Short Term Volunteer Projects In Germany (1-13 Weeks)

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.

I stayed at the center for only a week but it has been an unforgettable experience. Everyone is very friendly and very welcoming, there is a great atmosphere. Halle is also a great city with lots of different activities one can do. It is also nicely connected to other nice cities like Leipzig and Berlin that can also make a great day trip.

Being able to help by teaching English has been wonderful and it’s a nice way to give back to the community. Getting to talk with all the students and volunteers and listening to their own individual stories is a great way to open your mind and learn. I feel fortunate because we also get the opportunity to practice other languages like German.

I wish I could have stayed longer and definitely recommend the center to anyone who wants to help and gain new experiences.

I spent three weeks at the Excellence Centre in July 2023. In these three weeks I gained invaluable experience teaching English as a second language, living in a new city and getting to know people from many different countries and backgrounds.
It was my first-time teaching English as a foreign language, so I was initially slightly unsure how to proceed with lessons and teaching, however the many resources provided by the centre were a great source of knowledge and inspiration. I could also ask other volunteers about their experiences and if they had any advice, and this was extremely helpful for me. Having a starting conversation with the learner was especially helpful, because it was good to know the language ability as well as any specific themes or topics the person wanted to work on. I taught two people in my three weeks, and it was very enjoyable because we covered a range of topics.
Additionally I had 9 hours of German lessons, which was a great opportunity to freshen up some things I had forgotten, learn some new vocabulary and get some practice speaking it.
Another aspect that really appealed to me was the diversity of people at the centre. It was really interesting to meet so many different people from different countries. Working with Ukrainian refugees and hearing their stories was also a very humbling experience as it put my “problems” at home into perspective. Everyone at the centre was extremely welcoming, friendly and social which made coming and settling into Halle very easy for me and the delicious breakfast we had four times a week was a really nice way to start the day.
Halle itself was a pleasant city to spend three weeks in. It was not too big so I did not feel in anyway overwhelmed. There were also enough shops, bars, and restaurants so I was able to go out with the other volunteers in the evenings as well as a weekly football match amongst the volunteers. Furthermore, I was also able to visit Leipzig and Dresden as they are very easy to reach.
Overall, I had a great few weeks at the Excellence centre and in Halle and would thoroughly recommend the programme to any person who wishes to gain TEFL experience in a new city.

My time at the Excellence Center was an eye-opening experience that taught me a lot about refugees and their lives, as well as the German language. My host family was very welcoming and gracious, and I greatly enjoyed my time with them.

At the Excellence Center, we started the morning with breakfast, where I got to know the other volunteers. After that, I had German lessons, which taught me some new vocabulary. I also began to teach lessons in German to two refugees from Ukraine. I learned about where they were from, and even improved my German in the process.

I saw a lot of the city while I was here, including churches, historic buildings, the university, and a huge music festival. My host family and I became close, and I hope we will stay in contact in the future. Additionally, my German has definitely improved. It feels much more natural to speak than it did two weeks ago when I arrived. Volunteering was also a great experience that showed me the challenges refugees face, but also showed me the resilience they have.

The two weeks passed by quickly, and I wish I could stay for longer. Halle is a beautiful city, and I learned a lot from my time here at the Excellence Center. I hope to return to Halle as soon as I can!

My 3 weeks at the Excellence Centre in Europe have been wonderful: it has allowed me to greatly improve my German, to widen my knowledge of refugee issues, and to meet great people from around the world.

The centre provided 3-4 1.5 hour German lessons for me and a small group of other students per week, which were consistently engaging, entertaining and educational. Despite coming from differing knowledge backgrounds and levels, we could all grow and bounce off each other, encouraged to stretch ourselves to new areas but without the pressure that comes from large classes. Furthermore, most lessons revolved around speaking practice which, although scary, was what I needed most - during my time here I have become far more comfortable and confident with using conversational German, furthered more through other volunteers sometimes joking and chatting in German in an inclusive way, meaning it was a true immersion into German and Germany which is exactly what I wanted.

My other main activity at the centre was teaching English; this is not an activity I had experience in. Despite initially feeling quite unsure as I was thrown into lessons without any guidance from the centre really, I quickly learnt how to lead a lesson, and as most are 1:1 tutoring, it is easy to tailor it to a student's needs. Teaching English definitely helped me to develop as a person, and it is something I intend to undertake again in future breaks from school, which is certainly galvanized by the eagerness and kindness of every single pupil I taught.

The atmosphere at the centre itself was by far the best part of my time here - being surrounded by the most friendly and outgoing people, from a range of backgrounds and experiences, undoubtedly made it the extremely fulfilling experience it has been. From the moment I arrived, everyone was inclusive, inviting me to social events outside of the centre and to explore Halle with them. Although the fact that schedules are mainly self-designed can lead to everyone coming and going during the day, the opportunity to all gather at breakfast every day (which was very delicious, and entirely vegetarian which was great for me!!) and joke and chat, really meant I began the day feeling uplifted. Despite a lack of events organised outside of teaching initially, in the second half of my stay this definitely picked up, and the hike we went on was a great opportunity to see more of Germany.

Halle itself is not necessarily the most thrilling city in Germany, but it provided everything I needed from it and I took the opportunity of having weekends off to see more of Germany, which Halle is well placed to facilitate. Halle does have some beautiful green spaces (some of which I annoyingly only discovered in my last couple days!), with the Peißnitz park being close enough to the centre that after work I often went with my friends to sit and chat, or even once to row down the river - incredibly entertaining. However, minus the art museum, there is not much to fill weekends with, so instead I visited Leipzig and Dresden for day trips and Berlin for a weekend with other volunteers from the centre - only an hour away!! The only issue I particularly had with Halle was that I was staying in Neustadt which was a 20 minute tram ride away - the tram system is very good and links the whole city but it did make it difficult to be flexible about meeting up with friends and there is an extra cost for transport which others staying in altstadt didn't experience. Yet, as I had another volunteer as a roommate, I was not alone in this, and I became very close with her which was lovely. The host family I was with were also very nice, and although mainly keeping themselves to themselves, they provided an extremely joyous atmosphere to arrive home to and it was a perfectly satisfactory base to stay in during my time in Halle.

Overall, my time at the Excellence Centre is an experience I will cherish - my only regret is not staying for longer. I greatly hope to stay in contact with the friends I have met here, and continue my learning of German to hopefully return to live here soon!

My time at the Excellence Center was an all around good experience. The atmosphere created by the other interns and volunteers as well as the staff is friendly and welcoming, which made the transition to a new country smooth. Ali specifically played a key role in this transition and integration as he gave me a tour of the city once I arrived, introduced me and the other interns to local students, and helped me find my way to the center and my accommodation. Additionally, he was my Arabic teacher and helped me progress immensely from completely no background. The lessons were well paced and bounced off of me well, making it feel personalized and motivating rather than overwhelming (which Arabic can easily feel like). I was given some materials to support the lessons which will be advantageous to keep in the future. Though we reached the advertised 30 hours (for a 2 month internship), I do wish the lessons had started earlier on in my time here and been more frequent and shorter per session. Overall my favorite part of this internship was learning Arabic which was mostly because of Ali!

My accommodation was also a warm and welcoming atmosphere where the host family wanted me to feel comfortable and at home. However, there is great variety in the type of accommodation interns/volunteers receive and little support for navigating the transportation system, especially when you’ve newly arrived. Some interns are quite far while others are close and don’t need to account for transportation costs, which is covered by the intern. Rafat did a good job of being available to address accommodation concerns if issues did arise; however, there was no information given to me ahead of time about where/with whom I would be staying or what I could expect to receive from them (ie, meals, whether I would have an in room roommate, etc).

The experience at the Excellence center as an intern is very relaxed and gives the opportunity for self initiated exploration, such as of the state of migration/integration in Halle and the actual city of Halle. Because of the flexibility afforded in the set up of the internship program, I found that there was less structure and organization than I anticipated or would have preferred. I enjoyed being able to teach the same students English for the entirety of my internship but I found that this combined with my Arabic lessons didn’t take up as much time as I expected. The case study and presentation on refugee affairs aspects of the program were a lot more limited than I expected and my main wish is that this part of the internship was more intentional and expansive. I was able to learn a lot about the integration experience from speaking with the (predominantly) Syrian migrant population at the center as well as the Refugee tour, however. Everyone was so open and lovely - I learned just by being around the interns and students of Halle, as well as having the time and flexibility to travel and explore Germany/nearby cities.

What an amazing experience! From the moment I walked through the door at The Excellence Center, I felt welcome! The atmosphere is friendly, helpful and super comfortable. Rafat and his staff do everything they can to ensure one has a good experience. Everyone is so laid-back and easy to talk to, which, in my opinion, promotes the overall feeling of warmth and kindness one feels there. I will always remember this experience with fondness and am so happy I chose to volunteer. I also had so many chances to practice my German and gained much through my own language lessons.

My name is Anna and I´m an English teacher from Russia. I volunteered at the Center for 2 weeks and I really enjoyed the time I spent there. What I loved the most is that Center not only gives you the opportunity to meet new people and study languages, but also provides you with plenty of extra activities!

We had parties, football games, city tours and many other things to do. All the volunteers also made a presentation about teaching methods and I it was really interesting to exchange experience and discuss things together. So, I really enjoyed everything! The only thing which makes me upset is the fact that the 2 weeks are over and I need to go home.

The other important aspect I would like to note is that the Center treats people like people and Rafat with his team help everyone as much as they can. I was happy to be the part of the team and I hope I helped some people too.