Berlin Language schools: GLS vs. DID

Hi there,

I'm thinking of going to Berlin in August to study german for about 6 weeks. Of all the websites I've seen (in terms of the courses/accom offered, prices) DID - Deutsch in Deutschland- and GLS seem to be fairly good options.

Has anyone been to DID? any comments about it? I've read a few things said of GLS on the forums and the general opinion seems to be positive. However I do want a little bit of quality in the teaching (and I will definitely do my homework, revise at home, etc) but I wouldn't want to end up in a dump...any advice on this?

Also, anyone shared a flat with germans arranged through these schools? I'm afraid of living with an unfriendly landlord who tells me I can't go out at night or something like that!

and one more thing...would you recommend Berlin to learn german or Munich? many many thanks for your help!

Take a look at this topic, GLS Language School There are plenty of other topics that will be useful to you, you just need to use the search function.

I am at GLS right now. I think there are more students in their 20s than say 30s or older. Obviously, some teachers are better than others, so it really depends on which teacher you get..but I don't think any teacher here is bad. Their regular course runs like this: 9-10:30 with 1 teacher, then 11:00-12:30 with 2nd teacher. From my experience my first teacher is a lot better than my 2nd. I am doing intensive (pretty expensive - 2040 EUR + a few hundred euros of "summer surcharge" for 12 weeks). After my lesson with the 2nd teacher, I get another teacher from 1:00-2:30, because I am doing intensive. I think it was a bad idea to do intensive as a total beginner. I think intensive would help more at a higher level.

Because I have 3 teachers, I see quite a bit of repetition, which is what I don't like about this school (not sure how other schools are like). Overall, I think their regular course is good, intensive, I'd have to think twice about this (because it's nearly twice expensive).

I did a 4 week course at GLS consisting of something like 10x 90 minute lessons. It cost over 140€ and I was far from happy with the quality of the teaching, (our teacher was quite young and didn't seem very experienced). I asked for a refund but didn't get anywhere.
Avoid GLS.

In reply to the other question about Berlin v Munich, my understanding is that a lot of expats get frustrated in Munich because the locals wont speak German with them. If you find a place to stay in the eastern side of Berlin, there's a greater chance you will meet people who do not speak English, and therefore you will be forced to practice your German in shops etc.

Hi all

Thanks for your help. I take it it's easier to practice my bad german in Berlin than it would be in Munich?

Has anyone got any good/bad experiences of accommodation arranged by these language schools?

I'm just trying to gather as much info as possible, many many thanks for any advice at all you could give me on schools, the people and the life in either city. Cheers!