Adjusting to German School

Hanna is an American student studying in Germany as part of the CBYX (Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange) scholarship exchange program. 

If there is any piece of advice I would give to future CBYX’ers, I would tell them to sort out high school graduation credits with guidance counselors prior to the exchange year. Since my American high school did not accept foreign credits, I needed to take several classes over the summer to graduate on time. While this relieved the stress within my gymnasium (German high school), I was still determined to learn at school.  

English, naturally, was my best class. I was surprised to learn how rigorous the language curriculum was. My class debated technology use, read science fiction novels, and wrote rhetorical analysis essays, all in English. No doubt, everyone here was near – if not already fluent – which ultimately pushed me to sharpen my own English skills. 

Spanish was a close second for my favorite subject. I had studied Spanish for four years in the United States. I even participated in a summer exchange program to Argentina, so I could easily understand class assignments and homework. While my Spanish slowly started to slip away as I immersed myself in German, it reminded me that languages can overlap in helpful (and sometimes confusing) ways. 

To my surprise, some STEM subjects were easier than I expected. Although I did not always understand the task in math, numbers tend to transcend beyond languages. While I struggled a little bit with AP physics in the United States, the concepts were familiar enough to help me pass the class smoothly.  

Turning over to German, philosophy, and politics, my grades started to slip. Even though I had a basic understanding of the concepts taught, technical vocabulary proved to be a hindrance to understanding lectures. Thankfully, with the use of AI translators, like Deepl, I managed to construct texts from German to English and complete homework assignments. 

Unfortunately, there was one class I could not quite understand. Trying to learn chemistry in my American high school was a mess. Learning alcohol nomenclature in German? That was a massacre. I had not taken chemistry in a couple years, and trying to decipher the terms in German proved to be a challenge. I stared at diagrams of carboxyl groups on the board as they began to swirl together into a dizzying spiral. 

Still, not every subject clicks immediately, and that’s OK. Struggle is a part of studying abroad. Some classes require persistence and a willingness to struggle. When I was confused, I learned how to ask for help and how to find confidence in small wins. That growth mattered just as much as any grade.