Case Study

The Professional Development Courses are very popular with vocational schools (Berufsschule/ Berufskolleg) throughout Germany. There are around 500 students per year that attend programmes at the ECBM for further and international education:

Saskia Panthöfer, Berufskolleg Südstad, Köln

First, I would like to say that I have not regreted a second of my stay in London and anyway, I can advise everyone to visit London. For me London is a great city and I definitely want to come back. Thanks to the PDP-Programme at the ECBM I have learned a lot personally. Concerning my English language skills, I am no longer scared to communicate with people in English. I now have fun to communicate in this language. I may even plan a stay abroad in my future life.

Elena Stückel, Berufskolleg Südstadt, Köln

My aim was to gain additional certificates, which would give me an advantage in my future professional life, and to improve my English language skills as well.

Each course at the ECBM was full of variety thanks to every teacher’s different classroom methodology. During our stay we had to speak English and the teachers encouraged us to ask questions when we did not understand important aspects. This created a professional and friendly atmosphere at the same time.

The content of each lesson provided us with much information regarding different topics. I enjoyed every day at the ECBM and would encourage everybody to take part in this programme. I think the certificates will be very useful for future life.

Martina Nordmeyer, Berufskolleg Südstadt, Köln

I absolutely enjoyed my stay in London. It is such a great city!

The teachers at the ECBM were all friendly and very helpful, offering interesting subjects, for example, Intercultural Management or Marketing and Advertising in the UK. I also did sightseeing tours and even after all these weeks there was still a lot to explore in London!

I think that the certificates and the personal experience I made in London will always be useful for my future life.

Annika Maike Mohr, Berufskolleg Südstadt, Köln

I have joined the Personal Development Programme (PDP) at the ECBM and have learned things like “London as a location for business”, “Business Organization and Structure”, “Marketing and Advertising in the UK”, “Excellent Customer Service” and “Media in the UK”. At the end of the course there was a written and oral exam. Beside these exams, the students had to hand in an essay after having finishing the course in London.

I would recommend a stay abroad to everybody. Whether it is for your personal experience or for your professional career, you can just benefit from it!

Vera Kuels, Berufskolleg Südstadt, Köln

The ECBM College was very interesting not only because of its different teachers for every single topic. This helped us to get used to different ways of speaking English. Every single teacher was friendly and tried to make our time in London very comfortable. We are sure that our time in London improved our English as well as our business skills very much.

For that reason we are considering going abroad again for educational purposes.

Maybe at the ECBM again!

Asli Gürbüz, Berufskolleg Südstadt, Köln

During my stay in London I have learned a lot about the English culture, the peoples’ lifestyles and have also improved my English very much. The ECBM helped me to learn much more about business and work in London. When we had any questions or problems the teachers were very friendly and helpful.

I would recommend the ECBM to everybody!

Eva-Maria Müller, Kompetenzzentrum Kaufmännische Berufsschule 4 Nürnberg

During the stay in London I used the opportunity to improve my English skills and learnt a lot about London and aspects of business.

All the teachers at the college were very friendly and they were highly skilled so they really have done a good job in teaching us.

I think, all in one, the topics of the programme were very varied and there was not a topic which was boring.

I think I learned a lot in every lesson and the discussions helped me to refresh my English skills and I learned new vocabulary.

I think it was good that the teachers did not allow us to speak German because we learnt more when we talked in English.

There were also excursions to the Law Courts and it was very interesting to see how a court hearing runs in the UK, because not everybody gets such an opportunity.

I think after the stay in London and at the college it is easier for me to write an E-Mail in English and to phone people in English on a more professional level. I recognized that it is not so difficult to approach someone in English and now I am more self-confident.

Another point is that I was really surprised how interesting and important it is to have an international experience. When I get my certificate I will be really proud of this because I will always keep the stay in London and at the college in my mind – for these three weeks I learned for my life.

Nadine Cremer, IHK Aachen

The teachers, the course and the other participants were all very friendly and lovely. During my stay in London I learnt a lot about English history and the economic and political background. But that’s not all. It was a great experience to have lessons with native speakers and everything around you is in English. It was also a great experince regarding my personality because during the time in London I became more self-confident in speaking as well as in doing things on my own. For me, it was the first time in London and there is so much to see. Unfortunately, I could not see all the sights and museums and markets I wanted, but I’ve seen a lot. We had great excursions with the college:The London Metal Exchange, The Docklands, The financial district and many more!

Yvonne Schaffert, Berufsschule Neu-Ulm

I had learnt English for nine years at school in Germany, but the visit in London gave me, for the first time, the chance to use my skills by speaking the language every day. Therefore I was able to overcome my language barriers and to get more self-confident by talking to other people in this language.

The teachers at the college were very engaged and tried to give us the necessary information in the most interesting way. Furthermore they were really friendly, ready to help with preparation regarding our oral presentations and written projects, which are necessary for reaching the certificates. In my opinion it makes always a good impression with applications to be able to show something, wich confirms additional skills and experiences abroad.

The stay at the ECBM opens and widens your consciousness and shows you how many possibilities are waiting for you in this world. After this visit I could even imagine studying or work abroad, which was not the way I thought about it before.

All in all this experience left me in a positive mood for a long time.

Daniel Preiß, Berufsschule Neu-Ulm

"Travelling to London was a great chance for me, especially because it was financially supported by Leonardo da Vinci (EU-funding). Another useful thing was that the class was not too big and everyobody was involved in the lessons.

My personal result: I think it was very helpful to visit the College because all the certificates and mainly the experience I got will help me with my future study plans in Germany and abroad.

Everyone who gets the chance to attend the ECBM should accept this great offer."

Fabian Rehm, Berufsschule Neu-Ulm

“I want to give the advice to everybody who plays with the idea of doing the PDP at the ECBM: do it!

Studying at the college will help everybody to improve their English skills. The teachers will give you a very good insight into the British culture, politics, economy and will explain to you what London is about.

Don’t forget that you will stay in one of the greatest cities in the world for the time of the course.”

Daniel Reese, Siemens AG

“When I first looked at my schedule I was really surprised. I imagined subjects as English Business words or English Grammar but instead there were subjects like newspaper studies and even excursions. After we have had some theory in class (for example English Law), we discovered the reality in London (e.g. excursion to the Law Courts).

The classes were held by different teachers most of the time and so we got to know to a lot of different people and a large variety of teaching methods. What I liked most were the discussions. In a class of fourteen people everyone was able to give some input on topics as Business Ethics or Intercultural Management. I sometimes was impressed by the quality of the discussions because the English of most of the students was really good. Afterwards I figured out that learning English does not necessarily mean to learn new words and to study grammar but even more just listen to it, and speak it!

While discovering and exploring London we had to use our English all the time. Hence, some of the students even started to think in English- and that was the goal of the teachers in the College!

The peak of the two weeks was a presentation of a certain topic and an exam. We were all pretty nervous but I can tell you: all of us did it successfully. The fact that we were able to hold a whole presentation in English summarizes the extraordinary preparation and commitment of the teachers.

I definitely can recommend an ECBM course.”

Alexandra Bischof and Stefanie Federl, Siemens AG

"We spoke English the whole day. Moreover we discussed diverse interesting topics like marketing in the UK, globalisation, London in the EU and modern British politics. Our excursions to the City of London, the Docklands and the Old Bailey were the highlights during the course.

During the whole time we lived with really nice host families and enjoyed the possibilitiy to learn about typical British life.
After having written our projects and exams and undergone an oral presentation we got certificates which will be useful for applications in the future.

We would come back every time."

Philip Cler, Siemens AG

"What I liked most about the trip were the teachers. They impressed by their expert knowledge and amazed with their ability to explain complex themes in understandable English. The subjects taught were also up-to-date and interesting.

I personally learned a lot about English economy and how it is different in comparison to Europe.

I think collecting experience in foreign countries is not just good for your CV but it also heps you personally so much that you can hardly collect enough of it."

Mathias Fazekas, Siemens Munich

"The stay in London was an amazing mixture of languages, business skills, general education, sightseeing and self dependent scheduling. Perfect! I wish that this kind of further education was a compulsory part of education in Germany. To me, the ECBM is a role model."

Stefanie Ernst, Johanna Staffler, Sandra Harlacher, Fujitsu Siemens Computers

“Our host families were very friendly and we enjoyed our stay with them. The way to the underground station was only a few minutes walk away.

Our course at the College was called ‘Business Communication Skills’ and it usually began at 9.30am and ended at 4.45pm. We learnt about subjects such as Britain in the EU, Marketing in the UK and Modern British Politics.

During the day we had to speak English only.

The teachers were very friendly and supporting. They spoke clear English which we understood.

We had a written exam and an oral presentation at the end of the course in London. Also we had to write a written project once we were back in Germany. Within three weeks we had to finish the report and send it back to the ECBM.

All together we would like to say: London is a very exciting city and we enjoyed our time at the College!”

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