Intensive German language courses in Hamburg

Hi
I moved to Hamburg with my boyfriend 4 days ago. We were only meant to be here 8 months but have just been told our jobs have been extended to at least 13 months. Ive decided I definately want to learn German since we are going to be here that long. I have half of October and the whole of November where I wont be working. Does anyone know of a good intensive German language course I can do in that time here in Hamburg?

Thanks heaps

(Loving the weather by the way)

Where in Hamburg are you?

My advice is to join an group of people doing something (like a sports club)
where they dont speak English & you learn it that way.

Thats what I did - it was only a few years later that I met my "warm dictionary"!

Enjoy weather as long as it lasts... August was miserable.

If you know no German, I would definitely not suggest the way HEM has suggested.

In the beginning you need to learn the grammar and the rules, otherwise you'll never speak it properly. If HEM did learn it like this all the way, he no doubt speaks it with many grammatical mistakes.

Try to enroll in a VHS course (www.mvhs.de).

I agree that grammer isnt my strong point. But I dont do too badly...

But having loads of grammer & not having the vocabulary doesnt help
much when going shopping or talking to people...

For me this is the best place to learn German or any other language in Hamburg. It's more like a club. You pay a monthly fee but can take as many courses (in as many languages) as you like. Viel Spass dabei!!

http://www.prolinguis.de/Seiten/index1.html

Since you are in Hamburg maybe you should try http://www.vhs-hamburg.de/ if you are going to try the VHS.
My experiance of the VHS was not too good in Munich but was glad to start to learn the language.
I also need to start school after my move to Hamburg.

@DD I like the idea of the club , how long were you a member?

Personally I never was a member. I learnt German the hard way when I was 15 (on the streets or watching telly). One of my closest friends in Hamburg (still) goes there a few times per week and really enjoys her lessons. The school is in a lovely building close to the Underground or Dammtor S-Bahnhof. But it's also easy to reach by bike if you live in Eppendorf or Eimsbüttel or close by. I'd join if I needed to but I wouldn't be the same person if my grammar was always right all of a sudden...

Thanks very much to all, I will start investigating those options. Should anyone else be reading this and wanting to learn German too, I was also told about evening or intensive courses at the German Institute (www.deutsch-institut.de), apparently the courses are really good, only problem is the next course starts at the end of October and I want to get into it before then! Oh yeah, the site is all in German too, however you can work out what the general gist of it all is.
Thanks again

Good luck on what you decide to do. I have a personal tutor once a week, but this relies on me doing homework and practising at home. I might look at an intensive course or a club as DD suggested.

Hi Hamlette

Welcome to Hamburg, it is the most beautiful city in Germany that I have seen. I am now 4.5 years here.

I can recommend 2 schools which I went to and enjoyed myself very much as well as learned German of course -- one is Tandem, in Altona area and another is Sprachfix in Hoheluft area.

www.tandem-hamburg.de
www.sprachfix.de

I suggest you start learning properly from schools to get a good basic foundation. I have seen many foreigners who have lived here for years and then, suddenly, they went jobless and was forced to take courses by the Arbeitsamt and meanwhile, they have already learned some broken-German from the streets and it makes the learning very frustrating as well as the teaching very annoying, also it disturbs the class alot as they 'appear' to speak very well but lots of words are for colloquial and the grammar are just in a huge mess.

If money is of no issue, consider the above 2 schools. If money is an issue, go to Volkshochschule -- I dropped out after 2 lessons becos there were nearly 40 in a class and .. oh well .. you will see the difference!

Good luck!!

www.bbc.co.uk has a language button with interactive German courses for extra homework.
Go to all the schools see yellow pages and get a free lesson in each of them.
The group is important, if you dont gel with the group the teacher method and location is irrelevant.
Price is around 120 for two or more times a week in the schools
An Intensive course is around 350 per month. This price has not changed for years

Robert

If you want supplement courses on the web (free) I can recommend these:

http://www.deutsch-lernen.com/learn-german.../contact-us.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/lj/index.shtml

They are good for starters and are interactive but nothing beats going to classes.

BTW. Did you know that you can get cheaper classes if you sign up for the intergration courses (EU citizens too) ? They like to lead you in circles ( at least they do in Munch) when you apply but stand your ground.
This web page explains it and where to go to but it is only in German, maybe you can get someone to translate it for you?
http://suedmetropole.kursportal.info/glossar.php?id=932

Thanks everyone, its been great to get everyone's personal experiences and recommendations instead of just taking the schools' words for their courses.
Much appreciated.