IES Abroad Berlin

After four months in Berlin with IES, I can confidently say that I have found a new home in Berlin! Not only was the city itself a lively place to live as a student with countless concerts, exhibitions, parties, and other events going on every week, but my homestay was cozy and comfortable and my host family super kind, generous, and excited to chat and help me improve my German. In the case of any concerns or problems, the staff at IES was always available and willing to help, super approachable and friendly.

From an academic standpoint IES also exceeded expectations. I took only classes with IES (I wish I could have taken classes at Humboldt or Freie Universitat, but due to the German university schedule (fall/winter semester classes end in February) I could not), which worked well for me, as I prefer small seminar-style classes and being able to speak with and get to know my professors. The course load was manageable, and all of my professors were so friendly, funny, and smart. I actually wanted to go to class and learn from them. Above all, they were sympathetic to the fact that all of us were German students, not native speakers, and it was clear that they cared about our success. The student assistants at IES, all students at Humboldt, were available for tutoring sessions to help proofread assignments or simply to provide general advice and recommendations in Berlin. They were a great resource!

All of my classes also put an emphasis on using Berlin as a classroom, which meant lots of "field trips" and excursions to relevant museums and monuments, libraries and archives, or to theater performances. That was definitely a huge plus to being in Berlin, and one of the academic highlights for me.

On the whole, I would definitely recommend IES Berlin for anyone looking to improve their German and interested in really learning and getting to know this beautiful city. I will definitely be back!

My first study abroad experience with IES had been a phenomenal experience. As a German major, I wanted to improve my language speaking skills, however, I wasn’t ready to submerge myself into super German Bayern region. I fell in love with the city of Berlin because there was never a moment where I didn’t have anything to do. In addition, IES placed me in a very wonderful home-stay in Prenzlauer Berg. For courses, the IES program offered classes that were exciting and entertaining, such as Contemporary German films and Berlin Literature. With the literature class, I received full immersion to discuss texts verbally and write essays in German. From the beginning of my arrival to Germany, I went from not being able to ask for directions to conversing casually with the Döner stand owner about how his stand was my favorite place to get Döner and how I will miss it when I return to the US.

I did this program in Summer 2018 and can't say enough good things about the program. It was definitely life changing. I always thought it was cheesy when people came back from studying abroad and said this but it's so true! IES staff were great every step of the way as I navigated getting into courses that I needed, getting medication to Germany, and applying for financial aid. The host family with they paired me with was wonderful and quickly become like another family to me. All the stress that goes into studying abroad was quickly relieved by how well they support students.

My name is Emma Roach, and I am a German and Linguistics double major at University of Vermont. In Summer 2018, I had the pleasure of living and studying abroad in Berlin, Germany in IES Language and Culture program. While I had visited Berlin for a few days a couple years ago, nothing can compare to actually living in a foreign country. I spent 2 months this summer living in a homestay, taking classes, interacting with locals, and getting to know the city. Having never lived in a big city before, it was a bit of a shock for me at first, but I quickly fell in love with the city. Berlin has so much to offer in terms of culture, art, museums, music, food, and people. There’s no way to see it all in such a short time, but through my experience with IES, I was able to really make the most of my time there.
I came to Berlin already knowing German, which wasn’t necessarily true for everyone in our program - many students didn’t know the language at all, but IES offers multiple levels of intensive language classes, from beginner all the way to a literature class for those who already speak the language. I absolutely loved the literature class I took, because it was really focused on literature about the city, so we were able to actually see the places our readings talked about. This made our course really unique, and different from any other literature course I had taken before. By taking this course, and living with a woman who only spoke German, my German improved tremendously during my time there, even though I could already speak the language well. The fact that IES offers such a range of language classes really encourages every level of student to come there, and the professors really make the experience amazing.
I’ve always been a strong believer in studying abroad, and my experience with IES only strengthened this belief. I would always recommend to anyone to go study abroad, because it can truly open up a world of experiences that you never knew were possible. I can easily say that I grew so much during my time in Berlin with IES, and my abroad experience strengthened and inspired my desire to return to live in Germany one day. I would recommend IES for anyone interested in studying abroad, but especially for those who might be worried about a language barrier - the IES language courses, starting from the beginner level, can give you a really strong understanding of the language even in just a short time. IES is really helpful and understanding in all matters, and I’m incredibly happy that I got to have this experience with IES Abroad Berlin.

This program gave me the time of my life. I was able to live in the formal East side of Berlin with a former East German. I learned so much and the professors were great to work with, in fact my GPA went up while I was abroad and I was traveling around Europe. There is even an option of taking courses at Humboldt, which is one of the coolest things that this program offers. Plus I was able to make some really great friends in the program and outside of program. All and all this program is awesome and it was a great step for me to improve my German.

Study abroad was a life changing experience for me. I have always known that I wanted to visit Germany, but I did not know how much I would fall in love with it. Everywhere you look you see something different and full of history. The more time you spend in the area, the more you notice the little things full of meaning that are often overlooked. Leaving Germany was like a bad break-up and I would do anything to go back.

While Berlin was amazing, the icing on the cake was the IES Abroad-Berlin staff that made the experience so much better. They were very helpful in helping me with question about coming back to Germany to continue my studies in Biochemistry or pursue a career in Medicine. The teachers that I had were invested in helping us learn more about their culture and more about Germany as a whole. I would not trade this experience for anything as it helped me decide that if I had the opportunity to study or work in Germany, I would take it in a heartbeat.

I spent the entirety of the 2016/17 academic year in Berlin with the IES Language and Area Studies programme, and at the end of it my only complaint was that it wasn't longer! The classes offered by IES were all wonderful, taught by a great faculty, and I also really enjoyed the courses I took directly through the the local universities. The IES courses especially really made being in Berlin even more worthwhile. Learning about German literature and politics (to name just two examples) while actually being in the country made IES a complete experience.

One of the best things about IES for me was having the student centre right in the middle of Berlin. It was great having a place to meet up with other students and hang out between classes, and the location couldn't have been more conveniently located. I loved nothing more than getting out of class and walking a few blocks to the nearby park to have lunch. The staff at the centre were all wonderful. The few issues that did come up over the year were all easily handled and I never had a concern that should something go wrong, I would be on my own dealing with it.

I can't stress enough how amazing Berlin is as a city, and experiencing it through IES was one of the best years I've ever spent. I learned loads and greatly improved my German, worked an internship, and made many new friends. It was everything I hoped and more!

Let me start by saying: I became convinced over the course of my semester in Berlin that it's basically the best place in the world. It's a capital city, but without many of the things that ruin a capital city and make it boring and unlivable. It's cheap, young, political, and there's so much going on! It has amazing music coming through, really cool bars, beautiful and huge parks (so many for a large city!), and even multiple lakes not too far away to swim (some have real beaches). But in addition, the city also has so much history, including incredible museums, monuments, and memorials. All of this is not to say that Berlin is without problems, but you'll learn about those in your courses and become more attuned over time. None of it persuaded me to revise my opinion.

The IES Programme itself was also great. The people that work there were always available and helpful, whether with course questions or health insurance queries. I took half of my courses within the programme. I would especially recommend Multicultural Berlin with Sabine Berking-- I learned a lot about Berlin and Germany, and we took some awesome field trips to places around the city. (I also heard about many other trips from my friends in other courses.)
I would say that I did not feel hugely academically stretched by my IES courses, but they catered well to a wide range of German abilities, and if you are feeling more confident, there is an opportunity to take classes with ~real~ German students at Humboldt. This is something I would absolutely recommend. Though it was a little effort to make it work, it was definitely worth it to meet people outside the programme and feel like a real Berlin student. For this reason, if you are only going for one semester and it is an option for you, I would definitely recommend going in the spring, as the Humboldt semester doesn't line up particularly well with our semesters, and in the spring the extra couple months run into summer rather than your spring semester back in the US (I was in Berlin until the end of July). Plus it means that the weather only gets nicer and nicer while you are there!

Most of my friends in the programme lived in home-stays in the city, and it did seem that there was a real range in outcomes with that. I, personally, had an amazing experience and will probably meet up with my host mum whenever I return (hopefully soon). Others had more difficulties, which is tough for IES to solve, though they will talk things through with you. A couple other of my friends organised living arrangements outside of IES, and so lived alone or with other students, which is an option to consider if you're feeling very motivated.