University of Connecticut |
|
Learning a foreign language is a process; it takes time and requires regular study, continued effort, and constant practice. It also takes coordination with the faculty and program director, who contact you by e-mail. Please make sure you get an address during the first semester and check you e-mail frequently. Your hard work will pay off and generate a strong sense of achievement and elation when you can, for example, read German newspaper articles, write a business letter to a company in Germany, follow instructions at the workplace in Germany, or successfully communicate with your landlord in Germany. The instructors in the EUROTECH program will offer you pedagogically sound and technology-enhanced language classes, but it is really up to you to take full advantage of the learning environment inside and outside the classroom. EUROTECH students should aim for at least a "B" in the language classes. Take advantage of the German Club, coffee hours, German films and all other activities organized by the German Section so you have more opportunities to use your German and increase your speaking skills. Go see the German graduate assistants, they are there to help you! While the study abroad programs we work with only require minimal language preparation to become eligible, they have in place courses on location that will bring you up to speed so you can function in the other culture. For the internship abroad, however, we recommend that you complete three years of college-level German before you leave. If you haven't had this preparation, we strongly recommend that you take "Deutsch als Fremdsprache" (German as a Second Language) courses on location offered either by the local university or a language learning institute like the Goethe Institutes located in all major German cities. Ideally, you do this before you start working. The better you are in the language the more you will get out of your work experience. As it turns out, these courses are also often the best way to make friends in the new environment. When you start thinking about your internship abroad, it is also time for you to assess where you will be with your language skills by the time you leave. The German faculty will be happy to help you assess your language proficiency and make recommendations on how to improve it. If you need more language instruction before you can start work in Germany, there is also a lot you can find out yourself about what is offered in the place where you will work: Go to the web sites of the nearby universities and check under "Deutsch als Fremdsprache" to find out what language courses are offered. This information might also be found under "Sprachzentrum" or "Sprachenzentrum" or even "Zentrales Sprachzentrum." Check out the web site of the Goethe Institute (www.goethe.de) to see what they have to offer in the city in which you will work. Most likely, there will also be commercial language schools nearby. Finally, most German cities have "Volkshochschulen", abbreviated as "VHS", non-profit adult education institutes that offer a variety of courses at night including German as a Second Language, so this would be something you could do parallel to your internship. Upon your return, you can sign up to take exams offered by the Goethe Institutes in Boston and New York. These exams lead to certificates like the "Mittelstufenprüfung" (intermediate exam) or the "Zertifikat Deutsch für den Beruf" (German for the Professions) and the most demanding "Zertifikat Deutsch als Wirtschaftssprache" (German for Business). You will need to pay a fee, but these certificates carry a lot of weight as they are standardized, centrally administered certificates recognized by all German companies and institutions. Again, go to www.goethe.de to find out more about exam times, requirements etc. The German faculty will be able to tell you which ones you will likely be able to pass. |