Language skills really improved, but besides that not really fun. November 07, 2023
By A student (Middlebury College) - abroad from 03/20/2023 to 07/31/2023 with
Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury in Mainz
My language skills and language confidence both improved dramatically. I also had a lot of solo time to reflect on myself: my academic path, career future and personal goals. That being said, I wish that the program duration had not been a full 4 months/ had not lasted well into the summer.
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. |
I found the program to be academically very demanding. I had to write three research papers in German and spent most of my time in the library for the last two months of my stay, even though I was proactive during the first few weeks of my semester. I appreciated that the Middlebury Program provided tutors to help us with our homework, but I still struggled and spent a lot of time feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. I do hear, though, that the program is changing to make the academic workload more manageable for future semesters. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I did not have to interact directly with the admin from the University, my program leader took care of that, which wonderfully convenient! |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
They were fine. I had my own bathroom which was nice. |
| * Food: |
I cooked for myself. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I found it very hard to integrate with the local students, and spent most of my time with other Americans in my host program or other international exchange students. During the last two weeks or so of my stay I met some Germans, but did not feel like I developed roots in the city at all. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I did not have any healthcare experiences abroad. |
| * Safety: |
City felt safe |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
Academically, this program did not help me work towards my major or minor in the US. I was disappointed by the lack of real connection to my host community, and I was lonely a lot. |
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) |
I was able to live on my budget, but found that most fun activities in the city required me to spend money. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | 60-70 euros |
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 |
Program included a language pledge- basically we were not supposed to speak English at all with other program participants. |
| 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? | 400 |
| 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? | Writing really helped me practice. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? | 0 |
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? | I wish that someone had been honest with me about how much time I'd spend alone, how much time I'd spend on academics, and how challenging making friends would be. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Arthur Schnitzler's Plays |
| Course Department: | Germanistik |
| Instructor: | Yvonne Wolf |
| Instruction Language: | German |
| Comments: | Professor Wolf was wonderful and clearly very smart. I struggled a little bit to follow the lecture as the language was very academic and as a result did not participate as much as I did in other courses. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Youth Protest in 19-21C |
| Course Department: | Germanistik |
| Instructor: | Markus Raasch |
| Instruction Language: | German |
| Comments: | This was my favorite course that I took during my semester abroad. Professor Raasch was a great lecturer and often had us participate by working in small groups with our classmates. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
African Short Stories |
| Course Department: | Afrikanistik |
| Instructor: | Anja Oed |
| Instruction Language: | German |
| Comments: | Professor Oed did a great job of getting me and the other exchange student in the class involved in the discussions. One complaint would be that I brought a draft of my final paper to office hours and Prof Oed never took the time to look closely at it. She instead started telling me things that I should and should not include in the paper (many of which I hadn't) and I found it overwhelming. She also had me redo all of my citations because she wanted a citation format different from the one that the program had taught me. It felt arbitrary. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | I wanted to transfer this course for my English Lit major, since the stories were all originally written in English. I was barred from doing so because I wrote my final paper in German. |
