The main problem for a foreigner when entering a university in Germany is passing a language test
German language
The German language is difficult. It cannot, like Italian, be learned in a month of intensive study. If you feel the strength to learn to pronounce 44 sounds, conjugate verbs in six tenses across five main categories, build sentences using direct and reverse word order, then give German a chance to make a career for you. After all, higher education programs in Germany are free for all foreigners who have passed the DAF test, and a German diploma opens doors to many companies.
But it cannot be done without a lot of hard work. 'It is better to study on your own every day for at least an hour than to exhaust yourself with multi-hour intensive courses for a month, so that everything gets mixed up in your head. I have been learning German for 2.5 years with two lessons a week, and in that time I have reached a high level C-1, and now I understand that if you study gradually, the logic of the language becomes clearer. Only then can you understand the agreement of six tenses, the use of cases and articles – the main stumbling block in German,' explains Yulia Lapshina, a student at the Goethe German Cultural Center.
At the initial stage, Yulia was helped by German TV and audio courses, which compensated for the lack of language environment. And when writing opportunities opened up for the student, penpal correspondence and Skype became a platform for practice. As Yulia admits, in Europe, knowledge of German, native to 100 million people, makes life easier: you get through passport control faster, are generously treated in cafes, and get discounts on German textbooks.
It is even easier for students of German special schools. Recently, Muscovite Irina Avdeeva won the 'International Youth Debates' competition in Berlin, which involved about 2000 schoolchildren from different countries. In the future, Irina wants to go study in Germany as an art historian or psychologist, and she owes her language skills to her school No. 1269: 'If you learn German from scratch, you must either enroll in courses (for example, at the Goethe Institute) or turn to private teachers. The latter option, in my opinion, is more reasonable, although expensive (on average from 1000 to 2000 rubles per lesson), but this way you will save time. Today, education in Germany in some humanities and natural science specialties is better than in Russia.'
If you already know German, on the website www.hochschulkompass.de you can find out what study grants are currently available.
Language will lead you to Berlin
Only a lazy person will not find practical application for German today. Firstly, with it, it is much easier to open the oak door to a prestigious European university. Currently, more than 12,000 students from Russia study at German universities. Take any city – Berlin, Munich, Bremen, Frankfurt – each has its own 'laboratory of ideas' equipped with the latest technology. Foreign students only pay a registration fee (about 500 euros per semester). Thanks to such generosity of the German government, there are now 190,000 foreign university students in the country (for comparison: in Russia – 60,000, in German-speaking Austria – 53,000).
Scientists working in Germany are generously funded by the local government. But, with fluency in German, you can build a career not only in science but also in pharmaceuticals, information technology, banking, construction, as well as in the production of household appliances and automobiles. After graduating from a university in Germany, you will easily find a job if you are an engineer or programmer.
When choosing a university, foreign students who prefer natural sciences choose the Technical University of Munich, the University of Heidelberg, Aachen, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart. Lovers of social sciences compete for a place at the Free University of Berlin and Humboldt University. The interest of physicists and economists in the University of Bonn is fueled by the fact that this university already has Nobel Prize winners in these disciplines among its graduates.
It must be said that the main problem for a foreigner when entering is passing the DAF language test. The university only cares about the result and high school grades in specialized subjects. However, for a number of specialties, the admission of foreigners is limited (numerus clausus): preference is given to German citizens. These are medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, psychology, veterinary medicine, law, architecture, biology – in total almost a quarter of study places at German universities. Detailed information in Russian about education in Germany and government scholarships can be found on the website of the Academic Exchange Service: http://www.daad.ru/. In German, see the website www.sprachnachweis.de.
The specifics of Danish
Knowledge of Danish also provides many opportunities to settle in Europe. You will have to run after a grant, of course, but it is in Denmark that you can do a trendy internship in art, architecture, information technology, etc. You can start the race today: information about programs is easy to find on the website www.su.dk and at the internship agency 'Sirius'. It will also be useful to dig into the database of educational programs in Denmark (www.ug.dk and http://studyindenmark.dk).
In Moscow, courses teach standard Danish, since Denmark is an island state, each island has its own dialect, differing in melody and rising-falling tones.
Even if the closest relatives of Danes – Scandinavians – cannot understand and distinguish what is hidden in a language that has at least 18 vowels... then what can be said about the Russian ear? However, as Ksenia Gordeeva, a teacher of Danish at the Scandinavian School, explains, hearing can be trained in six months: 'Danish is a complex language, especially if you do not understand its logic. I have been teaching Danish for five years and I can say that it is built on a clear structure, everything here is concise and concrete, you cannot hide behind beautiful introductory words. In a Danish sentence, there is a strict word order, the verb always comes second, determining the position of adverbials of place and time.'
Syntax is the main problem for us, because we are used to free word order in a sentence. For example, in Russian we say 'Yesterday I went to the cinema,' but in Danish it should sound with inversion, that is, a change in word order: 'Yesterday went I to the cinema.' Difficulties also arise when learning phonetics, articles, and the use of numerals. But such a feature of Danish as the stød (glottal stop) – a sudden interruption of sound – is grasped in almost a week. As practice shows, it is possible to learn the basics of Danish even in a year.'
Danish is spoken by 6 million people.
Hidden possibilities of Dutch
Tulips and Guus Hiddink – that is the first thing that comes to mind when we think of the Netherlands. If we translate all this into the language of flowers, we can say that the Dutch language is a rare variety, a true black tulip.
In fact, Dutch is not so complicated. It just sounds terrible, but the morphology itself is simple, the literary language approaches the spoken language, the dative and accusative cases are disappearing, even the neuter gender is rarely used. However, you will have to master the form of verbs and understand the rich system of pronouns, as well as deal with bulky endings. You can listen to how it all sounds at non-commercial courses (www.taalklas.nl), voiced by native speakers themselves. It seems the Dutch are ready to do everything to make people speak their language.
While thousands of our students study in Germany and Denmark, the Netherlands is still a virgin field strewn with tulips of opportunities that only 500 students from Russia pick. And the Dutch, apparently, understand that their language is for the elite, so the rules for admission to universities are extremely simple. Moreover, in the Netherlands you can officially study and work, and after graduation, look for a job for one year.
To study in the Netherlands, knowing the language is not mandatory; a certificate of English proficiency TOEFL (typically from 80 and above) or IELTS (minimum 6.0–6.5) will suffice. However, the language has to be taken by those who are going to marry a Dutchman – and there are more and more such girls in Russia. Universities have special language programs: they cost 3000 euros for six months or 5–8 thousand euros per year.
It is gratifying that you can apply to a Dutch university while still in school and even without having a secondary education diploma, but if you are applying for economics, finance, marketing, and management, you will need GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) results.
Generally, universities in the Netherlands are of several types: 14 research universities, 54 universities of applied sciences, and 11 institutes for international education. For those who already have a university degree, there are many graduate programs in sciences, most often lasting two years; the easiest way to find your program is here: www.academictransfer.org. By the way, starting from the third year, students can transfer to a Dutch university if it supports the Final Year program. And, of course, you can also choose internship, grant, and scholarship programs. You can find them on the websites www.nesorussia.com and www.grantfinder.nl.
Dutch – also called Flemish or Hollandic – is spoken in the Netherlands and Belgium (22 million people in total).