Best German immersion language schools

My SO and I are considering taking a four to six week German immersion course. We're both over 40, so while we have no problems being in classes with mostly 20 somethings, we're not looking for a school with a party atmosphere.

We want a school that is pretty demanding, with very good teachers and students who are committed to learning. Minimum of 20 hours per week of class time (small groups) with option to have extra individual sessions. Written and oral, of course.

I will be at a pretty basic level, my SO at advanced intermediate. We will be looking for a self-catering private apartment (not shared) while we're studying with wifi/broadband, kitchen facilities and probably parking, as we'll have our car with us.

Any recs? Germany or Austria. Location not that important, although we'd probably prefer to be fairly close to a good sized town or city rather than out in a rural area. Web sites for specific schools would be helpful.

Thanks!

I recommend the Goethe Institut "Superintensiv" course in Munich. I think I was the oldest one there as thjere were lots of young people but they were totally nice and used to throw parties everytime we changed teachers which was twice. One of the students was a talented Brazillian dancer so he used to do a bit of a "Strictly Come Dancing" in the classroom. Another was a Russian opera singer so she let loose her vocal chords in the classroom. It was overall a stressful but nice experience.

I too would recommend the Goethe-Institut. I studied in the Superintensiv (in Munich) June-July this summer. Beginning classes are mornings, 8:30-12:45, and intermediate-advanced classes are afternoons, 1:15-5:30.

Just out of curiosity, I looked for info and thought this to be interesting (all in English for easy reading ) : http://www.learn-german.com/en/index.html
I don't know if I should recommend the centre but their website is quite comprehensive with information like 'allocation of accommodation to be with people your own age'.

Since you are going to do an intensive, don't you think you might just as well prepare for the DaF (Deutsch als Fremdsprache) examinations (something akin to the Cambridge examinations for English learners though may not be comparable one to one)? That way, you get to do much more, isn't it ?

Good Luck !

personally , i have always visited the Volkshochschule , they are quite a bit cheaper , for what are basically the same courses as what the Goethe institute offers . ( i still do a course one night per week to try and improve my grammar)

Thanks for the suggestions, I will look into them. We'd probably prefer to do a course in winter or spring rather than summer, however.

Goethe Ins has the Super Intensive courses all the time, am taking one now - recommended. 2 weeks - to which you can add another set. Not cheap, but effective base to supplemental work. Our group of 6 ranges from 35 to 50, the Intensive group (only 4 hours per day) is a younger crowd.

In Munich, they can arrange housing - wifi available at the school.

Sweetypie, thanks for that link. We will definitely explore the Treff Punkt option...we've been to Bamberg and like it and they also offer individual self-catered apartments (we will have to check that they have parking and will accept our smallish dog).

We are familiar with the Goethe Inst. as well and will investigate that option more closely too.

Thanks again and if anyone else has other suggestions, please pass them on!

I can recommend Treffpunkt in Bamberg. I went there because I liked their website, and I ended up staying in Bamberg for a year. Great place, and if you are on a limited budget (outside of the cost of German language school...), then the cost of living there is significantly lower than in Munich. I attended the school for 4 months, very professional teaching staff.

If you are a beer drinker (and I don't mean Weissbier), then you would be remiss not to spend some time there.

I would recommend not coming to Munich as almost everyone can speak English, making it really different to do immersion style learning.

I'm also looking for a language school, but unfortunately my budget is pretty tight. So far I've found that the cheapest are the Akademie der fremdspreche (www.akafremd.de) for 83 euro a week and the Neueschule for 105 euro per week. Are either of these a good deal? Does anyone have any experience with either of these schools? Also, do you think taking classes in the morning would ruin my chances of finding work as an English teacher due to the overlapping schedule? Thanks in advance!

Anyone travelling or studying or living in Berlin from June-July onward 2008 please let me know!

Re language schools: I can recommend Alpha in Vienna, Austria. Very good.
I am coming to Berlin in June and I am considering IFS Berlin. The cost is okay and I want to be centrally located. Goethe is good I guess, however, it's expensive as it is here in Sydney!