Today is the 3rd day of the course. The day started off with rain, which then turned to sleet, hail, snow and then back to rain again! I was tempted to just stay indoors where it was warm and dry, but I managed to get to class. There seemed to be a lot of complicated grammar today with long names…I wonder if I’ll ever remember it all, but then I seem to manage the exercises. I notice that, after being in Berlin for a while, there are some things that I recognise from hearing people around me speak. I really need to practise speaking myself more.

I came to Berlin because I wanted a change from life in the UK and I wanted to try living in another culture. I’m not sure how long I will stay, but at the moment its indefinite. So I’m expecting that it will be for a few years at least! So learning the language is a necessity really. Already doing basic things like trying to get an internet connection in my apartment, and trying to buy second hand washing machine, and getting the heating in my apartment fixed has been so much  more complicated without speaking German. Its frustrating to struggle so much to get basic things done. So this is my motivation for learning German :)

I chose Deutsch Akademie initially as it offered good value for money. After I had taken my first two classes, I was also impressed with the quality of the teaching. It helps a lot that the classes are small, it makes learning a lot easier and the teacher has plenty of time to explain things to you, over and over if necerssary! In larger classes I can imagine that its easy to get lost if you dont understand something, and harder to get help when you need it.

I wish it wasnt so far away from where I lived, but as yet that is the only down side!

Here is a picture of my dog studying his German grammar ;)

Tuesday!

I am feeling more confident on the second day, on the first I was feeling bewildered that I’d forgotten so much of the vocabulary in the month I had back in the UK. But today things were coming back to me more, and things were starting to feel familar. Somehow it is always a surprise to me when I actually understand something. For my first 2 months of study I hardly ever knew what was going on. But since then I’ve invested in some grammar books and they’ve really helped. I still find grammar hard, but I’m able to make more sense of it than I used to.

Our group is made up of 9 people, including me. I’m the only English person – actually, in the 3 months I’ve been at Deutsch Akademie, I’ve never met another English person! One from Wales, but that is different of course. In my present group there are 2 Greek guys, one Canadian girl, 2 Spanish people, a guy and a girl, and 3 Polish girls. I’m one of the oldest, being 29. Though I think one of the Polish women is in her early 30’s. The teacher is very nice. Actually all the teachers I have had at Deutsch Akademie have been nice!

I’ve been encouraged to practise speaking German more….I hope my German friends are feeling patient!

Hello,

My name is Emma and today I began my new course, level 2B at the Deutsch Akademie in Berlin. I have been in Berlin for six months and so far I love the city! I live with my dog Lukas in a one room apartment in Kreuzberg. I am originally from the UK, I was born in London and lived there until I was 19 when I left London for university. For the past 10 years (I am 29 now!) I have mostly lived in the North of England. The last city I lived in was Leeds, I was there for 3 years and I still think of it as my home.

I decided to move to Berlin as I wanted a change, having lived all my life in the UK! Also I enjoy the energy and culture of the city. My problem is that I don’t yet know the language, which is why I am learning with Deutsch Akademie! I studied the 2A course in September…unfortunately I seem to have forgotten a lot in the one month break! But hopefully it will start to come back to me! :)