German language courses in Frankfurt

Would appreciate comments on quality of the following language schools in Frankfurt (cost is not an issue), their strengths and weaknesses:

Goethe Institut
Fokus Sprachen
Berlitz

Thanks.

Have you tried the Lehrerkooperative?

http://www.deutsch-lernen-in-frankfurt.de/englisch/

Thanks. I have actually narrowed it down to these 3 because well, my friends have been to Berlitz; However, I prefer Goethe & Fokus as they are nearer to where I live, ie Sachsenhausen. I'm leaning more towards Fokus as it is just a minute walk from my house, a major plus factor when winter sets in, especially as I will be dropping off my child in the kindergarten before classes and picking him up after. However, if Goethe or Berlitz is significantly more effective, then I would sacrifice proximity for quality.

Well Rebecca (imhere4beer) will be able to comment more on Berlitz as she works for them! I would personally rate them as the last choice (nothing to do with Rebecca at all though!)

I did a German course at the Goethe Institute in Bremen many years ago and the standard was way above any other German course I have done but mind you so was the price.

If I had the choice and money was not a problem then I would go for the Goethe Institute but having said that I also think it can be pot luck with language teachers some can be very good and some very bad it does not always matter which school they work for. If Fokus is easier for you then give them a go. I think you can sit in on a lesson for free if you are not a beginner I know with most schools you can.

A lot depends on the teacher and the most expensive schools often have higher overheads and pay their teachers less. It doesn't follow that the high profile schools are employing the best people but, that said, Goethe Institute has a good reputation throughout Gemany.

You will know after a few lessons if the teacher and class are right for you. My advice is don't sign up for a long course until you are sure of this and be prepared to change schools if necessary. You could try doing a 'Probestunde' at all 3.

I'm a bit of language school junkie ...

Thumbs down for FOKUS!! What I learned in 3 months at Fokus, I learned in 1 week at Goethe (lmao - die, der, das etc). But Rebecca "hit the nail", it really depends on the teacher ...

If money isn't an issue - go the Goethe route!!!

Thanks for all the inputs so far. Yikes,...I was hoping Fokus was good, now I will probably take the advice of sitting in for a trial class to compare Fokus and Goethe. I've mentally ticked Berlitz off, thanks PurpleMuffin.

Have you tried this school?

hi,

i work for both fokus and berlitz. as far as teachers go, berlitz doesn't require you to have any experience or even the regular minimum qualfications. they'll take you so long as you're a native speaker and have a pulse. they pay much lower than the other schools, so consequently they (generally) have teachers who can't find better paying work.

fokus i could recommend as more professionally run. but as rebecca mentioned, the teacher is an all-important element. and wherever you go, you can find a teacher whose style is good for you - or not. my husband had a 2 week intensive course with berlitz when we got here and, although i've just rubbished them, he actually learned an enormous amount in those 80 hours.

berlitz and fokus are businesses. as i understand it, the goethe institute is a non-profit foundation which promotes german language and culture. i've heard good things about them, and if price wasn't an issue, i'd be going there, i think (but since price is an issue for me, i'm at the local vhs!).

good luck,

monkel

Hi all
My German girlfriend has been offered a transfer to Frankfurt. We currently live in Dublin, Ireland. Anyway my German is pretty basic and I was wondering if anyone knew of any good German courses in Frankfurt. I would be looking something that went on for a few months at least, hopefully full-time. I know the job situation in Germany is awful at the moment so it must be impossible for people with limited German, so if I'm going to give it a go over there I want to get to grips with the language ASAP. I found a couple on the internet but most of them seemed to be UK based companies that send students to cities in Germany and costed an absolute fortune, 3000 for 2 months etc. I don't know maybe that's the standard but I was hoping for something cheaper.
Well thanks for any help you may give me and for reading this!
Fitz

The cheapest way I know is through the volkshochschule. I have been here 3 years and am doing a course level B1. If you know some basics then you would probably want to start at level A2 (levels go: A1,A2,B1,B2,C1,C2) Courses are about €210 per level which gives about 200 hours lessons
You can check it out at VHS Frankfurt
They also offer assessments where you can turn up and they will advise you which course to do.
Private companies eg berlitz are alot more expensive.

Good luck Frankfurt must be one of the worst towns to learn German..it is so international that when I asked the guy sweeping the road what time it was in my best german he repleid.

"Oh, it's about 3 O'Clock"

As for courses, forget most private schools they are terribly expensives. If you can do a full-time intensive school think about the Volkhochschule (Adult Education) they are dirt cheap the quality can vary but for the price it is worth it...there are 3 hrs a day course and stuff.

The other one would be the Goethe Institute... Finally, my advice is switch your language with your girlfriend to german..if not full-time start off with one day in the week...it takes committment to learn a language...

Good luck...

PS. Berlitz are expensive shit..says an X-Berltz teacher and pupil..

Yes, Berlitz is just a good adress. (-> It´s in the central of Frankfurt...)
Many friends of mine learnt German at Berlitz. Now I can talk to them in German, and not only in English...

thanks for the replies lads. Yes I checked out goethe and it's pricey enough, I wonder if they're any good. The VHS thing is cheap enough but of course I can't read the website too well!! I'll get herself to check it out later. You're right, I should speak to her in German more but for some reason I feel more self-conscious about it with her than with strangers, I don't have a problem trying to speak with people I don't know in Germany...

@Fitzyfitz Matey,

You will have to change the conscioius to speak to her in German..since she is your best chance (and want will happen if you decide to settle down in Germany). Especially as she can't easily run away can she? And you will spend many more hours together than you would with strangers...

Seriously the correlation between learning and language and speaking it to your partner must be the strongest and most effecient...so I'd recommend it... Start of slow one day a week...

Says Stanford who switched the language with his now wife...and speaks good German but had a shitty Spanish x-girlfriend who refused to speak Spanish with him so his spanish is iffy!!! She was a right bitch as well...that is the Spanish X not my wife!!!

Just to bash Berlitz a little bit...

The Berlitz method is to teach a language like a child would learn i.e. hearing and repeating etc

However the big problems is that Adults are not like children and their brains have already developed many of the language connections.. So coupled with a complicated language like German (declinations and cases) it in IMHO is not the best method for getting past anything but the basics...BUT

if Berlitz floats your boat so be it...

Stanford a lover of grammar...

Apart from the VHS and Goethe, you could also consider the Lehrerkooperative. As far as it goes (*), Goethe has the reputation of being the best school.

HTH.

(*) As far as it goes, in that some people just don't learn well in a taught classroom situation, so even going to the best school isn't going to help.

hi. Well I don't know if you know what pimsleur is but I did all 50 hours of that and I learned a hell of a lot from it. I suppose I'm at the stage where I understand most of the grammer and language structure, but it's the vocabulary that I lack, and when I ask something, understanding responses can be tricky too if they don't realise I'm an ausslander. Anyway I'll check out the links, thanks.

@Fitzyfitz,

Sounds like you've got motivation..so I suggest the next stage for you as a German Jedi Knight...

1. Watching DVDs in German with subtitles (your favourite series)...
2. And if you are feeling brave wading thru (I say wading) thru german newspapers (fucking difficulting and they have such a boring style).
3. With Spanish Newspaper it took me 3 to 6 months to learn to read them but with German it is still 2 years later and I'm still struggling...
4. Anyhow, If you can't handle the wordy German newspapers go and get yourself a childrens book aged 4 to 9 like Alice im Wunderland!!!

Best of Luck

I work at Arenalingua, and although its a good school it is very expensive!

I would also advise you to go to the VHS, Unless you want to be tutored for a cheaper price by a couple of people I know.

Well I have just signed up for the Beginners German EVENING course starting in the Lehrerkooperative on May 29th. This is three nights a week, 2.5 hours each night, for 11 weeks. All for 435 euro. 5.27 an hour that. Not so bad.

Alas it does clash with curry nights and drinking nights which is a shame

So I showed up for my German Course - Beginners at the proper place last night.

The course had been cancelled due to lack of numbers and they decided not to inform me. The next one starts in August but how can they know this will not also happen again.

Awful awful service. So just for the sake of anyone searching this site for German Lessons or posts about German lessons. STAY AWAY FROM LEHRERKOOPERATIVE.

As a contra-post to my ANGRY post above i have just contacted inlingua.de as a replacement and got INSTANT, ELABORATE and HEPLFUL emailed replies. So far I heartily recommend them. Will keep this thread updated with my experiences so future people searching the forum for advice see how i get along.

So far the score is LehrerKoop (-10) to (10) inlingua.de!!!

Hi, I have taken in total aprox. 4 or 5 months of classes at Inlingua, first one month intensive (morning classes) and then the rest intermittent one months episodes of evening classes a couple of times. Their service is good but also quite pricey !! and in a couple of occassions I was made also to wait 'cos the number of participants was not enough for the level in which I was interested. So for a very beginner there should be no problem, but for intermediate levels then... you may face the same situation as with the other school. BTW I rang the Lehrerkooperative at 1 PM today and even that their website said they attend from 10 AM to 2 PM nobody picked up the phone and I was re-directed to a recording

Does anyone know if you can attend VHS classes as a "tourist"? My partner and I are moving to Berlin next month, and he needs to take German classes, but as we are not legally married, and he will not have a job, he will be a tourist until he does get a job (after learning some German!). I will be working, and am trying to see if I can get him some sort of domestic partner rights. Any help, much appreciated.

Best,
Joe

There appears to be no pre conditions to doing German with them once you pay and you can attend from when a course starts until one ends.

However the VHS and Lehrerkoop are painful in their customer service and reliability. Mail them for information if you like but dont expect a response and if you do get one dont expect the information to be accurate. If they do not get the people for a course then they will cancel it, apparantly without any warning whatsoever.

I am signed up for one starting next week in Inlingua in Frankfurt. Again the course could be cancelled if the numbers do not come, or at least delayed until the numbers come. But they are contacting me every day with information and updates on this which i find very nice.

Anyone out there in frankfurt looking to learn then sign up for this so I can go hehehe. All the information is with me too so message me if you need the documents etc.

Not bitter at all?!!!

Can anyone suggest any german language schools in Frankfurt? Has anyone gone to SpracheCaffe and if so, how was it?

I was supposed to go to the Goethe Institute however they told me to go in the week before the course starts and register. Now they are telling me the course is full! I'm very upset and feeling mislead by them

Berlitz doesn't have any courses for beginners starting until the end of August and I wanted to start something soon. Also, I'm pregnant and need to take lessons now while I still can

Any suggestions would be appreciated!!

Thanks!

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i have been taking a Mittelstufe German course at Lehrerkooperative since early May.

It is true that they are not the best at customer service. It is also not as 'posh' as well-known language schools as as Berlitz - I mean some students at Lehrerkooperative seem to be foreigners living on social benefit and when I went there for the first time in a hectic afternoon in their office, I felt like as if I were in an asylum centre. However, the teachers at Lehrerkooperative are not bad. If you are lucky, you even get to be taught by some really enthusiastic and experienced linguists.

I picked the school for its price and location but I must admit that I was terribly unhappy with it in the beginning. Somehow I got used to it and i will continue to study there. Just want to remind anyone who is interested in taking a course there: don't expect too much so you won't be disappointed!

I am doing a complete beginners course at the moment in Inlingia.

It is 150 a month, for 2 90 minutes classes a week. This is Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm to 830pm.

The course is 5 classes into it, so you have missed 5 classes, however one person only joined in class three. And because we had a temp teacher for the first few classes you havent missed much. Id be more than happy to sit back an hour after your first class or two to cover the little you have missed and maybe a tiny bit extra.

If all this is of interest PM me here for my email address and I will send to your email the full and very complete details of the course that I was sent and then I will tell you how to join up. They would be more than happy for you to join at this stage.

All going well I will see you next Tuesday for your first class

Hello,

I am a Californian looking to move to Frankfurt for a short term period of 6 months. I heard that it is nearly impossible to find work in Germany if you don't speak a lick of German, so I figured my best bet was to enroll in a language school and try to find part time work. Quite honestly, I'm willing to work anywhere...it really doesn't matter. I have a moderate amount of savings that can carry me though the six months, but i'm looking to find the best possible language education without breaking the bank. I looked at ILS and Sprachcaffe so far, but my impressions have been limited to what's available on their website. Can anyone offer any opinions about these schools? What are some of my other options out there? Are there any websites that may help me find direction in finding ANY work for a lost girl from San Francisco with ZERO command of the German language?

Please help!!!

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Inlinguia is where i am learning it right now. They have a school about 10 mins walk from the main train station.

They have a "full time" course which is 5 days a week at 395 euro a month. The class runs from 910 to 1230, leaving you free for your part time work from 1 onwards each day!

There is also an afternoon options, 3 days a week from 340 to 510. at 230 euro a month.

Out of all that i think you have a few options. Also I find them INCREDIBLY helpful with information, in english, when you email them so drop them a line for any more information. frankfurt@inlingua.de

Stay away from, at all costs, the Volkschule. They cancelled the class i was enrolled in, without telling me, and i showed up to find no class was on. The never returned any of my calls or emails after this. Awful awful service. I am VERY happy with inlinguia so far.

hello
I have been going to my local Volkshochschule which has been a great help - checked there is also one in Frankfurt -www.vhs.frankfurt.de - lessons are really good and very well priced (courses usually run over a 6 month period -in mornings so I am not sure if the timing will be right fo you but I think they also offer evening classes)
Hope it helps Good Luck and enjoy your stay..

The Goethe Institut offers a four-week superintensiv course for c. 900 euros, which can be written off against your taxes.

This did more for my German in a month than six months of incredibly expensive Berlitz financed by my company in the U.S. ... not to mention years of marriage to a native speaker.

Hi,

I can highly recommend the language school I go to which is A-viva. Below is their contact details:

A-viva Culture and Language Center
Rotlintstrasse 64
Frankfurt 60316
069 943 409 63
info@a-viva.net
www.a-viva.net

Hope this helps

Cheers

Diana

So as you can see in post #22 above I was treated pretty badly by LK in a german course and I was unable to find out any more information because they never answered their phone.

It is the 1st November today and I have just received a letter saying I have not paid for my course *which never actually happened* and could I please pay them 435euro.

As usual any attempt to reach them by phone has failed.

Just reiterating my warning to anyone searching TT for info on language courses, stay well away from the Lehrerkooperative!

Send them a letter by recorded delivery stating that the course didn't take place and refusing to pay. Will cover your back in case they decide to take further action. You didn't sign anything with them did you?

Hi all,
Sorry to be but another "newbie" on the scene asking the same questions. I will be spending 2 months in Germany from June - Aug next year and want to cram as much German in as possible. I am an absolute beginner regarding the language who will also need to find child care for my 5 year old so I can make it all happen. I did read most of the previous posts and am most curious as to what I can expect to learn (or better stated, how well will I be able to speak) after just a month. Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everyone

Looking for some info.
I am moving to Hattersheim in July.
I am looking for a good language school for an Intensive German course on the month of July.

Many thanks
Hakima

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Hi everyone
Arrived 2 weeks ago.
Need to practise my German of course, can anyone recommend a good school?
Tnx

vhs (Volkshochschule) Main-Taunus-Kreis ... click on Deutsch als Fremdsprache

You can find other suggestions in a previous discussion thread here: German language courses in Frankfurt.

Does anyone know of any weekend German classes in Frankfurt? I've had a search but the only solutions I can seem to find are private tuition.

Any advice?