German levels?

Question

I want to go to Germany in 2009, so I want to learn German. The university there tells me that I need to reach a Level C1 to be admitted.

Does anyone know the equivelant in hours of study to that?
Thx.

Answer 1

The previous answer is not correct. Nobody is able to reach level C1 in 4 weeks and 100 lessons from beginner level.

According to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages Level C1 means to be a proficient user with an effective operational proficiency.

To demonstrate this level you have to pass the Goethe institute "Zentrale Mittelstufenprüfung." Here the prerequisites to pass the test:

"Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognise implicit meaning. Can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices."

It is difficult to estimate how many hours of study you will need to achieve this level. It highly depends on how fast you learn languages and how much chance you will have to practice the language.

According to my language learning experience it is ambitious to reach Level C1 in two years if you are not in a country where the language is spoken. In your situation I would consider a language stay in Germany.

Check the following site for more information about learning German: http://www.goethe.de/

Answer 2

It's hard to find the exact number of necessary lessons, but I read it's about 1000 lessons (according to the homepage below).

You should be able to speak and write fluently German and thats not possible in a few weeks or months.
It's hard work and the german universities are very strict.

Answer 3

I looked it up for you!
It only took 10 min.
To reach German level C1 there are 4 weeks of courses. There are 100 lessons.

I found a website for you:

http://www.germanlanguageschool-dresden.de/A1-C2_en.htm