German practice ideas in Zurich Kanton
 

Hi all,

I am always looking for opportunities to practise my German, and thought it would be interesting to hear of the different ways people have found to practise their German in the Zurich area.

I recently stumbled on the 'Sproch Cafe' run by a super nice Swiss lady Tuesdays 9-11 am in Zug. We sit around a large table drinking coffee and tea and talk about everything under the sun. Her name is Gabi Eugster, gabi@sproch.ch, and it takes place at Zeughausgasse 14. She doesn't charge a fee by the way.

It'd be great to hear of any other (specific) tried and true opportunities!

Re: German practice ideas in Zurich Kanton
 

I have found it difficult to practice in any useful way, thus my German level has plateaued. Will be interested to see if others have some useful ideas!

The most helpful thing I have found so is to practice speaking with other native English speaking people, ideally a few levels above myself. I can understand much much more this way, and actually have a conversation since they speak much slower and with a lower level of vocabulary. With Swiss/Germans I end up sat there completely lost...

Re: German practice ideas in Zurich Kanton
 

Learning German from native English speakers is like the Swiss teaching each other English. The accent and the mistakes are copied. But the accent is still a 'Swiss' accent and the mistakes are still mistakes.

Re: German practice ideas in Zurich Kanton
 

In other words, it might not be a bad idea to join a tandem team where you partner with a native German speaker who wants to improve their English.

Re: German practice ideas in Zurich Kanton
 

This is what I did and still do. We meet most weeks for an hour or so, walk and talk or just take a coffee together when time or weather demands. Our conversation moves between English and German, and as my German has improved so has the depth and topics of conversation. We also send each other messages in our "foreign" language and the other corrects mistakes. Really made a difference for me and also enlarged my contact base as I met her other friends, so now I have lots more people to practice with when I meet them on the street or in shops.