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

I’m Jessica, I’m 20 years old and I’m from the UK. I studied Arabic and taught English in Halle at the Excellence centre for 4 weeks and really loved my time here!
I met so many inspiring and interesting people throughout from so many different backgrounds. The atmosphere

in the centre is always welcoming and generous spirited, you quickly feel part the family.
Halle is a really beautiful and open city to be in with lots of great parks and great public transport system.
I would definitely recommend the excellence centre to anyone thinking of coming, I have made some amazing memories and will miss it so much!
Thank you!!

Hello My name is Lord Dunmore, I'm from California and I found this program online. I've been with the Excellence Center of Europe for about 2 months, and in that time I've met so many incredible people and had an unforgettable experience! My time at the center was absolutely fantastic and full of opportunities to learn especially with my German instructor Muaz and all my classmates. During my time here, I instructed 4 students in English and 1 in Germany, coaching them with language and helping them become more confident in themselves when they speak. We have also Taken some trips to see Leipzig, Berlin, and Thalle, all very wonderful locations. All of the volunteers in Excellence Center were wonderful to meet and I enjoyed all of their company inside Center and outside as well, since Halle gives many chances to relax and find fun activities, it was always a pleasure to have them with and not be completely alone in a different country. The Excellence Center gives a very warm and welcoming environment. Everyone was so helpful and accepting and I never felt left out or alone, and I've made many very close and unforgettable friends that I hope to remain close to. Immediately when I arrived I met Ali, who guided me to the Center, showed me to my accommodation, and became one of my best friends since I've been here. All of the staff at the Excellence Center are phenomenal, Radwan is very helpful and outgoing. Though Radwan is more on the quiet side, he's very competitive when it comes to playing soccer and we always have a good time. Salma is absolutely amazing, she is so sweet and outgoing! As soon as I met her I felt so taken care of and appreciated and I immediately felt apart of the family. Rafat is one of the best managers I've worked with because the establishment and the environment he created is friendly, loving, welcoming, as well as professional and this made me want to come in and volunteer everyday. Halle is absolutely beautiful and coming from California, I can say one of the most convenient, and beautiful cities I've stayed in, and I would even consider living there. My students were wonderful and very eager to learn and teaching was on of the most enjoyable parts of the program. My German instructor Muaz was not only a very skilled, effective, professional teacher but a fantastic friend and added to my experience a great deal and I feel I have a much better grasp on the German language because of his efforts. I would definitely recommend this to people with a passion for German culture and language, Halle is a safe place to stay and the Excellence Center provides instructors who are dedicated and an environment that is encouraging. I also want to mention my fellow volunteers who became like family to me and gave me an unforgettable experience. The Excellence Center of Europe was an excellent choice for me and I hope any one considering this program will come to Halle and see for themselves what a wonderful group of people are waiting for them!

I had an incredible time at the Excellence Center, where I did the intensive spoken Arabic course for a duration of six weeks. My Arabic improved considerably, and the instruction and staff support was unmatched. I wish I could have stayed longer, and I would say to anyone coming to the center that at least four weeks minimum is necessary if you are in an intensive language course here. The class sizes are very small, which is a huge plus!

I met the most generous, kind, and welcoming people at the Center, and one of the Center's greatest strengths is its small size - the result of it is that everyone knows everyone and it truly becomes a small family where everyone is made to feel they belong. I cannot recommend this program enough for those interested in a life-changing language learning experience!

The only downside of my time in Halle at the Excellence Center was that I only stayed one week! Moaz was a fantastic teacher who brought kindness and energy to all of his Arabic lessons. Sharing breakfast with the other students and dinner with my host mother were highlights. I will never forget how hard my host mother and I laughed in the evenings while she attempted to teach me to say the speech sounds of Arabic! Rafat makes everyone feel very welcome and included. I would recommend this program to young and old alike.

I made many unforgettable memories at the Excellence Center in Halle. Although I thoroughly enjoyed both learning German and teaching English, the real treasure was the friends that I made and the new experiences I had. The Excellence Center is a place to enrich oneself both academically and socially.

Muaz was an amazing German teacher. Each lesson with him was full of energy and insights into the German language. Whenever someone didn’t understand something, he would take the time to explain things while also staying in German. The class was small, so every student got lots of attention. Muaz also organized a super fun trip to Berlin for the entire center. We went to see lots of popular sights, like the Berlin TV tower and the Brandenburg Gate, but being with friends was probably the most fun.

I taught English both solo and with a partner, both in-person and online. While the online lessons definitely posed challenges, watching a student get excited to use English made me happy no matter what. I would usually split lessons into two sections: one a bit more technical and the other doing something more gamelike. As long as I kept my student smiling and using English, however, the lesson was on track! Knowing a bit of German as well as a tiny bit of Arabic also helped in the lessons.

During your time at the Excellence Center, you’ll also attend some presentations and probably give some yourself! The presentations were great opportunities not only to learn more about fellow volunteers, but also to give opinions about teaching and learning language.

Breakfast is made daily at the center, often incorporating scrambled eggs, hummus and pita, or both! For lunch however, you’ll be exploring Halle, a wonderful, small city. There are some great lunch places near the center, and if you're willing to take the short walk to Marktplatz, there are even more delicious (and cheap) options. I always felt very safe in Halle, and because the public transportation is great, exploring the city with friends is made even easier.

There's a great sense of camaraderie at the Excellence Center with both students and teachers supporting each other, and this makes making new friends super easy. Being on the younger side, the Excellence Center gave me independence like I really haven’t experienced before, and I won’t forget the experiences that resulted from that. The center also holds weekly football matches which are always enjoyable; as a member of the winning team, you can even earn prizes like a box of chocolates!

My host family was incredibly nice. They took me to pick strawberries in their garden, and afterwards, we either ate them with ice cream or turned them into scrumptious, fresh jam! I was also accompanied on a lovely bike ride around town where they showed me the beautiful fields in the area. On particularly hot days, we would also go to a nearby lake to cool off and have an evening picnic. They also had two endearing cats which could make disturbingly human noises! At the end of my stay, they brought me to a dance performance in Halle which I found compelling. I always felt very welcome in their home and am super lucky to have met such kind people.

I am so glad I came to the Excellence Center!

I am a doctor in England. I have been practicing for 20 years.
I volunteered to teach English to the immigrant and refugee population at The Excellence Center in Halle. This also gave me an opportunity to further develop my Levantine Arabic (as my intention is to work in refugee camps in the future).
It was a wonderful experience to meet and work with a bunch of kind and friendly people. The are all extremely welcoming and have created a family atmosphere at The Center, and my three weeks felt too short a time to spend at this beautiful place.
I learned a lot of spoken Arabic in formal lessons, but was also able to constantly practice my Arabic with anyone and everyone I met! (Some volunteers opted for German lessons).
It was amazing to speak to all the people there (refugees and volunteers) and hear about their experiences. Speaking and interacting with refugees, and hearing each individual's harrowing journey is an invaluable experience I would recommend to everyone. It was a mind-opening three weeks at the Center.
I made some life long friends, and I loved everyone so much that I plan to go back there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYXBoWSci_I&ab_channel=RedBlueLife

I Had sooo much fun during my time here and I got to meet so many nice people. It was super easy to make friends and travel to different cities during the weekend since train station is very close. In addition to that there was so many different things to do in halle even though it’s a small city but it never really felt boring and that is one of the reasons why my experience was good. Give it a try the experience overall was great. I definitely recommend it and I would love to go back and spend more time with everyone.

During my time at the Excellence Center, I was able to meet incredible people with unbelievable stories in Halle while travelling all over Europe in my free time. Spending three months at the Center allowed me to get comfortable with my host family in Halle and gave me the chance to meet many incredible international volunteers. I would wholeheartedly recommend the program to anyone who values travel and cultural exchange as I struggle to imagine anywhere else where you could meet so many people from all over the world.

The Center itself is never empty, with students, volunteers and teachers moving in and out and making conversation. The day begins with breakfast where volunteers can prepare and chat before classes begin. The rest of the day is spent teaching or helping around the center; however, schedules are incredibly flexible and largely at the discretion of individual volunteers. I received German lessons every week and had between three and five classes that I taught during the week. Each student at the center is looking for something different so it was important for me to be attentive to what they were asking of me instead of what I wanted to be teaching. I am glad that I spent several months in Halle because initially I struggled to find a good balance for all my lessons but after a few weeks with each student I was much more comfortable and really felt like what I was doing was productive and helpful.

While the Center itself is in a great location, its biggest strength is by far the people working there, from the Host families to the students themselves. The community in Halle is made up of some of the most diligent and kind people I have ever met, and despite my lack of knowledge of both Arabic and German, I was still comfortable around everyone, and they were incredibly welcoming. My host family in particular were incredibly helpful and accommodating, always offering to help with my travel plans or spending the weekends with me going into town or on hikes. Beyond the local community, the center attracts the most incredible people from all over the world. In my three months I saw more than ten volunteers come and go, all of whom had interesting stories and incredible characters. The focus of the Center is on community service and thus attracts kindhearted people, but it was still shocking every time to meet a new person from a different part of the world so devoted to helping a community that they had not been a part of.

One of my personal goals while I was in Germany was to travel as much as possible. Halle is very centrally located and the railroads in Germany allowed me to visit cities all over the continent. After I took a few weeks to get settled and explore Halle, I was able to spend almost every weekend abroad. The volunteer program provides a three-day weekend and with overnight trains and busses, I was able to spend the better part of three days in a new city every weekend. Halle is only a few hours from Berlin, Dresden, and Munich, all of which have massive train stations that can take you to any part of the continent. Before coming to Germany, I had spent very little time travelling in Europe and this program turned out to be the perfect decision, allowing me to see as much as possible.

Deciding when to begin your program in Halle is very important. I did not have a proper understanding of the German winter and began my program in February, expecting to have mostly spring weather by the middle of March. In reality it was still winter up until mid-April this year so if I were to go back, I would have started my program a bit later in the year. I was able to experience easter in Germany and Austria however, as I spent the holiday with my host family and the easter markets in Halle and Vienna were filled with food and souvenirs. If possible it would also be helpful to start when you know others will be at the center. There are many more volunteers in the Summer and it is a great time to go, but when I arrived I was the only volunteer for the first week and it made it a bit harder to get accustomed to the new environment.

Ultimately my most valuable memories from the center are all the incredible people that I met and the stories that I heard. Hearing about the journeys of refugees is a sobering experience but one that I think is important for people like me, who have little exposure to it in America, to have. The refugee community in Halle continues to look forward though and is made up of some of the happiest and most positive people I have ever met. People like my teacher Muaz, the head of the Center Rafat, and volunteers like Salma Lamsaouri make the Excellence Center in Halle one of the most incredible places I have ever been.