PLAISTOW — German class doesn't sound as much like a foreign language to some students at Timberlane Regional High School this year.

"Herr" Doug Madsen took 21 sophomores, juniors and seniors on an exchange trip to Droyssig in East Germany for a month this summer. The students lived with host families, attended German schools and experienced life as teenagers there.

The result: better German skills, more class participation and endless stories from their trip.

"It was a great experience to be there, not as a tourist, but to see the culture as a part of it," senior Moira Dhaliwal said.

Madsen said the trip, which he's taken students on every other year since 1995, is a great classroom motivator. The year before the trip, students want to get prepared to live with a family that may not speak English. The year after, they're enthused by the trip, and want to learn more and go back, he said.

The students concur. Many said class seems easier now. Not only do they understand Madsen, but they also can relate to the lessons.

"Before, when Herr Madsen would go off on a tangent, a lot of it would go over our heads," senior Jenn Patten said. "It comes naturally now."

Her German improved so much during the exchange, she said she had trouble with word order when she tried to speak in English afterward.

Beyond the language, however, Jenn found the friends she made there were similar to the friends she has at Timberlane.

"Teenagers are teenagers," she said. "It doesn't matter where you are."

Senior Josh Widener agreed. He was surprised by how much his host said "dude" and watched MTV, he said.

Each student had a different host, and therefore a different experience, senior Andrew Young said. But many things were the same — doner (a meat kebab) is their new favorite food and Salzburg, Austria, is the most beautiful place they visited, he said.

The students have formed their own society within the German IV class this year. They often find themselves helping their peers with classwork and relating topics to their experience.

It's something Madsen said happens after every trip.

"It's fraternal," he said. "If you went, you experienced and can identify with it more. It makes it more real to them."

German exchange students were at Timberlane a year ago. The French and Spanish departments also offer travel programs to high school students, but Madsen said the German program is the only academic exchange.