German Language and Culture Institute

These statements were taken from actual class evaluation forms. From time to time they are exchanged for new ones to keep the testimonials up-to-date.

Clearly, I found the strength of this course to be in the instructor herself, who exemplified all the positive attributes listed above. I know I would have dropped out if it had not been for Frau Carlson's caring, outgoing, and kind demeanor. She made this class for me. I would consider taking more classes from her - but perhaps I should re-visit German 1 before moving on. Thank you, Antje - you are wunderbar!!

I enjoy the pace of the class. I also enjoy the teaching methods that stimulate conversation among students. At first I was concerned that there did not seem to be enought mechanics, but have found that it is interwoven smoothly into the class learning.

I have nothing but good things to say about the course and the instructor. I have taken enough other courses to recognize the high degree of preparation that the instructor puts in to each class. I find the adult learning model works very well for me at this point in my life. The classroom atmosphere is also very relaxed and accepting.

The instructor's enthusiasm is infectious! The lessons are taken in segments - not rushed.

I enjoyed the class because it was not only a learning experieence, but also an enjoyable one; the teacher and students were all so nice to be with. There was no pressure (no tests). Everyone is so nice and so helpful.

Learning a new lanquage was not as difficult as I expected was very fun looking forward to moving on. 

I need to spend more time on the lessons outside of class. I need to spend more time on drill type instruction to cement in things that are covered in class. I could use more instruction on grammer and sentence structure. Teaching vocabulary is it is done is excellant because it puts news into context which helps them get into the intermediate memory better. But I need to "woodshed" more outside of class.

I appreciate the friendly, non-judgmental atmosphere of the class; low pressure on the ego plus reasonable pressure on the intellect equal comfortable learning and progress.

I liked the fact that everyone was encouraged, and encouraging. I also appreciated the variety of materials this semester -- especially the mysteries. I also enjoyed sharing postcards with the German "english" learners.

I liked the faithfulness of the instructor and of the students to being at class and prepared. I liked hearing us students addressed as"Herr" und "Frau" instead of by our first names. I enjoyed having your husband join us students. I especially liked the Krimis and the Valentine poetry, and the practice in describing our week, parts of the house, workplace, etc. Exchanging postcards to the class in Germany was great fun! It was good having classmates with different levels of knowledge, and also good to work in pairs or small groups cooperatively.

The detective stories were enjoyable, but very challenging. It was pretty easy to get the gist of the story, but there seemed to be lots of idomatic expressions that added a bit of difficulty. I think that provided a good review of lots of different things we had learned, but it was a humbling experience to try to keep it all together. Overall, they were hard, but I think they added a lot to the class. I enjoy the reading very much. Great instructional technique. Thanks, Antje.

The games that we played  helped us practice our vocabulary. The fact that I could ask questions that I had and have them answered, without being made to feel I was being a pest. All in all I really enjoyed the course and am looking forward to the next. 

Es freut mich, dass wir mehr und mehr auf Deutsch gesprochen haben. Ich weiß, dass ich viele Übung brauche. Ich freut mich, als Sie nach unserer Woche fragen . Ich mag es auch, als wir Spiele spielen. Ich muss auf Englisch umschalten, mein Gehirn ist fix und foxi. I can see that you put a lot of time and work into teaching our classes and ich möchte Vielen Dank sagen. I liked that you were speaking more and more German to us. Just as in speaking I need much practice in understanding the spoken language.