I loved Germany but my classes at Goethe Institut were very frustrating and disappointing. It was as if they had no intention of teaching us German. Our teacher spent alot of time each lesson (until the last 2) telling us everything she hated about her life, the town (Schwabisch Hall), the local accent, her housing, the walk to school, getting up in the morning, and her career. Apparently she hates teaching, but thinks she is a good teacher because her family has several teachers. She would give us a scattered blast of information about a grammar topic, including exceptions and jokes; then tell us to write 5 sentences using it. We then turned to our table-mates and told each other our sentences. We not only never had them corrected, but we had to listen to the other incorrect German in bad accents. Even if we had managed to pick up the right principles about the topic during the lecture, we now had to drill it wrong. I was lucky I had already learned most of the grammar, but unlucky that I needed to hear correct German, because I never heard it except for her complaining, her shotgun lectures, and from wonderful people in the streets and stores. I asked for a link to recordings from our book and was mis-directed three times until she finally just shrugged her shoulders. She probably thought me one of those ugly Americans who expect you to tell the truth and actually follow up on information. I ended up with a notebook 2/3 filled with notes I couldn't review because they had not been corrected. I got a 72/80 for the course (A2) and a 59 (fail) on the A2 exam. Oh, by the way, on my entrance exam, I showed I could take either the A2 or B1 class and I opted for the A2 because my listening was my weak point. They have no intention of teaching anybody German. They just sidetrack you and entertain you with trips to pubs and castles. Stay home and study with a professional. Or go there and walk the streets and interact with the locals. read more