DESPITE its being contiguous and its being the smallest continent in the world, Europe is made of countries which have lots of languages. Because of that, its governing body – the European Union – has made it mandatory for its high school students to acquire another second language. This ruling is relatively new though so the older generation must acquire a second language for themselves to learn at their own volition.

If you are of English or Spanish descent and if you’re assigned here in Germany, you may want to learn German perhaps in a crash course of about two weeks on Christmas. A typical first day in a two-week course in German at any of the German language schools in the country’s major cities – Bonn, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Berlin, etc. – consists of the students being urged to write in German as their first essay for the class. It may sound awkward at first but a person who is really willing to learn German must have the diligence and the hard work to do so. Then the person may be compelled to recite his or her essay in front of the class.

Most of the students in these language schools are already adults so you will definitely have nothing to be embarrassed if you sound awkward before your language instructor who may be younger than you. They are here because they are either employed by Fortune 500 companies or think tanks or even intelligence agencies back in their home countries merely posing as political and economic analysts. Besides, most of the language schools in Germany are of the topmost quality. If you are really serious in studying German, then visit first the local Ministry of Education in your area to get the list of the accredited language schools.

In a German language school, each student will be assigned a pair. After class hours, the pair is urged to help each other out. In other cases, German language schools will even organize excursions where students are immersed in crowded places. They will then try to overhear conversations and the students are urged to report back to their language instructors to what extent they have understood the German conversations. In still other cases, students are assigned a language exchange student online. These language exchange students also pay tuition just like the regular students in a German language school. But here’s the catch – instead of learning German, they will teach German to the regular students. The purpose of the language exchange students is to learn the native language of the students. For example, if you come from Spain, it is likely that the German language student assigned to you would like to learn Spanish or any of its dialects like Basque or Catalan.

Another tactic is for you to be immersed with a German family for your entire stay here. The German family is already pre-screened by the German language school so you don’t have to worry about anything regarding that. They will help you out in acquiring the German language. If you eat at the home of your German host, the normal courtesy is for you to chip in. However, if your study here is charged by your employer, you can have this reimbursed.