Internships & Study Abroad

Foreign Language Internships

One of the most effective ways for students to immerse themselves in another culture—arguably the best—is for them to work there. Internships provide real training, contacts, impressive lines for resumes, and sometimes even a foot in the door to a full-time job. Interns enjoy maximal contact with native speakers, abundant opportunities to practice languages, learn new skills, and hone the skills they have been taught on campus through practical use.

The German department offers its students advice in finding internships in German-speaking countries. Our students have obtained summer internships in Germany through the Weiser Center for Europe & Eurasia, Cultural Vistas, DAAD RISE, and other organizations.

Study Abroad

U-M has the most students studying abroad among Big Ten universities and is fourth in the nation among higher education institutions. This reflects U-M’s ongoing commitment to helping students go overseas. Germany is rated as one of the most popular destinations for U-M students studying abroad.

The German department works closely with LSA's Center for Global and Intercultural Study for study abroad programs available to our undergraduate students. Two programs we highly recommend and provide scholarship assistance to are the Academic Year in Freiburg program and the Study Abroad in Tubingen program.

Study Abroad Scholarships are available through the German department.

Academic Credit

There are several options for students interested in earning academic credit related to their internships. The German department offers German 351 to get credit for an internship which uses German on a daily basis (more information below). The LSA Internship Program offers Applied Liberal Arts (ALA) courses, which are designed to ensure students fully prepare to engage in each phase of the internship experience, and that they gain credit for the academic requirements associated with the course.

Max Kade students enroll in German 310 and German 312, one-credit courses which prepare them for their trip to a German-speaking country in the spring.

Study Abroad/Internship Courses

German 310 Studies in German Culture & German 312 Cityscapes

These courses, for residents of the Max Kade German Residence, will work on enhancing German language skills for ongoing discussions in a German-speaking environment, and will provide cultural exposure in various media relevant to a German-speaking city as preparation for an educational trip to that city in the spring. The thematic focus will be on the city of travel during the spring trip, including current events and issues, politics, traditions, and dialects. German 310 is offered in the Fall semester; German 312 is offered in the Winter semester.

German 351, Practice in Business German

This course will give credit to a student for the completion of an internship in a German-speaking country. Usually taught in Fall semester.

Requirements for receiving credit are as follows:

The student will complete an eight-week (minimum) internship in a German-speaking country before registering for these three credits.
The student will then complete a report/paper of at least 20 typed pages in German on this experience.
During the registered term, the student will also make a ten-minute presentation in German about the internship experience to Business German students and potential interns.

Applied Liberal Arts

The LSA Internship Program offers internship-related courses in the Applied Liberal Arts (ALA) division. Whether you are interested in learning how to best prepare for the internship search or how to make the most of an experience once you have secured a position, one of these courses will help you succeed.

For the most current information on courses, please see the LSA Course Guide.

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