European Studies Program at Freie Universität Berlin

Great group of student Assistents and advisors! Much work in the classes but I really improved my German!
Great experience!
The excursions that took place were also very helpful. Constant speaking in Germany really benefited my word choice and listening. Starting the program off with working on grammar and reading skills helped in the long run with writing the papers.
The professors were very kind and open to all questions. Also willing to work on topics that interested the students so that the class would be more fun!

The program was great! The staff was very helpful with everything. The classes were all structured the same which was not the best for some subjects. Beware of the schedule. I did not consider how exhausting going to school all day on Wednesday would be. The classes all offered 2-3 excursions which were fun because it helped us explore the city more. The week long excursion was fun and I got the opportunity to visit cities that I wouldn't have gone to on my own.

I chose to come to Berlin for the entire academic year primarily because I had the space for it in my schedule and FU-BEST's course offerings would allow me to fit two minors into my degree. FU-BEST is set up in a way that allows your study abroad experience to be both experiential and academic; the subject courses offer a good introduction into different fields and are not extremely demanding, thus giving you plenty of space to explore Berlin and Europe. The courses act more as survey courses in order to accommodate a wide variety of academic backgrounds from students, and as such, might not appeal to those who are used to working in-depth in their field. (That being said, the subject courses are a great opportunity to take something outside of one's field and learn more about Germany and Europe while you're at it.)

For those interested in the language component, FU-BEST operates best when you "make the most of it as you will." While I found the Intensive German courses good for learning vocabulary and more refined sentence structures, (non-beginning) students who came to the program without a good preexisting grasp of grammar basics definitely seemed to struggle more. The homestay option was my biggest asset in becoming more comfortable with the language, and I highly recommend it for students looking to improve their German. One of the biggest complaints I heard was students feeling discouraged about practicing their German in the city, but opportunities are certainly there if you look and persist. (:

The program exists in a bit of a (mostly) American bubble because it is not a direct enrollment program, but I appreciated the fact that it is not a school-specific program so that you can meet students from different campuses. In addition, the FU-BEST staff are wonderful to work with and easy to talk to!

If you have the option to go abroad for a year, then definitely consider coming to Berlin. You'll never be bored, and being abroad for two semesters means that you won't feel stressed about fitting everything into one.

FU-BEST was an extremely well-run program, in everything I noticed from start to finish. I am grateful for all the work the program director and staff do to make our experience here the best it can be. My favorite part about the program set-up was probably the week long excursion towards the end of the semester. After so much small-group travel, it was really great to have everything planned out for us for a week while traveling around a few new cities.

I was at Freie Universität in Berlin during the spring semester, I had such good teachers in the classes I took! And I loved to have had the opportunity to go with the other people studying with me to the full week excursion, that was one of my favorite parts of being part of this program. I lived in the apartments and I think they have the perfect size for one person, but they are far from school. I didn't like the long distance that much; but I did get the feeling, when I got back from travels, that I was getting home by getting to my apartment. Fu-Best program is very well organized and has many options of very interesting classes as well as very interesting excursions; and it is in Berlin! I have to say Berlin has definitely become my favorite city in Europe. Living in Berlin is an amazing experience, there are so many things to do, you never stop discovering new interesting and fun places! If you re a student looking for an exchange program in Europe I would really recommend Berlin as destination and Fu-Best is a very good option to do so.

I came across FU-BEST while looking for direct enrollment opportunities on my school’s study abroad website. I was interested in a program that was academically rigorous while also incorporating its environment into the courses to provide a more experiential curriculum. Freie Universitat Berlin’s European Studies Program does just that.

I took two subject courses in addition to intensive German. This program was not my first experience with German but was my first German class. It was a little hard to keep up at first, but my German teacher was absolutely fantastic and brought me up to speed. All courses, subject and language, do excursions throughout Berlin to encourage students to use the city as a resource. This was a great way to get students to see parts of Berlin that they may not experience otherwise, as well as a neat way to make what you are learning about feel more applicable.

Students have several choices for housing—I chose to live in a homestay, which provided me with even more opportunities to connect with the city. There are further opportunities, such as volunteering, language tandems, and additional cultural events that help to facilitate students’ interactions with the city.

My time in Berlin is one I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. It allowed me to grow as a person, make countless new friends, while still being intellectually pushed. First, I'll speak about the program itself, then more about Berlin as a whole. The program was run by a team of incredibly nice and helpful staff who were always looking out for your best interest. Whether it was the first week where they helped us fill out all necessary paper work or the weekly Stammtisch where we got to see each other in an environment outside the class room. They made it all fun. A fantastic experience was the one week long excursion we took (I was in Poland) where we were lead on walking tours and got to truly experience multiple new cities to the core. It allowed for free time and helped everyone get closer and make even more friends than just in the first weeks.

My classes were also fantastic. Eventhough German was my first language, I still had a lot to learn. My grammar and writing improved significantly and I felt very close with my small and fun class. We went on excursions together and got to explore the city as well as learn all the time. My subject courses were also special. I learned a lot and the teachers were fun, smart, and engaging.

The most important part of the experience though comes down to the city itself, Berlin. A place where anyone can feel welcome. There is something for everyone from museums to some of the coolest nightclubs in the world. Exploring Berlin a treat. The people are nice, cool, and creative. The food is delicious, and every part of the city has something new to offer. You will never be bored in Berlin. Another plus for non German speakers is a lot of people speak English! Believe me when I say you do not want to miss out on an opportunity to go to Berlin for a longer period of time and this program is the way to get it done.

I wanted to come to Germany, specifically to Berlin, for a while now and last year, I finally got my chance. When I first applied for FU-BEST, I did not know anything about the program- I kind of applied simply because I liked its description on my college's study abroad website. As a person who is an international student in the US and who has studied abroad during his sophomore year (ACM Jordan Program), I was ready to go back to my home-continent of Europe and expand my knowledge of its history, culture and languages. I've studied German for a while but was never satisfied with my language acquisition. Upon coming to Germany I was in the range of A2/B1 speaker and now, three months into the program, I can say that I can have a decent, albeit slow, conversation in German (I am a B2 level now). Living in Berlin is a special experience so one can get to know very deep-rooted Prussian-German culture and history, but also the culture of Europe and the EU- Berlin is a hub and a vibrant, and beautiful city which is an ideal place for any English speaker wanting to learn German.

The program itself is academically demanding but it is also very connected with the city so many a time I've found myself wandering the streets of Berlin simply to complete an assignment for my Transatlantic Relations class. Furthermore, the program is quite independent- one is allowed to live independently, but can also choose a homestay or apartments (all excellent choices). I myself chose to live in an apartment and never regretted it! The staff in overall is very supportive and their knowledge of Berlin is impeccable, as well as their English skills. A big part of the staff team are "student assistants" who are German students interning for the program; they are some of the nicest and funniest folks you'll ever meet and I've enjoyed every second spent in their company. Not only are they knowledgeable of Berlin and Germany- they've travelled lots themselves so they have a lot of interesting experiences to share.

In overall, I really enjoyed (and still am!) my time in Berlin and at the FU-BEST program and am definitely intending on coming back and studying in this glorious city.

Cheers!