Vietnam (196), Bulgaria (160) and Russia (154). The university is also quite popular among Central and East European countries such as the neighboring Czech Republic or Ukraine. Also, through the Erasmus programme and partnerships with universities in the USA, there are many English-, French- and Spanish-speaking students. The language spoken during lessons is nearly always German on most faculties. To prepare for admissions to the university, many foreign students attend German language courses at the university-affiliated language school . International students interested in TU Dresden should visit the websites of the Akademisches Auslandsamt (International office) for more information. This office is responsible for handling international applications. At the end of 2011, 13.7% of beginning students came from abroad. A number of activities for international students facilitates their integration and help students to find new friends. Most notably the Erasmus-Initiative TU Dresden offers many group activities throughout the semester which are open to all students (not only to Erasmus participants). A student-run program, the LinkPartnerProgramm matches every interested international student with a German student, to help him or her with questions arising during the first weeks, be it regarding course registration or any other issue students might have. Leisure activities Sports are very popular among the TUD students. There are eight big students' clubs and the summer campus party is considered to be the biggest in Germany. There are cafeterias as at most universities and the largest refectory can compete with some restaurants even as far as menu size. Performing arts ensembles Among the many groups at the TU Dresden are four major ensembles. These four include the theater group which has a small ensemble directed by professionals, and the folk dance group which is dedicated to reviving regional styles of dance. The last two groups are the largest by far and these are the university choir and the university orchestra, both having student and non-student members of all ages. In 1997 a part of the university orchestra branched off into a chamber ensemble, becoming the , and since it consists almost exclusively of students the ensemble rehearses and performs only during the academic year. Each of these major ensembles performs an average of one to four times per semester. These performances often take place in Saxony but also occasionally internationally. Funding The university is currently developing new strategies to make itself more independent from state funding and decision making. With