Language of instruction
French is the main language of instruction at UCLouvain.
As an ERASMUS or international exchange student you will fully participate in the student life and should be able to follow lectures, participate in class discussions (seminars and tutorials), write essays, etc.
Therefore, a B2 level in French (written and oral) is recommended (even though – so far - an official international test is not mandatory).
Please note that, depending on the programmes, you will have access to a certain number of courses in English.
English-friendly courses
English-friendly courses are courses that are taught in French but offer facilities in English for international students who have a passive knowledge of French. They allow international students to attend lectures that might otherwise not have been accessible to them, while helping them improve their knowledge of French through the input received in the classroom.
English-friendly courses offer at least the following four facilities in English:
- Questions: students can ask their questions in English;
- Evaluation: students can do presentations, write essays and/or answer exam questions in English;
- Dictionary: students are allowed to use a dictionary (monolingual French dictionary or bilingual French-mother tongue dictionary, as specified by the teacher), including for exams.
Students who want to benefit from these facilities need to make sure that the course has the “English-friendly” label (as indicated in the “Other information” category of the course description) and they should inform the teacher of the facilities they want to benefit from at the very beginning of the course.
Note that English-friendly courses are not bilingual courses: classes are taught in French and teachers are likely to communicate with students in French. English-friendly courses are therefore not accessible to students who have very limited or no knowledge of French.