kconhead

Yay!!!!!!!!! Now hoping that Germany and USTA Austria are soon to follow...

Also, watching movies with subtitles in the foreign language you are studying really helps! You can easily identify words that you have seen before and really helps your brain to slow down what you're hearing.

IMMERSION IMMERSION IMMERSION. i went from not speaking a word of German to speaking almost like a native in 11 months. Whenever I go back, people are surprised to hear that I am from America (if they think I have an accent, it's always that the think I am from Netherlands) and I honestly believe it's because I refused to speak English the entire time I was abroad. The more you speak, the more you HAVE to know, and I have found that being shameless in asking questions really helps. I found that learning sentence structure and a few basic verb conjugations really helped me (to be, to have, to do/make), and then I could just fill in vocabulary from there. My latin teacher had always touted that an understanding of latin and how languages function would help us immensely in learning a new language, and I agree with that completely. I could always ask someone quickly if a certain verb took the dative or the genitive, which was a solid and quick way of learning grammar. I just needed to note it in a small book that I carried with me and it was in my brain. Also, an understanding of sentence structure (and thereby, the parts of the sentence) given to me in 3rd grade english classes and reinforced in my high school latin classes helped tremendously.

I am pretty sure that the ETA Germany always comes out the last few days of March because they are competing with the USTA Austria that comes out in the first week of April. Don't know how that effects the research, but I am assuming all of Germany is the same day (or days).

yeah, as soon as i hear from both programs (provided i get accepted), i am going to start looking at WGgesucht and the likes!

aww this is great to know!!! again, still waiting to hear before i even begin making a decision, but i think ultimately the higher pay check of USTA will be rough to turn down, especially with my financial situation. Did you find it hard to live on 800 euros a month for fulbright?

Hi Bailey24! I have applied for both the Germany ETA and Austria USTA. If I end up getting both, it will completely be dependent on my locations for both.A lot of my friends who got both the ETA and USTA made their decisions based on location -- maybe it's just me, but I am not super concerned about the difference in prestige, especially as the job description is almost the same and if I were to receive both, I can still put on my resume that I was the recipient of a Fulbright grant. I am honestly partial to Austria -- I have lived in both places and feel like my heart is there. I also like that I would have the opportunity to extend to two years. A lot of my friends have done the USTA and absolutely LOVED it. If I get both, I am also going to compare the cost of living in both places. The Austria grant pays more, and it might just be wayyyy more financially viable for me to take the USTA, as the pay is significantly higher (but the cost of living might be relatively similar, depending on location). All in all, I think they are both potentially amazing experiences. I just wish I could fast forward the next 2-3 weeks.... I know that the USTA decisions typically come out the first of April (or around there) and the ETA for Germany comes out just around then.