FAQ & Tips

Find a comprehensive FAQ directly from the department here.

Generally, attendance is mandatory in all classes and seminars in English & American Studies, except for lectures. You are allowed two absences per class without documentation. If you expect to miss three sessions, make sure to obtain and save doctor's notes, because if you miss three sessions, you need to provide documentation for all three absences, not just your last. Only sickness and emergencies count as valid reasons for an absence.
If the class in question has several weekly appointments for different study groups, you may be able to get permission to temporarily switch groups in order to make up for an absence in the same week. However, this is only intended for emergencies and subject to the lecturers' discretion, so you should organize your timetable so that you can attend every session, if at all possible. This includes scheduling work as well as your commute to campus.

Questions regarding exam requirements are best answered by the instructors themselves. The instructors are transparent about the exam requirements from very early on, but if you’ve forgotten them or were absent when they were discussed, do not hesitate to ask them again. Since exam requirements change every few semesters, it is difficult for us to always keep up. Therefore, to ensure your information is accurate and reliable, reach out to your lecturer and ask them. Don't rely on fellow students unless you are absolutely sure they're well-informed. (And yes, PLEASE learn the vocabulary!)

Even though there are no attendance lists for lectures, the content of the lectures is part of the exam. While the content and layout of these modules may change in the future, this will not change. If you choose not to attend the lecture, you risk failing. To avoid this, we do not recommend missing more than two lecture sessions.

For any questions regarding citations, formating etc., please refer to the department Style Sheet. (Find it at this link under Style Sheet, or directly download it here.)

If you cannot find an answer to your question there, either contact us or your lecturer. Do not rely on your fellow course mates.

We DO NOT have access to previous exam papers. We specifically do not have access to exam papers of the FBG. If you have questions regarding English in primary school education (GruBi Englisch), please reach out to fsgp@uni-koblenz.de. We are only responsible for those who are enrolled as English students. Students who are enrolled as English students and are studying to be primary school teachers are, of course, welcome to reach out with any questions about modules 1-5.

After failing an exam for the first time, you should reach out to your lecturer to get as much information as possible. Unfortunately, a lot of students do not take the opportunity to speak to their lecturers. We highly recommend doing so if you either did very poorly or failed your exam. This is your chance to get constructive feedback and improve, but it also shows your instructor that you're working to learn from your mistakes and put the work in. Otherwise, they might get the impression you don’t care or simply can’t do any better than how you did in your exam. Let your lecturer know that you want to learn from your mistakes, and make a good impression by showing self-awareness and initiative.
Questions you'll want answered by your lecturer include:

Which requirements did I fulfill and which did I not fulfill?
How can I improve?
Who can I reach out to?

Many students are nervous in oral exams. Especially when the point of the exam is to evaluate your way of speaking, it can be disheartening if you're prone to stuttering, etc. If you struggle with this, it's a good idea to be open about it and let your instructor know that you're nervous. This shows self-awareness and gives the examiner a chance to take steps to accomodate you.

When learning a new language, there's no way around practice. To facilitate this, you can make your free time more English (e.g. watch your favorite show in English, read English books, or set your video games to English).
Give some thought to which variety you'll go for and try to orient yourself before you start Oral Skills (if you're unsure, don't be shy to reach out for feedback). In Oral Skills, you'll get concrete feedback on your pronunciation. Take this feedbackto heart and engage with it EARLY ON! Mistakes that are already ingrained in your speech can absolutely be corrected, but this takes time. Definitely use the opportunities to receive feedback from your instructor, and above all, practice speaking as much as you can.

Whether when practicing speaking, preparing for an exam, or when you missed a lecture - exchange contact details with at least one other student in each class so you can have each other's backs. You can study together, give each other feedback, compare and amend notes, etc. It's not mandatory, but highly recommended, and it's just good sense!