About us

Mission statement UCT

Welcome to the UCT, aka the University Language Centre!

As the UCT, we are connected to Ghent University and we offer a wide and varied range of language courses to course participants with diverse backgrounds: from UGent students and staff to (language) professionals, newcomers and adventurers. In short, people who are eager to learn and who want to take their general of domain-specific language knowledge to the next level with a clear goal: to be able to communicate fluently and accurately in the target language. We form a passionate team of lecturers, administrative virtuosos and coordinators who have built expertise over the years to guide, challenge and inspire participants personally.

Participants can turn to the UCT for courses and programmes of Dutch for speakers of other languages, for practical courses and conversational courses of foreign languages, specialized academic and professional language courses but also for language tests for Dutch (ITNA test) and English (ITACE test).  

Courses and programmes of Dutch for speakers of other languages

The UCT organizes practical language courses of Dutch for speakers of other languages who want to have an in-depth knowledge of Dutch in order to be able to follow a programme in Flemish higher education or for professional purposes. These participants can choose an intensive day course or an evening course. Participants with an education perspective can also register for specific trajectories that take an entire academic year to prepare them for Flemish higher education. In the Preparatory Year of Dutch, participants without prior knowledge of Dutch follow a series of intensive Dutch course in order to obtain a B2 level of Dutch to be able to participate successfully in Flemish higher education. In the Preparatory Higher Education Programme, participants with the necessary prior knowledge of Dutch  do not only work towards the B2 level of Dutch, they also prepare by working on their academic skills and prior knowledge extensively. In August, the UCT has also been collaborating with the Taalunie (Language Union) for years to welcome students of Dutch as a foreign language from all over the world and to give them the opportunity to explore the language, culture and professional market as an addition to their programme of Dutch. Finally, we organize language courses of Dutch for exchange students who want to acquire a basic knowledge of Dutch during their exchange.

Practical courses and conversational courses of foreign languages   

In addition to Dutch, the UCT offers nine foreign languages: Arabic, German, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Flemish Sign Language and Swedish. We offer practical language courses in which we focus on fluent, successful and accurate communication and the skills that play a crucial role to make that happen (speaking, reading, listening, writing). As an addition to these practical courses, we offer conversational courses for some languages as well, both for beginners and for more advanced speakers, to allow them to strengthen their oral skills further.

Specialised academic and professional courses

The UCT also organizes specialized courses for academic and professional purposes that correspond with the domain of our participants. This way, participants can extend their domain-specific language knowledge and skills with a clear purpose. We mainly focus on a number of domains: medical (German, English, French and Spanish), legal (English and French) and academic (English). These courses allow participants to prepare for the use of a foreign language in a specific domain. UGent’ers who would like to gain more confidence while teaching in English can indulge themselves in the course Lecturing Skills in English. In addition, we offer a series of academic (language) skills courses to doctoral students of Ghent University in close collaboration with the Doctoral Schools. Coaching (e.g. in the context of FWO interviews) and customized projects related to academic and professional communication are also a part of our expertise in this area.

Language tests

For Dutch and English, the UCT offers validated language tests. If you need an official B2/C1 certificate for these languages, you can take the ITNA test for Dutch and the ITACE test for English at the UCT.

We are already looking forward to welcoming you in our language courses or languages test!