Register  Login  Active Topics  Maps  

Goethe Istitute

 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes Post Reply
MichaelM204351
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5204 days ago

151 posts - 173 votes 
Speaks: English*, Biblical Hebrew
Studies: Modern Hebrew, German, Spanish

 
 Message 1 of 8
29 January 2010 at 6:12pm | IP Logged 
Has anyone used (or heard about) the Goethe Institute's E-Learning classes? I was wondering if it would be a good class to take along with my studies at home. I don't get a lot of time to practice speaking, so I thought this could be a good idea. It is a lot of money, though, if it ends up being worthless...
1 person has voted this message useful



magictom123
Senior Member
United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5353 days ago

272 posts - 365 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Italian, French

 
 Message 2 of 8
29 January 2010 at 10:18pm | IP Logged 
Just today I found out that a local community centre near me does Italian classes. In my
circumstances they are free but even paying they would be considerbaly cheaper than a
college class. Is it not possible to scout around for a similar course. Surely this
would be more benficial than an online e-class?
1 person has voted this message useful



Sprachjunge
Diglot
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 6925 days ago

368 posts - 548 votes 
Speaks: English*, GermanC2
Studies: Spanish, Russian

 
 Message 3 of 8
29 January 2010 at 10:54pm | IP Logged 
My two cents: Don't take the course if money is at all an issue. The Goethe-Institut is good, but man are they pricey.

Nowadays there are so many free ways to get speaking practice--especially for a language as popular as German! I would try finding a Skype buddy because 1) Many Germans are interested in improving their English, and thus would be more than happy to trade 1 hour of German for 1 hour of English, and 2) You will get feedback that is just as quick and explicit.

And if you're worried because the explanations aren't coming from a "teacher:" To be honest, the grammar explanations that the Goethe teacher offers are probably not worth the money you'll be paying. You essentially need a German speaker who is educated enough to know when something is right or wrong, and can tell you so. That's all. You can then look up the grammar explanation yourself. Again, you mentioned money, and I think this is a much, much cheaper option that will give you the same results.
5 persons have voted this message useful



datsunking1
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5345 days ago

1014 posts - 1533 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French

 
 Message 4 of 8
29 January 2010 at 11:01pm | IP Logged 
Sprachjunge wrote:
My two cents: Don't take the course if money is at all an issue. The Goethe-Institut is good, but man are they pricey.

Nowadays there are so many free ways to get speaking practice--especially for a language as popular as German! I would try finding a Skype buddy because 1) Many Germans are interested in improving their English, and thus would be more than happy to trade 1 hour of German for 1 hour of English, and 2) You will get feedback that is just as quick and explicit.

And if you're worried because the explanations aren't coming from a "teacher:" To be honest, the grammar explanations that the Goethe teacher offers are probably not worth the money you'll be paying. You essentially need a German speaker who is educated enough to know when something is right or wrong, and can tell you so. That's all. You can then look up the grammar explanation yourself. Again, you mentioned money, and I think this is a much, much cheaper option that will give you the same results.


I couldn't agree with you more. I learned more in a MONTH speaking with a native than I did in a whole year of formal classes. It's unbelievable how fast you'll make progress. :)
1 person has voted this message useful



MichaelM204351
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5204 days ago

151 posts - 173 votes 
Speaks: English*, Biblical Hebrew
Studies: Modern Hebrew, German, Spanish

 
 Message 5 of 8
30 January 2010 at 12:17am | IP Logged 
Thanks, guys! How would I go about finding a German speaking buddy on skype?
1 person has voted this message useful



MichaelM204351
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5204 days ago

151 posts - 173 votes 
Speaks: English*, Biblical Hebrew
Studies: Modern Hebrew, German, Spanish

 
 Message 6 of 8
30 January 2010 at 12:21am | IP Logged 
magictom123 wrote:
Just today I found out that a local community centre near me does Italian classes. In my
circumstances they are free but even paying they would be considerbaly cheaper than a
college class. Is it not possible to scout around for a similar course.

I was taking classes in the university, but I had to stop because I am moving to another state. I would just start taking classes there, but I am going to be going back and forth between the two states, so I really need something that will work regardless of my location.
1 person has voted this message useful



Sprachjunge
Diglot
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 6925 days ago

368 posts - 548 votes 
Speaks: English*, GermanC2
Studies: Spanish, Russian

 
 Message 7 of 8
30 January 2010 at 12:57am | IP Logged 
On the Skype site itself, under "communities" you can find people offering free Skype sessions in return for the languages they want to learn (again, you have a huge advantage since English is your mother tongue--be thankful for it every day!). There's also a website called the Mixxer that apparently pairs people. But I think the most organic way is to interact in other forums or websites where you use your language so that you can get to know people. Then you can ask: Would you like to occasionally have sessions on Skype? (However, chances are they will ask you first.)
1 person has voted this message useful



katilica
Bilingual Diglot
Groupie
United States
Joined 5231 days ago

70 posts - 109 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish*
Studies: French, Catalan

 
 Message 8 of 8
30 January 2010 at 3:11pm | IP Logged 
Sprachjunge wrote:
My two cents: Don't take the course if money is at all an issue. The Goethe-Institut is good, but man are they pricey.

Nowadays there are so many free ways to get speaking practice--especially for a language as popular as German! I would try finding a Skype buddy because 1) Many Germans are interested in improving their English, and thus would be more than happy to trade 1 hour of German for 1 hour of English, and 2) You will get feedback that is just as quick and explicit.

And if you're worried because the explanations aren't coming from a "teacher:" To be honest, the grammar explanations that the Goethe teacher offers are probably not worth the money you'll be paying. You essentially need a German speaker who is educated enough to know when something is right or wrong, and can tell you so. That's all. You can then look up the grammar explanation yourself. Again, you mentioned money, and I think this is a much, much cheaper option that will give you the same results.

I agree, interacting with a native speaker is much easier. Grammar is not at all an issue. Whenever I come across something in French, I look it up myself. For example, I once saw on wordreference someone use à nouveau and people were marking it off as wrong so since no English sites had an explanation to this I looked it up myself in French and found out that either de or à nouveau is acceptable depending on the circumstance. To make sure my research was correct I asked my friend who was French and actually ended up teaching Her something when she looked it up and learnt the rule since she only knew it sounded right. Whenever she has a question as well, she askes me and if I don't have a clear answer I always look up the grammar explanation and explain it to her. Plus, you learn words that aren't mentioned in those delusional textbook dialogues as well as colloquial grammar.


1 person has voted this message useful



If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register


Post ReplyPost New Topic Printable version Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page was generated in 0.3750 seconds.


DHTML Menu By Milonic JavaScript
Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved
No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization.