1st Place Winner: Stephanie Boyd
Earlier this year, I was accepted to the Indiana University Honors Program in Foreign Languages for High School Students. With the program, I and seventeen other students traveled to Krefeld, Germany. We stayed with host families for seven weeks. I went to classes on weekday mornings with the other students around nine o'clock, where we would learn about phonetics, conversation, grammar, literature, and German culture. After school, we would participate in sports on Mondays, and other days we would practice our play, "Romulus der Grosse." We presented the play to our host families at the Abschiedsfest before we left. That was so much fun, and it was one of the best parts of the whole experience.
We traveled as a group to Aachen, Kšln (Cologne), and Berlin. In Berlin we had the privilege of seeing the Reichstag and Parlamentshaus. There we also saw the Museum at Checkpoint Charlie and the Jewish Museum and so many other cultural monuments.
The most important part about the trip and program was the no-English rule. We were not allowed to speak English the whole seven weeks, but it was the most beneficial part of the program. I learned so much about the culture and language and appreciate it all even more. I have new friends in my host family, too. The host family teaches you more than anyone. It is an amazing opportunity for any student, and you don't need to have extensive German skills to apply either. I would recommend it to all students who want to learn more about the German language and culture.
I want to thank you (IASG) again so much for your help with this opportunity I received. I have learned so much, and this experience is still a very important aspect of my life.
2nd Place Winner: Lauren Worth
The weekend after my last day of my Senior year was the weekend of my graduation. It was also the weekend that we, a group of 21 Students and two teachers, left for Germany. I guess I missed my Graduation, but it was worth it. The trip was more than I could've asked for. We were destined for Hohen Neuendorf, a small suburb of Berlin, where we would all be staying with host families. Each family had a student at the Marie Curie Gymnasium, where we all attended classes with our host students. But this was only on days where we didn't have excursions planned for the day.
Because we were about 4 train stops from Berlin, most of our day trips were into Berlin, to see the Berlin Wall, The Pergamon Museum, or to Potsdam, home of the Sansoucci Castle. Our biggest trip, though, was a trip for just us Americans to Dresden for the weekend. We stayed in a youth hostel, which was more like a hotel, that was about a 5 minute walk into the heart of Dresden. We all enjoyed ourselves; we had planned tours of the city in the day and at night we were allowed to explore on our own. And we also took a day trip to the Swiss Saxony. We took a four-hour ferry ride to the Saechische Schweiz and hiked all day. It was beautiful weather for a hike and the day was perfect.
Back in Hohen Neuendorf, all of the students enjoyed spending their time with their host brothers/sisters and getting to know the Deutschejugend way of life. I really bonded with my family and had the time of my life getting to know my host sister's friends and family. They really welcomed me into the family as another daughter. The time went by so quickly, I felt i could've spent another three and a half weeks there.
I will always cherish the memories made on that trip. I still have to finish my scrapbook of pictures! But thanks again, IASG, for making this experience possible. I grately appreciated every moment spent in Germany, and I am eternally grateful to you. May the education continue for years to come.
Lauren Worth
3rd Place Winner: Patrick Thomas
I would like to thank the IASG for helping to provide me with the opportunity to experience German culture through the IU Honors Program in Foreign Languages. I attended the center in Krefeld, Germany, where I stayed for seven weeks, studying German, living with a German host-family, speaking only German for the duration of the program, and experiencing this all with seventeen other students from around the state.
We had the opportunity to improve our skills is German culture, conversation, grammar, phonics and literature, as well as participate in German theater and play sports together such as soccer. We also were able to travel to Aachen, Cologne, and Berlin to immerse ourselves even more so in the German culture. The family stay was perhaps the most important part of the entire program, because we were able to speak German with native speakers on a daily basis, as well as learn about typical German culture, such as food, clothing etc. The no-English rule proved vital in improving our speaking ability, because we were able to fully develop our German skills by focusing on only one language.
Finally, I thank IASG very much for their support. Without it, I might not have been able to experience this program, which became a very distinct point in my life. I will definitely pursue some type of further education in German, and possibly use it in a future career.
|
