As the year draws to an end, the English Language Support team at the FernUniversität in Hagen reflects with delight on a year of delivering top-notch advanced English courses that enable students to pursue their academic ambitions.
With over 2500 students now enrolled across all courses and counting, the ELS unit has become a thriving hub for language learning and academic development.
Student voices
The impact of these courses is best captured in the words of our students. Michael, who took English for Psychology, described his experience as transformative:
“Please let me once again express my gratitude for this triple-win course: I was able to improve my English skills, gain a first insight into psychology and develop a solid understanding of language acquisition.”
Jackie, who completed English for Business and Economics, shared her appreciation:
“Many thanks for the oral assessment and for the very pleasant and encouraging atmosphere you created. I also want to express my gratitude for the learning content, which as you yourself mentioned provides a new perspective from an academic point of view. You made the units wonderfully clear and accessible, which I deeply appreciate.”
These endorsements highlight the unique blend of academic rigour and supportive teaching that defines the studyFIT ELS unit.
2025 in review – Click and maximise
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Expanding opportunities
The IELTS courses have gone from strength to strength, with additional classes introduced to meet growing demand. In the summer, we also became a British Council affiliate, meaning that anyone can sign up for the IELTS exam directly, using our affiliate link.
Beyond formal instruction, ELS has also launched a new multilingual Language Café in collaboration with Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts (FU Dortmund). This initiative offers students the chance to practise English, French, German and Spanish in a relaxed and interactive environment, further enriching their learning journey.
Recognition and collaboration
ELS has also made its mark on the international stage. At the prestigious EADTU Innovating Higher Education conference, Dr Prue Goredema delivered a presentation entitle “Code Words: Cracking the lexical secrets of Maths and Computer Science through a custom-build corpus” which was met with much acclaim. Her expertise and vision continue to inspire both colleagues and students. In addition, Dr Goredema was appointed a Mission Board member of the OpenEU alliance, representing Research (Work Packages 4 and 5). This appointment underscores the important role the ELS unit plays in shaping the future of language education and research collaboration across the OpenEU alliance.
Looking ahead
As we celebrate the successes of 2025, we look forward to an even brighter 2026. Plans are already underway to introduce courses for Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) with partners from the OpenEU alliance, offering students new opportunities to engage in global academic exchange.
Season’s greetings
We will be taking a break for the holidays and will be back on Monday 5 January.
All of us at ELS wish our students, colleagues and partners a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. May 2026 bring bigger and better things, continued growth and shared success in language learning and beyond.
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