Intensive German courses at the Goethe Institut

Ok, I'm interested in an superintensive german language course from the Goethe Institut.
For 2 weeks it costs about 1800 Euros and you take about 6 hours of german language classes per day.
Does anybody had experience with this kind of courses? I'm a litlle concerned of how much german you can learn in 2 weeks...
Thanks!

They'll give you huge amounts of information, and work, in that time, but my experience with 'only' four hours a day is that it was too much information. My problem was that I had neither the time nor the interest to recap what we'd learnt that day during my free time. If you're doing six hours a day of actual lessons, you'll need at least another couple of hours each day to do the homework and to look through what you learnt, plus you'll have to prepare presentations and what-not.

If you're completely focused on learning German and have no other distractions then they're probably very good, but personally I would prefer to receive the same amount of information over a longer period of time. These intensive courses are aimed more at people coming from abroad who can only spare two weeks. As you live in Germany, maybe you have the time to do the normal intensive course (3 or 4 hours a day for one month), which is also a lot cheaper at around €1,000.

I was fearing something like that.
I'm also concerned that if I will learn fast... maybe I will forget the same way... fast...

I think it is a great course. The instructors are well trained and have a lot of different approaches to teaching and a combination of video and audio aids as well as many activities. In addition the Goethe Institut in Munich also has free tours around the city during your period as a student. I did a month long course and almost every day I had a free entrance to a museum with Germans explaining the exhibits in a very simple approach which actual helped build on the lessons that you would have during the day or evening.

I am at evening course in Goethe now and I have to say they are really good.People are very nice, teacher also...and what is most important,she can give us information very easy.I have only 2 hours every day but a lot of things to do at home!but after one week I see some good results & feel very happy about that:)
this is 2month course (price is 680€ only for all,included books and materials).
I started to think about next one from July, but unfortunately there is no free places:(
cheers and good luck with your course:)

They might be good, even the best.. but damn, that is expensive!

I took the 2 week intensive course myself and it was too much. I was new in Munich, had nothing else going on (my job didn't start for another month) and it started on September 10, 2001. So, I made it through 2 days of class (with at least 4 hours of homework every night) and then the whole September 11 thing. I was not so distracted during class time but when I went home at night, after 6 hours in class, I didn't want to do 4 hours of homework (I wanted to see what was happening in NYC).

Either way, it was just too much. I learned very little.

i took the 8 week intensive at the goethe and that was well worth the money although I was worn out after six weeks... my brain just couldn't take in anymore... It is really good though.. I would take another intensive course two to four weeks max.

I think the difficulties can depend on where you fit into the level when starting the course and which level you are at. The learning curve is a lot steeper at the lower levels. In the first course I did at the Goethe institut (in Sydney) I was at the lower end of the level (A2 - B1) in ability and definitely struggled to understand everything. About 4 years later after living in Germany for the same period I did the 4 week intensive course at C1 level in preparation for the ZMP exam and really enjoyed it and did not find it overwhelming at all. The teacher was excellent (16 years experience at the GI) and the access to various media and the library was really good. The afternoon tours are also good for seeing Munich and to immerse yourself in the language, even if you are not new to Munich. For example we did a tour of the Allianz Arena in German. The only criticism I had was the class size - we had 17 people in our class and it was very cramped in the classroom, and I didn't feel like we had enough speaking time. I think if I had my time over again I would make sure I was in a smaller class.

Goethe Institut is definitely very very expensive. Not sure if it is justified. I took 3 months of courses taught by three different instructors, 4 hours a day and found only the first instructur to be a talented teacher, whereas other two months were not satisfactory. Too many students in the group, around 15, not enough teacher-student time. Inevitably teacher spends too much time with some and not enough with others, it is not clear what was their method do build a sound grammar base, material coverage was sporadic. I was very dissapointed. If you are willing to pay a lot of money, probably person to person tutoring is a more interactive and intensive option, that would foster your speaking skills better than any language course. I found DKFA at the university to be much better. (not sure if they have the "very intensive option" though) It costs less, instructors are very dedicated and attentive, learning materials better structured, progress was not to compare with GI. But as DKFA are oriented mainly for DSH exam, you are not going to improve in speaking very much. Also there are more students in the group, around 20. The homework factor is brutal, no matter which courses you chose it takes at least 1,5-2 hours a day. Sincere congratulations to those who had luck with GI.

I am enrolled in a course that is cheap in my opinion, 265 Euro for 4 weeks of instruction. I begin June 4th and the classes are supposed to be very small. I will be taking 8 weeks, so I will let you all know what I think. If you want, check out their website:

www.deutschakademie.de

It depends on your situation- How long are you staying here in Germany?
Do you have any knowledge of the German language at all-especially grammer?
How much time are you willing to put into learning the language?
Your time schedule?
Dou have have contacts in which you can practise your German with?

If you are here in Germany for a period of time I suggest looking at two options: 1. is SDI (Sprach Dolmetscher Institut München (Üniversitat-one stop after Odeonsplatz) visit
http://www.sdi-muenchen.de/page4.php?langid=2

I found SDI absolutely fabulous, and much more economical than Goethe..Goethe is world wide yes, and recognised world wide but then you pay a huge price for what you are getting.

option 2 is Deutsch Akadamie München visit http://www.deutschakademie.de/munich-german-course/ it´s 3 hours per day however, they´re no more than 9 people in a class you really have alot of opportunities to speak, present, write and learn grammer freely with as much or as little questions as you want. You can choose your time frame etc..so in that way it is very flexible.

Ps: Do the math and think before you decide on Goethe Institut

Goodluck

Oh I forgot to mention an intensiv course in two weeks...sorry but it´s a waste of your time...your brain can only absorb so much information before it can process any more..Again think about your options!

@dbayla "I am enrolled in a course that is cheap in my opinion, 265 Euro for 4 weeks of instruction. I begin June 4th and the classes are supposed to be very small. I will be taking 8 weeks, so I will let you all know what I think. If you want, check out their website:
www..de "

Please give me some feedback about your experience at deutschakademie as it looks very interesting with the price and the time frame flexibility.

@EAnnR "It depends on your situation- How long are you staying here in Germany?
Do you have any knowledge of the German language at all-especially grammer?
How much time are you willing to put into learning the language?
Your time schedule?
Dou have have contacts in which you can practise your German with?"

-Hopefully for a long time (years)!
-No grammar knowledge, just some basic words I've learned since I'm in here.
-I could sacrifice 2 weeks just for that or maybe 2-3 hours a day for a couple of months.
-I may find some people to speak german with them, I'm sure of it.

@EAnnR "Do the math and think before you decide on Goethe Institut"

I've never liked math but I hope to get it right this time.

I did go through the suggestions provided by various TT members but I am in a bit different situation. I will be completing my A2 level in German in the next 2 weeks at Inlingua but the problem is the rest of my colleagues are going to back out hence the batch is not going to continue further. I will need to wait for some time to catch up with another batch which will take me 1 to 1 and 1/2 months. I have to complete mybasic certification by Nov-07 hence willneed to continue soon. I am against an intensive course(4-5 days a week) as it is too much with work and would prefer a class which is 2 to max 3 times a week for 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours every day. I am unable to find such an evening class for myself. Can anyone suggest me good institutes?

P.S: Money is no constraint from me!!! No limit all reimbursed so please be good enough to suggest expensive classes too. No private lessons as it is not recomemded.

I would recomend to those of you out there to check out Klartext Augustenstraße 77, D-80333 München. I've been to both Klartext and Goethe Institut here in Munich and I would recommend Klartext over GI for a few reasons.
1) GI is over 1000 Euro/month and Klartext is 380 Euro/month for the same number of instruction hours.
2) The structure of the days class is structured exactly the same as Goethe
3) A majority of the students at Goethe in the intensive monthly class (8-13) are also living with the Institut so you may have a class that acts more like they are at University than in a 1000 Euro/month program.
4) You pay more at GI for the media room access, activities, and evening activities - if you don't need these things - you may want to save your money.

Klartext also offers an evening class (2xweek) for 11 weeks for 240 Euros which is also a good option once you start working.

Can anyone recommend evening courses or a course that runs one day per week. Ive searched the site and had a look, but cant find any details.