Alpadia Language Schools - Freiburg

There were many things I loved about my experience in Freiburg and Alpadia. The teachers were very nice, and the classes small. My host family was wonderful! I was glad they gave us a textbook with practice activities. What I wish would have been different was the teaching style and how classes were run. I was in a beginner's level class (A2). We could speak and understand somewhat, but we clearly didn't know very much German. Having teachers who spent so much time on complicated grammar such as word agreement (cases, word endings, etc.) in a beginning course is not helpful at all. I understand that to speak German correctly, one must at some point master those skills. To speak German as a beginner, one needs vocabulary and a basic understanding of verbs. We are just beginning to put sentences together. Asking us to focus on complex grammar structures for hours at a time is counter-productive and defeating. We should have been focused on communicative activities and general grammar to just get us using the language without making us focus on perfection with grammar that is way above our heads at this point. I have taken other language courses in other schools in Europe, and I have been a language teacher myself for nearly 30 years. My biggest disappointment was the strict focus on grammar and not on making the class enjoyable and communicative. We basically sat in our chairs for the entire three hours doing book work with a bit of speaking with a partner at times.

I have been trying to learn Deutsch for years without much result probably because of a lack of focus, thus I decided to go for an intensiv B1 Course directly in Deutschland.I think I have beneffited greatly from the clases I have taken every morning for a month. To be precise, the teachers I have been assigned (Dirk,Lena,Michael - cannot tell about others) were very good and the teaching method very good for progressing.I am specially happy to have selected the preparation for B1 TELC test classes, as I really needed to get a view of how many things need to be learned and now I think I have a pretty clear view of what I need to progress and how.I will try to come back as soon as I can allow myself another month long free period to enroll on B2.Although no related, it is also relevant how pretty is Freiburg and the surrounding Black Forest zone. Freiburg aside from pretty is a very nice place to live for a while, full of cafes and life, plus the wheather is quite mild and sunny (not the continual rain that is normally expected from Deutschland).

I stayed 2 weeks at alpadia school and I was very satisfied. Even though it was a summer course teachers were very serious and I feel like I have learnt more by staying there than 6 months in my high school. The environment is also really friendly and the position is really central! Absolutely recommend.

Alpadia is a quite conceptual language school, that has put a lot of thought into the structure of the courses, adapted to a specific learning model. In the beginning, I was quite challenged, because my life situation didn’t allow the acquired devotion. As I realized I couldn't manage the course, the headmaster and the administrative team of Alpadia was very friendly, helpful and cooperative to find a better solution for me. A Special thanks to Daniel Schmidt, who is a very good teacher.

Honestly one of the most helpful, most professional and friendly places i‘ve attended. The teachers are very helpful and are very clear with their explanations. The staff members and the secretaries are very kind and helpful, they really make it easy for you to ask for help without feeling pressured and are guide you to the solution to your problem. If I were to recommend any place to learn German, it would 100% be here in Alpadia. Thank you everyone at Alpadia.

These courses have been monumentally helpful for me in my transition to living in Germany. The courses cover a wide variety of topics and help you learn how to really survive in everyday German situations to the likeness of a native speaker. I’ve learned more in my 3 months at Alpadia than I have in all my years in highschool and university German in the states. My instructors, Harry Holderried and Eva Hilligardt, have been amazing teachers, providing a well rounded and suitably challenging course curriculum that has accelerated my confidence and skill with the German language. If you’re searching for helpful and welcoming language learning courses, I would highly recommend Alpadia Freiburg.

We are a Canadian couple in their 50s who took a 4-week German class at Alpadia in Freiburg this Fall. Our whole experience was excellent.We were at the A1.2 level and found the first week difficult to be instructed fully in German but we progressed a lot and afterwards really appreciated the pace. Our teachers spoke multiple languages so they were always able to explain in our native language when needed. Alpadia places a lot of emphasis on conversing and learning new vocabulary, as well as teaching us tips to accelerate our learning and integration. All of the staff, from teachers, director to the support staff were very helpful, friendly and professional. They offered daily afternoon or evening activities to mingle, converse and experience the German culture. Facilities-wise, there was an excellent coffee machine and snacks on site with a beautiful covered terrace we could use during breaks. The school was steps away from the old town. The school partnered with local businesses to offer rebates to the students, including student prices at the University cafeteria.Freiburg is a small, bicycle friendly city with lots of history and a beautiful old town. The food in restaurants and grocery stores was very affordable. There were a number of walking trails in the area and plenty of access to public transportation.We stayed with our German host Cäcilia and even though we had some apprehensions staying and eating in someone’s home our expectations were surpassed. Our host was very welcoming and flexible. The house was spacious and clean and a 10 minute walk from the school. We always had warm and tasty meals for dinner. We had daily opportunities to converse in German, learning about different dialects, traditions and the various services in the country.We would highly recommend this school and our host family. Josee and Bernard.

Habe mich wirklich wohl gefühlt, habe mich wieder jung gefühlt!Habe viele tolle Menschen kennengelernt, Lehrer und Kameraden . Habe diese wunderbare Atmosphäre sehr genossen. Und habe viel gelernt!Herzlichen Dank an Daniel für sein pädagogisches Geschick und seine Geduld.Chandra

This is a fantastic language school! I've learned more in three months there than in the three years of German I took at school. Something that I loved was that we did not waste time doing the same things over and over again, but that every day we learnt new things and explored new topics. My teachers Dirk and Michael were awesome, professional but also very human and always did their best to help us reach our goals. In class we would not only learn the grammar and vocabulary but we also got to speak a lot, allowing us to improve our fluency and gain confidence in our communication skills. I really recommend this school!

Do not recommend going to Alpadia if you want to learn German. The teachers changes a lot, during the four weeks I was there, I had three different teachers even though I stayed in the same class the whole time. The communication between the teachers was not good, they therefore planned the same tasks and text which resulted in a lot of the classes not being planned. One of the teachers mostly told stories and did not really teach us that much. When you arrive you get placed in a class where people may have been there for a long time and you start in the middle of a theme. It makes it hard to follow along because you may not have all the pre-knowledge nessecary and the teachers does not do anything to help with this issue. This also makes it harder to get know people.I also took the intensive class and found that quite meaningless. We just got papers with questions we were supposed to discuss with one other student. When the student german was at the same level or worse than yours you did not really learn anything new. The teacher also sat so far away that we did not get any corrections.The evening program has quite few participants so it can be hard to get friends. It also says in the information, we were also told this the first day, that there is a trip to Europa-park once a month. The guy organizing this says that never happens.All in all I do not recommend going to Alpadia, if I had known how it would be I would rather pay more and go to the Goethe-institutt.