A couple of weeks ago I had the great opportunity to go to the famous Berlin Philharmonie for a concert.

My room mate invited me to join her since students from her university were playing (from the TU). it was a breathtaking experience; the hall just looks simply awesome. They designed it in a very creative way with all the lightening and pillars that made the huge hall look more cozy and friendly. And of course the sound system was great!
There was a very funny picture in the waiting hall; it was a huge picture of the show hall with lots of people. However if you watch closely, you will realize that there is actually only ONE person who was photographed from several angles, but literally hundreds of angels. It was crazy!! If you ever visit the building, pay attention to that specific picture :) Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of it, but I have posted some of the concert hall :)

Hey everyone! i hope you are all doing well.

This is already my second week with DeutchAkademie, and so far I very much enjoy it :) I am missing a bit the habit of going to school and having some stuff to study. This was also one of the reasons why I started a course.
I entered Level A1.1, since i have never learnt German. We started with all the basics, how you introduce yourself, basic vocabulary on general topics, such as family, house, free time etc. The teacher always tries to find a fun way of teaching us; we often play games. The communication is the most important part of the course, they teach us how to start talking as fast as possible.
On the picture you can see the book from which we learn. It is a very user-friendly book with CDs (for both books). In addition, the teacher always brings his extra materials, just to make sure that we see different exercises and therefore practice even more.
I am having my 4th lesson tonight, and I am curious what we will learn ;)

Liebe Teilnehmer, hier ein paar Eindrücke vom Kulturprogramm am vergangenen Freitag im Museum für Film und Fernsehen. Leider durften wir in der interessanten Ausstellung keine Fotos machen. Wir hoffen, dass ihr Spaß hattet und vielleicht den ein oder anderen Film-Tipp mit nach Hause genommen habt.
Euer DeutschAkademie-Team

A couple of weeks ago I visited the DDR museum that is located right in front of the Berlin Cathedral.

It was on a pretty busy day, on a Saturday, but it was not a problem at all sine the museum has so much to offer and so many interesting corners that the crowd does not bother at all.

The museum basically introduces East-Berlin before the wall was taken away. You can get to know how the communism influenced the development of the city (well half of the city), and how it left its trace that we can still see up until today. Basically, the museum has different sections where you can get to know different things. I would mention the things I liked the most:
At the beginning there was a children education section where visitors can see what children did in the school, what kind of song they were singing, you can actually touch old toys, exercise books and many other objects from those times. It was such an amazing feeling!
My other favorite section was the old prison, which is a very very tiny room featuring only a bed, a sink and a toilet. When I went inside and closed the door I could very much experience how it was when someone was locked up in the prison for years.
The third most interesting part for me was a wardrobe that features military clothing and personal hygiene products. When men were obliged to be part of the army they had to share their rooms, and everybody had a small closet with a couple of hangers and shelves. The only way of fitting your personal stuff was to keep it extremely organized and tidy – that was also the purpose of giving them such a small place for storage. They had cleaning checks every week that was extremely strict.
Lastly, you can visit a real communist flat including living room, kitchen and bathroom.

Besides my favorite parts of the museums, you can sit in a real old Trabant and see a movie about the construction plans they made to develop the living of people etc.

I must say that I felt very ‚home‘ in this museum, because of the fact that my country – Hungary – was also a communist country, and all the stories and features were just the same, therefore I still have a very personal touch with the museum.
You can spend there 1 hour or 10 hours, depending how much you are interested. I can highly recommend it for everyone – for those who know and have experience the communist influence maybe if their own counties (like in my case), and for those who are not familiar with the subject at all. I visited the museum with my boyfriend (who is Dutch) and he was amazed by seeing all these things. Since he has never seen something like this, everything was very very new for him.

I hope I inspired you to visit DDR! :)

PS.: When I was passing a book shelf, I was happy to discover a lovely guide book that helps you orientate in Hungary. I love the cover, it is such so authentic Hungarian!!

Hey everybody! My name is Vanda, I am a 23-year old and Hungarian. I have just moved to Berlin to do my internship in the upcoming 6 months. I work for an international hotel company in the heart of Berlin, therefore most of my time I use the English language to communicate, even though there are a lot of German speaking employee at the company. I have set a goal for myself that by the end of my internship I would like to reach a certain level in German; I would like to be able to communicate comfortably about general topics, like hobbies, directions, food etc. I am very excited to join the course and to get closer to my end goal. I also find it a great way to meet new people and to broaden my connections. I have lived in different countries before and I love international environment! Different people, different opinions, values and habits. The best way to learn about new cultures spontaneously. Who would think that the habit of taking your shoes off inside the house in Germany is totally weird for a Dutch person?! Well, if you did not know, now you do ;) and I wish to get to know more and more during this 6 months in Berlin! Happy to meet and mingle with you during the course and to share my experience with all of you week by week.

Make it a great day! :)

Auch unser erster Stammtisch im Februar war wieder ein voller Erfolg! Wir haben uns über jeden Einzelnen, der zur super Stimmung beigetragen hat, gefreut. Ein besonderer Dank geht an alle, die ihr Gesangstalent auf der Karaoke Bühne bewiesen haben. Wir freuen uns auf das nächste Mal!
Euer DeutschAkademie-Team

Liebe Teilnehmer,
für nächste Woche Freitag, den 19. Februar, haben wir wieder ein interessantes Kulturprogramm für euch vorbereitet. Gemeinsam werden wir die Filmstadt Berlin entdecken und viel über die deutsche und internationale Filmgeschichte lernen. Kommt und meldet euch bis Donnerstag, 18. Februar, im Büro an. Wir freuen uns auf euch!

Euer DeutschAkademie-Team

Liebe Teilnehmer,

am Donnerstag, den 11. Februar, treffen wir uns wieder wie gewohnt zum Stammtisch der ersten Kurswoche. Um 20 Uhr geht es los im „Knutschfleck“, 5 Minuten von der DeutschAkademie am Alexanderplatz. Wir freuen uns, wenn ihr kommt um mit uns einen lustigen Abend mit leckeren Cocktails und Karaoke zu verbringen!

Euer DeutschAkademie-Team