AEGEE-Aachen SU 2024: “Happy to bring back the tradition of German courses”

There is hardly any antenna that organized as many SUs as AEGEE-Aachen. And almost all of them were German language courses. “[ˈsʌmə(r) juːniˈvəː(r)siti] — Deutschkurs 2024” brought back the tradition to the city of Charlemagne. The event took place from 22nd to 28th of June 2024.

GT: What was your Summer University about?
Annika Albrecht, organiser: Our SU aimed to teach our participants German language. They had lessons with various topics every day. Besides, we focused on introducing the German culture to them. Also, we mostly talked to them in German during other activities.

GT: How many participants and how many helpers did you have?
Annika: We hosted six participants. We’ve been four organisers in the core team and we had about six more people that helped us during the SU.

GT: What were the greatest thematic programme highlights of the SU?
Annika: A hike to the three-border area was very special for the participants: It’s possible to be in Netherlands, Germany and Belgium at the same time.

GT: What were the funniest or most exciting moments?
Annika: There was one girl who said at the beginning she would like a pineapple. As she was from Italy, no one believed her. It was a scandal during our SU and has generated a lot of gossip.

GT: How was the group of participants?
Annika: The group of participants was small, but they seemed to be very much in harmony. For us organizers it had the advantage that we got to know each one very well.

GT: How did you manage to integrate the group of participants?
Annika: A respectful and welcoming atmosphere is what most people feel comfortable in.

GT: How successful was the SU overall?
Annika: For most of our participants it was the first Summer University. They were enthusiastic about their stay in Aachen and got so sad when they had to leave at the end of the week. Some weeks before, we have decided to do a short SU: one week instead of two. This had the advantage, that it was less stressful for us organizers and less exhausting for everyone. On the other hand, I am sure it would have been nice to have a long SU, cause friendships are getting even more intense after some time together. According to the planning of the SU, we were glad about not having big issues. Mostly everything worked out as we have expected before. We are all happy and proud to brought the Summer University and the tradition of German courses back to Aachen!

GT: Anything you would like to add?
Annika: At the end of the event we handed out certificates as a memory of the week. We came up with a special category for each participant. It should be something funny, fitting to the person and at the same time a German expression. Here comes a translation of the six characterisations:

• “Goalscorer-Guru”
• “Pasta-Police”
• “Ageless Soul”
• “Dancing Queen”
• “King of the Club”
• “Champion of Cosiness”