Work placement and language skills

When doing a work placement in a foreign-language work environment, solid language preparation is important. A certain level of proficiency is often required to function smoothly in the workplace. Moreover, familiarity with the local language facilitates your integration on the work floor and into the local community. Interning abroad offers the opportunity to enhance existing language skills or acquire proficiency in a new language.

In collaboration with the internship site, the required language proficiency is determined beforehand and assessed based on the intern's duties.
The required language level may play a greater role for internships in certain sectors (e.g. healthcare or education) than for others, also depending on the individual tasks and activities.

Anyone going on an internship abroad should brush up on the necessary foreign language skills thoroughly beforehand, or acquire sufficient basic knowledge of the working language beforehand and master the necessary foreign-language jargon beforehand. Your language knowledge will impact the success of your internship.

Outgoing exchange students can take a language course at the University Language Centre (UCT) at a discounted rate provided you take a language course in the academic year in which you leave, or in the previous academic year. To claim this reduction, you must attend at least 80% of the course. You can only take courses for the official language(s) of your host country.

Work placements that do not award credits, voluntary work placements abroad or work placements after graduation do not entitle you to a reduced rate at UCT.

Students who go on a work placement abroad with an Erasmus+ scholarship (either during the study or after graduation) can take a language test via the Online Language Support platform. This will give you an idea of your language proficiency, enabling you to gauge your progress after the exchange. This European Commission’s platform also provides a range of activities to help you learn a new language or improve your language skills.

Create an account. Once your account is created, type 'Placement Test' in the search bar.