Going to Germany as an ab initio student

The Department of German and Dutch encourages its ab initio students to spend time in Germany during their ab initio year, and the teachers help with the organisation of trips. Financial help is normally available from colleges' vacation studies funds, and the Department may als be able to help out in cases of genuine need. 

At Christmas to Berlin

The Department has good contacts with a language school in Berlin where the ab initio students get two weeks intensive German tuition whilst staying in a German family as paying guests.

Cambridge ab initio students in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin

At Easter to Schönhausen

Schönhausen is a small place in the historic Brandenburg countryside between Berlin and Magdeburg. Since the reunification of Germany in 1990 English teachers at the local secondary school have welcomed our ab initio students as paying guests for a week or ten days during the Easter vacation. The stay usually includes students getting some teaching experience at the school, social evenings, a trip to Berlin, and if possible, excursions to other places of interest, such as Magdeburg and Weimar. 

places of interest, such as Magdeburg and Weimar.

Cambridge ab initio students in Wust near Schönhausen 

International Summer school in Wust

The little village of Wust near Schönhausen is the setting for the Sommerschule Wust. A number of our ab initio students have gone there in the summer to teach English to German students. There is a wide range of activities on offer which include entertainments and sports events, concerts, plays and operettas, lectures, creative writing courses and poetry readings. Since its beginnings after reunification the Sommerschule Wust has gained a growing reputation as a place of international cultural activities and exchange. Visit the Wust homepage: http://www.sommerschule-wust.de