Service and FAQs
How do I participate in a Managerial English course?
To attend one or more Managerial English courses, you will need to register via the StudIP system. Course dates and times are determined at least four weeks before the start of teaching, and StudIP registration for all courses starts one week before lectures begin.
I'm planning to attend several Managerial English courses. Is there a suggested sequence? How many can I attend a semester?
Graduate-level courses are entirely modular and can be attended in any order you choose.
Four out of five undergraduate courses are modular, the only exception being the advanced-level Writing for Management - Professional Communication course. To participate in this course, you must have completed English for Business - Language and Correspondence.
While the modular (so-called 'general-level') undergraduate courses do not have to be attended in any particular sequence, some of them clearly focus on broader language and communication skills that can be useful for later classes. So, my suggestion would be to
- attend earlier: English for Business - Language and Correspondence, Talking Business for broader language and communication skills
- attend later: Presenting and Persuading for more focused communication skills
- attend later or last: Writing for Management - Professional Communication, Working Across Cultures for more advanced communication skills
There is no formal upper limit to how many Managerial English courses you can attend per semester, but be aware that trying to rush through the programme is counter-productive, boring, and very unlikely to prduce any lasting improvements. In language learning, small but persistent effort beats short-term activity boosts any time. For this reason, I actively discourage students from attending more than two of my courses in any given semester.
I have completed earlier Managerial English courses with different titles. How do I continue?
Prior to the winter semester 2026/27, the Managerial English programme featured four different courses: one mandatory introductory course (English for Management) and three elective follow-on courses (Oral Communication, Written Communication and Working Across Cultures).
To minimize repetition of material you have already studied and practiced, follow these guidelines:
- with English for Management completed - continue with any course, but choose English for Business only if you do not mind redoing the StepUp workbook and correspondence writing; attend Talking Business only if you are happy to redo some conversational English and telephoning
- with Oral Communication completed - continue with any course except Presenting and Persuading
- with Working Across Cultures completed - continue with any course except the one with the same title
- with Written Communication completed - continue with any course, but choose Writing for Management only if you are happy to revisit the ground rules for clarity, effective writing style and text structure
- with all courses completed - some overlap is unavoidable, but your best bet for minimizing it is probably Talking Business
As a B.Sc. 'Wirtschaftswissenschaften' student, how long will it probably take to complete the 30-CP minor in Managerial English?
It is realistic to budget three semesters if you want to attend no more than two English courses per semester.
I am a visiting student with little or no German. Can I still participate in Managerial English courses? And what if I'm a native speaker of English?
If you speak little or no German, the only Managerial English course not suitable for you is English for Business - Language and Correspondence because this course systematically contrasts German v English language use and requires B2 German. All other courses are open to you, subject to availability of places. If English is your native language, however, neither English for Business nor Talking Business is not appropriate for you.
Can I get a reference or a letter of recommendation for graduate studies, a semester abroad or an internship?
Some universities require one or more reference letters when you apply for their graduate programmes. If you have a need for such a reference, I will be happy to provide one if you have completed at least three of my courses. The reason for this 'three-course requirement' is that I need a good impression of your language skills, personality and work ethic to evaluate them in a fair way. So, if you have completed at least three Managerial English courses with me and need a reference, please send me an email or come see me during office hours. Please remember to let me have the relevant forms to fill in (if any) and your curriculum vitae (in German or English).
Do you offer prep courses for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or any other language certificates?
If you want to study at a North American university, the near-universal requirement is that you score a certain number of points on the so-called Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). To take the TOEFL at the nearest test centre (located in Frankfurt/Main), you need to
- register for it at toefl.org (and pay a hefty fee, of course)
- prepare for it using self-study materials available from the JLU library system
I do not offer TOEFL or any other language-certificate preparation because these certificates have nothing to do with managerial English. The TOEFL, for instance, is simply a measure of your proficiency in standard American English for general and academic purposes - and a money-spinner for the company offering it. Its scores are valid for no more than two years.