Finding Timo!
If you visit Swansea’s National Waterfront Museum you may bump into a friendly skipper from Hamburg who is keen to have a chat with you.
Timo Schwarz, a German exchange student, who normally works on a tourist boat in Hamburg, is spending August with the Museum on a work placement scheme which will help him to practice his English skills.
Twelve German exchange students are splitting their time between English Language classes and work placements with local companies during their month–long trip to Swansea. The exchange project programme has run successfully in Scarborough for the past two years and this is the first time it has run in Swansea.
The students are undertaking vocational training in Germany and their visit has been developed with Swansea University’s German partner organisation Artis, which receives funding from Hamburg local government to run the programme. The Principal of Hamburg College and the Head of Education from the Hamburg local government will be coming to Swansea at the end of the course to discuss future projects and possible collaborations covering common agendas of widening access, employability, internationalisation, student mobility, student experience etc.
The Swansea University English Language Training Services (ELTS) are providing the English Language classes and have helped to find work placements for the students in a variety of different fields which include catering, administration, retail, hairdressing and maritime.
Companies who have agreed to take the 12 students include the Residential services, Catering services and Student Services within the University as well as The Village Hotel, Icon Hairdressing, Katie Francis florists, Swansea Museum and Savers Health and Beauty.
For more information about the Swansea University English Language Training services go to: www.swansea.ac.uk/internationalisation
For more information about the Swansea University foreign exchange programmes go to: www.swan.ac.uk/internationalisation/internationalstudents/exchangevisitingstudents/
