Student Feedback

Three weeks of fun (and learning German) in Berlin

Megan, 16, from United Kingdom – July 21, 2023, Summer Camp: Berlin College

Stay: 3 weeks, Course Start: 2023

Course

Teachers

Campus

After class activities

Support by GLS staff

Accomodation

The Good & the Bad - what did you like best? What least?

I really loved all of the activities and all of the staff were so lovely and made me feel really welcomed. My favourite activities were the club night at the matrix, the hombolt forum visit, the trip to charlottenburg and the trip to the baltic sea. I really enjoyed the freedom I experienced at the camp and the respect and understanding given by leaders, especially Gülçen. I also loved the atmosphere of the camp, everyone was super friendly and I’ve made so many good friends as a result of staying at GLS.

However there were also drawbacks to the camp - namely in the classroom. For the duration of my stay I had Konrad in the first lesson. At the beginning of the three weeks I felt that I was learning from his classes and could easy ask for help and receive it. However, by the end of the three weeks I felt very frustrated. He began to repeat lessons that we had done before - and I don’t mean the same topic area, the exact same lesson to the point that we were writing down same table as the weeks before. I also felt that I could no longer ask for help whenever I was confused as he brushed off my requests for an extra explanation.

On a better note, for the first week and a half I had Sara for my second class. She was amazing and really helpful in my German learning, providing links to extra resources and teaching that I could access outside of class time. Much to my dismay Sara was replaced after one and a half weeks with my second teacher, Katherina. Her lessons did not feel like B1 lessons, instead I felt as if I was sitting an A1 class as we had to do extremely simple exercises and played games for most of the class. I felt I was not learning anything which was extremely annoying. Overall I felt that the lessons lacked structure and what you got out of the lesson really depended on the teacher. Despite these drawbacks, I’ve really enjoyed my three weeks at GLS in Berlin - thank you very much.

Your recommendations for other students

Get involved in the activities - often they are the best way to see Berlin, to meet other people from the camp and can sometimes surprise you and be better than you expected. In addition to getting involved in activities, make sure to actively participate in class, doing so ensures you are getting the best out of it and learning as much as you can. Also have fun lol.