Student: Plato
Universität Heidelberg, Summer Course 2008

The summer course at the University of Heidelberg started on the 24th of July and lasted to the 20th of August 2009. I moved to my arranged accommodation on the 22nd of July, took the oral test on the 24th and the written test on the 26th. On the 26th the opening ceremony for the international summer course took place. The 27th of July was the first day of lessons.

The place I lived in was not on the campus and it was not even in the city; it was a quiet small town called Kirchheim. Although the accommodation was not a student hall, it was shared by German students. They were very nice and willing to help.

My classmates came from different countries, like Italia, the Czech Republic, Canada, Romania, Bulgaria, Taiwan, etc. Most of the time we talked in German. The textbook used was “Tangram 3: Lektion 5-8”, which corresponds to the B1/2 level; a workbook and key were also attached in the book. Besides, a variety of other sources were also employed during the course, like German newspapers and other textbooks. The teachers not only spoke clear German all the time, the teaching method was also very interactive. We did not just sit in the classroom and listen to the teachers passively; instead we also performed role plays, took part in discussions and debates, held presentations and played games, in all of which we had abundant opportunities to speak German and to get to know our classmates too. And each Friday we had a written test in our class, so we needed to keep studying. Class hours started at 9.15 am and ended at 12.45pm.