International Question (help!) :)

[Adnan]

I read somewhere on this site that one can write an exam in English or in German, regardless whether the lecture was held in German or English. They also mentioned something about professors of German lectures helping out the students that are not so great in German. Does anybody have any experience on this?

[Dauergast]

Yep, see §18 (1) of the examination regulations:

[...]
The following grades must be used when assessing individual examination results:
1.0 and 1.3 = Very good (an outstanding result)
1.7; 2.0 and 2.3 = Good (a result that is substantially better than average requirements)
2.7; 3.0 and 3.3 = Satisfactory (a result that meets average requirements)
3.7 and 4.0 = Adequate (a result that despite shortcomings still satisfies requirements)
4.3 and 5.0 = Failed (a result that due to considerable shortcomings does not satisfy requirements)
[...]

Having 1 as the best grade is perfectly OK... think of "formula one", "1st place" and so on.

Then, §25 says:

(2)
Examinations are to be held in the language in which the subject was taught. The languages of instruction are German and English. On application by the student the examination may be held in the other language of instruction.
(3)
Written work can be submitted in German or English.

If you happen to sit in a lecture that's taught in German, I suggest to talk to the prof right at the beginning of the term. Ask him if he can provide an Engish version of the exam paper (ask his questions in English in case of an oral examination, respectively) or if you may at least answer in English. If he refuses to give you any help (which I doubt) you should contact somebody (like the course coordinator, the examinations office or some kind of student representative) to put pressure on this prof. As far as I understand (by means of (3) from above) you can always write your answers in English but you better talk to the prof about this beforehand.

Everything that goes beyond this may depend on the prof (or how much pressure you can put on him; for instance if there are several non-german students in the course). I've certainly been in lectures, where they offered German AND English exam papers (or oral examinations, respectively).
Furthermore, I've also been in lectures taught in English, where the examination was not offered in German. In those cases I opted to answer in English although German would've been allowed but I find that to be even more confusing.
I didn't keep track of how many times there was no English examination offered for a German lecture. I bet this was the usual case (for AIW! GES should be somewhat "better") but I didn't care. However, my impression is that the university is really striving to help non-german students. The number of English lectures seems to be steadily increasing and most profs of German lectures make some effort to provide English material etc.

[Adnan]

Does TUHH have International Student Support? I mean, in Vienna they don't give a shit about international students and they don't provide any information to what internationals should do, and to how students can have a successful path through their studies. So I'm just curious how supportive TUHH is, because it's not coming clear, I mean, I've sent emails to several people at TUHH (including Kerstin Weber or something like that) and I haven't gotten an answer (that was like 2 weeks ago..)
The reason I'm asking so many questions is because I don't want to do a mistake like the one I did when I came here to Vienna.
Another thing, if someone could explain how Hamburg is like I'd appreicate it. At TU-W I barely feel like I'm in a german university because all I hear is people speaking Serbian/Bosnian/Croatian as well as Turkish all the time. I'm NOT being racist but it does suck being in a place where you can't understand students (I only speak English German and Arabic.)
Thanks again, and sorry if this thread is getting really sickening to some of you!!!
-Ad.

[Sir K.]

You can try it here:
http://cgi.tu-harburg.de/~psvwel/en/

The administration office, which is concerned with all the examination issues, is always quite busy. Especially right now, when all the examinations are to be scheduled and taken care of.

[Adnan]

So guys.. all in all, what do you people studying GES or AIW think of this entire study in general? I mean how difficult do you find it (ignoring the language problem and all that..)? And how did you find the first two semesters to be exact? Good experiences, bad experience, etc...
That would be really cool if you guys would let me know about that and your experiences!
Random quick question: do I have to pay for a German course if I'd like to take the first year of GES and gleichzeitig have a German course that I just go to to become even better at German?
Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanks y'all!

[Sir K.]

Especially the first year in AIW/GES is pretty time-consuming, there are a couple of challenging exams after the second semester (e.g. Mechanik, Elektrotechnik 2, Thermodynamik). So consider the first semesters really as a fulltime job with little spare time.

You can get a German course for free here at the university, like all the other language courses (English, French, Swedish, Chinese,...)

[Adnan]

Hey guys,

Can someone explain this Studienkolleg thing for me? I hope I don't have to do a year before entering TUHH. I have a highschool degree from an international school and I've done the TOEFL exam as well as the S.A.T's. Does everyone do the Studienkolleg thingie? Are some internationals exempted from this shit?

Thanks again

[Gast]

Hi Adnan

You only have to do this Studienkolleg if your degree is not equivalent to the German Abitur. To make shure you should ask the Studierendensekretariat.

Greets
Nerezza

[Adnan]

When you say "equivalent to the German matura / abitur" does that mean that my highschool degree MUST have been done in Germany? Or does it not matter if I'm anywhere in the world, as long as it is equivalent?

[Gast]

What i wrote was just the translation of the text on the tuhh website to make shure you should contact the Studierendensekretariat. But i guess that your high school degree should be ok.

greets
Nerezza