German Language Course (Dublin)

W

WarrenBuffet

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Hi,

I lived in Germany a number of years ago for a period of 6 months - unfortunately I had absolutely no idea of the language prior to going and, due to a number of reasons, couldn’t attend language courses whilst there. Thus I left the country with only the barest idea of the language (count to ten, read some signs etc.)

This always niggles me and so I was thinking that this Autumn I would do a beginners German course. I work right beside Merrion Square so I reckon the Goethe Institute would probably be a good place to go for tuition. But I have some questions that I hope the good people of AAM can help me with!

1. To past students, would you recommend the Goethe Institute or not?
2. What level should I start at? I did pick up a few phrases when I was over there but I feel I am still at a beginner level – should I do A.1, A.2 or A.3?
3. I see that’s its also possible to do an exam – is this worth doing?

Thanks for any advice,
WB

PS Searched AAM and couldn’t find a thread on German language courses – hope I haven’t missed one
 
Guten tag!

I haven't used Goethe yet but a friend of mine in college failed german last year and while repeating attended Goethe part-time...she found it very good. I noticed she was good at speaking german as they do more of this in class than we do in college. It is expensive though so make sure you're really interested. If you want to test your level, they have this on their site...http://www.goethe.de/cgi-bin/einstufungstest/einstufungstest.pl

And I think that helps you decide which level to join at. To be honest you sound like you would be a beginner if you didn't pick up much while you were there.

The other alternative is to check your local community schools for courses...german is usually offered in the evening...much cheaper and they will begin again in September.... then at least if you find you are serious you could enrol in Goethe if you wanted a more serious learning experience. The community schools I went to were okay...i suppose you get what you pay for. Why are you interested now...is it for a job or just for interest?

The other thing to think of if you do pick up some of the language is to go to the Ilac centre library on Thursdays at 6pm ....conversation exchange takes place every evening..Thursday is german nite. Great chance to meet other people trying to learn the language and a few germans too hopefully.
 
Cheers micamaca,

Want to do German mainly from an interest point of view. I studied French in school and was good enough to get an A in the leaving cert…..then ended up working in Germany!! Always felt the other expats was a bit condescending towards my total lack of the language……….bugged me intensely as I knew if I had the chance I would have picked it up quickly. To be honest, this is also part of my motivation!

Take your point about the expense – lessons are not cheap but if I felt the lessons were of a sufficiently high standard would be willing to pay the premium.
 
I'm a past student and remember it being good, though I've forgotten most of it now (oops!).

You can show up on the enrollment day and chat with one of the teachers (who I think are all German) and they'll tell you which level you're at.
 
Well then interest is one of the best reasons in the world...I'm a mature student learning french (which I did in school) and german...love the german and I didn' t expect to! Its an interesting language, very logical as our german teachers keep telling us and one you put a little regular work in you'll be surprised how much you pick up...we use the Themen Aktuell books which goethe uses too... you can have a look at those in bookshop to get a feel for what you would be covering in Goethe....I think its money well spent if you have the time to give to it...its a great thing to be able to communicate in another language, and something we don't get the opportunity for here. Was in Belgium returning a pair of socks in flemmish supermarket...young man at customer service dealt with one customer in french, the next in flemmish and then me, in english! was way impressed and would love to be able to do that myself.

Viel gluck mit dem Studium! mica
 
Can't comment directly regarding Goethe Institute but am interested in the thread as I was thinking of going there myself. I've been going the Community School route for last 3 years and have found it helpful but have reservations:-

There are only 20 sessions per year - in my situation anyway.

There being only 3 levels from Beginner to Advanced, there is a broad spectrum of ability in each class and the pace is that of the slowest/weakest.

I managed to keep up the study myself this year after class finished at end-April with some success and what I found useful was to sign on to the Deutches Forum in about.com where you can start corresponding with a more experienced speaker who will correct your mistakes. It doesn't beat speaking the language but it's the next best thing,

Tschuess,

Pat
 
forget Goethe - there's a much better option - in the Ilac centre library, you can study over 40 languages at various levels for free. Once you have completed 40 hours in a particular language you receive a certificate from the library. A language is something which lives, so speaking it is paramount - each evening in the Ilac centre, there is a 'chat' evening - let's say Wednesday evening is German nite, for example, a group of people who want to chatter in german turn up - it's very good as a wide range of individuals turn up, lots of them native speakers, which means native dialect, as oppposed to hochdeutsch. Not to mention you could end speaking about anything, which is great for your vocab!

Goethe is very expensive - really just the equivalent of english language school. You'd be better off even getting a grind from someone you like and using the grind purely to speak... that way, you get to choose your own topics of conversation, which you will be more interested in and will therefore be more likely to remember your new vocab!

Viel Spass!

:)
 
If you are a Sky tv subscriber, you get Deutsche Welle TV where you can catch lots of documentaries and news programs in German. (I'm not sure what channel number it is. I haven't watched in in a while.) I find news particularly good if you are learning a language as you'll be familiar with many of the news stories already and should be able to pick up vocabulary easily.

With regard to libraries having chat groups, Deansgrange library had these too. I don't know if they still have.
 
Fair play to you for Deutsch Welle Tv advice....looked it up on website and found their website where you can listen to live radio...we don't have Sky so I don't often get the chance to access the languages I'm studying for listening purposes. Heres the link. If you choose German as language, then the radio will be in German too.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,,3325,00.html

You can also watch video but they seem to be in english but theres archives of previous programmes in Deutsch too...am well chuffed! cheers!

Must look to see if I can find something for french now. so good for the ear to hear native speakers.

I went to a grind for french before trying to get into college, found it better than Alliance Francaise as it's individual attention and you cover what you like. If you check Trinity College noticeboard inside the arch doorway, you will find language students and sometimes grinds advertising there. Must try About.com german exchange too...sounds gut!
 
I recently started a new language using the Rosetta Stone series, and I can't say I recommend it. I would regard myself as being reasonably good at languages, but I am having trouble dealing with the RS teaching method.
I may be using their 6 month money-back guarantee....

Has anybody had any better experience with language courses on CD ? Linguaphone perhaps ?
 
one-to-one is definately the best way if you are going to spend money - you've got to like/get on with the teacher though. As for Goether Institut vs Evening Classes, it all depends on the teacher. I had a dreadful teacher in the Instituto Cervantes and a brilliant one in the People's College in Parnell Square. Classes vs Linguaphone... in class they will correct your pronounciation, they'll get you into interesting discussions, they'll get you wanting to talk in a spontaneous way. And you'll get to hear different accents if you go to the ILAC.
 
Hi micamaca
thanks for the radio link. I suppose tv is easier as if you're fairly clueless, as you have the pictures to give you some idea of what they're talking about.
BBC's website has a pretty good language section, with audio, so you might take a look at that for French stuff.
 
Hey Hotlips, I've a really sad way for listening to german...have Knightrider DVDs and turn language to German, can recognise a few phrases every now and again as they don't speak too fast....no hassle just hoff!

Michel Thomas german is brilliant! he tells you how to pronounce and is very good at what he does...you will find yourself speaking german quite quickly and comfortably. get it out of the library if you can...
 
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