I taught English for 8 weeks, and it was truly a great experience. Rafat, Ali, and Radwan were very easy to work with and I had a lot of time in the classroom. I made plenty of friends, both other interns and (thanks to Ali) other Germans and immigrants living in Germany. Halle was a great city as well. It's small and not many people know about it so you actually get the chance to use either German or Arabic rather than English, and there are tons of parks and great spots to eat. My living arrangements were great as well -- I was in a nice student apartment with two German university students. Can't recommend enough.

I have enjoyed my two-week volunteering experience at the Excellence Centre in Halle.
It feels rewarding to be able to support some refugee children in their learning of English. In the first week, I was teaching with another volunteer. We were able to prepare teaching materials together. It is also helped by the fact that the Excellence Centre has classrooms and teaching facilities.
Apart from the teaching, I took German classes as well which I find very helpful. My teacher Muaz taught very well.
Another aspect which I liked a lot is the inter-cultural exchange between the volunteers. There is a communal breakfast every morning in the week at the centre, which helped us get to know each other very quickly. I think we have all enjoyed hanging out together and getting to know each other’s cultures.
Overall, I had a great experience at the Excellence Centre.

I had a wonderful time at the ECEurope and would really recommend the experience!
Teaching English to refugee students has been very rewarding, especially watching them grow more confident and talkative even over the course of just a few lessons together. I also learnt so much and gained confidence, both from the teaching process and learning German myself, through lessons provided by the centre. It was also an absolute pleasure getting to meet and know the other ECE volunteers and staff, I can't imagine a friendlier group of people! Its a special experience to meet strangers from around the world and in less than 48hours feel like old friends - and the activities run by the ECE (from classes, to breakfast and football to a city tour) definitely helped cement this feeling. Overall I had a great time there and would recommend volunteering and learning at the centre to anyone.

My name is Tamara. I am passionate about languages, with a French mother, Arabic father and a love for the German language. I taught two young Iraqi boys: 9 year old Hamza and 11 year old Osama German in Merseburg. With the help of Salma who is a marvelous teacher, I really improved my reading and writing in classical Arabic. I had the most wonderful time- it was so fulfilling and the Excellence Centre community is so warm and welcoming that I truly felt as if I were part of a big wonderful family during the month of July. Rafaat has really succeeded in creating a tight-knit community, organizing evening events with effective ice breakers and even cooking his delicious specialities for us. I met the most remarkable people with incredibly touching stories and always looked forward to our morning gatherings at breakfast and Wednesday football matches. The Excellence Centre is truly an amazing place to be in. I would certainly recommend it to others and I know I will be returning next summer!

Introduction
My name is Reuben, a 17-year old student from just outside London, England. Having studied languages at school for many years, I decided to visit Germany in order to practice my skills in a real-life setting. Volunteering at the Excellence Centre looked like the perfect opportunity to study German and explore Germany, whilst being able to give something back to local communities.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the centre, as the people provided an excellent atmosphere, the German classes were engaging, and I had a chance to try my hand as an English teacher. Through the centre I met people not only from different countries, but from entirely different cultures and backgrounds. Everyone had a story to share - which we did over communal breakfasts and trips to town. I’d thoroughly recommend spending a few weeks at the centre (I came for two weeks but now wish I did longer!). Use your weekends wisely - there’s so much to explore in the local area (such as going to the Harz region or visiting a city like Leipzig/Nuremberg/Dresden), but also great chances to socialise with your fellow volunteers. I can’t wait to have great experiences like this again in the future, and I’ll miss the people I met on this little adventure!

I am a 20 year old guy with a South Korean nationality. My cultural background, however, is a mix of Latino, African, North American(USA), and east Asian. This is because I spent my school years traveling from continent to continent, following my Father’s work; born in Dubai, started pre-school in Florida, then Georgia(USA), California, S.Korea, Cameroon, and Chile, where I started and finished my high school. Now I live in the great state of Bremen, North-West Germany, where I am majoring in Computer Science with a minor in psychology.
My family was not the picture-perfect asian family. On the outside, both my parents were self-made, born into poverty but each found their way to become middle-class providers. But within our walls, arguments and family feuds were a constant. At one point, my sister, who is three years older than I, took charge of my growth, and I thank her every day of my life for her; if not for her, I would not be here today. My friends in high school were not the most caring nor the kindest people. I look back at those years and think if I had found a better group of people, I would not have been feeling so down for such a long time. When I got to college, things stayed the same. Same kind of friends, same kinds of activities, and so forth. But in the summer of 2022, I traveled. For the first time in my life, I traveled because I wanted to, and not because I was following my Father’s life or anyone else’s. I met people with extraordinary stories; from refugees escaping a war ravaging country to people who were kicked out of college for burning their dorms down. I heard their stories, told them mine, and I learned a lot about respecting and dealing with people.
In Halle, I joined the Excellence Center and met so many amazing people. I taught for the first time in my life. I had to re-learn English grammar, I had forgotten that things that came naturally for me had actual words for it; like prepositions and adverbs and conjunctions. I did not feel comfortable with the idea of teaching people anything, but I wanted to try it because of that exact reason. If I had not taught this summer, I doubt I would have ever done it in my life, and I am thankful for the people who made it possible for me to try new and uncomfortable things.
I learned German with Max. The first few classes were confusing and too fast-paced but towards the end, many people had left back to their home countries, and the class structure changed to a more small-talk oriented dialogue based class, which I enjoyed much more. I learned more in my last 3 classes than I did in the first “all”.
I met people who I took a lot from. Whether it was about immigration policies and perspectives of actual refugees or experiences of adoption. I listened to their stories and it has shaped my view of the world.
The Excellence Center is what you make of it. If your focus is to meet new people and learn a new language on the side, you can do that. If you want to learn a language intensively and meet new people on the side, you can do that too. There is no one holding your hand telling you what to do next, which was perfect for me because I am a bit spontaneous.
Halle is an extremely small city for me. Having lived in the capitals of all the countries I’ve been in, I did not know what to expect of Halle. But the experience of waving to people you know on the way to a restaurant or to teach a student is an amazing feeling.

My name is Elizabeth and I joined the Excellence Center in July of 2022. I am 19 from the United States. I am going into my second year of college in the USA studying Communication and International Studies. I did the Media and Journalism program and the Teach English and Learn German program for two weeks. My experience was great, as I had many cross-cultural experiences at the center with the other volunteers and in the city of Halle. I created a video for the center for which I interviewed all the volunteers about their experiences. I also created a series of articles about Halle, the volunteers, and the refugee situation in Halle with Ukraine. I also took elementary German classes and taught English classes to Ukrainian refugees. All of the volunteers are extremely friendly and all so unique; the conversations we had at the center (at breakfast for example) definitely added to my experience immensely. Overall, the center atmosphere is welcoming and friendly, and the city of Halle is beautiful. Marktplatz was one of my favorite places to go for ice cream and fresh fruit. I would recommend the center to anyone who is looking to expand their world perspective, gain more practice with teaching, and learn about Arabic culture in Germany.

I’m Jessica, I’m 20 years old and I’m from the UK. I studied Arabic and taught English in Halle at the Excellence centre for 4 weeks and really loved my time here!
I met so many inspiring and interesting people throughout from so many different backgrounds. The atmosphere

in the centre is always welcoming and generous spirited, you quickly feel part the family.
Halle is a really beautiful and open city to be in with lots of great parks and great public transport system.
I would definitely recommend the excellence centre to anyone thinking of coming, I have made some amazing memories and will miss it so much!
Thank you!!