IES Abroad Freiburg

IES Abroad Program is a very well-organized program that offers student great opportunity to gain a global perspective on everything. It is a very well-organized program that offers student great opportunity to gain a global perspective on everything. A lot of international engagement opportunities ware offered and the program site was very well chosen to allow students to have the best experience possible. The IES center stuff was very friendly and helpful. The classes were mostly focused on getting students to learn instead of sending out hard course materials.

My German improved a lot and I had a deeper understanding of German culture. The German and American friends I get to know and the memories I had with them will be the wealth of my life. It is an experience everyone worth to have!

My time in Freiburg Germany over the summer of 2018 was one of the best experiences I have had. The IES program is extremely organized and the classes I attended were so interesting. The information I learned in these classes was not only relevant to my major, but I have been able to use the information I learned and apply it to classes I am currently enrolled in at Indiana University. Beside having a great class experience, other aspects of the program such as my living situation and the friends I have met all made my experience that much more special. You will not regret studying abroad and while it can be intimidating, if you have the opportunity to go abroad I would highly recommend you do.

I chose to live in a communal apartment where I shared my common living space with other German students. I was intimidated at first because I did not know any German and was afraid there would be a major language barrier, but my roommates proved to not only be nice, but people who made me feel very welcome. A few nights throughout my time in Germany, my roommates made me traditional German meals. It was such a fun experience to not only cook a variety of different foods but sit and talk to my roommates and learn more about their culture as they learned more about mine.

Because my program was during the summer it was a much smaller program than a normal semester one. I really enjoyed the small size of my program as I was able to make friends with everyone I attended class with. I lived in the same complex with five people from my program and the rest were located in two different locations. We all really enjoyed spending time together so even though we did not live in the same building we all still found ways to spend time together and explore the city. Freiburg is an extremely easy city to navigate and so most nights were spent either doing homework or hanging out with my classmates at a nice restaurant or park. Since leaving the program I have stayed in touch with many of my friends and we are planning on getting together over break this year.

Studying abroad is an experience unlike any other because it not only allows you to understand a different culture from your own, you meet new people, and are encouraged every day to step out of your comfort zone and experience the world around you. I had an amazing time while in Freiburg and hope to go back one day. The city is not only beautiful, but full of history. Walking to class everyday was always enjoyable, and the food and places to go out were very unique. I highly recommend this program because I know it will not disappoint.

I am truly grateful for my experience with IES European Union. After years of lecture-based learning, I was thrilled to finally experience something new. My program incorporated travel to several European Union countries, which exposed the students to a wide array of languages and cultures. I was able to live with German roommates, which provided me with such an immersive experience to the German lifestyle. The program taught me, and other students alike, to be independent, adaptable, knowledgable and culturally aware both through travel, and living independently in a new city. Learning occurred outside the classroom in the most spectacular ways, and I am so happy I was able to receive this experience.

The EU program is an amazing experience for those interested in politics, international relations, econ, and business. All the classes I took were engaging and the professors truly cared about the students. Traveling to so many EU member states really enhances the classroom learning experience because we are able to have meetings with government officials and other key players that have built their careers on European politics. It is also such a great cost for the amount of travel included in the program. However, it is important to note that while those trips are really great, they are academic in nature, so there is not a whole lot of free time to do touristy things. Additionally, Freiburg is a beautiful small city that is great to come back home to after the week-long trips. Due to the traveling, I did not get as immersed in the Freiburg culture as I would've liked, but I lived with local university students which was a good experience

The EU program was excellent !

I learned so much about International and specifically European Politics and Government structures, that I had no idea about before. We also got an in depth understanding of the European Union and how it relates to the United States as well. '

I loved living in Freiburg. I am so happy with my decision to study abroad there. The people, the nature and landscapes, the opportunities to have fun, and places to eat were more then I could have ever asked for.

I also loved all the traveling that we did in our program. I got to see so many different countries and learn about each country from actual locals and politicians and professors. You can't beat getting that knowledge, it is something I would never be able to learn had I visited these countries without the IES EU program. I love traveling , but learning in depth about what actually is happening in that particular country makes it much more memorable. IES EU was a great balance of engaging academics, and still gave us enough freedom to travel and have fun.

I made videos/vlogs throughout my entire study abroad experience. Check them out at the IES EU youtube channel or on the student blog pages on their website. I talk about my first week, traveling to germany, orientation, and a lot of info on our excursions.

I would highly recommend the IES Abroad European Union program, especially for students interested in politics and travel. Although this program is based in Freiburg, Germany, it is unique from other programs because it includes three separate excursions incorporated into the class throughout the term. These excursions consist of trips to many important European Union institutions, and include a rigorous schedule of academic meetings, balanced with time to explore. Locations for my semester included Berlin, Prague, Brussels, Luxembourg, Sofia, Budapest and Athens. For the third excursion, you are allowed to choose between 3 offered locations for you trip, so you can customize the program to fit your interests.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this program was the wide selection of course options. There were courses from topics ranging from politics to law to economics, and all the classes tended to be grounded current events.

Freiburg is also a perfect town in which to study. It has a vibrant student life, due to a local university, in addition to proximity to Switzerland and France, which provide great weekend trips. It has a bit of a city feel, but is quite small and has a lot of charm. It also has lots of local hiking and winter sport opportunities!

However, I would say that this program is geared more toward politics (and economics) majors, rather than toward people trying to gain an advanced handle on German. Although German classes are offered at several different levels, most people from my semester came to the program with little to no German experience and were less focused on the language learning aspect. I came into the program with 3 semesters of German and was very serious about building my proficiency while there, although did not feel ready to sign up for the IES Freiburg language program, which offers classes in German and involves enrolling in the local university. While I found many opportunities to practice German with locals, it was easy for other people in my program to insulate themselves from the German locals and students, and just interact with other people in the program.

Participating in this program really helped build my independence and my confidence in being able to travel alone! I felt confident navigating European trains and public transportation in many different cities.

This program is really unique and truly inspiring. It offered amazing academics that really reinforced why I love what I am studying and what I am doing while matched it very well with course-related excursions that took us to new countries to explore and learn about the EU and domestic politics. The time spent abroad both in Germany and traveling was incredible and really felt balanced thanks to the planning of the administration. It also really helps that you are traveling with professors as academic advisors so they can really help you reflect on everything you have learned.

Freiburg is such a cute little university town. There's plenty of great food and fun places to go. All of the university students were very welcoming and friendly. I lived in university housing, and it was clean and relatively up-to-date. The staff at the EU Center is great, and the course-related excursions were super interesting. Since Freiburg is kind of in the middle of Western Europe, it was very easy to travel.