Spanish/German Arqus Summer School kicks off at Leipzig University

The Arqus summer school for Spanish/German, organised by the Language Centres of Leipzig University and the University of Granada, is now taking place for the 15^th time. The summer school is designed as an intensive Spanish or German course and starts with a week together in Leipzig for 31 participating students.

The German and Spanish students first met on Monday morning and had the opportunity to get to know each other in a bilingual speed-dating session. In the afternoon, the participants were welcome at the official opening by Vessela Ivanova, Head of the Romance Languages Department for Spanish and Portuguese at the Language Centre of Leipzig University.

“I can still remember the summer of 2009, when we organised the first summer school as a continuing collaboration after the successful completion of a translation research project. We have been offering the intensive course without interruption for more than 15 years now […]. Since 2019, the summer school has been organised bilaterally as part of the Arqus Alliance, together with the Language Centre of the University of Granada, and we are very proud of this.”

In her speech, Ivanova gave a brief introduction to the history of Leipzig University and the university library, named famous Leipzig alumni and encouraged the Spanish students to discover the diverse linguistic and cultural offerings of the city and region.

Next week, the German students will travel to Granada to complete the rest of the summer school at our Arqus partner university, while the Spanish students will spend a further two weeks in Leipzig to practise their German SKILLS.

News by Steven Rupp, Leipzig University.