Meet US

A Program of the Embassy and Consulates of the United States of America in Germany, supported by Fulbright Germany

  • "What is the American Dream?"
  • "What does a typical school day in the U.S. look like?"
  • "How does the U.S. election system work?"

These are some typical questions that young Germans often have about the United States of America. The Meet US program is designed to help clarify the picture by bringing Americans – U.S. citizens from all backgrounds of life residing in Germany, as well as U.S. embassy/consulate staff – together with secondary school students in Germany to engage them in a dialogue about everyday life in the United States. The goal is to give youth in Germany a better understanding of the U.S. and to break down stereotypes.

The Meet US program is an important part of the cultural outreach activities of the U.S. Embassy and Consulates. It reaches out to all secondary schools in Germany. This program is free of cost to the schools.

Fulbright Germany with its mission to promote transatlantic exchange supports the program. The U.S. Fulbright grantees will contribute as speakers to the Meet US program and bring their American experience to classrooms across Germany.

Registration for the school year 2024-25 is now open!

Register Form for Host Schools here

If you are a teacher at a German secondary school and interested in hosting a Fulbrighter as Meet US speaker this school year, please complete the online registration form by November 3, 2024.

By registering, you will be added to the program's contact database and your school to the interactive map below. Then – depending on availability – a Meet US speaker from your region may contact you to plan a visit to your school. After the visit we ask you to fill out a brief survey to evaluate the initiative and ensure the best possible experience for future participants.

If you register after November 3, we will include your school for visits during the second school term when we update the map on February 16, 2025. To give speakers and schools enough time to organize their visits by the end of the school year, a later registration is not possible.

How does the program work?

The Americans meet with the students, either in their classrooms or virtually, to talk about anything that helps give the students a first-hand impression of American society.
The topics can be tailored to complement the school curriculum.

However, the intention is not to provide scientific or academic lectures, but rather to offer a personal look on social, historical or cultural aspects of the United States and the interests and aspirations of Americans. The guest speakers usually start with a short introduction and then open the floor to discussion and questions. The main goal is to generate an open and direct dialogue between the students and their American guests. The discussions may be conducted in either English or German.

You can find more information in the FAQ for teachers in this PDF.

Sign-up as Meet US speaker

All “green” schools are still open – the “red” schools already have matched with a Meet US speaker. Blue schools are available for online meetings. You can zoom in and out and click on the icons to learn more about each school, including their preferred language and topic ideas. We will include the registered schools for school year 2024-25 in early November, once the first registration deadline has passed.

Fulbright Germany coordinates the participation of U.S. Study/Research Grantees, English Teaching Assistants (ETA) and second year Fremdsprachenassistent:innen (ETAs 23-24) and U.S. Study/Research Alumni (23-24). If you are part of these programs and willing to participate as speaker, please contact us at meetus@fulbright.de.

Otherwise, if you are an American living in Germany and interested in sharing your experience with German high school students, please contact the embassy or consulate responsible for your region. A list with contact details can be found here.

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#MeetUSGermany on Social Media

Participants can share their experience on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using #MeetUSGermany and by tagging Fulbright Germany as well as the Embassy or Consulate responsible for the school's region:

Fulbright Germany

US-Botschaft Berlin (Berlin, Brandenburg)

US-Generalkonsulat Düsseldorf (Nordrhein-Westfalen)

US-Generalkonsulat Frankfurt  (Baden-Württemberg, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland) 

US-Generalkonsulat Hamburg (Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Schleswig-Holstein)

US Generalkonsulat Leipzig (Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Thüringen)

US-Generalkonsulat Munich (Bayern)

Read about the experiences of Fulbright grantee and Meet US speaker Sophia Warner, who taught as an ETA at the Carl-Friedrich-von-Siemens-Gymnasium in Berlin (see photo at top).

Contact

Fulbright Germany
Lützowufer 26
10787 Berlin
Germany

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