General contractual conditions for participation in language programs offered by Linguland Languages GmbH

Version from October 1st, 2023 (rev. 1 from November 24th, 2023)

1. Scope, contracting parties

1.1. These general terms and conditions apply to all contracts for participation in language programs (hereinafter: “programs” or “program”) of Linguland Languages GmbH (hereinafter: “Linguland”, “we”, “us”) with the exception of the programs, which are mentioned in section 1.4. These contractual terms and conditions also apply to programs that include, among other things, accommodation for the purpose of carrying out the program and represent the content and basis for the contract for your program participation. Below we refer to you as: “Participant, Participants”, “ You”, “you”, “participating person/s”. Differing contractual conditions only apply if and to the extent that we have expressly agreed to their validity in writing. In the event that these terms and conditions are translated (into a language other than German), only the version written in German, as available on our website https://de.linguland.com/impressum_agb-3.htm, applies for the interpretation of validity

1.2. Linguland's portfolio includes language training and language courses in Germany (“German courses”) and abroad (“language trips”). We offer various course formats, individual lessons, group lessons and language test preparation courses. Lessons take place not only in the classroom, but also in everyday situations to promote communication with native speakers outside of school. For a comprehensive learning environment, we offer participants the opportunity to live with a host family, in a shared apartment or in a dormitory during the course.

1.3. The purpose of the Linguland programs is to educate and train participants by improving language and social skills and preparing for language exams. Our language programs are to be understood as a service and, in accordance with Section 651a Paragraph 3 No. 2 BGB, do not fall under the package travel law even if participants are provided with accommodation for residential purposes for the duration of the program, for example in a host family, in a shared apartment or in a shared apartment dormitory, can be combined. Accommodation for residential purposes serves the successful implementation of the language program and is not considered accommodation within the meaning of Directive (EU) 2015/2302.

1.4. These contractual conditions do not apply to students' participation in programs abroad that last more than 3 months and involve regular school attendance and a stay with a host family (high school and host school stay programs) as well as to Linguland package travel offers.

2. Registration, conclusion of contract

2.1. Tenders or advertising, for example on our website or in our brochures, do not constitute a binding offer to conclude a contract. They serve for your information and are an invitation to make us a contract offer.

2.2. You can send us a request for an individual program offer, e.g. by telephone or email, on the basis of which registration is possible. A program offer is non-binding and does not constitute an offer to conclude a contract. A program offer informs you about training and course options as well as these contractual conditions. There is no right to receive an individual program offer.

2.3. Your registration can be made in any form, i.e. verbally, in writing or electronically (e.g. by telephone, by post, by email). Your registration constitutes a binding offer to participate in the program. We recommend using the registration form that was sent to you with the program offer and returning it to us by email or using the online registration form, which will be sent to you with the program offer along with the booking link became.

2.4. You have the option of registering online on our website. The electronic registration process will be explained to you there. You have the option at any time to select individual or to correct all entries or to cancel the entire registration process. If contract texts can be saved and downloaded, an express note will be made. Your registration becomes binding when you click the “book for a fee” button. If you register electronically, you will immediately receive an electronic confirmation of receipt. This merely confirms receipt of your online registration and does not constitute a binding acceptance of your registration. The conclusion of the contract depends on our confirmation of acceptance. If the registration confirmation is sent electronically (so-called “real-time registration”) immediately after pressing the “book for a fee” button, the contract is concluded when you receive the registration confirmation. In this case it is possible to save and print out the registration confirmation. However, the effectiveness of the conclusion of the contract does not depend on the actual storage and printing of the registration confirmation by you.

2.5. When registering minors, the signature of a legal representative of the minor on the registration or the enclosing of a written declaration of consent from a legal representative is required for the registration to be binding. You are responsible for all contractual obligations of other participants (e.g. partners, children, friends) for whom you register, as well as your own obligations, provided you have committed yourself to this.

2.6. By registering, you accept the program offer described in the registration form as well as all information available to you at the time of registration and these contractual conditions.

2.7. You are responsible for providing, at your own expense, the personal evidence and necessary documents requested by us, which will be announced separately in the respective program offer before registration. Late, incomplete or missing submission of these documents may be considered contributory negligence on your part.

2.8. If you have special dietary habits (e.g. diets, vegetarian diet) or health restrictions that we should take particular into account, you must inform us of this separately and in text form (e.g. by email) when registering. Failure to do so may be viewed as contributory negligence on your part.

2.9. We reserve the right to decide at our own discretion whether you are eligible for the desired program and whether we accept your registration.

2.10. If we accept your registration, we will send you or your legal representative a confirmation of registration in text form on a durable medium (e.g. by email), which makes the contract for participation in the program binding. A registration confirmation in paper form will only be sent at your express request. This also applies to contracts concluded outside of business premises. Our registration confirmation contains the payment plan and payment terms and is also the invoice. If you do not receive a registration confirmation or invoice within 7 working days of your registration, you are no longer bound to your registration.

2.11. If we can only offer you participation if there are deviations from your registration, you will receive a registration confirmation in which you will be informed of the deviations. The registration confirmation that differs from the registration is considered a new offer with which we offer you participation in the program subject to deviations. We are bound to this offer for 7 working days. In these cases, your acceptance can be made by your express declaration or by transfer of the deposit. If you do not accept this amended offer within 7 working days, the offer will expire and no contract for program participation will be concluded.

2.12. You are obliged to immediately check the accuracy of the personal data contained in the registration confirmation (“booking overview”) and the information about the program and to report any errors (e.g. a misspelled name) immediately. In particular, you must ensure that the email address provided is correct and capable of receiving unrestricted emails. to receive emails. If you use SPAM filters, you must ensure that delivery is possible. Failure to do so could be viewed as contributory negligence on your part.

2.13. Even as a consumer, you do not have a statutory right of withdrawal for distance selling contracts (e.g. conclusion of a contract via email, telephone, internet) because participation in our programs requires a specific period of time which requires the provision of capacity (§§ 312g Paragraph 2 No. 9 , 312 paragraph 7 BGB). However, the contract can be revoked in exceptional cases if you are a consumer and the contract was concluded with the simultaneous presence of you and us outside our business premises (e.g. private apartment, door-to-door sales) (§ 312 Paragraph 7, 312g Paragraph 1 BGB). There is no right of withdrawal if the oral negotiations on which the conclusion of the contract is based were conducted at the consumer's previous order (i.e. on his initiative) (Section 312 Paragraph 7 BGB). A consumer is any natural person who concludes a legal transaction for purposes that cannot primarily be attributed to their commercial or independent professional activity (§ 13 BGB).

2.14. You are entitled to the contractual rights of withdrawal in accordance with these contractual conditions.

3. Linguland's contractual obligations, scope of services

3.1. We will ensure that the contractually agreed services, in particular the regulated implementation of the program, are provided. We are entitled to provide individual contractual services through service providers (service providers), for example language schools. Service providers are legally our vicarious agents. If we provide contractual services through vicarious agents, we select them carefully.

3.2. The specific scope of services is determined in the registration confirmation based on the individual agreements made during registration based on the program offer.

3.3. A certain success of the program or a certain type or quality of individual service components (e.g. the achievement of a certain language level) are only owed if this has been expressly guaranteed.

4. Participant composition and minimum number of participants

4.1. There is no entitlement to a specific number of participants or a specific, possibly national, composition of participants.

4.2. Applicable minimum numbers of participants are specified in the registration documents for the respective program. If no other agreement has been made, there is a minimum number of 2 participants for our mini groups and 6 participants for other group courses. If the minimum number of participants is not reached, we are entitled to adjust the contractual services in accordance with these contractual conditions (see Sections 7.1 and 11.3) or to withdraw from the contract in accordance with these contractual conditions (see Section 11.2).

5. Obligations to cooperate and conduct, warranty and setting of deadlines

5.1. You are obliged to arrive at the location of the program on time and on time.

5.2. For your independently organized journey to take part in programs abroad, we recommend that you only book flights that can be rebooked free of charge or at low cost and that you allow considerable time for connecting flights. Transport services, especially flights, are not part of our contractual services.

5.3. You are responsible for ensuring that your travel documents (e.g. passport, visa, health certificates) are current and valid and that customs and foreign exchange regulations are adhered to and that any required insurance coverage is available at the location where the program is carried out.

5.4. You are responsible for the vaccination and infection protection required by law or by the authorities at the location and inform yourself in good time about sensible vaccination and infection protection.

5.5. You are responsible for assessing your state of health and, in the event of health concerns, you must responsibly consider your participation and, if necessary, cancel it in order to ensure your own safety and the protection of the service providers.

5.6. If defects occur with regard to the contractually agreed services, you are only entitled to the statutory warranty rights if you have informed us of the defect and set a reasonable deadline for repair or supplementary performance. Warranty claims are excluded if the defect is only insignificant. The right to extraordinary termination for good cause by both parties remains unaffected.

6. Terms of payment

6.1. Upon receipt of the registration confirmation, which also serves as an invoice, you will make a deposit of 30% of the program price, up to a maximum of EUR 3,000.00. The deposit is due within 7 days of the invoice date and will be offset against the total program price.

6.2. The remaining amount is due 28 days before the contractually agreed start of the program. If the contract was concluded less than 28 days before the start of the program, the total amount is due immediately upon receipt of the registration confirmation and invoice.

6.3. Flat rate compensation is due immediately.

6.4. If you are in default of payment, we are entitled to withdraw from the contract after the due date, reminder and setting of a deadline and to charge you appropriate cancellation costs, the amount of which depends on the flat rate compensation (section 10). This does not apply if we ourselves are not willing and able to properly provide the contractually agreed service or if you have a legal or contractual right of retention.

6.5. If compensation has to be paid after your cancellation, this compensation will be offset against the deposit. Differences are due immediately after the invoice is issued.

6.6. We are entitled to refuse to provide the agreed service until the agreed remuneration has been paid in full.

7. Service changes (“course adjustments”) by Linguland after conclusion of the contract

7.1. We reserve the right to unilaterally change or deviate from agreed services if the change or deviation is objectively justified and reasonable for you, taking our interests into account, due to circumstances that arise after the contract has been concluded and are beyond our control and unforeseeable. The following adjustments in particular are considered reasonable:

(a) Minor changes or deviations regarding teachers, classrooms or timetables that have already been announced are considered reasonable, as long as the overall layout of the program is not affected.

(b) If the contractually agreed minimum number of participants (Section 4.2) is not reached, an appropriate and reasonable reduction in the contractually agreed number of course lessons per week is considered reasonable, provided that the reduction is limited to the days on which the minimum number of participants is not reached has been achieved and remains limited to a minimum.

7.2. As soon as we become aware of the reason for the change, we will inform you clearly and understandably about the contract change and any resulting lower program price.

7.3. In the event of unreasonable changes that affect the entire course, you are entitled to withdraw from the contract immediately after becoming aware of the change in services and to refund the course fees paid, or to rebook to another course with full credit for the course fees paid, if one is offered. If only individual course units are affected by unreasonable service changes, there is only a claim for reimbursement of pro-rata course fees or a claim for rebooking of individual units, but no right of withdrawal.

8. Conditions and restrictions

8.1. We would like to point out that we always provide the contractually agreed services in compliance with official and legal requirements.

8.2. Participants will comply with official and legal requirements when using contractual services. If, for example, there are restrictions on contractual services due to pandemics (e.g. Corona pandemic), the participants will accept appropriate adjustments to the contractual services.

9. Non-use of individual services

If you do not use individual services for reasons that are solely your responsibility (e.g. illness, prevention, early return) and are not our responsibility and we were prepared to provide these services properly, you have no claim for a proportional refund of payments.

10. Cancellation by the participant before the start of the program, cancellation compensation

10.1. You can withdraw from the contract at any time before the start of the program. It is recommended that you declare your withdrawal in writing or by email.

10.2. If you withdraw from the contract before the start of the program or do not appear for the program, we lose the right to the agreed program price, but can demand appropriate compensation for the precautions and expenses made, provided that your withdrawal is not our responsibility and/or not due to disruption of the program business basis or as a result of force majeure. Force majeure is an unforeseeable, external event that is beyond the control or responsibility of the parties, such as natural disasters, political unrest, strikes, acts of terrorism, war, pandemics, official orders.

10.3. We have set appropriate flat rate compensation, which is based on the period between receipt of the declaration of withdrawal and the start of the program, the expected savings in our expenses and the expected acquisition through other use of the services in a percentage ratio of the total price as follows:

Withdrawal from the conclusion of the contract up to the 60th day before the start of the program 10%, at least EUR 130.00
Withdrawal from the 59th to 35th day before the start of the program 30%, at least EUR 130.00
Withdrawal from the 34th to 21st day before the start of the program 50%
Cancellation from the 20th to 10th day before the start of the program 60%
Withdrawal from the 9th to 4th day before the start of the program 70%
Cancellation from the 3rd to 2nd day before the start of the program 80%
Withdrawal up to the 1st day before the start of the program 90%
Withdrawal on the day the program begins and in the event of no-show 100%

10.4. You are free to prove in a specific individual case that we incurred lower or no compensation costs.

10.5. We will refund any payments made on the program price that exceed the compensation to be paid. If we are obliged to make a refund as a result of a withdrawal, we will make the refund immediately after the withdrawal.

11. Withdrawal by Linguland, course cancellations

11.1. We reserve the right to withdraw from the contract before the start of the program if we are prevented from fulfilling the contract due to disruption of the basis of the transaction or force majeure within the meaning of Section 10.2 of these terms and conditions. We will declare the withdrawal immediately after becoming aware of the reason for the withdrawal. In this case, you are entitled to a refund of payments already made for the program, but not to any additional compensation.

11.2. If the minimum number of participants (section 4.2) is not reached, we are entitled to cancel the course without replacement or compensation. We will inform you immediately as soon as it becomes apparent that the minimum number of participants cannot be reached. We will immediately refund any payments already made, unless you wish to take part in another equivalent course (“substitute course”) for which we can offer capacity. In this case, payments already made will be offset against the costs of the replacement course. Overpayments will be refunded to you immediately.

11.3. Together with the cancellation due to failure to reach the minimum number of participants, we can offer you a comparable course or a course with a reduced number of participants, number of hours or group size (“lesson consolidation”). You can accept the offer to condense lessons within the period stated in the offer, usually 3 days. If you do not accept the offer, the course is considered canceled. The reimbursement of payments already made is based on Section 11.2.

12. Exclusion of the participant from the contractual services

12.1. If you violate your contractual obligations or disrupt the program to such an extent that it is unreasonable for us to continue the contractual relationship after we have unsuccessfully warned you, we reserve the right to exclude you from further contractual services. This decision is made taking into account all the circumstances of the individual case and weighing up the interests of both parties, in particular our duties of protection and care towards other participants.

12.2. In this case, we retain the right to the program price, taking into account the value of saved expenses, reimbursements or services from other uses of the service. Costs for any early return transport that may be required will be borne by you.

13. Limitation of liability

13.1. We are liable for damage caused by intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty, as well as for damage due to injury to life, body or health. This also applies to intentional or grossly negligent breaches of duty by our legal representatives and vicarious agents.

13.2. In the case of slightly negligent breach of duty, we are only liable for breach of essential contractual obligations that are necessary for the proper fulfillment of the contract and on whose compliance you can rely. Our liability is limited to the damage that was foreseeable and typical for the contract at the time the contract was concluded, but at most to the full amount of the program price. This also applies to slightly negligent breaches of duty by our legal representatives and vicarious agents. The above limitation of liability does not apply to damages due to injury to life, body or health.

13.3. We are not liable for damages in connection with third-party services provided by third parties if these third parties clearly do not provide contractually agreed services from us and these services were selected separately. However, liability exists if and to the extent that we violate our own information, information or organizational obligations.

14. Reference to the complaint procedure via online dispute resolution

The European Commission provides an online dispute resolution (OS) platform for consumers, which you can find here: https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. We do not take part in a voluntary dispute resolution procedure before a consumer arbitration board and are not obliged to do so.

15. Data protection

We process and use the personal data you provide electronically to the extent this is necessary to execute the contract. All personal data will be processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data, on the free movement of such data and repealing the Directive 95/46/EC) and processed in accordance with other applicable data protection regulations. Further information on how we handle personal data can be found in our data protection declaration.

16. Applicable law, final provisions

16.1. This contractual relationship, including the manner in which it comes into being and all rights and obligations resulting from it, is subject to German law if you have your habitual residence in Germany, another EU member state or Switzerland. In this case, the mandatory protective regulations of the country in which you have your habitual residence remain applicable, unless you are acting in the exercise of your commercial or independent professional activity, i.e. as a consumer (see section 2.7). If you do not have your habitual residence in a member state of the EU or Switzerland, the law at our place of business in Germany applies exclusively.

16.2. Should individual provisions of these contractual provisions be wholly or partially invalid or unenforceable, this will not affect the effectiveness of the remaining provisions.

Your contractual partner is: Linguland Languages GmbH
Kortumstr. 56, 44787 Bochum (Germany)
Authorized management: María Castro Blázquez
Commercial register: HRB 11382, Bochum District Court
VAT ID number: DE261681275
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://de.linguland.com
Telephone: +49 (0) 234 68 70 98 0