Getting to Europe for Education

There are many ways to go about getting to Europe for the purpose of education.  The first thing you must ask yourself is: How long do I want to be there?

• Seminars.  The Goethe Institut (https://www.goethe.de/en/) is an organization that exists for the sole purpose of teaching foreigners German.  There are "local" branches in several countries, including several in the United States, but one can also apply for a scholarship to take a seminar in Germany.  You'll have to pay for the flight/travel to the seminar, but the room and board during the seminar will be taken care of, and you may end up with some of the travel being refunded (there is a maximum, and this seems to be different for each seminar and change every year).  Seminars generally last two weeks, but some may be longer. In the application, you select three seminars you're interested in.  If you're chosen, you'll be registered for one of those.  I ended up with a seminar called Deutsch for Lehrer, which was taught in Schwäbisch Hall.  (I may or may not have selected it for convenient visiting of my host family in Waiblingen!)

• Austria has a similar program: The Austrian Cultural Forum.  (http://www.acfny.org)  They only have two branches in the States (New York and DC), so I only know of it because of my love of conferences.  I won a raffle that was a free seminar through the Austrian Cultural Forum.  I had a choice between some seminars (somewhere between 3 and 5) and I had to prioritize the top three I was interested in.  I ended up with a comparison between Dorf and Stadt: Drosendorf and Wien.  I spent a week in Drosendorf, which is near the border with Czech and then finished the seminar in Wien. 

• Semester/Academic Year abroad.  If you are studying at a university in the States, chances are you have an opportunity to study abroad.  Most schools have programs in Germany, especially in the major universities such as Heidelberg.  Not as many seem to have programs in Austria, though there is a New England program, and I went through the program at Bowling Green State University.  All undergraduate German majors go for either one semester or a full year, and all graduate students in German stay the full year.  Our program is with the University of Salzburg, so that's where my college experience is.  (I started writing more about this and realized quickly that this needs to be its own blog... Stay tuned.)

• Study Abroad.  By this I mean *all* of college.  It's possible, but not many Americans think of it.  You have to apply directly to the universities, so the first step is figuring out where you want to live and what you want to study.  Many universities have programs with several courses taught in English, so you could seek that out too.  German universities differ greatly from those in the States.  In the states if you're getting your bachelor's degree, you should expect two years' worth of basic and breadth courses.  The reasoning?  A well-rounded education and people insisting you don't know what you want to do with your life yet.  Did I change my major? Absolutely.  Would I have decided how to go about it without those breadth classes?  You'd better believe it.  In Germany, Gymnasium students have already started focusing towards their major in the last couple of years of their studies, so at the university level, you end up with four years' worth of what you're going to be doing with your life. (Is this sounding a little biased?  It probably does - I don't hide my opinion of the need for basic and breadth very well...)  I didn't go this route, but it's getting easier and easier to make it happen.  Just don't forget to get your Visa!