Week 1

Here is my first post for week 1 of the Stuttgart Winter Exchange. First thing I will note as how very un-wintery it has been. Today the sun is shinning, and whilst it is still chilly outside I think it could be classified as a ´warm` winter. So hopefully this will change over the 6 weeks we are here, because as lovely as the sunny weather is, for what other reason would one go to Europe in winter for other than to experience some snow!

What are my learning expectations?

Well obviously I would like to consolidate my German, and mainly improve my oral communication skills. I, like most people, generally find it much easier to read and write in German but when it comes to speaking it is something I havent had as much practice with. So far our language classes have focused on improving our oral communication, as well as going over grammer we have learnt in the past. Classes are being taught in German, which whilst it may be hard to process at 9am, is actually quite enjoyable. Secondly we have gone back to basics and gone through basic pronunciation which I´ve found helpful.
So overall I think the next 6 weeks will definately help improve my oral communication skills.

Other leraning expectations would of course involve German culture, and so far I´ve learnt quite a bit about food (so much bread!) and city life but of course there is always much to learn. It will also be good to travel to different cities throughout Germany to see how things differ from city to city.

That wraps up week 1,
Until next week, tschüss.