Moving to Germany for a while to learn German

Hello all,

I've been interested in learning German for many years and have recently started 'teach your self' style courses (books and cd's) in the UK, however I feel that the only way to really get stuck in would be to spend some time in Germany and try to pick up from there. I have spent hours looking at schools such as the Goethe Institut etc and they sound excellent but unfortunately for myself they are a little expensive for me at the moment.

I've have spoken to a friend recently who tells me that there are possibly cheaper ways of doing German courses in Germany, maybe not as good and they would'nt provide accommodation etc, but they didn't know the names or how I would find them to make contact.

Basically, my plan is to come to Cologne or somewhere similar for a few months, stay until my money runs out unless I'm very lucky and find work, (which after reading around the web sounds very difficult for a non fluent German speaker), and try to get myself into some sort of cheaper night school German course. I don't know if German government sets these schools up or not, but I'm sure we do in the UK for immigrants and asylum seekers.

I apologise if this is a frequent topic, I looked briefly to see if there has been any similar recently and couldn't see any.

I look forward to hear from anyone with any advice big or small, or anyone in a similar position!

ps, my Current German is about GCSE standard, I'm 23 and have no trade, however do have a very varied work experience.

Cheers

Also, should anyone know where you can look for temp or agency work not requiring fluent German then I would be really grateful if you could send me details, and also for the best web sites for looking at cheaper accommodation.

Thanks again!

I've just read as similar thread which i didn't notice before, so apologise to the regulars on here. Would still appreciate any advice for a potential new comer to Germany and any hints or tips about finding work!

If you are thinking of Cologne then have a look at this website

http://www.jobsintime.de/content/en/index.html

They deal with the place I work which is primarily English speaking, though I must add, this is a guaranteed way of not improving your German! Otherwise, your best bet is stick English and Englisch in something like Monster and see what comes up.

If you want reasonably priced German classes, try looking at the local Volkshockschule (VHS) and look for Deutsch Als Fremdsprache courses.

In my view - having learned German from scratch here usind the DlasF route - the "cheaper nightschool option" won't take you very far unless you spend years here.

What you need is something more intense. Language learning is very, very labour intense. There are few of the sort of short cuts we expect in many other aspects of modern life.

Many schools (including many VHS) offer intensive courses where you get 4-5 hours a day tutoring and are expected to turn round homework, practice and vocab learning overnight. They don't mess around and (in my expereince) don't make much allowance for those that want to slack or cruise. The standard is six months to get you to decent competence (the European B1 level).

You should expect to pay 200-300 Eur a month at a standard "not-for-profit" type place. I have no experience of the "commodity" learning places (like Berlitz). It'll work out less if you book longer but you may not wnat to commit to a school until you know it suits you.

If you think that'd pricy, bear in mind Germans would pay at least twice as much to learn at an equivalent school in England. You are getting a bargain.

Thanks for the reply's guys! I'm going to have a look around the VHS website and see what I could do in Cologne. I appreciate that I'm not going to be speaking the lingo without putting some serious time in, and money, was just wondering what the cheapest ways were!

Also, does anyone know the better districts to live in Cologne, ie student areas, ideal locations, cheaper areas?

AFAIK, if you are doing low level courses, upto ZD level I think, they're subsidised by the government anyway, and come in at about €1 an hour.

That option is largely for people settling here and specific criteria ned to be met. It's not available for "language tourists" - otherwise anyone on earth that fancied learning German would probably be doing it .

Not that the OP is one of course - and it sounds like their basic level may be already towards ZD (which is B1).

But just to make the point that it's not a gravy train whereby Brits can come for a few months, pay 1 Euro an hour for language tutoring and then disappear off home to the UK with the ZD under their belt, funded by German taxpayers. SAnd nor should we expect it to be imho.

And all of the VHS's have easily accessible information on their websites about course dates and prices etc.

Remember that you have many other options. We Brits do seem to rather focuson VHS courses presumably as it's akin to the local authority / night school model that many of us are familiar with.

There are plenty of powerhouse private or not for profit schools that are at least as good imho and often offer far more flexibility to meet your personal needs.

Don't just consider price. Class size is a particular issue. No point it it being cheaper if the teacher is struggling with 15 or more. Eight max, ideally less, imho.

i wonder what is so different about VHS and private schools (that teach around same hours per day), because i'm at A2/B1 level and i've taken courses for 2 months here, from knowing nothing. i reckon in 1 or 2 more months i will get to B1 level. i know that these levels don't really mean much (especially at ZD level or below), but if one is paying over 1000 EUR per month as opposed to whatever one pays per month at VHS, there must be a reason you are paying that premium

if you are willing to spend more $ on language learning, i would go with private school rather than VHS. it is true one can sometimes get a good teacher at VHS and lousy one at a private school, but the odds are probably not that high.

Is there anything wrong with being a language tourist? I honestly didn't think the Germans would be unhappy that a Brit was wanting to learn their language - even at a cheap rate!

Ideally, I would love to get a job over there, but unlike spain or the other big tourist resorts for Brits you need the lingo for Germany (so I've been told). I've always wanted to learn German.

I'm not made of money unfortunatley and would want to do it in a cheap way, however not a cheap and nasty way. What are the requirements then for the VHS as a language tourist? Or any similar private schools?

Hi Sanwald,

just anyone can join the VHS, there are no special requirements. If you should be a student, they will make you a special price for the class.
Just give it a go.
Good luck!