Program Reviews

After taking a 14-hour flight across half the earth to Halle, I spent three weeks at the Excellence Center. I am truly grateful to all the members here for making me feel so welcomed and making my time here filled with happiness. Though being a teacher for the first time was challenging initially, I gained more confidence as I worked on and figured out the more effective methods for teaching English. This study and work abroad experience has been incredibly amazing.
Thanks to all the intelligent and motivated members here who supported me during my time here. All the encouragement and guidance have been so invaluable, and I will carry the experiences and memories with me for a lifetime. This journey has not only enhanced my teaching skills but also broadened my understanding of different cultures and perspectives. I am truly fortunate to have been part of such a supportive and inspiring community. Thank you all once again for making this experience unforgettable.

Being able to come to the Excellence Center has been a truly eye-opening and incredible experience. Coming here as a 17-year-old knowing that all the other volunteers would be 18 or older, I was wondering if I would be the odd one out and left out of plans, 17 doesn’t sound too much smaller than 18, but trust me, it can be. Luckily, I was met with quite the opposite. Not a single volunteer here was anything short of amazing to me. Throughout my entire six weeks at the Excellence Center, I have been meeting dozens upon dozens of fascinating people who have explored and lived in all parts of the world doing all sorts of amazing things. They have all enjoyed spending time at the center sharing their fascinating stories with me and other volunteers, which I have found to be one of my favorite parts of the Excellence Center. Almost every night the volunteers would hang out at Docks, a spot right next to the Saale, and one night someone likened Docks to the place in every Sitcom where all the characters hang out every episode, and I thought that analogy was just perfect. After a long day of doing whatever all of us volunteers do in Germany, we can always count on being able to head over to Docks and find other volunteers to just relax with and talk to. To be honest, no matter where we are, whether we are at the Center or at Docks or in Berlin for the weekend, we always have new and interesting stories to tell about our culture and experiences in different countries, and with the amount of people that flow in and out of the Center at all times, there is always an abundance of conversation to be found here. Furthermore, with Fridays off, traveling around Germany and even Europe has been considerably more convenient and worth-while, and traveling on the weekends with other volunteers has been yet another way I have found meaning here at the Center. Even on the weekends I wasn’t planning on traveling outside of Halle with other volunteers, my amazing host family made sure I was never bored. We went to the lake together, the zoo, Leipzig, they made me dinner and made sure I was always well-fed and taken care of, they talked with me all the time and were just truly all-around amazing. I can easily say they also made my experience here at the Excellence Center one to remember forever.
I will say though, after spending six weeks here at the center, I have gotten close to a lot of people that I have had to say goodbye to after feeling like I had just started getting to know them, which has been hard. As much as I love being able to meet new people that come into the Center all the time, they all can’t stay here forever. But to be fair, I think that gives the Excellence Center a sort of charm, we all know that our time here is limited, and someone staying for barely even a week can relate to that feeling just as much as someone staying here for six or even eleven weeks can. We learn to appreciate the time we have here with the people we have here for a once in a life-time experience!

When I arrived at the Excellence Center, I was immediately greeted warmly by Ali, the volunteer coordinator and Rafat, the head of the center. Throughout my time there, the warmth never decreased, and I felt as if I was treated like a member of their family.
Being a volunteer teaching English at the Excellence Center means that you take on a number of students each week as pupils, from different backgrounds and with different skill levels. Teaching such a diverse group requires flexibility, and Rafat makes sure volunteers have such flexibility. As a volunteer, one gets the chance to create lesson plans tailored to each students needs. Not only does this help the students learn, but it helps the volunteers grow as teachers.
Another aspect of my experience at the Excellence Center has been learning German from Muaz. I am very lucky to have had this experience because Muaz is truly an excellent teacher. I arrived here with as little knowledge of German as one can have. Nevertheless, Muaz took the challenge of teaching a novice in stride. What I found most effective about his teaching method was that he made students comfortable making mistakes. He did this by pushing us to work hard but reminding us that making mistakes is how you learn. As our lessons came to a close, Muaz gave advice about how to continue learning German that I think will be invaluable as my study of the language moves forward. He has clearly put a considerable amount of thought into the best method of learning German and languages in general. Anyone would be lucky to have him as a teacher.
But the most meaningful part of my time at the Excellence Center was getting to be a part of such a warm community. Rafat excels at building connections with each and every one of the volunteers and at motivating the volunteers to connect with each other. This brings me to what I have loved the most about the Excellence Center. Each week that I have been here we have played football with Rafat, Muaz, and the volunteers that chose to join the game. I am not a skilled football player. For that reason, I was apprehensive about playing in the game. But Rafat and Muaz were encouraging to everybody and made sure that everyone could get involved in the game. This made for great fun and a good opportunity for bonding. All this is to say, if you are considering volunteering at the Excellence Center, I would recommend you go for it, and I recommend you do not skip the football matches while there.

My name is Yu Hua, I’m from Taiwan, I stayed at the excellence center for three weeks to teach English and learn German. I was trying to find volunteer opportunities in Germany a few months ago, and I found excellence center in Halle online. It is for sure one of the most memorable experiences I’ve ever had.

I usually started my day having breakfast with other volunteers at the center, and had classes with my students, mostly from Ukraine, the rest of the day. The teaching method was very flexible, I taught both individual and group lessons, for it depends on what suits them better. Usually, I liked to play games while teaching, it brought a lot of fun in the learning process.

Th excellence center is a loving place. I learned so much from both my students and my fellows. Being able to participate in this program was an amazing experience for me.

If I were to list the first word that pops into mind when asked to describe the staff, atmosphere, and character of Halle’s Excellence Center, I’d say “hospitable”. Whether it be during the process of getting acclimated to your living accommodation, your first breakfast in the building’s kitchen, or during the Q & A section involved with every presentation that a volunteer gives on his or her teaching methods, the emphasis that is put on truly getting to know the people you are working, and at times living, alongside is unmistakable.

Fittingly. the small size of the Center works to the advantage of fostering this communal atmosphere: since there are only a few rooms, it’s virtually impossible to not interact with your fellow volunteers or with your teachers outside of class time. As such, I found that, with only a handful of exceptions, it only took me a couple of days at most to get to know my fellow volunteers. Although there have been times when the lack of space has made it difficult to find a place where to teach lessons that contained items important to my teaching method (ex: a whiteboard, a map, etc), the people with whom I shared the space have always been incredibly accommodating provided I gave them prior notice about needing a particular room at a particular hour. The only real suggestion I could make would be to create a sort of “timetable” document in the group WhatsApp chat outlining when (date/time) a volunteer might need a specific space and for how long.

I also very much appreciated how much freedom the Center gave volunteers vis a vis designing and scheduling their own lesson plans: some of my classes have doubtlessly been more successful than others when it came to teaching my students, but I was only able to work out what did and didn’t work because I was allowed to experiment so often. In effect, I truly felt like “my own boss” and that experience is very hard to come by, even during volunteer opportunities. The Center’s language teachers and staff, more than anybody else, did an amazing job at making me feel welcome and were always there to listen and to provide advice when it comes to setting up lesson plans or even when the issue was just about getting over particular roadblocks in my process of learning German. The classes I took were often challenging, and I know that I still have a lot of room left to improve upon, but by the time they concluded in late June, I came away feeling like with enough time and extra practice over the course of years, I could eventually adopt German as a very strong second language. My only regret was that our cohort of A2/B1 German language students didn’t have more time (say, 2 or 3 more weeks) in class, as the mentorship and instruction provided by our teacher Muaz truly was irreplicable and invaluable.

I also really appreciated how many extracurricular bonding activities the Center ran, ranging from weekly soccer games to picnics to field trips outside of Halle. The way that the teachers and staff took part in games or team building exercises, or engaged with volunteers through telling jokes or stories, really helped dispel the type of hierarchical structures that can define a lot of language-based programs, and I felt that on some level, I truly got to know the staff and my teachers as colleagues, perhaps even as friends. The hike we took to in late June was an incredible time, and even the detour of being in Halberstadt helped make the experience feel singular. Going forward, I think the Center might even broaden the variety of activities and trips that they undertake. For instance, perhaps instead of going to play soccer one morning, volunteers could play a basketball game or go to Halle’s bowling alley one afternoon. More ambitiously, perhaps an all-day or even overnight trip to a place like Munich could be arranged (if students are able to pay for a hostel).

I’ve been lucky enough to have spent the better part of 3 months with the Excellence Center, and I can securely say that this period has been one of the most rewarding, and instructive ones of my life. Whether or not I go into teaching in the future, I feel like the time here in Halle has helped me gain a sense of purpose and perspective on my life and place in the world that I would have otherwise never gotten. Regardless of which stage of life somebody is in currently, or which profession he or she is in, I cannot recommend partaking in the Excellence Center program enough. It truly has been one of the best experiences of my life.

I spent a week in Hebron and undertook several activities with the team in the Excellence Center. It was an amazing experience in which I taught English to children between the ages of 8-15. I was also able to immerse myself in the culture and met a lot of locals who were so welcoming. We were also able to see a lot of historical sites such as Al-Ibrahimi mosque and the old town. The team were always on hand to ensure we were comfortable and on our days off we visited Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

Our highlight of the trip was undoubtably staying with our host family who always cooked us Palestinian food such as Makluba and were so lovely to us. Palestine always felt very safe, there were always people around to ensure we were comfortable. After spending time here, we would definitely want to return due to the warm nature of the people and the beauty of this country. I would urge anyone who is considering to come to the Center to come as you will not regret it.

I am a medical student from London and decided to come to the center to learn more about the community in Hebron. At the center I taught english to children ranging from ages 10-17 whilst they also taught me lots of arabic! There were also 1-2-1 arabic sessions which were great. We visited the old town, Ibrahimi mosque and a refugee camp. My favourite was visiting the old town and all the trades men, who shared very insightful stories of their life in Hebron. The highlight of my stay has to be staying with my host family, they have been so welcoming and made Hebron feel like home. They taught me how to make traditional food such as Makluba which was lots of fun. Throughout my stay here I have felt safer than I have ever felt in London. I highly reccomend the Excellence center to anyone wanting to findout more about life in Hebron as well as learn lots of arabic. You won't regret it.

It has been an amazing experience. I joined many activities in the field of journalism such as meeting journalists, visiting radio stations, talking with scholars and professors...The arabic lessons have been very interesting as well.
Everyone is very nice both at the center and in the city. At the center there is a fantastic international environment engaging with palestinian culture.
During my experience I visited many cities in the West bank as Ramallah, Nablus and Bethlehem. I felt safe in all of them.
Palestine is a special place where people are always available and nice. Hospitality is their greatest quality.
I recommend everyone to come here, apart from the interest for the current situation, all the aspects of the culture are very interesting, I think everyone should come here at least once in life.

I’m Luca from the United Kingdom, and I participated in the Israel and Palestine in Context programme.

I’ve participated in extensive activities while here: I’ve taught English, visited refugee camps, hiked in the countryside, talked to lawyers, professors, students, government ministers, artists, and activists. I’ve explored Palestinian towns and cities like Hebron, Bethlehem, Jericho, Ramallah, and Nablus and visited Israeli settlements.

Everyone here at the Centre is truly accommodating and friendly, and the Arabic lessons have been fantastic. From having no Arabic whatsoever, I can understand rudimentary conversations and exchanges. I highly recommend the experience!

Palestine itself is stunning and has something for everyone. The dishes, like maqluba and mansaf, are delicious and the landscape is beautiful. Palestine itself, despite the news headlines, is incredibly safe. Have common sense, and be careful, and you’ll have no problems whatsoever. The Palestinian people are incredibly warm, accommodating, and curious to learn about you and your background.

Palestine will forever have a lasting and fond place in my heart, it’s absolutely unlike anywhere I’ve been, and I’ve loved every second here. It’s effortlessly interesting, and almost impossible to tune out – there’s always something going on in the streets or the Centre that catches your attention.

My experience at the Excellence Center has been very rewarding and transformative. As a volunteer, I had the opportunity to teach English to Ukrainian refugees. It was an incredible experience. Even though it was only a week I feel privileged to have been a part of their journey.

Additionally, my time at the Excellence Center allowed me to enhance my own language skills by learning German.I enjoyed the interactive classes and the opportunity to practice speaking with fellow volunteers. The center also provided comfortable and well-equipped accommodations. I had the pleasure of staying in a very nice room. I had the chance to meet people from diverse backgrounds. And made lots of new friends. The breakfast was delicious and a great time for all of us to get together.