Hi there - my girlfriend has just moved over to Zurich with me. She speaks no German and is eager to get some sort of base. We've been recommended the Migros school as the best budget option.

Just looking at courses and have 2 questions:
1) What do the levels mean - so we understand A1 etc, and guess a complete beginner should start with A1 (or is A2 possible?). She has maybe 10 expressions and 100 words of German just. Can say hello, goodbye, thanks, good morning, right / left, count 1-10 etc.

2) What do the course titles mean - so she's interested in the intensive ones which run for about a month for a few hours a day. But we see these options

Deutsch Intensiv Plus Anfänger A1(1/2)
Deutsch Intensiv Plus Niveau A1 (2/2)
Deutsch Intensiv Plus Niveau Anfänger A1(1/2)

So each of them are A1, but what does the 1/2 and 2/2 mean? Is that a 2 part course? Like you do a1 part 1 month 1, then a1 part 2 one month?

Also difference between Anfanger and Niveau

Thanks
G

Anfänger is the one that has a vocabulary of max. 10 words. A1 is someone who has already a grasp on the language (can already count, maybe make some really small talk as good morning/etc).

If your girlfriend is really a beguinner, with so little vocabulary, I'd take the Anfänger course. There is nothing to be ashamed of, and it might help her in the future to have a stronger base.

(I made an exam to check which level I was and was put on a A2 level. Next week I asked to be moved to A1 because though vocabulary was good, I was missing the bases).

Hope that helps

1/2 means it's the first course of 2. A1 usually is divided into 2 courses



Anfanger: Beguinner
Niveu: Level

Levels go as following:

Anfänger > A1 > A2 > B1 > B2 > C1 > C2 > Mother tongue



P.S.: OMG 990 Chf? I am so happy I used my moneys in the Goethe Institute Portugal

1/2 is the first part of two courses, and
2/2 is the second of the two courses.

Niveau means level.

Anfänger means beginner...

somewhere around the EF here is a link to an online test you can take to get a rough idea of your level of competence in a chosen language (French, German, Spanish, etc).

I say "rough idea" becasue when I took the English one I only got a B2.

Is there a cheaper option for an intensive course than this one? Like A1 part 1 & 2 will cost prob 2000 CHF to complete in total.

Here is another school in Zürich that might be a bit less, but I
have no idea about the quality. I took some IT courses here,
and they were quite OK.

http://www.eb-zuerich.ch/kursprogram...-zweitsprache/

I did a basic german language course, thru the local Gemeinder .... 6months for the first (60 lectures) - Niveau A2

..and then a second course, Niveau B1 (46 lectures)..... each course costing about Sfr300. (very cheap huh!)

Was conducted by "Machbar Bildungs-GmbH
Erwachsenenbildung Integration Konfliktbearbeitung"
Hammer 1
5000 Aarau. Tel. 062 / 823 24 28
E-mail: info@mbb.ch; www.mbb.ch

The certificates are very nice, and give details about what exactly one learned - and are recognised.

This gave me a very good grounding in grammar.
I`m now even able to help my grandkids with their german homework!

Hope this info is of some help.

hey,

in the low budget chategory, but with far better standards is Zürich Business School. www.kvz-weiterbildung.ch
They have 6 month intenssive courses 2/week for 880 CHF (at Migro I payed 550 for 1/week).
The major difference is that at Migro you only do 1/3 of a level in one semester, so it takes one year an a half to finish A1, which is very basic. As for ZH business school there´s one level / semester.

I did A1 1/3 French at Migro and A1 - A2 (intenssive in one semester) at ZH business school afterwards and I could really tell the difference.

Good luck for your girlfriend. German is not the easyest language to learn.

Another good option (FREE) is to try a language exchange. I do this once a week with a Swedish girl and it´s working perfectly (I teach her German and she teaches me Swedish). It´s a great way to get to know someone if you´re new here and learn the basics.

cheers,
Ioana

"local Gemeinder"..is this the cantonal community ?
does any body know if the zurich canton or zurich city has any such course on offer ? and is this open to everybody ?

another question...what is the medium of instruction at the language schools like migros klubschule .. english.. french or italian ..? or is it possible learn german in german .. the migros site doesnot have much information in english about their german courses..
..so if any english speaking person has taken these courses.. kindly advise.

I think this is the link from the Migros klubschule site.

http://apps.klubschule.ch/etest/spra...a1&language=de

"Local Gemeinde" is the official office in each town/village.... where all officialdom takes place.
You just go there and ask about German language courses. If there is one in the vicinity they will point you at it.
The link I gave in my previous posting will direct you to your nearest course.

The german language courses are conducted in german.
But the teacher will usually know more than one language - to help a student totally unable to understand a given word!
My teacher was a Linguist, and spoke very good english, as well as Albanian, Serb, French, Italian, Spanish, and a few other languages as well, but only used them in dire circumstances!He even knew the different Swiss dialects.