Carl Duisberg Centrum - Radolfzell

The Bodensee - Us PPPler often eat lunch here

This post is dedicated to my school in Radolfzell, Germany. The Carl Duisberg Centrum is a network of German Language schools located throughout Germany. When we (the 20 students bound for the Radolfzell language school) arrived here at the CDC, we were treated to German pretzels, cinnamon cake and juice. It was a very nice arrival after being flying for 14 hours and then taking a 4 hour bus ride. Needless to say, we were hungry and tired. We had a short introduction, met our tutor Silkee, and met the director of the CDC Radolfzell, Frau Heinz. It was very interesting. We immediately received our stipends for the month, received our welcome packets, and waited only for our hosts to come pick us up. Around 5pm, our hosts arrived, and we were driven home. 

Me in front of the CDC-Radolfzell

The following Monday (we arrived Saturday), was my first day at the CDC. We took a placement exam, and had some bureaucratic affairs to deal with. We had to register with the local city hall, and had to fill out several forms regarding our stay in Germany. 

The second day, we found out our placements. I was placed into level B1.2, which is intermediate. I was quite pleased with my placement, as I would be doing some review, but would actually go into the level I finished off with last summer in Berlin. (Today I took another exam, the marked the end of level B1.2, and so tomorrow we get our results, and we will see if I will move ahead into B.2 or whether I will have to redo B1.2. I believe I will move ahead). 

The CDC - Radolfzell

My teacher's name is Frau Angelika H. She is quite nice, but I've noticed that the German education system is pretty different from ours. First, they really encourage exercises and they don't cover the grammatical rules. So you're supposed to figure out the rules yourself or through examples. I don't really like this way of learning, but I realize that I'm in a different country and things are done differently here. In fact, I'm sort of surprised that things are taught this way, I would have expected the Germans to teach with tables and rules, not exercises. Anyways, we play games and sing songs. Interestingly, on Wednesdays we have a substitute, and yesterday he played his guitar for us. 

So I'll keep you updated on my events here at the CDC, next post my host mom and my new home.