Impressions about Germany:
For a long-term language course in my "land of dreams"

Augustin, from Quito-Ecuador, had just finished Highschool in an American school in his Homeland when he set off on a journey to a country in Europe he had never visited before: Germany.

Now we talk with him about this travel and his experience after 4 months learning German in TREFFPUNKT, Bamberg, where he has been since he arrived to Germany.

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1. You are already almost 4 months here in Germany and in TREFFPUNKT being German learning as your main objective. Did you know any German before you came here?

No, I had no idea of German, although obviously I had heard it before I had never studied it before.

2. What expectations did you have for your German-course in Bamberg?

I expected to learn a really good German because I want to study in the university here in Germany. And apart from the course I had many expectations for Germany itself because it has always been my dream land since I was a little boy.

You say "dream land". Why was Germany your dream land?

First I must say that I have always loved the way the language sounds. Second, I have always been attracted to Europe and Germany since it is such a well developed country and I have heard many people talking wonderful things about it, so it was something that I wanted to see by myself. And third, there are so many different things which fascinate me from Germany, very often little things but all of this got together to make it something amazing for me. Besides that, I had a couple of German girlfriends in school who also told me some beautiful things about this country and spoke sometimes German to me, which I absolutely loved even though I understood nothing of what they said. So as I said all of this came together and luckily I had the chance to make this dream of knowing Germany come true. And now, I am here.

3. What is for you the most difficult part of being here in Germany? Have you had any problems?

Not at all, I´ve had no problem at all here. And there is really no difficult part for me here, at least not yet. I was very lucky because I got here to what German people call a "WG", which is in simple words a shared-student-flat. And my first "flat-mate" could speak Spanish and English so I had no problem. He helped me my first week here to get oriented, to know where I can buy my things, food and all that stuff, and he was really good to me. Apart from that, every time I have a question or a concern or need something, anything, in the school the teachers and Alexandra, who we could call the school´s Principal, have always been willing to help and in fact they have. I trust them a lot, which is not a miracle because it is the least that they deserve. For example the first weeks I was here, obviously I didn´t know a German good enough to go to a bank and open an account for me, so Alexandra helped me and came with me, even though she is always very busy she always manages to find some time for her students, like she did with me in this case. That is something I appreciate very much.

Are you homesick?

No not at all. Obviously it´s normal to miss you´re family and friends and all you have back home, but to be honest it is something that I am being able to handle very well.

What I really miss is the possibility to play the drums every day. Back home I used to play every day for a really long time. It is my biggest hobby, but here I haven´t been able to find somewhere t play that easy. Luckily for me, I met a friend who plays the drums too and lives in Nürnberg, which is not far away from here, so I go there once per month to play a whole weekend. He has been my salvation.

4. Is there anything completely different from what you expected regarding Germany or the language itself?

Well, when I was planning to come here many people back home told me that the German society is very cold and serious and closed, which I figured would be no problem for me because I can be just like that whenever I want too. It wasn´t something that concerned me really, but it wasn´t something I was really sure of either. When I got here it took only a day to realize tat non of that was true. The people here are really friendly and really open and are willing to help as long as it´s possible. It hasn´t been difficult for me to make friends here,

There is one thing, although not THAT important but important any way for most young people. I thought here there would be incredibly big parties, but I was wrong, well I am in a little city but still it is something you should think about if you are a big party lover. But don´t worry that there is enough to party here in Bamberg, just not for more than a couple of years.

5. What was your motivation to decide to take a language course which is relatively long?

My main decisive factor was that I need to be able to speak a really good German in order to be able to study here in the University, and apart from that my passion for the way it sounds.

6. What are you planing to do next?

I hope that in Autumn 2005 I can begin studying in the university my law career, but in a bigger city, maybe Hamburg, München or a big city.

7. If someone would ask you for a tip because they want to take a course similar to yours, what would you tell them?

1. For me the most important here is not to live alone. I would recommend them to live in a WG (shared-student-flat). that way you have people you have to know from the beginning, which are also potential friends, and of course they have more friends and so on so its a very easy way to establish yourself in a friendship circle from the beginning. It may be more comfortable to live alone but then again you don't have anybody to make contact so easy with like with the students that live with you.
2. Regarding the school, I think that TREFFPUNKT is one of the best choices here in Germany, if not the best. Here I have made many friends who have studied in other schools German and have told me that TREFFPUNKT is the best they´ve been to. I can´t say it is cheap, but I can tell you it is worth it. It´s an investment that you will get back and tat you notice it was worth it when you are finished. In every class we have very few students which makes it a better and more personalized environment to learn, you have an amazingly comfortable atmosphere between the teachers and students because it is more a "friend to friend" than a "teacher to friend" relationship.

Take me for example. I´ve been here for three and a half months and I already can speak very good and understand pretty good an everyday German. Sometimes people have not believed me that I am not German after a while of talking with them because they thought I have a really good pronunciation and can speak good enough to have a normal friend or "getting to know you" conversation, thanks to my school.

Augustin at the 'Stammtisch', our weekly gathering