German Exchange

[whiteflare]

I'm thinking of wether I should apply. It would be a good experience, but I suck at language and the host family wouldn't be able to understand anything I say

Is Germany a good place to go? I'm thinking primarily of the snow, which I haven't seen for a very long time.

 

[BrattishTaz]

I wanted to be an exchange student in Germany when I was in high school. I didn't speak the language either. It turned out to be very expensive and my parents said "no".

I have always wondered what it would have been like.

 

[whiteflare]

I am in my fourth year of learning German. I'm not too bad, but i certainly do not know enough German to be able to hold a normal conversation.

It's just under $5,000 for nine weeks here. Mostly flights, living with the host family cuts down on the costs drastically.

 

[BrattishTaz]

With four years of German, you will be able to communicate better than you think. I slept through 2 years of Spanish class

and didn't think I had learned a thing. My hubby and I bought a house in Mexico and I found I could speak quite a bit.

I say if you have the opportunity....take it. It will be a great experience!

 

[whiteflare]

Thanks. I feel better about it now... usually we watch German movies when our teacher's at a meeting, and none of us ever understand a thing except the girl with the German background

German words find themselves slipping into my daily vocabulary quite a lot. It comes from having to repeat exercises on sentence structure so many times

Usually about who feels like drinking hot chocolate and eating pizza Margherita. (I think that was Nick, but it might also have been Max...)

I've just photocopied the forms and signed them.

I guess that's it then.

 

[SourRoses]

I hope you get to!
Someone on here recently mentioned spending time there while her husband was deployed... it sounded so wonderful!
It's great to be young and go off on an adventure!
Go for it!

 

[whiteflare]

Yeah, I've always been a big fan of adventure

Going somewhere new where you don't know anybody? Gee, there just seems to be some kind of appeal in that!
I'm probably not going to take a gap year before Uni, so this'd be a good time to get away.

 

[welsummerchicks]

Germany would be a wonderful place to go as an exchange student!

It is better though if you learn the language before you go as you will be going to school while there!

As far as learning a new culture, the German culture isn't that different from ours, just different enough to be a lot of fun.

 

[SillyChicken]

I had 2 yrs of German MANY years ago. I went to Austria a couple years ago, and I remembered enough German that I could drive myself around the country and still find my way back to my room eveynight. Most people speak English across the pond so I doubt you'd have any problems. Besides, I found that most people are pretty gracious when you're trying to speak their language and will be helpful. Sometimes total emersion can help you learn a language real quick!

Other than the cost, I certainly wouldn't let not knowing the language 100% stop me from going! If you can swing it financially, go for it!

 

[greyhorsewoman]

My daughter spend a year of 'college' in Germany. She had taken several years of German in high school and it did help, but with different 'dialects' she still had a lot to learn. Most Germans can speak English as a second language. While this wouldn't apply to you, it turned out all my daughter's roomies were from OTHER countries (Italy and Japan are two I remember) so it was always a challenge communicating. She really enjoyed it.