Final Report Internship in America

How I found my internship and who helped me with the organization

To spend some time abroad has always been a dream of mine. But I have to confess that, when it finally
came to that, it was really spontaneous. My boyfriend, a student at the University of Applied Science in
Munich, was looking for an internship abroad as well, which was why we planned to go together. Having
evaluated our possibilities he as a BMW trainee promotion program member was offered internships in
Australia and America we took our chance to go to the United States. His future office was located in Palo
Alto, California, which is why I then spent countless nights online, finding and contacting schools public
and private to find an internship as a teaching assistant. I considered having the possibility to teach in an
English speaking environment more useful for my future and my experience then studying at a university
abroad. This search turned out to be way more complicated than expected: due to financial curfews most of
the German departments did no longer exist. While looking for a school who would accept my application, I
had to take care of all the paperwork, a stay in the US requires, and find financial support to make my stay
abroad possible, which is how I got to Student und Arbeitsmarkt. This time was stressful and filled with all
emotions possible.
When I finally one and a half months before my planned departure! got an acceptance at the School
for Independent Learners, I had even more stress finishing all the paperwork with my visa sponsor Intrax,
the American embassy, my university, and my future employer SIL. In several phone calls overseas, the
directors of the School for Independent Learners and I worked on my training plan, which I needed for my
visa sponsor, and we agreed on my future tasks: I was hired to be a German teacher and besides giving
lessons I should rewrite the German curriculum. Besides all that we had to find a place to live for six
months, which is in the Silicon Valley/San Francisco Bay Area a really expensive affair.
Until I finally sat in the airplane on September 10th 2009 I actually couldnt believe, I would really leave
Germany for the upcoming six months.
Without the moral support of my family and especially my boyfriend, who stood awake through the nights
with me to help me with the search of a school and a visa sponsor and who never let me give up, it would
have been really hard to make all that possible.

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Expectations, tasks, and first impressions
My first experience with the School for Independent Learners was actually the Friday before my first
workday, when I was invited to their weekly BBQ lunch. The school building seemed pretty small,
compared to what I was used from Germany, but I learned fast that this private school only has 120
students, of which only around 25 are full-time students, all the others just come on two or three days a
week for some classes.
The three directors Ashley Sarver, John Wise and Richard Gowers, welcomed me warmly and introduced
me to some of the full time students and teachers. Due to that experience I was really happy and excited
about this internship. Since SIL is an accredited private high school with one-on-one classes, which is a
system that I have never experienced in Germany, I was anxious to learn more about it. Since I was the
first intern this school ever had, the number of my tasks increased during my time at this school. Besides
rewriting the German curriculum I happened to be the only German teacher, since my predecessor left to
teach at the East coast. This meant that I was teaching from the very first beginning. Michael, my fifteen
years old student, had already taken one semester of German and he seemed to have an amazing feeling
for languages he also took French classes. His motivation and his quick intelligence brought both of us a
lot of joy, and I enjoyed working with him a lot. In these classes I could use a lot of the didactic theory of
planning lessons (with lesson plans, as you have seen in one of the monthly reports), which was a support
for me, especially in the first few classes, when everything seemed new and exciting. Time after time my
tasks increased, and so I was moving into the study hall to supervise students with their homework and be
there, if they needed me, with whatever problems they had; I took part in the weekly student-council
meetings and made individual time-management plans with students who didnt seem to be able to do their
homework at home without having a lot of trouble.
Looking back I would say that all my expectations have been absolutely fulfilled! I have definitely learned a
lot and I have never expected that I would really be allowed to teach so much, which gave me insight into
the day-to-day business of teachers: I had to prepare classes, think about homework, correct latter in the
next class, repeat grammar and make sure the student(s) understood everything we did during class, and
so much more! I would have wanted, though, to be able to take part in teacher-parents meetings, to see
how they interact, which didnt quite work out in that time. But when I was meeting the mum of one of my
students, explaining her why her son was not as far as he was supposed to be, without giving her the idea

Final Report Internship in America

that it was her fault, I had the impression that I did a good job. Besides that I was really content about my
internship and the possibilities to learn as much as possible in so many different areas.
Since I was supervising the study hall during my work time, there was always a student who wanted to talk
to me or who needed my help, so it was never boring and the frequent interaction with so many students
helped me a lot to improve my communication and vocabulary skills.

My colleagues and the School for Independent Learners (SIL)

At SIL there are around 30 teachers, which means, it is a pretty small school. But since every teacher has
his/her own cubicle to teach in, there is no real teacher-room, in which you could spend your free periods
and get to know your colleagues. Especially the fact that I was having my workspace in the building next
door, made it difficult to have contact with the other teachers. But there were always two or three teachers,
who just came over in their free periods to meet and talk to me, which I enjoyed a lot. We also had a water
fountain in the study hall, so a lot of teachers just stopped by, when they needed to refill their bottles, or get
something to drink. With two of them I still have contact every now and then.
The map on the right shows the School for Independent Learners. The
upper building includes the study hall (from left to right): test center
(used when students do tests, or if they want to learn/prepare classes),
meeting table (meetings with parents, students, teachers, directors,
etc.), my workspace, tables with PCs (which students can use). The
backdoor leads to the small backyard the gym. The lower building
includes two rooms with small cubicles in which the lessons are held.

Final Report Internship in America

One part of the lower building, with six cubicles on each
side, the same interior can be found in the other room of this
building

One of the cubicles from the inside: besides a table and two chairs there is
not much space left. Some teachers decorate their room individual with
posters, maps, shelves and/or plants.

Our house, living in California, and ESL

Two weeks before we finally started our flight to the United States, our search for an apartment hadnt
shown any success yet (the San Francisco Bay Area is as the heart of the Silicon Valley one of the
most expensive areas to live in), which is why we decided to put an ad on www.craigslist.com. We have
been really lucky when we got an answer the same day: a woman was asking whether we would be
interested in renting her house for the upcoming six months, naming a price which was pretty regular for an
apartment (!) in the San Francisco Bay area. She was going to spend these six months in Texas with her
husband and they were looking for someone to take care of the house. After some emails and having
clarified all the details, we decided to trust them and accepted her offer. They picked us up at the airport,
and we shared the house for the first month, which was looking back a good idea, because they helped
us with all the small things, you just dont know when you come to a country for the first time. After the first
four months our landlady and her husband moved out and we had the six rooms for ourselves. The house
had a big garden with a pool, which we could both use all the time; gardener, pool boy and cleaning people
have been included. This house-offer was an amazing chance and we have been so lucky!
In general I was really positively surprised: people everywhere in California have been so friendly, you
would never stand somewhere longer than 30 seconds with a map in your hand, without being asked
whether you need help, couples on the bus just start friendly conversations and everyone (especially our
neighbors) offered help whenever we would need something.
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Although Californian people usually eat healthy, there are still a lot of fast food chains and possibilities to go
out for lunch or dinner. Since fresh produce is pretty expensive, it is mostly smarter to go out for dinner (you
can get all you can eat buffets for $7 - $12) than buy all the groceries, which is really expensive in
California.
Since we really tried to live the American life, we celebrated Thanksgiving with our friends, turkey, stuffing,
smashed potatoes, and a lot more side dishes, just like real American families do, we even ate in front of
the TV sometimes, with extra TV-tables, which our landlady had at home.
I would say, we really tried to live the American way of life, and since we have been speaking English as
soon as we have boarded the airplane to San Francisco, I definitely learned a ton of new vocabulary, and
expressions, and the frequent use of the language, with my boyfriend as well as with native speakers,
helped me gain self-consciousness and fluency in my speaking.

Contact with residents

Besides the few outer school meetings with my colleagues, I got to know an American couple, the boy a
colleague of my boyfriend, with whom we met regularly. They introduced us to typical American
restaurants, the American lifestyle, and accompanied us to some of our weekend trips.
Since me and my boyfriend both came to America to learn and improve our English skills, we have been
talking English even without native speakers around, what helped us a lot to get used to communicating in
this language on a daily basis.

Motivation for my future studies

Since I had the chance to experience day-to-day work in this school, and especially because I was able to
prepare, hold and teach my own lessons, I am now more than sure that my choice of studies is exactly the
right thing for me. Although SIL just offers one-on-one lessons, which are different than usual classroom
lessons with 30 students, I have learned a lot and I face the last semesters of my studies with a really high
motivation.

Final Report Internship in America

Looking back
I enjoyed my time at SIL very much. My colleagues have been really nice, my work with the students in and
out of class was fun and I think the students really liked me a lot and trusted me. On my last day the
teachers, directors and students wish me farewell with a cake and a surprise party, it was great!

The cake and the balloon I got for my farewell party!

What future interns/students should know

If you want to go to America, no matter where, what you should definitely do, is get a bank account at the
Deutsche Bank in Germany, before you leave. The Deutsche Bank is a partner bank of the Bank of
America, what means you can withdraw money with your German bankcard without having to pay fees for
every transaction.
If you plan on going to America and using a car over there, you should make sure, whether they need the
international drivers license. In California, for instance, this document is not accepted, so you have to get
a special Californian drivers license after three months.
If you need a rental car, especially with drivers under 25 years), you should book on
http://holidayautos.de/. Besides not having to pay a special insurance fee for drivers younger than 25, you
also get the first gas tank filling included, and all that for around 50 a day (effective march 2010)!

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More interns needed at SIL
My employers at SIL are definitely looking for more interns, so if you are interested, visit the homepage
http://www.sileducation.com/ to get more information. I enjoyed my internship as a German teacher very
much, I learned a lot and I definitely had a lot of fun as well! I would recommend such a semester abroad
absolutely, this is a lifetime experience!