WHY DID YOU SPEND TWO SEMESTERS ABROAD AND NOT JUST ONE?
It was clear to me from the very beginning that I wanted to spend two semesters abroad. Even before I traveled to England, I thought that I could only really get to know the language and culture during a longer stay. And in hindsight, I can actually agree with that.
I learned an incredible amount in the first semester, while what I learned really took hold in the second semester. What's more, an amazing number of German-speaking Erasmus students spent a semester abroad at the University of Hull. As I had a lot of contact with the Erasmus students at the beginning and I was at the University of Hull with a friend from Germany at the same time anyway, we still spoke a lot of German in the first semester. It wasn't until most of the Erasmus students went back home after a semester that we really made contact with our English friends and flatmates. This allowed the English to really settle in.
I also spent a lot of time partying with my Erasmus friends in the first semester, while I had a lot of time to reflect in the second semester. This time in particular was incredibly important for me to work through problems, develop new perspectives and, above all, become more mature (I talk more about this in my blog post “Solving problems by traveling”). So the second semester allowed me to develop my personality.
The fact that everything can take a little longer is mainly due to the time component. Students who only go abroad for one semester usually only stay abroad for the duration of their studies, so they are usually only abroad for 3 to 4 months. However, because I studied in England for two semesters, I was also there for the semester break of the first semester. So I was abroad for 9 months straight away. So the second semester doesn't just give you twice as much time abroad, it makes a significant difference in terms of time. Of course, this extra time helps you to settle in better and gain a deeper insight into the host country. Often you have only settled in after one semester and are then torn out of your environment again.
As a law student, the year abroad also meant that I had to study a year longer overall. Because of the peculiarities of the legal systems, I couldn't get credit for the courses abroad. This meant that my state examination was postponed by a year. This often puts some students off. Instead, they only want to go abroad for one semester and then start preparing for the exam at the same time as their fellow students, so that they can then benefit from the free extension. However, this also postpones the state examination by six months. You also have enough time abroad to repeat exam material. Plus: When I came back, I had time off from May to October. So I used this time to prepare for the exam. So it doesn't really make a difference whether you spend one or two semesters abroad. But the extra semester will make a difference from a linguistic and personal perspective. Among other things, you will take a lot with you that will stay with you after your studies.