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English courses (elementary and intermediate) starting from October 2019 at Berlino Schule

Join Berlino Schule English courses to start speaking the most common language in the world!

English is getting more and more important nowadays: it is the most common foreign language, used not only in the daily life, but also for more specific purposes. It is the dominant language in the sciences, for instance (research is conducted in English), and the primary language of media and press. To sum up, you could basically get in touch with different people and cultures by speaking only English.

Never studied English before? Join our Elementary English course!

Berlino Schule Elementary English course starts on 18th October 2019. Classes take place every Friday, from 19:00 to 20:30, for 12 weeks.

Price: 140 €

What you will learn:

– The basic structure of the English grammar
– How to talk about your daily life
– How to give personal information
– How to describe the things you have done

Can you speak English at a B1 level? Then, join our English Intermediate course!

You have been studying English for quite a lot of time, you have acquired the most important structures, till reaching an intermediate level (B1/B2) and you would rather carry on learning it. Berlino Schule English intermediate course starts on 18th October 2019. Classes take place every Friday, from 19:00 to 20:30, for 12 weeks.

Price: 140 €

Aims:

Providing participants with an insight on conversation and grammar. Students will learn to interact in different situations, exchanging information on common and more complex topics.

Our teachers

Native English teachers with long experience in the teaching field

Certificate of attendance issued on demand.

For further info and registration, please contact us at info@berlinoschule.com

Berlino Schule

Gryphiusstrasse 23, 10245 Berlin

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Read the Italian version! 

I have learned German. Now, my English is a disaster!

Learning a language might sometimes become a long, challenging and very arduous journey

English is the third most-spoken native language in the world as well as the co-official language of the United Nations and the European Union. Since its birth, in the 12th century, the English language has evolved by meshing with different cultures such as Romans, Vikings and French through wars, invasions and conquers. English is much more than just a language. It is a melting pot of cultures.
English is a West Germanic Language, along with Dutch, Frisian and German. Despite those languages diverged in the course of time, some of them still preserve numerous similarities, like English and German. However, as every language learner should know, similarities between languages might be a double-edged sword when it comes to learning them. 
In fact, if language similarities may be helpful to understand words, on the other side they can lead non-native speakers to confusion. In particular, during the switching phase. 

Let’s now see in detail some of the most common cases of Denglish 

Ending questions with “or”

To ask for confirmation, English people usually add to the question “isn’t it?” Germans add the word “oder”, which means «or». 
It can be misleading, or?

Verbs at the end of the sentence

In German, the conjugated verb comes always at the end of the sentence when it comes to a subordinate sentence. Therefore, always remember to put the verb after wenn (when), weil (before), just to make some examples. 

Pronouncing numbers

Counting in German is no easy work. From 21 to 99 numbers form, German people count by switching digits and tens’ order. Hence, you might pronounce 25 “ Fünf und zwanzig”, “five twenty”.

Everything is super

Germans love to exclaim «super!» every time they find something interesting and nice. Perhaps for its frequent use and its similar meaning to the English “super”, non-native learners might use it interchangeably. In this case, at least remember to pronounce it correctly! Another word you might hear is «prima».

The Overuse of Na

German’s Na is of a very tricky one. This word has no real meaning and Germans use it to make exclamations stronger. Therefore, you might often hear sentences such as: Na gut, or Na also, Na und? almost everywhere.

Too many ALSO

German speakers use this term as an interjection, whether they are starting a sentence or just taking some time to reflect. We can consider the German “also” the equivalent of the English “so”. However, be careful with these two words. If Germans might understand you, English native speakers might feel a bit confused. Why would you start a sentence with “too”?

Und or and? Aber or but?

When it comes to pairing white socks, it is very easy to mix everything up. As well, confusing coordinated conjunctions between English and German can be easy. Especially after an intense German session, replacing a “but” with an “aber” might happen quickly and you will end up with sentences like: I am very happy for you UND your sister ABER you should be careful.

Similar verbs

Like the English language, German presents numerous irregular verbs, as well. These verbs change their stem vowel in both past tense (Präteritum) and perfect tense (Perfekt). Let’s compare the verb “begin” and the verb “beginnen” for instance. As the verb “begin” would conjugate begin-began-begun, as well the verb “beginnen” would be: beginnt- began- hat begonnen. Language switching can be tricky.

And you, do you know any Denglish?

Denglish, which stands for Deutsch and English, is the term used by linguists to describe incorrect English spoken by German speakers as well as the use of English sentences by German speakers.  “Das macht Sinn” for instance, is a calque from the English “this makes sense» as well as “whatsappieren” and “to whatsapp”.

Photo: NDE CC0 creative commons

Germans and English? They are very good, but not all of Germany is Hamburg or Berlin

For many foreigners coming to Germany without any knowledge of the language, it is quite reassuring to know that worst comes to worst they can rely on English. It won’t take long to realize that a lot of Germans speak it very well considering that it is their second language (better than Italians, to pick an example). Concurring to a study released by Education First (EF), Germans belong to the global Top 10 ranking for the best non-native english speakers, establishing themselves at the 9th place out of 72 countries taken into considerations. According to the research the average knowledge of English in Germany reaches the B1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference.

The most diligent Lands

Education First praised the efforts of Germany to better the standards of the last decades, with positive and encouraging results due in particular to the introduction of mandatory English classes in schools. Even Germany could however better its standards and reach a B2 level, just like Holland, which is ranked first. Moreover from the study it has emerged that the level of knowledge of English varies considerably according to regions and gender. The standard levels of knowledge of English are better in the north-western regions, led by Hamburg and soon after followed by Bremen and lower Saxony. Amongst the most english – friendly cities we also find Berlin, whereas the regions that have registered the worst levels of knowledge of the language are those confining with France, which prioritize French as a second mandatory language. The Saarland is in fact the Land that had the worst result.

© EF

Women know better: Regarding gender differences, women have demonstrated to be more fluent in English.

Cover photo © Flickr – Sascha Kohlmann CC BY SA 2.0 Man, Linkin Park, Teddy


Are you starting to learn German or wish to perfect your knowledge of the language? Then take a look at the courses that Berlin Schule organizes by clicking here!