Joanne and many others of you have asked if I may say something about the German universities and about what it is like to study in Germany. I will do it today!

Students wishing to study in Germany, need first of all the so-called higher education. This means that you need a good education and have passed a certain number of years in the school must. The Abitur in Germany, the high school, but there is also the technical college. There are strict rules that you must bring order to study allowed. It varies from subject to subject and from university to university. Also change the whole system is currently in Germany: it is converted to the internationally recognized degrees of Bachelor and Master. Therefore, it is just all a bit chaotic.

Suppose I have therefore the school. And I want to study. Then there is still a problem: Some courses are so popular that many young people want to study these subjects. Then you can introduce a so-called numerus clausus University. It's Latin. It means that only if I have a certain high school grade average - that is particularly high marks in the final certificate, must I study.

Now I tell you briefly how it used to and sometimes still today - there was namely the diploma. These degree programs will disappear almost all of them because they are abolished by the Bachelor and Master. But I'll say it anyway, what was this: First of all you have studied two to four semesters, which was the foundation course. A semester is approximately half a year. Then there was a preliminary test, the so-called diploma. Then we have again four to six semesters studying in the main study, and in the end it was the final examination. A diploma is a certificate, an important witness. In four to five years so you could get a diploma. You've perhaps ever seen on business cards: There are many graduate engineers in Germany.

I myself have a Master of Arts. This is something like a diploma. But is it only a master's in humanities and social sciences. It is mostly studied one major and two minors. I had chosen as a major American cultural history, as minors policy and Ethnology. The Master's program is free, you can put together his schedule free, and that was really fun. In the end I had to take exams orally and in writing, and I had to write a thesis, that a document on a particular subject, 120 pages long.

There are also different types of events in a study. Lectures are typical. This means: In a very large room is usually a professor or lecturer at the front panel and a half hours long tells something about his subject. The students write with the information and learn it later at home. Some courses are mandatory - it must go so that every student discipline in this course. Which is controlled. Often there is also an exam at the end. Other lectures are voluntary offers - but does not the student can go. Then there are seminars - which are then events with fewer students. While lectures are often equal hundreds of students sitting in a room, are present in some courses only ten students. This knowledge is deepened and discussed in more detail on a topic. Students must often give lectures - so prepare yourself for a very good topic and then keep ahead of the other students a lecture about it. Students call each other by the way, fellow students. When the semester is over, you have as a student but not a vacation, because at first begins the semester break. During this time, one should write as homework - work on a specific topic over approximately 20-30 pages. Reports and working papers will be graded. And then last semester break.

If you need help, who can by his Professor - go into the surgery - is short for professor. Most teachers have a certain time in the week in which they are available for students. Then you can ask questions and get help.

Now again briefly to the current situation: Diploma and Masters will no longer exist so long. Instead, the Bachelor - so similar to the basic studies, and the master, which includes the main course.

There are still a rarity in Germany: The state exam. Those who study law or medicine, for example, must pass the state exams at the end. This is to ensure that quality is independent and consistent.

What I can tell you more about university and studying in Germany? There are some very large universities, such as in Munich. Here I have studied. I've lived in my own apartment - other students living in the home or in residential communities, so-called WGs. There is no campus life there in Munich, because each institution is housed in another building, and many of these buildings are scattered throughout the city. So there is no central place for all students. Other universities such as Tübingen are smaller and therefore perhaps more suitable for international students. For here one learns the other students to know more. In large universities, it is often anonymous.

I'm often asked of you, what you shall do, if you want to study in Germany. I can not tell you, unfortunately, because I myself was never in the situation! I therefore recommend you to browse the internet and like good advice to write in SlowGerman.com on the homepage. Each university has a student advice and they can tell you exactly what requirements you need to study in Germany. I wish you every success for any event!

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Joanne and many others of you have asked if I may say something about the German universities and about what it is like to study in Germany. I will now ...