Suzi’s German course in Berlin

Suzi Taylor
2 weeks in Berlin
Standard Course

My expectations were far surpassed! If I’m honest, I expected to refresh my German, mainly through speaking, to do some grammar but no literature and to be taught in quite a large group.  I also expected some organised (probably boring) afternoon activities.

The classes were far better than I expected and even the German school activities were interesting!  I had not really anticipated that I’d have fun, but I had a fantastic time.

The German language school in Berlin really had it all sussed!  There was always a structure but it was never rigid which meant we often had very interesting discussions, only loosely related to the original topic.  The teachers were good, friendly and made the classes fun and ensured incoming students felt comfortable.

It was easy to find and a great campus environment and I enjoyed the food at the cafeteria.  Staying in German host accommodation was brilliant for my German skills, but getting up at 6.45 am on the first Monday to be sure I was school for 8 am was less than jolly!  I’d have preferred lessons to start an hour later, but I guess that’s the German way.

The German school Monday evening get togethers were a great way to meet new people and the afternoon activities were a good balance of fun and informative and didn’t feel too expensive.  I had a great time in Berlin it’s an excellent city for young people and seemed much cheaper than London (and felt safer).  The public transport is scarily efficient, even at night and very well priced too.

I had a fantastic social life (possibly too good) which meant I was generally too tired to sight see in the afternoons but there were plenty of well priced restaurants, bars and clubs and there were areas that were a lot less touristy than the main drags where we could chill out after class.  I probably should have partied less and taken an Intensive course to get the maximum from the fortnight in purely linguistic terms, but it was part holiday for me, so on this occasion I wanted to enjoy being in Berlin, rather than just focusing on language skills.

I felt the German language course was very good value for money and I have already told my friends who are learning German that they should go out to Berlin with CESA too.  I found the CESA staff very easy to deal with, I had no problems at all and it was great to know I could just pick up the phone or email them and I’d get a full and speedy answer

I would so love to go out to Berlin again.
I really didn’t want to come home!