Hallo! I’m Megan, and I am a third year Spanish, German and Linguistics student going into to my final month at the Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Frankfurt was my first choice of year abroad location, and I’m so glad that I chose it as I’ve had the most wonderful experience here, and I’ve met so many people from so many different countries!
The university itself is lovely and also very large, with over 48,000 students, which makes the main campus feel very busy during the week – I was also very lucky that the university offers modules in Spanish and German so I was able to improve both by attending classes on pragmatics, general linguistics, syntax, among others. The classes here are nearly always 1hr 45 mins long, and for my degree at least, they’re mainly seminar-based, but I did attend one lecture class a week – I will say this did help me increase my attention span because the class time felt very long to begin with but just feels normal now, and I’m not quite sure how I’ll return to 45 minute classes at Southampton. In general, I think that German universities are very relaxed about which modules you can take – I don’t know if it’s different for German students, but I could take practically any class I wanted in any faculty. They also often offer different end of module tests based on whether you want a grade or not and you can ask to use German or German-English dictionaries in exams as a non-native speaker, which was a relief to find out. Overall, the main campus here is so beautiful, and the international team are so helpful, and also very prompt with replies so I’ve never felt like I couldn’t ask anyone for help. I would definitely recommend this university!
Another great thing about the university is that they also offer free German classes, which I definitely needed. I will say that I’m still not entirely comfortable speaking German, especially in front of native speakers, but I’ve definitely become more confident and willing to have a go. Most people like to practise their English with me, which makes me feel better when practising my German and Spanish since we’re all learning together. Also, just as a warning, the moment I tell people I’m from England, they try and talk to me in English which can be slightly frustrating, especially as a languages student – I met a German girl in my class who would only speak to me in English even when I asked to speak in German because she said she wanted to practise. However, speaking English has led to some funny situations, such as when another exchange student asked me a question in English, and when I replied he looked at me in surprise and said ‘wow, your English is really good!’
In terms of the city, I truly do love it here far more than I thought I would – I find the skyline with all the skyscrapers and the Main River before it so beautiful, as well as the Altstadt with the lovely Frankfurter Dom. The city centre is full of places to visit, such as the Museumsufer, which is a strip along the river with 39 museums, some of which are free for students – I’ve visited the Städel Museum, which is sadly not free, but does contain some amazing artwork from renowned painters such as Rembrandt, Monet and Picasso. There’s a lovely botanical garden a little closer to campus called Palmengarten, which is free for students from my university and is a very pleasant place to walk around and feel more relaxed – I always take people here when they visit. I’ve also been up the Main Tower, which is a free viewing platform at the top of a skyscraper where you can see the entire city and its surroundings (not free, but reduced for students), and I would definitely recommend this, especially at sunset if you can! It’s honestly so breathtaking to see everything laid out in front of you from so high up. One thing I must also mention is the Christmas market, or Weihnachtsmarkt! Frankfurt is one of the many cities with a Christmas markets, and it absolutely did not disappoint in the slightest – I’ve discovered that I love Glühwein, or mulled wine, which is hot, sweet wine that is far stronger than you realise. I also tried a Baumstriezel, or chimney cake, which quickly become one of my new favourite things I’ve ever eaten. If you have the opportunity to visit a big Christmas market anywhere nearby, I would recommend it! Obviously not every part of the city is wonderful – maybe don’t spend too much time around Hauptbahnhof if you can help it – but on the whole, this city is far lovelier than people give it credit for.
There’s also many nice places nearby that you can travel to by train, such as Heidelberg, Marburg and Würzburg, if you enjoy doing day trips – I’ve really enjoy travelling this year, and have been lucky enough to go to Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Strasbourg, as well as places in Germany such as Cologne, Heidelberg and Bamberg. Luxembourg is also relatively close to Frankfurt, and you can in theory get there for free using regional trains and the Deutschlandticket, although I wouldn’t recommend relying on German trains for pretty much anything. Instead, there are always fast trains or coaches that you can take if you prefer to not arrive four hours later than planned – true story: the journey from Frankfurt to Cologne is four hours by train but took us eight :’).
The pictures below are of Brussels Grand Palace and Strasbourg Cathedral.
Tips
Obviously these tips are based on my own experiences of studying at Frankfurt, so some things won’t apply to all countries and universities, but I hope at least some of them help!
- Start looking for accommodation as early as you can – In Frankfurt and other parts of Germany, it can be quite hard to find accommodation at a reasonable price if you start looking late, so I would recommend starting the search early. I was lucky enough to get a room in a large student building through my university, so I would suggest seeing if this an option at other universities as well, since my flat is very cheap for the city.
- Get involved with the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) at your university, if there is one – This was the main way I made friends here, since nearly all of my friends are other exchange students here for either one semester or the entire year. Our ESN group in Frankfurt is absolutely amazing and regularly organises fun events of all sorts, such as a weekly Stammtisch – a German tradition of getting drinks and having a chat essentially – as well as great parties, one-off excursions around the city, and day trips to other parts of Germany, such as Bamberg, Nuremberg and Köln. They also organise longer trips – for example, just last weekend I travelled around Belgium with several other exchange students, visiting places such as Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent! ESN has truly shaped my time here and allowed me to meet so many different people, as well as some of my closest friends here.
- Get the Deutschlandticket if you can – I was lucky enough to get this for free through my university, and I would definitely say it’s been more than worth it! The Deutschlandticket allows you to catch any mode of public transport throughout the whole of Germany for free, aside from fast trains (called ICE), which means that you can easily travel to other parts of the country with the regional trains, and then use the buses, trams and U-Bahn there for no money. We were able to get all the way to the Belgian border for free! Even beyond travelling, having this ticket is amazing just for getting the bus to university or the U-Bahn into the city without having to buy a ticket each time, so I would definitely recommend it.
- Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to always speak other languages perfectly – Of course, it is so gratifying to be able to speak with native speakers in their language, but mistakes are a natural part of this. Most of my friends here are Spanish so I’ve been able to speak a lot of Spanish while I’m here, and while some days I feel great about it, other days I find myself making more mistakes, or maybe my accent sounds even more English than usual. This may feel embarrassing in the moment, but it truly is absolutely fine – I’ve realised that no one is expecting me to be perfect at Spanish or German, and that it’s completely natural not to get everything right. All that matters is trying your best, and if it’s just not working some days and you have to speak English, that’s fine too! When I’m with other exchange students, we usually speak English and it is very funny being everyone’s native English dictionary.
- Take language classes if possible – I was able to take German and Spanish language classes through my university, and while taking Spanish was great because I was able to maintain my level, it’s my German classes that I enjoy the most. This is because many other exchange students take these classes, so there’s the opportunity to meet and learn with people from other countries, while simultaneously improving your language ability.
- Make sure you have cash – In Germany, cash is still very much a common payment method, and a surprising amount of places still only take cash and not card. There’s usually signs in shop and restaurant windows if this is the case, so I would recommend checking for this in advance if you don’t have any cash – however, I always make sure I have at least some cash on me in case I need it, since they also often make you pay to use the bathroom when out and about in Germany, usually around 1€, so this can prove very useful. Furthermore, at least in the Frankfurt Christmas market all of the stalls only took cash, so it’s definitely important to have at least some.
- ‘Mit Karte bitte’ – a very useful phrase in Germany to tell someone you’d like to pay by card. Exchange students often joke that it’s the only thing they can say in German, me included.
Overall, I’ve had the most amazing time in Frankfurt this year – I’ve been able to do so many things that would have scared me this time last year, such as travelling by (unreliable) trains, speaking with native speakers in their language, living so far from home, and I genuinely feel so much more confident because of it. I think that this year has allowed me to be less stressed about so many things and to take things as they come, and I feel like I’m capable of so much more now – if I can move to another country where I know absolutely no one and end up having a great time, what else can I do?
Danke schön und viel Spaß! 🙂
