Preparing for an Exchange or Travel to Europe
Students of German have opportunities to travel to German-speaking communities on study tours, sister-school exchanges or other exchanges or scholarships.
It is recommended to do some preparation before travel to equip themselves with useful language and general knowledge about the community they are visiting and avoid some culture shocks in German-speaking communities, and to be able to answer questions about Australia.
Language Links
Spoken German
- DW: Du or Sie? How to say ‘you’ in German
- DW: Nicos Weg – a video series to help you learn/revise German with Nico
- Learn German with Anja – short videos to learn German on many topics
- Easy German – subtitled videos on every topic you can think about
- Memrise Phase Book – compare textbook to spoken speech
Cultural Research
Tips on customs, norms and how to be super polite
- German etiquette – e.g. find out about Hausschuhe, what does a closed door mean
The Goethe-Institut in New Zealand produced a series of animated videos called Lifeswap whichdeal with different cultural aspects of life in Germany and New Zealand.
The Goethe-Institut in Australia have two animated videos for students.
Deutsche Welle produce a video series called.
Research living and studying in DACHL:
Travelling in the European Winter
- Es schneit in Österreich – Anja teaches you some words about snow
- What to wear in for German winters [so you don’t freeze]
- Christmas Traditions in Austria, Germany and Switzerland
- 15 Christmas traditions in Germany
- New Year Traditions in Austria
- German New Year’s Traditions
- Silvester – New Year’s Eve Customs