Preparation

As you will know by now, there are three mandatory methodology modules that all students will have to pass. Below you will find some information on how to prepare for two of those modules, Quantitative Methods and Programming for Linguistics (part of the Language Data Processing module). 

For the module "Quantitative Methods" the following knowledge of high school mathematics is required and has to be solid:

• Concept of spaces / number systems (e.g.,natural, rational and real numbers)
• Basic Functions: Linear, polynomial, exponential, logarithmic function
• Differential Calculus: Extreme values, derivatives, integrals
• Linear Algebra: Vectors, vector spaces, linear transformations, matrices, dot (scalar) product
• Probability Theory: Random variables, probability distributions (uniform, binomial, normal, exponential), joint and marginal distributions

Please make sure that you are adequately prepared for this module. 

Math Prep Course
The Institute of Mathematics offers a Vorkurs Mathematik für Natur- und Sozialwissenschaften" starting mid-August. For students who need to refresh their high school mathematics knowledge, this prep course is highly recommended.

In the course "Programming for Linguists" (part of the module "Language Data Processing") Python is taught as a programming language. Although it is taught from scratch, complete beginners may want to prepare by completing a Python tutorial. We recommend the following Python tutorial (chapters 1-12): Python for Everybody (PY4E)