Munich
Monday, 26th May 2008
I chose Cactus because of the price, the accommodation options, the course options and diversity of options for this course and possibly future courses. Also it seemed to cater to the student as well as the professional and as a young professional I also wanted to have interesting people near my own age in my class.
The school was very open and friendly. It was extremely convenient to have the dormitory style accommodation attached to the school. It also was great to have only five other people in the class so that there was a lot of individual attention as well as enough people in the class to make discussions interesting. I had 3 teachers. 2 teachers during the morning classes that split the week and a different one for my individual tutoring class. I must say that I really enjoyed all the different teachers and their styles and really valued having all of them as it kept the classes fresh and different. In the individual sessions, my teacher was open to what I wanted to learn and really helped me fill in the blanks of instruction. He reinforced what I was learning in the morning classes and really focused on conversation- this was the best part. I`m glad that I took the class for a short time only to begin with. I have learned so much and am glad that I now have a break to process what I`ve learned and so that I can memorize more vocab and practice...I hope to take more classes in the future once I`m confident and proficient in what I`ve already learned…
Munich was awesome-large enough to keep it interesting and have some action, but small enough to manage easily and get around confidently. The location of the accommodation in Munich was really great. A tram stop was located an easy 5 min walk away and an U-bahn stop about a 10-15 min walk away. On the tram it was only 5 min to the central station and on the U-bahn it was only 2 stops to the central train station...very convenient. Also, located close by to the dorm, there were 2 grocery stores, a pizza place and a bakery...loved it.
The room was clean and comfortable if a little institutional. It had a locked cabinet for valuables in the room, a closet, a desk with work lamp, 2 chairs, shelves, a refrigerator, a mirror and sink. The shower and toilet were communal but divided between men and women. They provided me with a bath towel, a dish towel, a 4 quart pot, a bowl, a plate, fork, knife and spoon. The kitchen was well maintained and great to have. The best thing about the dorm was that there was free wireless internet in the rooms (some might have bad reception--but its always accessible in the lounges on each floor.
I enjoyed learning German and speaking it with the international student body that attended and stayed at the school. There was always soothing going on and it was great to explore Munich.
Staff at Cactus always responded in a timely manner and answered all my questions. They were really helpful, so much that I can`t believe I`ve only ever communicated with them through email.
(Alexandra Kemper - May 2008)
Tags: munich, location, germany, learning, german
Posted by Augusta 2008-05 under Success Stories,
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