Video Competition: Winners talk about their Language Travel!

Annemarie loves languages: Although I also like mathematics in school, I am fascinated by languages but for different reasons. Speaking other languages not only helps you to get to know other cultures, countries and traditions, but even helps you to get to know yourself. That was my point of departure, so I decided in October 2014 to make a language trip to Barcelona. There, I came upon Sprachcaffe and after my trip with them and it became suddenly clear: I somehow had to convince my parents to let me travel with Sprachcaffe once again. The trip to Barcelona was my first travel on my own, but everything worked well and I didn’t feel lost. On the contrary: I met so many interesting people!

Annemarie decided to travel back with Sprachcaffe and discover our school in Málaga. She had a warm welcome from her host mother: She greeted me with kisses on the cheeks (left and right!) and offered me plenty of drinks and delicious food and so it went on the whole week, I really felt comfortable. Her apartment was 2-minute away for the school and not far from the beach!

"The lessons in Málaga were totally different from the Spanish lessons in my school."

After the compulsory placement test, Annemarie was placed in the B2.2 group and really enjoyed her classes: A week full of funny moments began, we learned Spanish but also danced and sang during class! Maria, my teacher was really great. When I told her about the Sprachcaffe video contest, she even helped me with it! The lessons in Málaga were totally different from the Spanish lessons in my school. Although I have a very young teacher in Germany who designs the lessons really well, learning abroad has some benefits: switch to your own language is not possible and this way you learn the most. Even the atmosphere is much better, everyone came here to learn and is particularly motivated. What I also noticed is that everyone really appreciated the others’ progress, everyone is willing to help each other. As for homework, we met each other at one’s host family on the terrace and worked on it together. Discussing with my host mother also improved my speaking and understanding abilities.

"We always had so much fun and were able to improve our language skills together."

Annemarie is still in contact with many of her classmates; they even sent each other Christmas presents: I met so many people from different countries – Germany, Norway, Holland, Turkey, Poland, England and much more. We spend so much time together, drinking the daily cocktail in the bar „La Tortuga“, playing volleyball on the beach, at the salsa lesson, visiting the museums of Málaga, shopping in the city or going on a trip to Tarifa for surf – we always had so much fun and were able to improve our language skills together. The secretary and the other teachers of the school were so nice that I am just going to organise a holiday in Málaga with my friends of my school in Germany to see everyone again and to say thank you for this great summer!

Annemarie made a really nice video illustrating her trip and won a 2-week course with Sprachcaffe: I was waiting for the results while in the gym and when I found out I was one of the winners, I was incredibly happy and didn’t know what to do with all this joy. I told it directly to my trainer and other good friends. I also wrote to my parents and all the people I met in Málaga. I still had a grin on my face the next day.

What's next for Annemarie?

Annemarie will go to Sprachcaffe Malta in April 2016 to learn English this time. We hope to get some news from her very soon!

Viktoria is currently studying Russian language at the University of Tampere in Finland together with Czech language, Finnish and Pedagogic as minor subjects: I love to meet people from different countries and to speak and at the same time learn languages with them, travelling to other countries is always an extraordinary experience! I am in permanent contact with Erasmus students in my city and enjoy the international atmosphere by meeting different kinds of cultures. That is the reason why I decided to come to Frankfurt am Main as an au pair and improve my German skills.

"The best thing was that the common language outside of our classes was also German."

Viktoria decided to come to Frankfurt as an au pair and improved her German skills: this summer was really nice! I enjoyed my everyday life there and the best thing was that the common language outside of our classes was also German so I could practice the language even better. Sometimes, we were meeting with my classmates after the lessons and tried to speak German as much as possible without switching to English.

"these courses in Frankfurt [...] have also inspired me a lot concerning my future plans of becoming a teacher."

Viktoria said that with the three-week German course her skills improved much more than she expected: I have studied many languages but I noticed that the best way for me to learn them is talking to people while also living in the same country the language is spoken in. My second teacher, Paolo, was teaching that way. We were speaking a lot during classes and it was very helpful! Actually, my dream is to become a teacher for foreigners like him in multicultural firm like Sprachcaffe. So these courses in Frankfurt am Main with such a nice group atmosphere and great teachers have also inspired me a lot concerning my future plans of becoming a teacher.

After her course, Viktoria visited other cities in Germany such as Köln, Stuttgart, Passau and Berlin: I was also travelling to the Czech Republic and Poland that summer since they are closer to Germany than they are to Finland from where I always need to take a plane to visit Central European countries.

In her video, Viktoria wanted to show a part of her “Sprachcaffe life” with views of beautiful Frankfurt am Main and her classmates: I was really happy to hear that I was one of the winners and immediately started to see what would be the best opportunity for me.

What's next for Viktoria?

She is willing to go further into learning German: I do not want to start a new language anymore because I think that it would be better to improve a language that I already know instead of learning just the very basics of another language. So I am planning to continue my German language studies in summer but this time in Sprachcaffe Munich. Bavaria, here I come!

"Learning languages was always fun for me"

What's next for Oliver?

Entering the contest, Oliver knew that if he won, he would probably go back to Sprachcaffe Toronto, as he loved his stay with us. So we will see him very soon!

Margot is 16 years old and lives in Alsace, France. She loves travelling, going to the beach, spending time with her friends, and singing.

Margot went to Sprachcaffe Malta with her good friend Laura and she told us that the trip left a mark on both of them: We met amazing people who later became our friends. Even though we spoke different languages, learning English made it easier and we had no problem sharing interests and talking about our cultural differences.

"After my language trip, I feel that I have definitely improved!"

Margot and her friend attended one of our intensive courses: we were practicing English all the time, during class but also with everyone we met. I feel that we do not practice speaking as much in the regular class in high school. After my language trip, I feel that I have definitely improved!

The island was also an environment they really enjoyed: even though, we had class for half of the day, we really enjoyed the holiday atmosphere of the island. The sea, the sun, beautiful beaches, beach volley games and friends makes everything better for a perfect holiday!

Margot created her video with the help of her friend, she added pictures and videos of the best moments from her holidays: we must have watched this video at least thirty times, as it reminds us of our trip and all these wonderful memories.

What's next for Margot?

Both Margot and Laura want to go back for a language trip with us, but are still hesitating between going back to Sprachcaffe Malta and visiting one of our many destinations.