I moved to Germany in January 2018 and did not know how to say anything in German except "Hallo,…read moreich heisse ...". I started going to Inlingua in February of 2018, starting with A1. The teacher was okay, you could tell that she did not have her heart in the world of teaching foreigners. As she introduced herself to the class she said, "Ich komme aus Bayern, nicht aus Deutschland!" It was indeed a weird first impression. The A1 class was large, close to 20 people. The class was full but it was okay, we could not say much anyway. We all had our turn at saying what we were supposed to say.. das Buch, der Tisch and so on. I had the same teacher for A2, she become more and more impatient and wasn't understanding when someone would make a mistake. It made for a very uncomfortable 4 hours every day. I learned everything I needed to in order to pass the A2 Goethe Prüfung a couple of weeks after I left that class and returned to my home country for a couple of months.
B1 at Inlingua was a good experience. I finished quickly but was starting to get frustrated with myself. It was not due to Inlingua, rather because I wanted to say things, I want to speak in sentences and really express myself in German, but no native really could understand exactly what I wanted to say. If you are learning German, do not worry! It takes time! BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF! I have learned that if I am patient with me the "germans" will be patient with me also.
B2 was a wild ride. I somehow ended up in the class with the same teacher that I had for A1 and A2. She made us feel so stupid and would roll her eyes at us and was just mean. I finally had enough and made an appointment to speak with the director. She is a miracle work. You want her on your side if you are having trouble with someone. She listens and makes you feel important and has never let me down. I hope you will have the same wonderful experience with her, IF need be.
C1 is hard. It is difficult at first because everyone is ahead of you. The class literally never ends. That same class is more than 10 years old. You just jump in when you finish B2. So you have experienced German speakers who have been in there for months (2-24). Inlingua says you should expect to be in C1 for at least 9 months. I knew a girl who was in there for 2 years. I spent 9 months in C1 at Inlingua. It became more comfortable as the weeks passed, I was able to speak to husband's family (they are German) in German and they really understood me. I became more confident and really had fun learning. Annette (this is the only teacher I will name by name) was such an inspiration! I looked so forward to the two days a week she would be teaching us. She would not only review the basics when we needed it, she always pushed us to be better. She taught us idiomatic phrases and colloquial phrases and words. She always explained it like this.. You get to C1 and don't feel like you're progressing until you start using phrases like "ich bin in der Lage.., Ich lege Wert auf.., etwas brennt mir auf den Naegeln.." These are called Nomen-Verb-Verbindungen. She said it is like jumping into an elevator, as soon as you start implementing these words into your everyday speech it takes you to a whole new level, and quickly.
A1 and A2 at Inlingua took 2 months to master. You have two books for the entire level.
B1 took 3 months, you have to work through two books
B2 also took 3 months, you have to work through two books for this level as well
C1 expect to be in this course for at least 9 months.
I now have a couple of unpleasant topics I want to bring to your attention before you say "YES" to Inlingua.
One month costs 490 Euros plus material costs (Book) If you sign up for three months at a time each month will "only" cost 430 Euros.
Make sure that you understand exactly what you sign. They can "trick" you with the unbefristeter Vertrag (unlimited contract). They do not actively let you know that you are still signed up and that you have to keep going and keep pouring money into the pot. YOU have to go 4 weeks before you wish to leave and terminate your contract. They do, however always come around and ask you if you don't have an unlimited contract if you would like to make another contract. It is all about making money.
Expect to be in a LARGE class.
If there are not at least 9 participants, Inlingua reserves the right to cut out classes on Fridays and will not compensate you financially and will not give you extra days.
If/When you make it to C1 expect to be discouraged, at first you will not understand a thing and then after being there for a few months you will be the best one. After being there for 9 months you will know "everything" and it will be completely boring, there will be a new class every 4 weeks that will be incorporated into the C1 class. They will not know that "mit" ist immer Dativ. You will be so frustrated and question what you are doing; take the C1 exam if that is your goal!
