Ulises is a Product Manager in Travel Tech and had already learned some German with DIALOG through his company. He used his educational leave to brush up and expand his German skills.
At our language school in Vienna, he completed the German levels A1.2 to B2.1 in the DIALOG intensive courses from February to July 2023. In addition, he has also participated in the advanced conversation course (B2/C1) for the past two months.
Ulises is always curious about new information on many different topics, so he also enjoys learning new words and expressions from the German language, especially of course from Austrian German and the Viennese dialect.
Want to learn a new language too? Find out here how Ulises benefited from the German course offer at our language school. Let’s go!
Atmosphere & Teaching Methods
DIALOG: How did the personal support at DIALOG – DER SPRACHCAMPUS help you, and what impact did it have on your German learning success?
ULISES: Everyone has been incredibly kind and supportive. It really helps to start learning German with people who are not only there to help you, but do so with genuine kindness and willingness to help you achieve your goals.
DIALOG: How did the trainers support you in learning German? What specific aspects of the course did you particularly enjoy?
ULISES: During my 6 month German intensive course, I had two trainers: Michael and Jakob. Although they have different teaching styles, they were both incredibly helpful and provided extensive knowledge of the grammatical context of the question asked, or provided easy-to-understand examples and exercises to help you understand the topic.
The courses have a good mix of grammar, speaking, reading, listening, and vocabulary learning. I particularly liked the homework exercises where we had to write 5-10 sentences using the grammar that we had learnt. After all, reading a sentence using the passive tense is not the same as writing one.
Resources & Additional offer
DIALOG: Which teaching methods and technologies helped you improve your German language skills?
ULISES: After each lesson, I would spend some time summarizing the topics that we covered during the class (especially grammar) and create a document where I could go back and study the topics I struggled with the most.
For vocabulary and listening (as well as reading) there are several apps that I used (Netzverb Wörterbuch, Deutsch Hören und Lesen) but by far the one that I used the most was a smart Flash-card app called Anki. Using Anki every day to learn new words was very helpful during my studies.
DIALOG:Did the German classes and supplementary programs offered (such as workshops or “Feierabendbier”) help you feel more comfortable in the new city and apply your language skills in real-life situations?
ULISES: Jaa! I highly recommend everyone to attend the Feirabendbier hosted every 2 months. It’s so much fun to hang out with your colleagues outside the classroom, get to know more about your teachers, and all while drinking a “Krügerl”!
Learning German & Vienna
DIALOG: What are your favorite words or phrases in German? And which ones do you find rather funny?
ULISES: Whenever I meet an Austrian (especially from the countryside), I always ask them to teach me a phrase from their region, and while I cannot share my favourite here, the following one always makes me laugh: “Das kannst du dir am Bauch schmieren”. Usually said when someone tells you something unnecessary or useless.
This may be a strange one, but I find the conjugation for the 2nd person plural in the präteritum for verbs ending in “-ten” so funny. For example: “ihr arbeitetet”. The last two syllables are just a mixture of the letters t and e and somehow it always makes me giggle when I hear someone say it.
DIALOG: What’s the best thing to do in Vienna when you need a break from learning German?
ULISES: Vienna is a beautiful city and there’s no shortage of activities and events to take part in when you need a break from German. Personally, I like to go for walks at the local dog park near my apartment, and if I feel brave, I even ask the owners if I can pet their dogs. If there’s one undeniable benefit of learning German, it’s definitely this.
Learning success & Conclusion
DIALOG: Do you feel that the course gave you the necessary tools to communicate successfully in a German-speaking environment?
ULISES: Oh, absolutely. Somewhere around month 3 of the intensive morning German course, I did the Via Sacra hike where I walked from Vienna to Mariazell. For this hike, you obviously have to stop along the way to rest, eat and drink, which I had to do in German. On the last 3 days of the walk, I met an Austrian hiker who was also doing the same route as me and we basically talked in German for the last part of the walk. At the end of the walk I felt so proud of myself for being able to do the whole walk using the German I had learnt at school.
Zu kompliziert? Wir können helfen!
Melde dich jetzt für einen Deutschkurs in Wien an und lerne effektiv Deutsch in Kleingruppen und mit hochqualifizierten Lehrkräften.
If you want to get to know DIALOG as a language school and experience Ulises’ experience for yourself, click here to get started. We wish you as much success learning German as Ulises had.
Get a glimpse of our supplementary material here: Präteritum (exercise with solutions here).
October 2023
