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Year 12 Work Experience in Dortmund, Germany

 

During the first week of the April half term this year, our A-Level German class took part in a work experience placement in Dortmund. It consisted of a five day work placement and then the weekend to explore the Dortmund town. Our placements were very different to each other. These were St. Johannes Hospital, Delta Apotheke (Chemist), and three different Hotels. We each had the opportunity to not only find out how the world of work is but also to improve our language skills as most of our employers did not speak English. We were all pleasantly surprised at how much we actually know and how well we are able to communicate.

The Dortmund town itself was quiet and the people were extremely polite and friendly. There were many high street shops and inviting restaurants. One thing that did surprise us was the number of rhinos in the town but not real ones of course! We later found out that they were used as art because they are the symbol for the philharmonic orchestra.
There were 20 other students from schools across England and they were all fantastic and we feel we have made some long term friendships. We stayed in a youth hostel which was a lot nicer than what we thought it would be and luckily we was able to taste German food each day. We got to try various German meats such as ham and beef, chicken and the German Schnitzel which is a steak in breadcrumbs.
Overall the experience was fantastic and we felt a lot more confident with our German speaking abilities. It was definitely something that everyone studying a language should try because you can improve but also have fun.