FoFoBT

I've gotten the ok from my employer to attend a 4-week German language program. Any experience with the month-long program at the Goethe Institut? I can choose locations and if we go in December, our preference is for Dresden or Munich (hello Christmas markets!). If in the summer, probably Bremen or Dresden.

Also, are there any similar programs in Vienna? The location and school choices are up to me - I want a high-quality program in an area that appeals to us. Dresden, Munich, Bremen, and Vienna top our lists. Not interested in Berlin or Frankfurt (nothing wrong with either of those places, they're just not what we want for a month).

Thanks!

lavandula

I've done a two month stint in Göttingen with Goethe. It was quite a good location for me at the time but possibly not what you're after. It was a long time ago now but I learnt a lot and would recommend them any time. I would also point out though that friends of mine in Germany who are familiar with the language scene consider them a pricy option so if cost were a consideration you might look at some of the other language schools. My course was tuition and half-board (accom. + breakfast and lunch). They also offer a cultural program with excursions as well, and I would encourage anyone to do those too. Go for it!

Lavandula

FoFoBT

Thanks! No, the cost is not a major concern. Quality of the program + preferred location are our two top priorities.

swandav2000

Hi FoFoBT,

I just took the two-week course in Dresden in early Feb 2011 and thought it was fabulous. Instead of using their accommodation, though, I stayed in a Ferienwohnung that I arranged myself (with the great help of a friend).

Classes start at 08.30 and run until 13.00 with two breaks, one for 30 minues at 10.00 and one for 15 minues at 12.00. Every day there was an organized activity, ranging from a walk in the old town or the new town or a movie or a Stammtisch or something like that.

The students were great, and of course from all over the world. Lots of folks from Asia, lots from Brazil, some Americans, a few from France, and some from the Middle East.

Although I had only completed level A1, after an interview and a test, they placed me in B1 -- mostly I think just to challenge me. I loved that I understood everything the teacher and the other students said (the teacher was very, very good at speaking so we could follow), and I didn't have any trouble following the grammar rules. The vocab is simple because he really made sure we understood before moving on. We used the book EM NEU

http://www.amazon.com/Ausgabe-B%C3%A...502247&sr=1-13

We got through two lessons and had started the third lesson in two full weeks.

Let me know if you'd like to know anything more!

s

Echnaton

Dialect might be a factor to consider. If you want to practice with locals, Bremen would be my first choice since people in Wien, München and Dresden speak a strong dialect (which is even for Germans hard to understand).

Ingo

With the constant bashing that the Saxon dialect got from (mostly) West Germans even the locals don't use it too often anymore when speaking with strangers. At home, yes. Within their circle of friends, yes. But hardly on the streets, in shops, restaurants etc. anymore - if you listen closely you will notice a difference to the so called 'Hochdeutsch' as it is spoken in Lower Saxony e.g. - but it is far from the dialect issue that you'd have in Bavaria or Swabia or so.

FoFoBT

Thanks all. Dresden is still at the top of the list, dialect or no. If we need to talk to "locals" who don't have the Dresden accent, we can always call our relatives in NRW and BW or my boss - also from NRW. Or my husband's father who still speaks with the accent of educated, upper class Germans from the 1930s to 1950s - whenever he meets another elderly German, they swoon over his accent. Nobody speaks such beautiful German anymore, they tell him.