Universität Wien (UNIVIE)

I majored in German and International Business so I had been studying German for about 5 years before studying abroad. However, this was only in the classroom setting. I always got A's in German, but upon my arrival in Vienna, I realized I could hardly speak- it was not natural at all. Most people just switched to English with me in the beginning. I had to be very proactive in finding out how to say things by asking and shifting back to German as much as possible. If you do not do this, people will improve their English with you, and you will continue being a typical mono-lingual American- force yourself (and them) to speak Deutsch! By the end, I was fighting with my roommate in German:)- by the way, she was the best roommate I ever had- fighting happens in the best of relationships:)

All the courses (Industrial Economy, Macroeconomics, Public Finance..) were in English, I think it´s neccesary to speak English if you study Economics. Learning German was easy because every day I met many austrian students, in fact most of them were really interested in knowing more about my home culture and habits.

I must admit that I didn't make the best use of the chanche to speak German and I guess that's because I speak English very good so sometimes I just prefered to speak it,according to the situatin..A second reason is that Vienna is full of foreigners and erasmus student so..sometimes English was just the easiest way!

it is very hard to be active without the German Language. you must read and speak every day with any one when you have the chance. be sure that you are better than the others because you know their language and they do not know yours. try to be alwayse in connection with your study partners it will make your life easier

I studied level 1 and 2 in business German, this helped me to communicate with basic German. It also have me the will to continue my German studies in Australia. Austrian Students were always willing to talk a bit of German with me and help me improve it.

I had to interact much more in English than in German because I had only a few classes in German and all the exchange students spoke English or French....therefore, less need for me to speak German.