Fantastic Study Abroad Experience in Germany! Past Review
By Harsh Kumar Verma (King's College London) - abroad from 06/03/2018 to 07/14/2018 with
FUBiS - International Summer and Winter University
I am convinced that my true academic calling is still towards Meister Eckhart, but through the path of a Germanist rather than as a theologian.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The FUBiS experience was fantastic. It is a great opportunity to live abroad, and immerse yourself in Berlin's sphere of culture, and language. The courses are truly informative, and provide thorough grounding in grammar, and offer ample opportunity for speaking practice in, and out of the classroom. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The staff were easy to approach, and accessible. They are located in an office by the entrance to the corridor leading to the classrooms, and so cannot be missed. I did make a few enquiries to the office, and they were all dealt with quickly, and quietly. Equally, after nearly a whole year's worth of emailing, the FUBiS team still never seemed to tire of me, and so I thank them very much for their patience. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I got a chance to live with a very wise couple who did want the best for me, and did look after me during my stay. Equally, the location was upmarket but representative of Berlin, and was a decent distance away from the university. |
| * Food: |
My hosts cooked an international cuisine, and Berlin street food is otherwise great, but the Mensa is far from the greatest for a culinary adventure. Although, it is an affordable student diner, and so cannot be faulted for succeeded in feeding the student population of the university. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
N/A |
| * Safety: |
The staff did plenty to brief us on safety before, during, and after we enrolled, and throughout the induction process. Berlin is otherwise a safe city to study in. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
The progress I made in German is amazing, and to reproduce those results with further attendance will exponentially improve my mastery of the language. |
Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | c. £50 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Get a Metro bank account for their zero percent charge on non Sterling transactions in Europe. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
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| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Beginner |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | N/A |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Introduce yourself to the technical language of grammar at a cursory level before you enrol, that way you can prepare yourself for the scrutinising you will need to do in understanding German, but also the grammar underlying English. |
Direct Enrollment/Exchange
| * Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? | Direct Enrollment |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Budget more stringently, but that was never a problem during my studies. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
German A1 Intensive |
| Course Department: | FUBiS |
| Instructor: | David Gosselin |
| Instruction Language: | English/German |
| Comments: | David is a legend. He organised the programme according to powerpoints that contained that class's material, and enabled self study at home. Likewise, each grammatical topic learned was supported by generous access to David during, and after class, but also through email. During my studies with David, I had ample opportunity to ask any questions I wanted, or to experiment with grammar without judgement for my errors. Further, David made the classroom environment welcoming, and a safe space to try out our spoken language skills. On that same point, David organised field trips for our class that enabled us to test our German in the real world i.e., when we had to navigate to an assigned destination by asking strangers on the streets of Berlin to give us directions. It is by the tutoring of David that I have the strength I do with the German language. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | N/A |
