Intensive German Courses

[Hamlet]

Hi all,

There is much insight here on taking German courses in Vienna, but I have a fairly specific topic that I haven't found information on. Does anyone have experience with intensive German language courses (i.e., at least half-day, probably full-day, geared towards producing proficiency in a short time), in terms of:

- quality of program/intensity
- quality of teachers
- price (I have some idea about this already, see below)
- bureaucratic ease or difficulty/flexibility
- accreditation (is there any accreditation system?)
- appropriateness for a rank beginner
- etc. (is there any important consideration I've missed?)

The idea is to look at 120 hours of instruction.

I've been told that this type of course can be taken at Alpha Sprachinstitut, Actilingua Academy, Internationales Kulturinstitut, and Berlitz, for wildly divergent prices. I post links below, maybe they'll be of some use to somebody.

http://www.alpha.at/learn-german/kurse/ ... reise.html
http://www.actilingua.com/docs/prices_english.pdf
http://www.ikivienna.at/en/mornings.php
http://www.berlitz.at/en/wien_mariahilf ... t_courses/

If anyone has experience with any of these, or has specific recommendations, or can add others to the list, I'd appreciate it much!

Cheers!
Hamlet

[t_in_vienna]

When I worked at Berlitz they offered an intense one week course. I had mixed feelings about it. It was all day for 5 days and lunch with an instructor daily. I'm not sure how effective it really was unless you have some background in the language already.

Good luck!

[Snowdog]

Hamlet it is all dependent on your instructor. Your list is also missing Duestches Akademy.

I have a work provided list of all programs and atings. I will scan and PM it to you after Tuesday. I am still traveling and will not be back until then.

[DrYazz]

http://www.deutschakademie.com/

Deutsch Akademie next to Karlsplatz U-bahn would be my recommendation.

It is an intensive course, 3 hours per day, 4 days per week, for 4 weeks.

48 hours in a 4 week period. Lots of homework and self-study. That's pretty intense.

Good value at EUR 250 aswell.

I spent 8 weeks there, and feel I have a good grounding in the language basics as a result. Not frightened to try a little German in supermarkets or waiting for public transport. Always prepared now to speak a little German with strangers. And work colleagues,

[CapnNismo]

http://www.deutschakademie.com/

Deutsch Akademie next to Karlsplatz U-bahn would be my recommendation.

It is an intensive course, 3 hours per day, 4 days per week, for 4 weeks.

48 hours in a 4 week period. Lots of homework and self-study. That's pretty intense.

Good value at EUR 250 aswell.

I spent 8 weeks there, and feel I have a good grounding in the language basics as a result. Not frightened to try a little German in supermarkets or waiting for public transport. Always prepared now to speak a little German with strangers. And work colleagues,

This is the one that I would recommend, heard nothing but good things about the courses there.

[djbraun]

I've had 2 courses there, the first did nothing but confuse me terribly (not a great teacher--nice, but not good for beginners)

the second course at the next level I took a year later, after having some general daily exposure, had an excellent teacher, and that was a much more positive experience.

The intensive classes are not really great for my learning style, but due to work/scheduling issues it make some sense for me to take a month off and go hard. I'd greatly prefer a once-a-week class for 6 months, and I'd probably improve faster too. But I haven't seen anything that's weekly. I went to one that was twice weekly and I found it difficult to make it to both classes in a week (due to work schedule)

[Laura]

The one which was recommended to me by a couple of people was the Alpha Sprachinstitut (both for evening classes and the intensive course). It is the most expensive though (it is accredited by the Goethe Institut which might have something to do with it). I go to the evening classes and I have no complaints - I have a great teacher and I enjoy the classes.

In terms of quality I think it really depends on your teacher and the size of the class.

[Hamlet]

Thanks everyone for the thoughtful responses!

The Deutschakademie course sounds good, but I really am looking for something short and sweet. The 120 hours is a requirement, which would work out to nearly three months @ 12 hrs/week... and the longer the course, the longer the amount of time spent away from work, and therefore income!!!

I do appreciate that for a deeper understanding of and familiarity with the language, classes over a long period are important, and there is no substitute for actually speaking, but in the current instance I do need something approaching full-day coverage, say, minimum 30 hours/week.

Snowdog, I'd certainly be interested in that list!

Cheers,
Hamlet.

[Stilly]

Hamlet - I think I read a thread about Deutsch Akademie on Virtual Vienna (gasp!) May be worth checking out, from what I remember ppl were saying it was a great course depending on what teachers you get, then listed the ones to avoid. It was a mix of opinions that might be insightful. I am currently looking at the courses at the Uni. since a friend of mine recommended it to me. She said she has tried them all and this was best 'bang for her buck' as well as flexible for her schedule.

[CapnNismo]

Hamlet - I think I read a thread about Deutsch Akademie on Virtual Vienna (gasp!) May be worth checking out, from what I remember ppl were saying it was a great course depending on what teachers you get, then listed the ones to avoid. It was a mix of opinions that might be insightful. I am currently looking at the courses at the Uni. since a friend of mine recommended it to me. She said she has tried them all and this was best 'bang for her buck' as well as flexible for her schedule.

The university courses are absolutely the best. Depends on how you do the courses, though. If you sign up as a student, you'll get sent to the ÖOG (I can help you with that if you need tips), otherwise the courses will more than likely take place at the Altes AKH campus (there's a Christkindlmarkt there every year) and those are also very good.

[Ozmatt]

I did the uni course at the Altes AKH campus and it helped me a lot. It was pretty intensive and took us through the wonderful world of german grammar.

My teacher was Tomenendal-Wollner ( or as she is known at the uni - Frau Konjunktiv). She was great - knew her stuff and only spoke in German to us. http://sprachenzentrum.univie.ac.at/con ... index.html

[Stilly]

(sorry Hamlet for jumping in on your thread)

Good to know about the Uni courses, as I said they come recommended but it's always better to have more feedback.

[Ozmatt]

A teacher I did not like at the uni was Pennauer. So avoid her if possible.

[CapnNismo]

If anyone here does the ÖOG route, I can recommend Aichernig. I assume she still teaches there...

[DrYazz]

http://www.deutschakademie.com/

Deutsch Akademie next to Karlsplatz U-bahn would be my recommendation.

It is an intensive course, 3 hours per day, 4 days per week, for 4 weeks.

48 hours in a 4 week period. Lots of homework and self-study. That's pretty intense.

Good value at EUR 250 aswell.

I spent 8 weeks there, and feel I have a good grounding in the language basics as a result. Not frightened to try a little German in supermarkets or waiting for public transport. Always prepared now to speak a little German with strangers. And work colleagues,

This is the one that I would recommend, heard nothing but good things about the courses there.

One thing that should be noted about Deutsche Akademie - their ballpoint pens are of awful quality. The ink is fine, it has a definite inky characteristic and does what one expects of ink on paper. The plastic construction however has a tendency to self-destruct in one's pockets, rendering the Kugelschreiber kaputt. I am on my 4th already, yet the basics of the DATIV and AKKUSATIV still elude me.