AUSTRALIA - ADELAIDE

A big advantage I have by choosing Australia as my destination for my exchange, is definitely the language. Since everyone in Australia speaks English I don‘t have as many difficulties communicating. I began learning English in primary school and had to learn it since then throughout my entire schooltime. When learning a new language it‘s always difficult to get over the basic knowledge one learns in school. The basics are definitely one of the most important things when learning a new language but at some point you have to be able to talk to people and understand them without the staged situations that are created in the lessons. English is therefore easier to learn than other languages because it‘s used all around the world. There is barely any country where you can‘t use English to communicate. Not all countries are used to speak English as much, but it can still be used for the everyday talk. That‘s why I found it easy to adapt myself in this culture and find my way around. By understanding what other people are saying I immediately felt as a part of everyone else and I barely had moments where I didn‘t feel comfortable. Even though I don't have any problems with the language in general, it can be a challenge when it comes to my studies. The terms and names I use every day in German are an essential part of my studies. If I don't know them, I can't present my project or talk to my tutors about it, so it's extremely important that I can not only communicate with people on the street, but also use the language more professionally for my studies. But even here it was easier than I imagined it. The semester before, I was assigned to a studio that was held entirely in English.tiWith some of my fellow students I was only able to talk in English, otherwise we weren’t able to understand each other. During those months, I learned all the essential terms used in the study of architecture in English and was able to improve those skills by talking and discussing it all in English with the other students. This made it a lot easier for me here in Australia because I knew most of it or at least it sounded familiar. I would say that I improved my English skills a bit because I had to speak at least a few sentences or read or listen in English every day. But since most of it is not new to me, I don't have as much of a learning effect as others who don't know the language at all or only a litle. The language itself wasn’t new and I had rarely any difficulties but still some things I was able to learn. Nevertheless where on earth you talk English, each culture has it’s own dialect and with that also some special sayings or words that are unknown to others. The Australian accent is strong but can still be mistaken for the British accent. Those two have a lot in common especially the way they express the words. A few of the sayings that were used by the Australians a lot I kept in mind because I thought they were funny or simply new and unknown to me before. One example is ‘no worries’. This was one of the most common sayings and was used by almost everyone regardless of their age or where they come from. They used it often when they’re helping you with something and to end the talk or similar they go by saying ‘no worries’. Often as a reply to thank you.