Student Feedback

You'll learn language at GLS if you want to :)

Eeva, 34, from Finland – August 04, 2013

Stay: 4 weeks, Course Start: 2013 , Accomodation:

Course

Teachers

Campus

After class activities

Support by GLS staff

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

We were lucky to have extremely good class of students and everybody talked in A1 level course. The courses were too slow for me for grammar learning but the talking was the one that made me really happy. My motivation level was clearly too high compared to the my group of younger students who had come to enjoy Berlin more than study language. We had three really good teachers that were encouraging in class. Prima! Fourth teacher was good, but her teaching method was "not understanding until one pronounces fluently" and the fifth spoke so fast that most of the class wouldn't understand anything so the classmates would refrain from talking/answering (to me it wasn't too fast).

Intensive extra course was absolutely waste of time. The course had no structure, no aim. Maybe it's for more fun, little games for younger students, who came to hang out at school rather than learn. The other intensive teacher practiced her English with younger students and she wasn't the one guiding the class. She sat lazy on her chair and didn't bother to write the words to the board unless asked to. Very inactive teacher getting easy money. The other teacher explained a new German word in five different ways before we actually understood the first one and I think there should always be a student explaining new words in German if someone knows them. I would have expected to go through massive amounts of vocabulary and to learn to discuss different matters in different occasions.

I come from Finland where school is very good and I've been in working life already ten years so maybe my expectations and demands for quality are higher as I pay for the course myself and don't have time to waste. I did two to three hours of German homework everyday and tried to be active in the class at the same time encouraging others to speak. I think I could pay the same amount of money if I would be ensured to be in a class where priority number 1 for classmates and teachers is that we learn to speak good German as much as possible.

I was very satisfied with three of my teachers. I learned a lot and will keep learning more. Positive experience other than the intensive course. To make the course better for myself, I should have studied A1-A2 grammar already before the course and try to get into B1 very fast, assuming B1 is more about discussing and learning vocabulary. Last time I studied German was 20 years ago.

Your recommendations for other students

The number one thing a student can give to the whole learning experience is to talk as much German as possible in the class, no English or Spanish. The more motivated the group is, the better the class can be. I wouldn't recommend intensive course because the last extra class is worthless. I never even figured out what the last class was for as it was not for talking and vocabulary build up. If you happen to get good teachers and an active group for the first two classes, you will learn German. :)