The trainees should already acquire work experience abroad during their apprenticeship. This happens without the manufacturing pressure they will experience later. In addition, they still have time to process the experience they have gained and to improve in areas that may be needed. They should also learn to cope with limited vocabulary in the world of work and in daily life abroad. In doing so, they should use paraphrasing strategies and electronic aids such as the smartphone in a targeted manner. The trainees should also become more cosmopolitan in general and get to know and sometimes even appreciate a different way of implementing work. But also learn to appreciate one's own performance through training in the German dual system. They should be able to think outside the box and, after their return, better assess and appreciate their own education by comparing them abroad.
The project is part of our European and global internationalization strategy. The vocational students of our region come from many companies that operate internationally, some of them are even world market leaders in their field. It is common for them to be deployed abroad very promptly after their training. At this year's graduation ceremony, for example, two trainees could not be handed over their graduation certificate directly because they were employed for their company in Brazil and Colombia. Thanks to our international work experience, we try to prepare the trainees for these situations as early as possible during their training. This project is only part of our internationalization strategy. We have also already carried out projects with trainees in Morocco and China and are currently working on an exchange program with Joliet College in Illinois / USA.