Anyone do any Goethe institut courses in Germany?

candlegrease

Possibly going to Germany this summer for a couple of weeks and was looking at prices for courses.

A 2 week "intensive course" with Goethe institut is €570, or €870 if they sort you out with a single room. You can do it in Hamburg, bonn or dresden. It doesn't say anything about the accommodation, only that it's a single room.

This is pretty expensive, I know I could sort out a course for way cheaper over there, but its the idea that its all done and dusted before I go that appeals to me, rather than spending a few days running around looking for courses that can be done before my flight home.

Thoughts?

n900guy

That is pretty cheap. I did a Superintensive 2 weeks once, passed the A2 exam after it (end of second week). It was worth every cent - your level will jump especially after 4-5 days of 24/7 German.

I had a single room in a WGM-type apartment. It's no different to sharing in Dublin, except the others are Germans.

If you are serious about passing the exams and completing the levels, etc., (for example, you really need Goethe Zertificat B2 or TestDAF to work there professionally) then IMO don't hesitate. 2 weeks intensive course (4hrs per day) is the same as a semester in Goethe Dublin (e.g., Feb - June), so superintensive is an entire level (A1, B1, etc., ) in two weeks, intensive is half a level (A2.1, B1.2 and so on) in two weeks.

From start (no German) to Zertifikat Deutsch (B1) should take you around 8 weeks intensive. If you move over, with nothing planned, you could probably get into one of the VHS courses which are subsidised for new immigrants but TBH the Goethe courses are the gold standard (as they also set the main exams).

candlegrease

Thanks, good info.

Is there any actual benefit to doing this in Germany rather than Dublin?

Daniel S

candlegrease wrote: »

Is there any actual benefit to doing this in Germany rather than Dublin?

Anyone?

F.A.

You mean apart from the obvious one of being surrounded by the language pretty much 24/7?

Daniel S

F.A. wrote: »

You mean apart from the obvious one of being surrounded by the language pretty much 24/7?

I thought you only speak German at the one in Dublin too?

F.A.

I think you misunderstand. 24/7 means all the time, not just during class hours. The second post by n900guy contains a small but important detail:

n900guy wrote: »

I had a single room in a WGM-type apartment. It's no different to sharing in Dublin, except the others are Germans.

It seems logical to me that you'd be much more naturally and intensively exposed to the language if you do the course in Germany. I think it's unrealistic to expect to speak/hear a lot of German outside of class if you do the course in Dublin. I mean, say you go out in the evening - in Germany, you'd be facing German speakers, thus intensifying your learning in a natural way.

n900guy

candlegrease wrote: »

Thanks, good info.

Is there any actual benefit to doing this in Germany rather than Dublin?

Oh absolutely, there is no comparison. The Dublin evening courses are excellent for getting proper teaching on for example, grammar and basic vocabulary. However, you will immediately (well within a few days) pick up key conversational phrases very very fast, along with the casual vocabulary that is used in daily conversations - after a couple of weeks you'll likely be chatting casually and with proper speed in the pub in German.

You can learn off grammar, but when you are there and conversing you start to pick up how people actually speak. One of the best aspects was that in my group, no-one spoke English as a first language and one had some knowledge, so we all were conversing only through German outside of classes as well. You need to avoid English speakers, especially the ones that do the courses but wish to speak English casually outside it.

You speak German only in class in Dublin - but in Germany, you'll end up isolating yourself fast if you try to stick to English outside of class. As I mentioned above, only one of the class spoke English, and the others didn't at all. You will be going to the pubs or on tours with only German speakers or instructors. Speaking English outside of class will simply leave you out in the cold. It's hard to imagine for many English speakers, but many people don;'t actually give much of a damn about English, don't speak it well and prefer or need German more. For example, there were a good few Russians, Japanese, Italians and Croatians. You will all be communicating in German as the common tongue outside of class, not English. It's rapid rapid learning.

Cravez

n900guy wrote: »

That is pretty cheap. I did a Superintensive 2 weeks once, passed the A2 exam after it (end of second week). It was worth every cent - your level will jump especially after 4-5 days of 24/7 German.

Just wondering, did you start at a complete beginners level?

n900guy

Michael Cravez wrote: »

Just wondering, did you start at a complete beginners level?

Ah yes, forgot to add: I had done A1 and finished the (very easy) Start Deutsch 1 A1 "exit" exam around 6 months earlier.

murphaph

Goethe is mad expensive and from what I hear, not necessarily better than other schools. When I first moved to Germany "full time" I enrolled in intensive classes for about 4 months! I ended up passing the C1 level exam (Mittelstüfeprüfung) and stopped intensive classes at that point (wanted to get back to work lol!). I took evening classes at the VHS for a while but now I don't bother any more (must take a class again sometime) as I speak and understand enough German IMO (my girlfriend is German and we communicate in exclusively in English for a month, then German the next etc.)

I would recommend Berlin tbh. It's cheaper than the other big cities, the local dialect is not to bad (much easier than say Bayerisch to understand) and plenty of choice in language schools. I can recommend Die neue Schule from my intensive course days.