Short Term Volunteer Projects in Germany (1-13 Weeks)

I’m a teacher from Australia who is looking to semi-retire in a few years from now. I was able to take 3 months leave without pay from my college to mix some travel with volunteer work, doing what I love.

My two week program at the Excellence Centre has been exactly what I’d hoped for: the opportunity to meet and work with people from other parts of the world, who have either temporarily or permanently settled in Halle (Salle).

The team at the Excellence Centre is a great mix of people, working under the guidance of Rafat. Our shared breakfast every morning is warm and welcoming. Rafat’s cooking is delicious and completely different from what I’d usually have at home. The team of volunteers develop friendships over breakfast and discuss their day ahead. Plans are made for evenings and weekends.

Halle (Salle) is a beautiful city. I had planned to travel to Berlin for my weekends, but decided against it as there is so much to do, both here and in nearby Leipzig. The public transport system is efficient and many places of interest are within walking distance. There’s a lot of local and international cuisine to try and Halle has many coffee shops.

I have had the pleasure of working with a number of students: some teens on summer break; some young ones about to commence their university studies; and some young professionals seeking to develop their careers with yet another language. All had a high level of English already. These students were from various places: Syria, Palestine and Ukraine.

Sometimes my small groups met at the Centre and worked together there. Sometimes we visited our favourite cafes, to drink coffee and have conversations in less formal settings. Adult students know what they want to work on, so sessions can be student led. Most wanted English conversations but some also wanted to conference their essays and CVs. Interactive grammar activities from free online quiz websites were fun and lively. Students’ errors make for handy teachable moments. The Centre has wifi so we could use very short films for discussion. Students quickly began bringing their own YouTube clips for class

I chose Arabic as the language in which to receive some instruction as part of my program. It seemed to me to be a more useful language for my Australian context. I’m an absolute beginner. Ali was an excellent teacher. (Sh’kran, Ali) I now know a few greetings and useful phrases to use. I also learned a lot about the Arabic alphabet and culture.

I’d recommend the Excellence Centre to anyone who wants to spend time learning and teaching languages in less familiar surrounds. I’m sad to be finishing. I’ve really enjoyed my two weeks here. It’s been a very positive experience.

Thank you Rafat and your special team!

To begin my review, I would like to talk about my arrival to the center. When I first arrived, I was confused, they were very helpful in making sure I could find the center. My accommodation was very nice and clean. My first day volunteering, I was very nervous, but the other volunteers were extremely kind and welcoming, it wasn’t very hard to fit in with everyone. The breakfast was different from what I was used to, but it was delicious, and you could tell that they put in a lot of work preparing it. The excellence center provides a great amount of freedom to the volunteers, personal and in the classroom. The personal freedom that I was allowed, gave me the opportunity to explore Halle. I thought about the classroom freedom that I was given, and it made me feel uneasy because I have never taught and some structure would have been nice, however this gave me the chance to become a more confident person. Doing the work myself will help me prepare for when I move into a teaching position after I complete my time volunteering. When it comes to acquiring students, I will say that the process was a bit unorganized. I wouldn’t say that it was the fault of the center but rather how the volunteers handled transferring students. However, I do wish that there was a better way of scheduling classes. For example, there could be a board somewhere in the room and we make our schedules based on the available time slots. That way no one is looking for a place to teach when the classrooms are occupied. I did like when we played sports and the special goodbyes we did to fellow volunteers, I just wished we played more sports before we started the day. I found that exercising before sitting down and doing work made me more focused and in a better mood. Overall, I found this 2-week experience to be very fun and rewarding. There were more positives than negatives and I would definitely recommend this program to others.

This was an excellent opportunity at an excellent centre to engage with Ukrainian and Syrian refugees. My lessons ranged from proofreading and job interview assistance to A1 lessons. Everyone in the programme was kind and helpful.

I spent two weeks at the Excellence Center and it was a wonderful experience. I wish I had stayed here for longer!
I took part in the Teach English and Study German programme, which was a great way of improving my German while simultaneously developing new skills as a teacher. Working closely with my Syrian and Ukrainian students allowed me to learn a lot about new cultures and the experiences of refugees in Europe. It was very rewarding to help students of all levels to converse in English, and to see their great improvement after only two weeks of working with them was very impressive. The majority of my students were enthusiastic and willing to learn from me, and we had a lot of fun in the lessons doing different English language exercises and games. I enjoyed creating lesson plans and learning how best to teach each specific student. We had a lot of freedom to format the lessons in whatever way we wanted. I also worked with one student online, who wrote some articles for me to read and correct, which were really interesting to read. Teaching English at the Center taught me to view language from a different perspective, and made me notice the nuances of English in a way which I have never previously experienced.
I chose the non-intensive German course, so I had a total of six German lessons with Muaz. He is possibly the best German teacher I have ever had. I really enjoyed these lessons, which helped to drastically improve my German. He gave us a lot of fun exercises and activities to do in class, which created a very comfortable and welcoming atmosphere where I wasn’t afraid to make mistakes while speaking German. These lessons were extremely beneficial and I learned a lot about different German dialects and slang words which I had not previously known about. Our lessons were also informative on wider topics such as the history and culture of Germany as we discussed current events and topical issues.
One of things I really enjoyed about coming to the Excellence Center was having the opportunity to get to know the city of Halle (Saale). The city is perfect to spend a few weeks in; the town centre is walkable with lots of interesting architecture, and there a lot of nice cafes, restaurants and bars. It also has a great public transport system which is very reliable. Here I lived with a Syrian host family, who provided me with a nice bedroom in their apartment.
My favourite thing about this programme was the ethos at the Center. From the day I arrived I felt welcomed and accepted by everyone. My other volunteers and staff at the Center truly began to feel like family, and I am sad to have to say goodbye to them! Having breakfast at the Center every morning was always a highlight of my day, as it allowed us to catch up and chat with everyone (while eating some really delicious food!). Rafat has been extremely accommodating and is always ready to help if you have any issues. I am also very grateful to Ali for introducing me to his circle of friends and other Erasmus students, who were all very kind people. I feel privileged to have met such interesting and bright people from around the world, with which I was able to create deep connections within such a short period of time!
Overall, I had an amazing experience at the Excellence Center and I would highly recommend for anyone who is interested in languages to come here. I really enjoyed studying German here, and I would definitely consider coming back (possibly to study Arabic!). I will never forget the unique experience I had here and all of the wonderful people I have met.

My time at the Excellence Center was full of new experiences that I will be able to carry with me for years. I would recommend the center for anyone looking to study German or Arabic, and to those who are interested in teaching English. Four weeks wasn’t enough and I hope I will have the opportunity to participate in the center’s programs again in the future.

My coworkers acted as a network of people who could both help me prepare for lessons and who I could socialize with after work. It was really amazing being able to meet so many bright people from around the world and to learn from their experiences. Our shared love of foreign language and culture brought us together, and I was lucky to have countless conversations about shared interests with them. The shared experience of teaching also brought us together and made it easy to get to know the other volunteers. In the evenings, I enjoyed eating dinner and exploring Halle almost every night with my friends, as well as making weekend trips to Dresden and Thale. I was especially thankful to Ali and Lord who were very inclusive of us in their social circles in Halle. Thanks to them, I was able to meet some Halle locals and practice more German. They were also willing to answer any questions we had about the program or the area. Last, I appreciated having breakfast everyday together at the center. I’m going to miss the food!

The experience of teaching English to refugees was fulfilling and I learned a lot from the experience. As volunteer teachers are completely in control of their classes, I was able to decide on my own what content to teach. I liked this because it allowed me to practice planning my own lessons. Getting to know my students and hearing their stories was one of the best things that came out of the experience for me. The only thing I wish I could change was the number of classrooms in the center, as it can be difficult to teach lessons in the common area when there are no free classrooms. Also, expect to find your own teaching materials online (ask your coworkers if they have any good resources!).

Learning German was also a great experience with our teacher Muaz. Although I’ve studied German for years, Muaz is one of the best teachers (if not the best) I’ve learned from. He really has a knack for teaching and I enjoyed our one-on-one lessons. Whether you are in one-on-one or group lessons depends on your level and the level of the other participants at the time. I had one week of one-on-one (including a field trip) and two weeks of small group lessons (3-4 students).

My accommodation, organized by the center, was a room with a German-Syrian family and was very comfortable. I wasn’t sure what to expect until I arrived, but I was pleased. I had to share the room with another volunteer for the first week, but after that I had it all to myself which was nice. Overall, I definitely recommend the Excellence Center, and if you have any questions about the program, don’t hesitate to contact the staff. Rafat will do everything he can to make sure your stay in Halle is comfortable.

I arrived at the Excellence Center almost four weeks ago and the time has flown by. I’ve been very lucky to meet so many amazing people, both volunteers and students, and I have found my first teaching experience to be very rewarding. I’ve also thoroughly enjoyed living in Halle, which is a very nice size and is close to a number of other interesting cities.
I had a great introduction to the programme when I was met at the train station by Ali and then joined him and Lord for a meal on Rafat’s balcony. I then met some other volunteers that I would be living with for a few days (sleeping on the sofa) before moving to a different flat. It was a very comfortable and spacious sofa and the flat was well located, so I didn’t mind. The flat I then moved to was very comfortable and also in a great location, and Thomas was a very thoughtful and friendly host that I would recommend to anyone.
My day-to-day life at the centre was very pleasant, not least because all of my fellow volunteers were really lovely. The atmosphere around the centre was really fun and relaxed and I felt like I was a part of the group from the very beginning. Ali has his finger on the pulse in Halle and he often invited us to events or just to hang out at the park which I really appreciated! The other staff are also great – Lord, Rafat, Muaz and Radwan were always really helpful and easy to talk to. The shared breakfast was always a nice way to start the day and catch up with volunteers who you may not have been able to chat to during the busier days. The brunches and dinners were also a lot of fun and really solidified the sense of community at the centre as well as being a nice way to say goodbye to departing members of the team.
My programme included a total of twelve 45-minute German lessons. The lessons themselves were really good and quite varied, so I enjoyed them a great deal. Muaz is a great teacher and I enjoyed diving back into German after a year or so of not speaking any. All I would say is that for 300 euros per week a few more classes would have been nice, but of course I knew how many hours I was signing up for.
I was teaching 10 hours of classes per week, which was quite manageable. My students were all really nice and were a pleasure to teach and meet. I hope I can stay in touch with some of them when I go back to the UK. The “Teaching at the Excellence Center” PDFs provide some great ideas for activities, especially for bigger classes and so were a valuable resource. I have made some resources while I was here that I was quite pleased with, and I know many volunteers go to a lot of effort making teaching resources, so something that I think would be good would be a Google Drive (or physically printed resource) where volunteers can share their resources with each other and with future volunteers. Additionally, while I felt very comfortable teaching adults who are slightly more engaged and know what they want, I did feel slightly less well-equipped to teach children and some kind of quick training in this area might be good going forwards to prepare volunteers, although I appreciate arranging something like this isn’t easy. The freedom to organise my own timetable was really appreciated as it allowed me to make time for myself in the evenings or give myself a long weekend to get out of Halle and see the country. On the whole I found the teaching to be a very valuable experience for me and I hope that I was helpful for my students.
The past month has been a lot of fun for me and I’m really glad I made the decision to come to Halle. I expect that I will follow in the footsteps of some of my predecessors and find myself in town again in the future, in which case it’ll be nice to catch up with the staff here. I’d like to thank everyone at the centre for making my time in Halle so great! I’ll remember my time at the Excellence Center very fondly.

My name is Lord Dunmore, and I am delighted to be back in Halle for the second time to immerse myself in the study of German and teach English at the esteemed Excellence Center! Just like the last time, I chose to visit during the summer, and this time around, it has been an even more enriching experience! The warm and welcoming atmosphere of the Excellence Center embraces you wholeheartedly, making you feel at home every single day, and I cannot wait to meet and connect with all the other dedicated volunteers.

One of the key reasons for my eagerness to return was the incredible director, Rafat. Not only is he highly professional and efficient, but he also knows how to infuse the center with an element of excitement and joy. His unwavering commitment to accommodate everyone's needs is commendable, and the mouth-watering food he prepares for us is nothing short of extraordinary. Collaborating with Rafat was undoubtedly the highlight of my time here, and I am certain that I would eagerly do it again without hesitation.

Let me also share with you my admiration for Muaz, a fascinating individual I've had the pleasure of meeting. His vast knowledge and unwavering dedication to his students are truly inspiring. Muaz takes a genuine interest in each student, meeting them at their level, and creating an environment that encourages learning and growth. Under his guidance, my proficiency in German has flourished, and I have become significantly more confident in expressing myself. For this, I am profoundly grateful.

Another remarkable person I encountered at the Excellence Center is Radwan. Focused and approachable, Radwan is a delightful conversationalist, and it was a pleasure to engage in thought-provoking discussions with him. Reconnecting with him brought back fond memories, and I cherished every moment spent in his company.

But of course, my joy wouldn't be complete without the presence of my best friend, Ali. His helpful nature extends not only to me but to all the volunteers. Together, we embarked on countless memorable adventures and engaged in deep, meaningful conversations. His genuine hospitality is an integral part of the heartwarming atmosphere that defines the Excellence Center.

Reflecting on my time here, I cannot stress enough what a fantastic decision it was to spend my summer engaged in meaningful activities at the Excellence Center. If circumstances allowed, I would eagerly remain here indefinitely, relishing the joy of meeting new volunteers, forging new friendships, and reuniting with familiar faces. The feeling of belonging and camaraderie fills me with immense gratitude, and it is undoubtedly a driving force that compels me to return to Halle in the future.

In conclusion, my experience at the Excellence Center has been nothing short of transformative. The knowledge gained, the connections formed, and the memories created are invaluable treasures that I will carry with me throughout my life's journey. I am indebted to this remarkable place and its wonderful people, and I eagerly anticipate my next visit to this warm and welcoming community in Halle.

After taking a 14-hour flight across half the earth to Halle, I spent three weeks at the Excellence Center. I am truly grateful to all the members here for making me feel so welcomed and making my time here filled with happiness. Though being a teacher for the first time was challenging initially, I gained more confidence as I worked on and figured out the more effective methods for teaching English. This study and work abroad experience has been incredibly amazing.
Thanks to all the intelligent and motivated members here who supported me during my time here. All the encouragement and guidance have been so invaluable, and I will carry the experiences and memories with me for a lifetime. This journey has not only enhanced my teaching skills but also broadened my understanding of different cultures and perspectives. I am truly fortunate to have been part of such a supportive and inspiring community. Thank you all once again for making this experience unforgettable.