Germany in the Summer

lalalalinda

Hey, was looking for some advice on this. A group of us want to go to Germany in the Summer. We're studying German in school and want to improve on this by speaking the language in Germany. Alway wanted to visit the country anyway. We're all around 16 years old.

There's some Summer courses around Germany (2-3 Weeks) which would be perfect but I dunno which one to go for.

www.goethe.de
www.eilireland.org

and a couple others which have been advertised in the papers. The thing is, although we want to learn German, being stuck in classes for all of it except weekends doesn't sound very appealing. Plus, the courses are very expensive. We don't have much money so I was thinking staying in a youth hostel and just going on a holiday would be better. Does anyone know if you learn much German just by going out and speaking the langauge?

Preferably, we'd want a balance of going out getting wasted, meeting new people and speaking the language, having a few classes, affordable accomodation and insurance.

You can't always get what you want with the language institutes, so should we just go our own way or would that be too risky considering our age?!

Any advice would be great.

theleprechaun

Hi,
I went over to Germany for three weeks for the world cup back in 2006. The best three weeks of my life!!! Definitely go for it. Personally, i wouldn't bother with those courses. I had a intermediate level of German and i got by. You can easily learn German by just talking to people. Don't both wasting your money on a course. Have a holiday instead!! You will enjoy it more and it will benefit you more too imo. The thing is most Germans speak English, especially the younger generation. When you meet a person, in a shop, hostel etc. speak to them in German and they will generally speak back in German. It will really improve your German!
As for you age, I was only 17. I was with my brother who was 19, but we never had any trouble with the age. Its a safe country. Go for it.
As for places to go, I would definitely recommend three places: Munich, Cologne and Berlin.

frankiebaby

Hey,
id def go for a longer holiday if the cost of the course is a big thing.
i was in germany for a week when i was 20 and 21, (22 now). it was wicked. the best country ive been to. i picked up a bit over there and i never spoke a word before. stayed in youth hostels, cheap and gud laf, even tho we werent in them much. eurobars everywhere, 24hr clubs everywhere too, soundest ppl ypu'll meet. mate of mine lived and workrd there for 9 months and he is practically fluent now, ud be surprised how much german ud pick up day to day.

Victor

The problem arises when you spend your whole day speaking to your friends and not speaking German.

If you still want to have fun, see if there are any courses that are morning or afternoon only.