Learn Hardcore German: Im Kurs gibt es jeden Freitag einen kurzen Austausch über unsere Lernerfahrungen. - In the course there is a short exchange about our learning experiences every Friday.

Here, Im Kurs (“in the course”) is in the first position.
Therefore, the verb gibt must come next.
The rest (es jeden Freitag einen kurzen Austausch über unsere Lernerfahrungen) follows after.

You could also say:

Es gibt im Kurs jeden Freitag einen kurzen Austausch …

Here Es is in first position, gibt is still second. Both word orders are correct; starting with Im Kurs simply emphasizes the course context.

What exactly is Im Kurs? Why not in dem Kurs?

Im is a contraction of in dem:

in (in) + dem (dative masculine/neuter “the”) → im

German almost always uses the contraction in everyday language:

Im Kurs = in dem Kurs = “in the course”

Because Kurs is masculine (der Kurs), and after the preposition in (here expressing location), you use the dative case:

Masculine dative: dem Kurs → contracted: im Kurs

Why do we use es gibt here? Could I say es ist instead?

Es gibt is a fixed expression meaning “there is / there are”, used to talk about the existence or availability of something.

Im Kurs gibt es … ≈ “In the course there is …”

You cannot replace this with es ist in this structure:

❌ Im Kurs ist einen kurzen Austausch … (wrong)
✅ Im Kurs gibt es einen kurzen Austausch …

You could rephrase with a different structure:

In unserem Kurs haben wir jeden Freitag einen kurzen Austausch … (“In our course we have a short exchange every Friday …”)

But when you want the English idea “there is/there are”, German uses es gibt + accusative.

Why is it jeden Freitag and not jeder Freitag?

Jeden Freitag is in the accusative case, because this is the normal case used in time expressions meaning “every [day/time]”.

Declension of jeder (masculine singular):

Nominative: jeder Freitag (“every Friday” as subject)
Accusative: jeden Freitag (used in time expressions)

In Im Kurs gibt es jeden Freitag …, jeden Freitag tells us when something happens and takes the accusative:

Ich lerne jeden Tag. – “I study every day.”
Wir treffen uns jeden Montag. – “We meet every Monday.”

Can I say freitags instead of jeden Freitag?

Yes, both are correct, with a small nuance:

jeden Freitag = literally “every Friday”; sounds a bit more explicit.
freitags = “on Fridays” / “Fridays (in general)”.

So you can say:

Im Kurs gibt es freitags einen kurzen Austausch über unsere Lernerfahrungen.

Meaning is basically the same here. Freitags is very natural and common in spoken German.

Why is it einen kurzen Austausch and not ein kurzer Austausch?

Because Austausch is:

masculine: der Austausch
and here it is the direct object of es gibt, so it must be in the accusative case.

Masculine indefinite article:

Nominative: ein kurzer Austausch (subject)
Accusative: einen kurzen Austausch (object)

In the sentence:

Es gibt (there is) einen kurzen Austausch (what is there? → direct object, accusative).

So:

ein kurzer Austausch – would be correct as a subject:
- Ein kurzer Austausch ist wichtig. (“A short exchange is important.”)
einen kurzen Austausch – correct here as object:
- Es gibt einen kurzen Austausch.

Why does kurz become kurzen in einen kurzen Austausch?

kurzen is the declined form of the adjective kurz, agreeing with:

gender: masculine
number: singular
case: accusative
article: einen (indefinite)

Pattern (masculine singular with ein):

Nominative: ein kurzer Austausch
Accusative: einen kurzen Austausch

Because we use the accusative after es gibt, both the article and the adjective change:

ein → einen
kurz → kurzen

What is the difference between Austausch, Diskussion, and Besprechung?

All can involve people talking, but they have different nuances:

Austausch
Suggests a mutual exchange of ideas/experiences; often informal and balanced.
Very natural for courses, workshops, therapy groups, etc.
Diskussion
More like a discussion or debate; can sound a bit more focused on argument or opinion.
Besprechung
A meeting or briefing (often work-related, structured, with an agenda).

In a learning context, einen kurzen Austausch über unsere Lernerfahrungen sounds like a friendly, informal round where everyone shares their experiences a bit.

Why is it über unsere Lernerfahrungen and not über unseren Lernerfahrungen?

After the preposition über, you normally use the accusative case (when it means “about” rather than “above”).

Here we have:

Lernerfahrungen – plural noun (“learning experiences”)
unsere – possessive pronoun “our”

Declension of unsere (for plural nouns):

Nominative plural: unsere Lernerfahrungen
Accusative plural: unsere Lernerfahrungen

Nominative and accusative plural look the same, so you don’t see a form change.
unseren would be masculine dative or plural dative, which would be wrong after über in this meaning.

So über unsere Lernerfahrungen is über + accusative plural.

What exactly is Lernerfahrungen? How is this word built?

Lernerfahrungen is a compound noun:

Lern- (from lernen, “to learn”) – here functioning like “learning-”
Erfahrungen – plural of die Erfahrung (“experience”)

So:

die Lernerfahrung – “learning experience” (singular)
die Lernerfahrungen – “learning experiences” (plural)

German likes to build precise compound nouns like this instead of using phrases such as “experiences with learning”.

Why is Kurs, Austausch, and Lernerfahrungen capitalized, but jeden, kurzen, and unsere are not?

In German:

All nouns are capitalized:
- der Kurs
- der Austausch
- die Lernerfahrungen
Adjectives, pronouns, and determiners are not capitalized (except at the beginning of a sentence or in special cases like formal Sie):
- jeden (determiner)
- kurzen (adjective)
- unsere (possessive pronoun)

So the capitalization here simply follows the standard German rule: nouns get capitals; other words normally don’t.