Native speakers of German language reached approximately one hundred million. Non-native speakers also reached around eighty million around the globe. My first glimpse of Berlin, Germany enthralled me. Yet, I thought that seeing Berlin is enough and I got what Germany has to offer. But seeing it is not just enough. I never thought that it would interest me to really learn the language.

Learning the German language is not that easy. I am starting from nothing in learning German language. I tried to surf on the net to get my first encounter with the language. I tried to decipher what the computer is trying to instruct me. Even though, it is a very useful knowledge still lack of knowledge of German language grammar really confuses me. The lack of vocabulary and phonetic skills of the language hinders me from really understanding the instruction about the language. Learning German language could help me communicate better with my tutee and could help me give specific instructions to them on what to do. It is indeed a big advantage to work on my German language so that I could explain better the concepts of what I am teaching.

So, when my family arrived in Austria for vacation for a couple of months I got the opportunity to learn the German language. Does the name Mozart ring a bell? The most influential person in Classical music was born here in Salzburg. Since, majority of Austria’s residence speaks German. So, I look up a school that gives short German language lessons for a couple of months. I enrolled my self at the Language School Inlingua Salzburg located in Salzburg, Austria. The teachers here hold a license that is authorized by the Ministry of Education. The school is so accessible for it is only a 20 minute ride from the airport. The students here range from the Asian nationalities from Korean to Chinese students. Most of my classmates are Italian students. English people are only four percent of the total class. I kind get nervous on my first day of school thinking that I won’t have anybody to talk to.

I enrolled myself In a Standard Crash course of German language. I‘ve got to watch five lessons at the video/audio lab, with fifteen lessons together with the teacher. And after a week of silence everybody seems to get rid of shyness and decided to try our scarce German language outside the school premises. We organised various social events - things that we love to do anyway at home but with a twist - we had to speak German. We took usual ideas but lightened them a little (given our limited language skills) - so instead of a book club (we were no way to the level of reading German novels), we made a “Magazine Club”, each of us selecting a magazine and choosing an article a day to tell the class about. It really inspired us, seeing what German people of our age were reading, and we were able to take the mags home as a reminder to keep up the German practice! Another educactional hit was the games nights we organised, playing casino games in a class mate’s lounge! This was so much fun, there was lots of adrenaline flying around (especially from those who had taken it so seriously and practised the night before by playing poker online!), the night passed so quickly but we learnt so much (and some of us were lucky enough to win a litte money for German souvenirs too!)! I really do recommend activities such as this to language learners, it wakens up your energy and puts you in a frame of mind to learn, a great state to be in for taking complete advantage of a language course!

It was only after these fun and games we hit the big wide world and we toured Salzburg, Austria.

We love to mountain bike or hike on Mount Untersberg or look for a disco bar to dance our time away as we finishes our classes. Planned activities in the week ends like windsurfing, sailing and diving are the favorite of some of our classmates. If you want restaurants that you can get a good value of your money dine at Mirabel castle.

Strolling in the city will help you practice your knowledge on German language. It will really force you t communicate using the language since you have to tell the vendors what you want and ask directions. Your almost two months stay in Salzburg is indeed compensated. It is expensive yet you got a good value of your money. Learning German language and basking in the beauty of Mozart City is worth the expenses you got.