A great experience to live independently and learn to navigate Mainz Past Review
By A student (Middlebury College) - abroad from 10/09/2017 to 02/09/2018 with
Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury in Mainz
It was definitely worthwhile as I learned a lot from being away from home, being in a foreign country, and from improving my language skills.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Very difficult to integrate with local culture on account of the German education system not being a very immersive environment |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
It is hard for me to choose the same program because the German education system, through no fault of the program, is not the kind of system in which I flourish. It was good for me to learn that since I didn't know it beforehand, but I need a program with more class hours, more immersion, and knowing that another time around would affect my choice. |
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) |
It was affordable to live, but attempting to travel and do extracurriculars made budgeting difficult. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | 15-30 euro depending on the week |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Plan your traveling beforehand and bring lots of snacks when you travel so you are never caught needing to buy expensive meals. Any memberships you need, buy them early so that you get the most value out of them. |
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 |
The program was understandable that we could not speak German 100% of the time, but also encouraged us to speak. Unfortunately, the German school system meets so infrequently, that some days I would go without hearing any substantial German. You really have to make an effort to seek out the language because class happens so little. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | I had completed three 300-level courses |
| 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? | Do lots of activities with Germans. If you play sports, do sports and join early! |
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? | How to write and research a longer research paper. I wish I had also been able to do an internship, but was not told I needed to apply in advance to secure a spot. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Popmusic as Poetry |
| Course Department: | Comparative Literature |
| Instructor: | Sascha Seiler |
| Instruction Language: | German |
| Comments: | Very interesting topic, but relatively low involvement. The professor was not very interested in giving me any extra time or suggesting any additional resources for my paper, although he was very open to me researching a topic he did not know about. I participated when possible on account of the small class size. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | none |
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Guenther Anders |
| Course Department: | German |
| Instructor: | Johannes Ullmeier |
| Instruction Language: | German |
| Comments: | This class was extremely challenging, filled with difficult reading and rigorous discussion. My German was not on the correct level for this class an although the professor was supportive of my research, was prepared in class, and knowledgeable, it was difficult to understand much of the course. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | none |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Contemporary Trauma: Postmemory and Violence |
| Course Department: | German |
| Instructor: | Dagmar von Hoff |
| Instruction Language: | German |
| Comments: | The professor was well prepared and often had interesting topics for class discussion. However, the expectations for prior knowledge made the class difficult to engage with. Since there are no readings in Lectures in Germany, the professor would occasionally assume that we had read an entire book that we had not. These expectations made it difficult to engage the material. Additionally, the professor was not supportive of my research paper and did not want to work with me. She was not communicative to the point where I had to email her multiple times and by the time she responded, it was too late to drop her course and take another, meaning we were both forced to accommodate my presence in the class despite me trying to contact her for weeks. |
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