and take place after the courses. The enrolment fee for the course does not include registration for these exams, which are held on-site. After passing the exam, you will receive the official certificate that includes recognition from the Government of Catalonia. Check out details of the types of exams and when they will be held, and see various sample exam papers.
The basic Catalan course available on the Spanish campus is aimed at people without little or no knowledge of Catalan.
Qualifications and recognitions
You will obtain a UOC language certificate after you have successfully completed the course. If you have also completed a certain level in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) with this course, your achievement of this level is certified. This table lists which courses have to be passed to obtain the corresponding level certificate.
The UOC has adapted its language courses to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), making it easier for you to certify your competencies.
No, only students who pass the course are entitled to obtain a certificate from the UOC.
In all competitive public sector examinations, the organizing institution decides what it accepts and what it does not. These criteria may vary depending on the place on offer, the particular call for applications, and the needs of the government body and the autonomous community concerned. We advise you to consult the terms and conditions of the call, and to check whether they take university language qualifications into account.
Although the courses are adapted to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), this is no guarantee that they will be accepted by any particular public authority.
Methodology
No. You will have a course instructor and classmates with whom you will have to communicate and perform tasks on a collaborative basis. Each unit of the course contains self-correction exercises that you must do individually, but it is essential that you communicate in the classroom in order to progress and to pass the course.
E-learning has the advantage of flexible hours, but you should be aware that, depending on the number of credits, you will have to spend between 8 and 16 hours a week working on the course in order to make a success of it. You should also take into account the deadlines for submitting assessable activities. In general, you should work at a constant pace throughout the course, and log in to the classroom at least once every 48 hours.
Dates and requirements
If you are studying at the UOC for the first time, we recommend that you enrol a few weeks before teaching starts. When you log in to the Campus, you will see the tutor classroom, where you will find a language tutor and you will be with other students who are also studying languages for the first time. The tutor will give you instructions that you will find useful to familiarize yourself with the campus and the classroom.
Courses are taught during two periods of the year: from February to June and from September to January. You can begin a course in either of these two periods, except for the year-long courses, which only begin in September.
You need a computer with a broadband internet connection, as well as a webcam and headphones with a microphone. We also recommend that you read the description of each course carefully and make sure that it suits your needs and interests.
Methodology
The Centre for Modern Languages uses a teaching methodology based on action and interaction.
About the Centre for Modern Languages
Find out about the UOC's Centre for Modern Languages, the place to learn languages online.