Freie Universität Berlin (FU BERLIN)

I'm glad I was given the chance to practise and improve my German skills, to the point that I am now capable of working or studying at a German speaking enviroment

While I honed some language skills through living with a German family, the members of the family were not exceedingly social and remained mostly quiet during meals, leisure time, etc. The adults did not make much money as sustainable developers, and were terrible alcoholics. The histrionic behaviour of their two children demonstrated how neglected they felt by their parents. Yet, the location was great and by the end I was spending more time out in the city practicing German and less time at the home.

I spoke German pretty perfect before I went to Berlin, and I would have had great difficulties if I had not done it. There was never a lecture in any other language than German, and even in the dormatory there was nearly all the time German and not English.

I had an easy time, but I had lived in Germany for a year already. German is a difficult langauge, so be sure to interact with Germans as much as possible. Don't get lazy and speak your mother tongue. If you want to do that, you can stay at home.

German was a difficult language to learn while in Berlin. In retrospect, I should have learned basic words and phrases before I got to Berlin and furthered my studies once I was there. As an international city, most people in Berlin spoke English very well. As soon as locals heard my American accent, they imediatly spoke to me in English even if I attempted to speak in German. This became very frustrating. Language wasn't an issue at the University because classes were in English.

i really liked my apartment because i lived in a very nice part of Berlin.