Student Feedback

A very energizing and refreshing week

Bart, 42, from United Kingdom – September 21, 2013

Stay: 1 week, Course Start: 2013 , Accomodation:

Course

Teachers

Campus

After class activities

Support by GLS staff

Accomodation

The Good & the Bad - what did you like best? What least?

Having lived in English speaking countries for 7 1/2 years, and being pretty fluent in German since high school, I recently felt that my German language proficiency needed a refresher course. I came across GLS by coincidence. While visiting a good friend in Berlin a couple of months ago, I walked down the street where he lives one day and passed the language school. I decided to walk in and had a very informative chat with a staff member.

Back in London I checked the website and immediately appreciated that GLS publishes both the good feedback but also the feedback from students who were less satisfied. This shows that the school has an open minded approach and wishes to improve. I choose to book a 1 week refresher course to try it out.

The good points: great location (I love Prenzlauerberg); great campus (it feels like a safe and secluded environment); staff at all levels is welcoming and helpful; the rooms on campus are good price/quality (note: I did book single occupancy); I very much appreciated that each 90 minute daily block had a different teacher, it was good to experience different teaching approaches ; my teachers varied from good to absolutely outstanding (this also means I have very high expectations for when I return!); the after class activities were varied and well organized and provided good opportunities to gain further knowledge of German history and society.

The improvement points: the Monday morning selection was pretty chaotic, the internet test based reslts were not taken into consideration and the interviewers did not have sufficient time to make a considerate decision (in my case it resulted in being assigned to the B level while some of my teachers immediately said during day 1 I should be in C level.

I liked my classmates however and as I had only booked for a week there was not a lot of time to get bored. May have been different if I had booked for a longer period). When I contacted GLS staff when I was in Berlin and over phone I indicated that I considered a 1 week refresher course. Starting my course I learned that GLS works with a 2 week course cycle, so I only did half a course. I would have appreciated if this had been communicated to me.

From the upside, I was very close to extending for a second week if only my airline ticket had not been restricted. Then a suggestion: GLS organizes every Monday evening a so called "Tisch" for new students to meet. I had a good evening and met some nice people, but not many students showed up.

I assume because it was their very first day of studies and a lot of students felt shy, overwhelmed, a bit insecure (?) Some students suggested that it may be a good idea to organize informal drinks mid-week in a bar on Kastanienallee for new and longer term students to connect, when people feel more settled. Summarized: I had a very refreshing and energizing week and I will definitely return for some follow up courses.

Your recommendations for other students

Do not feel shy in class, everybody is here to learn and improve, participate and ask questions. There are no stupid questions. Do mingle with students from other countries / language regions, I assume you booked the course to not only learn German but also to get to know other people/new cultures and who knows, even add some new friends to your Facebook list.

Do not exclusively connect to students who speak your language, however confortable that may be. Do take part in some after class activities. These are well organized by motivated staff, you learn more about German history, society and culture and you may even get to know some other students that are not in your class. Above all: enjoy Berlin!