Multilingualism

UVigo's First Internationalisation Plan, approved in 2025, is structured around this commitment, integrating language skills as an essential element. Funded with its own resources and complemented by national and European programmes and the Athena alliance, the plan promotes the international dimension of study, teaching, research, and management, both through mobility and internationalisation actions at home.

Its main objectives include: promoting understanding between cultures, encouraging student and staff mobility, attracting talent, internationalising study programmes and research activity, strengthening strategic alliances and improving the university's global visibility.

Within this framework, UVigo is also committed to strengthening ties with Portuguese-speaking countries, taking advantage of shared historical and cultural links, participating in international fairs and promoting collaboration agreements that contribute to attracting students and strengthening academic relations.

1^st Internationalisation Plan

According to UVigo's First Internationalisation Plan, one of the priority areas of the institutional strategy is to consolidate the range of academic courses taught in foreign languages, particularly English.

In an increasingly globalised labour market, proficiency in other languages is an essential tool for accessing professional opportunities, both at home and abroad. In this context, university teaching in foreign languages and the introduction of bilingual degrees, particularly in English, represent a key opportunity to improve the employability of our students and strengthen their international education.

This commitment also responds to the growing mobility of students and university staff, as well as the demands of a global academic context in which collaborations with universities and research centres —especially those ranked among the Top 500 in the Shanghai ranking— have the availability of teaching in English as a prerequisite.

To date, a remarkable effort has been made to incorporate a significant number of subjects in English, both in undergraduate and master's degrees, and the Universidade de Vigo remains committed to the continued expansion of this offer. This line of work is essential to strengthening the institution's international profile and consolidating its position as a preferred destination for international students.

There are subjects taught in English in both undergraduate and master's degrees. Check here for those offered in the 2025/2026 academic year:

Subjects in English 2025/2026

Beyond the strategy of teaching entirely in English, the Universidade de Vigo also offers English Friendly subjects, which are official undergraduate and master's degree subjects taught in Spanish and/or Galician, but in which the teaching staff make the following commitments: 

• Indicate the English Friendly nature of the course in the course syllabus.
• Translate the course syllabus into English.
• Provide materials and bibliographic references for following the course in English, if requested by international students.
• Provide tutorials in English, if requested by international students.
• Design and conduct tests and assessments in English, if requested by international students.

In addition to the already well-known English Friendly modality, the possibilities have been expanded with the incorporation of similar versions in other languages:

• Português Amigável
• Français Amical
• Italiano Amichevole

The aim of this expansion is to continue promoting internationalisation within our own teaching programme, facilitating international student participation in our classrooms and highlighting UVigo's commitment to a multilingual and open academic environment.

It is important to note that these modalities are not mutually exclusive: the same subject can be offered as friendly in several languages simultaneously.

The Vice-Rector's Office for Internationalisation, through the Language Centre, launches the Comprehensive English Preparation and Accreditation Plan (known as PIPA) every year, aimed at officially accrediting B1, B2, or C1 levels in English completely free of charge.

During the enrolment process or when they receive an email, first-year students will be able to take an online diagnostic test via Moovi to assess their level of English. We will offer these students a short preparatory course for the CertAcles B1, B2, or C1 exams, lasting just 10 hours (8 asynchronous + 2 face-to-face hours that can be taken at any of the three campuses) and then sit this official accreditation exam, which is valid throughout the European Higher Education Area. It should be noted that both the test and the exam fees will be free of charge (provided that a minimum of 85% of the preparatory course is attended).

The HELA (Higher Education Lecturing Accreditation) test aims to promote teaching in English in UVigo's undergraduate and master's degree programmes and to support the methodological training of teaching staff to impart classes in the language.

Accreditation consists of two tests that assess written and oral competence in teaching contexts:

• Part 1 – Written test: a 200-300 word text related to university teaching or research activity.
• Part 2 – Oral test: a 7-minute presentation of a real sample of teaching material used in the classroom, followed by a round of questions from the panel to assess comprehension and oral expression. The use of visual aids is recommended.

This accreditation is a key tool for promoting internationalisation in teaching and ensuring the quality of the English language used in teaching at the Universidade de Vigo.

The One2One, Tête-à-tête, and Frente a frente programme offers free, personalised language support to the university community (students, teaching and research staff, and administrative and technical staff) through individual virtual sessions designed to improve expression, mediation, and oral interaction skills in foreign languages.

The sessions, which last around 40-50 minutes, can be requested at any time during the term and do not require a minimum level, as the teachers adapt the content to each person's needs.

The programme covers the preparation of academic or scientific presentations, the defence of final degree projects/master's theses or doctoral theses, and the improvement of oral fluency through informal conversations.

The commitment to Portuguese reflects UVigo's internationalisation strategy and its commitment to the Portuguese-speaking world, while the incorporation of French reinforces the multilingual and international dimension of the programme.
 

The Language Tandem programme, an initiative designed to promote cultural exchange and language learning within the university community, offers a unique opportunity to practise languages and learn about other cultures through informal conversations with native speakers and students from international mobility programmes. The tandem is open to students, teaching and research staff, and administrative and technical staff, and its main objective is to improve communication skills and strengthen intercultural competencies in a relaxed and participatory environment. In addition to practising the language, this experience facilitates contact with the culture, customs, and reality of the participants' countries of origin, also promoting the integration of international individuals into the university community

The Language Centre (known as the CdL) was founded in 2004 to promote and develop training activities in modern languages, meeting the linguistic needs of the university community and its environment. After more than 15 years of experience, we are a benchmark in language teaching and level accreditation, working in collaboration with the most recognised accreditation entities: ACLES, Cambridge Assessment English, Instituto Cervantes, ETS TOEFL, etc.

The main activity of the Language Centre is specific training of the university community to contribute to the quality of teaching and research and the internationalisation of the Universidade de Vigo.

We invite you to learn more about the Language Centre and the training it offers:

CdL website

At the same time, the Multilingualism Area has as its main mission to implement the linguistic internationalisation policy of the university, by promoting the actions needed to improve competence in foreign languages among members of the university community, as well as to develop competencies in the university's own languages among our international visitors.