4-week Preparation for TestDaF

During those three weeks at Carl Duisberg Centrum I improved my German a lot. We had a very friendly and supporting teacher and the class consisted of students from different countries which was wonderful. The school premises were nice and situated in the city centre. We took part in many after school activities such as climbing, paddle boarding, swimming etc. and visited the surroundings. I lived in a residence room which was very simply furnished but OK. However, the kitchen did not have enough cutlery and the breakfast was not always provided. The room was not cleaned during my three weeks stay and the washing machine in the basement was not used for ages and covered in dust.

I liked the school building, from the outside it looked like Hogwarts from Harry Potter. I had a very great teacher (Angelika Hammelsbeck), who always asked us good questions to make us share our opinions and knew how to explain the tiny differences in certain german words. I felt always welcomed and heard in the class. I enjoyed the leisure time offer. The Gasthaus was ok.

Lehrer sehr nett
Aktivitaeten nicht sehr gut organisiert
Bettlaken in drei wochen kein einigez mal gewechselt, zimmer kein einziges mal geputzt worden.

I resided in Radolfzell and was taught the German course B1+ for three weeks. At first I was kind of terrified even by the sight of my own room. I stayed in the Carl Duisberg housing facility, where I had ordered one room. It was about 4x2m, most of which was taken up by the bed, which made a agonizing screech every time a person went near it and the fact that some children lived right outside my only window didn't help my experience.

Nevertheless, I had decided to go to Radolfzell to learn some German and I most certainly did that. The learning system and the tutors were exceptional, most of all I would like to thank Monika for making my experience as pleasant as it was. The days were difficult and the fact we had to get up around 7 o'clock to get to school on time did not help.

However the fact that I learned so much outweighed all the other factors. I believe that I learned more in the Carl Duisberg training centre than I did in the past two years of me learning German in school and That is the most important outcome.

I think that the location is extremely charming. When it comes to language learning, my teacher, Monika Schneider, was one of the best teachers I have ever met. It is difficult for me to speak about other teachers because I did not know them. The center on the Schiedelenweg where the participants are staying could probably be better, but the course would certainly be more expensive then, and besides, this center has its own atmosphere. It's just a pity that the course was so expensive.

Price is affordable, location next to the holiday lake side.
School location is super! Near the train station and everything you might need is just around.

The school building is beautiful. Next to the city garden so we could enjoy our breakfast there during break time or have a nice walk.
There are many teachers taking turns teaching.

I believe everyone would be able to find out what or who’s teaching suit themself best.

I also find the books we use are amazing.

Learning step by step, the same time slowly building your knowledge of the country, culture, and daily life.

The same time practicing mostly everything that would appear in the language test.

The school also plans for after class programs for students to participate.

Baking, sports, city trips, I can only say they’ve been great and I would like to come back.

And defiantly highly recommend this to anyone that is looking for a German learning school.

High quality teacher. Comfortable classrooms. Bisides lessons, many activities organized by the school. Good value for money.

I had in class interesting people from whole world. I made new friends in class. My teachers learnt me a lot of new things and they were friendly. They were a little boring. I fell in love with Radolfzell. It's a beautiful city. It's really save place with good atmosphere. We didn't have too much activities, but that was good, because I could spend more time with my friends. My family was fine. My mom cooked the best meal in the world.

I enjoyed the lessons the first week because the students were not too many because the teacher was motivating and funny.

But the second week the teacher was less funny and the students were more numerous.

Classroom activities were varied (reading comprehension, reading, listening comprehension).

The school was easily accessible from the train station which was convenient. The geographical environment was pleasant (Lake Constance).

The activities of the first week were very good (escape room) but those of the second week less original.

The family was welcoming. She introduced me to the region. She communicated with me.

Negative points,

- The family lived far from the school (1 hour trip time but I had to leave 1:30 before the start of classes to be on time).

- Only one student of my age in the first week or older students.

- The Italian students spoke too much Italian among themselves so I could not talk in German with them.

- I would have liked to do more grammar.

I was in the full week. But there were no activities during afternoon on Wednesday - Thursday et Friday. So sad.

While the German course I enrolled in (that being the German Intensive Course) was definitely filled with content, it also lacked a certain degree of educational pacing if such a term exists. To preface, I am a Swiss born English speaker who, due to my own stupidity and lack of interest, was never able to learn my native language of French. While growing up in Geneva, I certainly found it incredibly difficult to learn French due to the plethora of English speakers in this international city, so in order to give myself the best odds possible of learning as much German as possible in the shortest amount of time, I decided to enter the Carl Duisberg Centrum Radolfzell Internation Language School. Although the Immersion aspect of the course was above average, I do believe that the Intensive German course currently on offer suffers severely from a lack of well paced and planned lessons adjusted specifically to aid in the learning of the German Language.

Excellent school. Very good and helpful teachers. Excellent study method.

The classes were good, the teacher explained it very good and I understood almost everyrthing she said. The location of the school was great, but the location of the guesthouse not so. The bathroom was very, very dirty and smelled very bad.
The activities were great I liked doing them.

Amazing teachers, I studied here for two months and learnt more quickly than I thought was possible.

Perfect school for a German course. Qualified teachers, classes has 5 to 11 people maximum, rich curriculum and fast performance. Those who's taking intensive courses must study hard to keep up with the program, but the result is remarkable.
The school staff were very friendly and open, fast respond to every need of the students.
The books were included in the course fees, the school can be done collation and often cooked delicious meals for a few Euros.
The school is centrally located in the old town, a few steps from the library, railway, lake.
I stayed in the home students, 25 min walk, 8 min by bus from school, in a single room in a flat with 6 rooms, kitchen, two bathrooms. Very clean, housekeeping comes three times a week. It disposes of everything - plates, cutlery, glasses, pots etc.
Town and suitable school, in my opinion, to those who want to achieve a good level of German and is willing to study as much. The town does not offer huge opportunities for recreation or night life, but the region is very beautiful and suitable for those we love in walking or short trips to discover nature and the beautiful villages in the south of Germany.

As for the location I was fine with both the students and the teachers. The only negative thing and was something unexpected was with my daily medication, I wrote that with the medicine that I am taking, I could not eat certain foods, Unfortunately despite prior warnings there were some days where we have misunderstandings . Perhaps if there was a tutor who spoke Italian I would have explained better.

I was pleased with every aspect of studying at Carl Duisberg. I would recommend this to others and if I had the opportunity, I would willingly access their other courses.

I attended CDC Radolfzell. This is a language exchange center; I prefer not to call this a school, because between the staff, the teachers, and us students, we preferred to call them friends.

I got a lot of help with that agency. All the teachers had a wealth of teaching experience, and great respect for each student's point of view. Thankfully, while I felt the national boundaries, as a yellow man and a Chinese man, I did not feel lonely at this international language exchange center. Instead, we got a lot of attention, and met a lot of friends from all countries in all continents. We spoke different languages with different accents, but in this one little teaching building, we became family. CDC's principal, Ms. Heinze, revealed to me the German rigor and efficiency. Two assistants, Nadine and David, are my very good friends. The two always spared efforts to help every student, and often sacrificed their rest time and holidays. Thanks to the efforts and the work of two other students, I have company during the year. I had the full experience of living in Germany, and a regular gathering of friends, so those of us who had a different skin color had a deeper common language understanding of each other. Other staff also gave us full playing style, so I felt at home in Germany.

At CDC, we were together every night. Thank you for the experiences, and the sweat and effort you gave to your students. You made my life in Germany so colorful and memorable.
Thank you. Vielen Dank (many thanks)!

Sunny Fuhan Zhang Han Zhang Fu
2015/6/19

Hello my name is Kathy and I’m from Peru. I like the Carl Duisberg Training Center Radolfzell a lot because they treat us like adults. Everyone in this school is so dedicated to teach us German, that it has become so easy for us. Our education is very important for them, and I like that. Everyone is nice, most especially our tutors who are the nicest and social people I could have ever met. That’s why I recommend this school to everyone!

The intensive course for adults in the Carl Duisberg Centrum far surpassed my expectations. The school is very (absurdly) organized and extremely skilled, with caring teachers. It was a very rewarding experience with immediate results. If you are looking to learn or improve the German language, do not hesitate to seek units at Carl Duisberg.

Hallo ich bin Nure Suloja. Ich komme aus Mazedonien, FYROM. Ich bin seit 7 Monaten im CDC Radolfzell um Deutsch zu lernen, da ich in Deutschland als Arzt arbeiten möchte.
Als ich in Radolfzell angekommen bin, habe ich noch überhaupt kein Deutsch gesprochen. Im CDC lernt man sehr schnell Deutsch, weil die Lehrer und der Unterricht sehr gut und nett sind. Auch die Leiterin der Schule Frau Heintze und die Mitarbeiter in der Administration sind freundlich und hilfsbereit. Die Tutoren Nadine und David sind super und sehr freundlich und wir haben viele Ausflüge mit ihnen gemacht und viel über die deutsche Kultur gelernt. Zudem trifft man viele Leute aus der ganzen Welt und lernt auch viel über andere Kulturen. Radolfzell ist eine kleine, touristische Stadt am See, aber besonders im Sommer sehr schön.
Ich empfehle jedem einen Deutschkurs im Carl Duisberg Centrum Radolfzell.

I did not have a homestay, so I can not speak to that. The only thing I can say is that is is probably worth it to stay with a family rather than commute. Because of my commute I didn't participate in much outside of class itself. But the teachers were very friendly and patient. The teachers utilized a range a teaching styles which I appreciated. The town of Radolfzell is quite nice and picturesque. I enjoyed the location very much. The facility felt a little cramped and cold at times, but I can see how this feeling may vary depending on season and the number or students.

I really enjoyed my time at Radolfzell and would like to come back for another year.

At first, I was a little scared, but then, after I got used to the atmosphere and everything became clear to me, I felt very happy! My teacher, Miss Pfeiffer, was very kind and cheerful. Her lessons were always interesting, funny, and very cognitive. I miss her very much!
The only thing I didn't like is the location of the hostel. On the first day, our mentors showed us the walk between the center and hostel and told us what bus we can take to get from one point to other. But, they forgot to tell us the bus station, so I got lost. I found the way back to school and asked to draw me the way to hostel on the map and tell me the bus station, so I finally got home. I liked my room, but it's sad that I lived alone in the room for 2 person. I preferred to have a neighbor.
I like the food, but it's a bit sad that I couldn't visit any German restaurant with my cards, only Chinese, Italian and Turkish.
Afternoon and weekend activities were just amazing, specially Schloß Neuschwanstein which was just magnificent
All in all, everything was awesome and I'm looking forward to come back!