Looking for opinions and information on Migros
Want to know peoples experiences, impressions, ...
thinking of signing up for the intensive french beginner class
thanks

Hey, I've recently started the intensive German class in the Migros in Winterthur.
I'm finding it very enjoyable, plus it is exactly what I need for a reasonable price (compared to other schools).
Basically if you do really need to learn a language, I would say Migros is a good choice.

good luck

generalizing - Migros Klubschule - good value for money.

as with any language lessons - it depends a lot on the teacher you have rather than the school.

Suggest you take a test run which they do allow. The quality of teachers is variable in my experience (at least the German teachers at Klubschule Wengihof in Zürich).

I agree with sheewie (interesting name BTW??). I tried migros club schule twice in the first 2 yrs of being here. Can't say either were great experiences unfortunately.

Basically as the others previously mentioned, more down to the teacher (of any subject I would say) than the school. Bear it in mind when you do choose to go to a certain school and ask what the policy is if you aren't finding it "your thing". Suffice to say I pretty much gave up learning german after my 2 experiences...but hey! I'm a defeatist.
Good luck & DONT give up
if it's not for you change.

Thanks this is great advice!
I appreciate the time you took to give your insights.

as a trained language teacher, total immersion definitely the best way. i too attend beginners level german class here in luzern and find not having explanations in english tough, but more recently i have resorted to using the dictionary more than to have things spelled out for me and feel all the better for it. hard graff german and i feel for you but go on you can do it.

I did several intensive courses with Klubschule Migros (Rapperswil) when we first arrived here. I agree with a lot of what was said above about teachers, and found the first two courses quite helpful. I had a great teacher and was a total beginner, so basically I probably would have picked up something talking to a 3 year old.

However once I mastered a few basics I found that a lot of the students were less 'driven' than me, as they were only doing the course because they had to (Au-pairs, laungauge exchange students, etc). I think intially it is a great option, but once you progess a little and become more serious about learning the laungauge (because you have to) then it isn't such a great option.

A good introduction, but in the longer term you really do get what you pay for.

I had an intensive course in april. Firstly it was the best value as everything else was grossly more expensive. The lessons were structured and was never,never went out of that structure. Intensive courses are quite demanding and afterwhile i found myself behind as everyday a new subject is intriduced. For me I should have done something less intensive i guess, but if you are looking for fun and creativity while you are learning, good luck

I started off doing my A1 German in Aarau, then could't find an A2 in Aarau and did the A2 in Olten. I loved the class in Aarau and had a very good teacher but the class in Olten was terrible and the teacher incompetent. I then went back to the Aarau klubshule for B1 and loved it again. Very good value for money. Overall I would say it depends on the klubshule and the teacher. I would say the bigger schools is a bit more professional. Overall I'm happy with the schools. Was just unlucky with a bad teacher.

It's good place to socialize. You can brush shoulders with cooks, house wives, artists, pensioners, mail order brides....etc etc.

Have done a 3 month intensive course in Frauenfeld and am doing a night-school course in Arbon now. I have only had experiences with Migros courses and they would work for me if I did the homework.
I,d recomend them but I can compare them with nothing.

I have lived in a few different countries and have always made the effort to learn the local lingo. By far and away the best in this regard was in Leiden, The Netherlands where I learned Dutch. The school was affiliated to the local university though the courses were open to the public. I did 2 courses - Basic and Intermediate - and the lessons were 6 hours per week over 20 weeks. The pace was just right and there was homework. At the end of the courses I was able to function perfectly in Dutch - e.g. take meeting minutes, job interviews etc. This is the yardstick by which I measure all other language courses.

In CH I have used MKS and VHS (Volkshochschule) and I found the MKS to be the lower standard - the teacher was absolutely not enthusiastic and his technique was to just work through pages in the standard textbook. The VHS was far better - good pace and structure and enthusiastic teachers; plus the grammatical points were reinforced using word-games and role plays. My main regret was not having the time to complete all the homework due to my work; and it really does make a difference to ones progress if you do the homework.

For German at least, the main handicap in Switzerland is the language taught at schools is not spoken on a daily basis in the normal run of things - so opportunities to hear the language spoken by "the natives" are thin on the ground. Many Swiss find speaking High German difficult. I imagine I would have progressed a lot faster had I been learning German in Germany itself.

Cheers,
Nick

.... dansers, kickboxers, business people ...
the club in Neuchâtel is great fun and inexpensive !!