At Goethe-Language Centres, we want to make your journey into learning the German language as smooth as possible. Below we’ve tried to prepare some answers for questions you may have along the way:
Under the heading “Courses” you will find our complete range of courses with current dates and prices.
The Goethe-Jinchuang Language Center Shanghai offers the following standard course formats:
German super intensive weekdays A1 – C1.2
(approx. 8 weeks for a full or half CEFR level).
Offline: Monday to Friday afternoons
Online: Monday to Friday mornings
German Intensive Concise Weekend + Evening A1 – C1.2
(approx. 8 weeks for a full or half CEFR level)
Online: Tuesday + Wednesday + Thursday evenings
+ Online: Saturday and Sunday mornings or
+ Offline: Saturday and Sunday afternoons
German Intensive Weekend A1.1 – C1.2.2
(8 weeks for half or quarter CEFR level)
Offline: Saturday and Sunday afternoons
Online: Saturday and Sunday mornings
German Intensive Saturday + Evening A1.1 – A2.2
(8 weeks for half a CEFR level)
Online: Tuesday + Thursday evenings
+ Online: Saturday mornings or
+ Offline: Saturday mornings
German Intensive Evening B1.1.1 – C2.2.2
(8 weeks for a quarter CEFR level)
Online: Tuesday + Wednesday + Thursday evenings
Our standard program is offered five times a year. The individual course terms usually begin in February, April, July, October and December. A detailed course schedule with exact times is published on our website in the late months of the previous year.
5 course terms + winter and summer courses (Please note: times are approximate and may vary slightly from year to year. Exact times can be found in the current course schedule):
Important: Please note that the five annual course terms at Goethe-Jinchuang do not merge directly without a time gap, but are separated from one another by one or two-week examination periods. These time buffers must be taken into account, especially when attending several consecutive courses.
Every year, in addition to the regular course schedule with a total of five two-month course terms, Goethe-Jinchuang offers special winter and summer courses tailored to the specific time constraints of students in China.
The Goethe-Jinchuang Language Center also offers company courses and classes for small groups or individuals. In terms of content, location and time, these programs can be tailored to meet specific needs. For appropriate individual consultation, please feel free to contact our language course office through the following channels:
(email: kurse.shanghai@goetheslz.com Tel.: 021-3222 0316
Office hours: Mon.-Fri.: 9:00-17:30
or WeChat channel: goethesh
Consultation hours: Mon.-Fri.: 9:30-11:30 13:30-16:30)
Registration usually begins about a month and a half ahead of every new course term. The specific registration dates are announced through our WeChat channel and on our website.
Learning is an individual process. How much time you personally need to reach a level depends on various factors, including individual ones: commitment, time available, and use of additional practice opportunities. If you have already learned one or more languages, you will usually learn German faster.
LEVEL A1
You will reach level A1 after just under 8 weeks if you attend a superintensive weekdays or intensive concise weekend+evening course.
Level A1 can also be divided in half and then subdivided into levels A1.1 and A1.2.
You will reach these half levels after 8 weeks each if you attend an intensive weekend or intensive Saturday+evening course. In total you need 16 weeks in these types of courses to reach A1.
LEVEL A2
You will reach level A2 after just under 8 weeks if you attend a superintensive weekdays or intensive concise weekend+evening course.
Level A2 can also be divided in half and then subdivided into levels A2.1 and A2.2.
You will reach these half levels after 8 weeks each if you attend an intensive weekend or intensive Saturday+evening course. In total you need 16 weeks in these types of courses to reach A2.
LEVEL B1
Level B1 is divided into B1.1 and B1.2.
You will reach these levels after just under 8 weeks each if you attend a superintensive weekdays or intensive concise weekend+evening course. In total, you need about 16 weeks to reach B1.
If you attend an intensive weekend or intensive evening course, you will reach these half levels after 16 weeks each. In total, you need 32 weeks to reach B1 with these types of courses.
LEVEL B2
Level B2 is divided into levels B2.1 and B2.2.
You will reach these levels after just under 8 weeks each if you attend a superintensive weekdays or intensive concise weekend+evening course. In total, you need about 16 weeks to reach B2 in these types of courses.
If you attend an intensive weekend or intensive evening course, you will reach these half levels after 16 weeks each. In total, you need 32 weeks to reach B2 with these types of courses.
LEVELS C1 AND C2
Level C1 is divided into levels C1.1 and C1.2.
The C2 level is divided into C2.1 and C2.2.
You will reach these half levels after just under 8 weeks each if you attend a superintensive weekdays or intensive concise weekend+evening course. In total, it takes just under 16 weeks to reach C1 or C2 with this type of course.
If you attend an intensive weekend or intensive evening course, you will reach these half levels after 16 weeks each. In total, it takes 32 weeks to reach C1 or C2 with these types of courses.
We currently offer our courses only for adults 18 years and older.
Goethe-Jinchuang has a total of three locations in Shanghai’s Jing’an district where our offline language courses take place:
Since 2020, Goethe-Jinchuang has also offered its entire course portfolio in online format via “Zoom” video conferencing technology.
No, we only offer courses, no accommodation and meals.
Goethe-Jinchuang uses an immersive concept. This means that our courses are (almost) exclusively taught in German. But don’t worry! Our teachers can rely on a lot of experience with this internationally established and proven concept. Our classes are prepared and conducted by teachers who are highly qualified for this didactic model, so that even as a beginner you can follow without any problems – we know you can do it!
There are differences. In the classic offline courses, you are on-site with us at the language learning center. The lessons take advantage of the benefits of an analog classroom and the physical group experience of learning German. But our online courses also offer a variety of learning formats, such as group work and discussion. An important prerequisite, however, is that you embrace the digital aspects of online instruction as well as accept the physical distance from the teacher and other learners, and – most importantly – turn on your camera.
If you would like to start learning German, please register via our website for a German course at level A1 or A1.1 for beginners. We offer these courses in different formats.
If you already have studied some German, please register online for a placement test first, so that you can find out which level is right for you.
Under certain conditions, you may also be able to register for a course above A1.1 without a placement test. To do this, we need some information and/or documents from your German learning biography (e.g. official language certificates or course attendance certificates (not older than 6 months).
After submitting the online registration form, you will receive an email from the language course office within two working days.
As soon as we are able to confirm that your course will take place, you will receive a notification for payment of the course fees.
If your desired course is already fully booked or has not yet been bindingly confirmed, you will be remporarily assigned to the corresponding waiting list.
Do not pay the fee until you have received an appropriate payment notice from the language course office by e-mail. With the email you will receive all the information you need to make the payment. The following payment options are available:
1. payment by bank transfer (please follow our formal bank transfer instructions so that we can reliably assign the transfer to you and then send us a scan of the transfer confirmation).
2. payment in cash or by credit card/WeChat/Alipay during our special checkout hours (see website) at our location 628 Julu Lu
The waiting list has two functions: in both cases it serves to enable as many interested people as possible to register for a course:
1. once a minimum number of interested candidates for a given course format is reached, our language course office will take further steps to assign instructors to that course format and further prepare that course for the next course term. Candidates on the waiting list will be asked to confirm their participation by paying the course fees at the appropriate time.
2. as soon as a course is fully booked, the waiting list will automatically be supplemented by further interested candidates. If someone withdraws from a course, the language course office will contact the candidates on the waiting list in chronological order of their registration. If you miss our call, we will contact the next person, so please make sure we can get in touch with you.
Only candidates qualified to attend the course (i.e. officially placement tested, if applicable) can be entered on the waiting list.
You need a Windows or Mac desktop or laptop computer. We recommend not using tablets, iPads, smartphones, or other mobile devices for online courses if possible.
You will need a camera and ideally a headset with headphones and microphone. If you use the built-in speakers and microphones on your laptop, you and other participants in your course may experience distracting echo effects.
Zoom
Please download the app. Registering an account with Zoom is not necessary. To participate in the courses, you will only need the session number (in some cases, identification by your mobile number will be required initially). Please note that participation in Zoom sessions with a smartphone is not recommended, as many technical and didactic functions are not usable at all or only in a limited way from small mobile devices.
Online courses and side activities
The functional basis of our language courses is the active participation and cooperation of all participants. Therefore, especially in the online format, lessons cannot be combined with activities such as homework or simultaneous other classes or meetings. Your course demands your full attention, which results in interaction with other course participants and practical application of the learning content. So, manage your time accordingly, so that you can “be 100% there” during class time.
A few working days before the start of the course, the course textbooks will be sent by express courier to the address you have given us for this purpose. All important materials will be available to you before the course begins. For those participants whose remittances are made on or after this date, there may be a delay in the shipment of the course books. We ask for your understanding.
As soon as the course books and workbooks (in courses at levels A1 to B1.1 also vocabulary books) are on their way, you will receive an e-mail from us with the corresponding tracking number, which you can use to follow the shipment.
After you receive your course textbooks, please check that the shipment is complete. If you have any questions, please contact the language course office as soon a spossible.
Depending on the level of your course, you will receive the following books:
A1: 2 books: studio 21 A1
(A1 integrated text and exercise book, A1 vocabulary booklet)
A2: 2 books: studio 21 A2
(A2 integrated text and exercise book, A2 vocabulary book)
B1.1: 2 books: studio 21 B1
(B1 integrated text and exercise book, B1 vocabulary book)
B1.2: 2 books: Aspekte neu B1+ (chapters 1-8)
(B1.2: 1 text book, 1 exercise book)
B2.1: 4 books: Aspekte neu B1+ (chapters 9-10) and Aspekte neu B2 (chapters 1-4)
(B2.1: 2 text books, 2 exercise books)
B2.2: 2 books: Aspekte neu B2 (chapters 5-10)
(B2.2: 1 text book, 1 exercise book)
C1.1: 2 books: Aspekte neu C1
(C1 1 text book, 1 exercise book)
C1.2: 2 books: Mittelpunkt C1
(C1.2 1 text book, 1 exercise book)
You will also receive the corresponding textbooks in the course formats in which half or quarter GERS levels are taught.
wo working days before the course starts, the language course office will send you the Zoom access data for your course by e-mail.
On the learning platform “MeinGoethe.de” we have set up a virtual support room for each course, where your lessons are documented for you in a class register. You will receive instructions for registering on “MeinGoethe.de” together with the Zoom access data for your course.
The registration code for your online course room will reach you by e-mail along with the Zoom access data and instructions for logging in to “MeinGoethe.de”.
We do not require any documents from you on the first day of the course. However, please note the current conditions of our Covid control and prevention measures.
1. please make sure to arrive well ahead of time to allow for entry procedures
2. keep a safe distance of 1m if there is a queue
3. please observe our current hygiene regulations and mask protocols.
You will receive the course and work books for your course directly at your course location before the course begins.
After you receive your text and exercise books, please check to make sure the delivery is complete. If you have any questions, please contact the language course office as soon as possible.
Depending on the level of your course, you will receive the following books:
A1: 2 books: studio 21 A1
(A1 integrated text and exercise book, A1 vocabulary booklet)
A2: 2 books: studio 21 A2
(A2 integrated text and exercise book, A2 vocabulary book)
B1.1: 2 books: studio 21 B1
(B1 integrated text and exercise book, B1 vocabulary book)
B1.2: 2 books: Aspekte neu B1+ (chapters 1-8)
(B1.2: 1 text book, 1 exercise book)
B2.1: 4 books: Aspekte neu B1+ (chapters 9-10) and Aspekte neu B2 (chapters 1-4)
(B2.1: 2 text books, 2 exercise books)
B2.2: 2 books: Aspekte neu B2 (chapters 5-10)
(B2.2: 1 text book, 1 exercise book)
C1.1: 2 books: Aspekte neu C1
(C1 1 text book, 1 exercise book)
C1.2: 2 books: Mittelpunkt C1
(C1.2 1 text book, 1 exercise book)
You will also receive the corresponding textbooks in the course formats in which half or quarter GERS levels are taught.
Please inform the language course office by e-mail at kurse.shanghai@goetheslz.com.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to make up missed class time or its content in another class or directly with your own teacher. You must make up the missed classes on your own. In your own interest, make sure that you do not miss any or as few classes as possible in your course. Regular attendance in the course is essential for successful learning.
If possible, always inform your teacher early about an upcoming absence. You can find information about the topics and contents of the missed lessons in the class register of your course on “MeinGoethe.de”. There you will also find the contact details of your teacher for any further questions you may have.
Your teachers will give you regular feedback on your performance level. The following factors are taken into account when assessing performance in class: compulsory tasks, scope and qualitz of your contributions in class and a final test.
More detailed information about performance assessment in your course can be found in your Learning Companion booklet. Your teacher will also be happy to answer any questions you may have.
We ask for your understanding that we can only advance you to the next course level if you have actually and demonstrably reached the target language level of your course.
Please take a look at your test results as well as your teachers’ feedback from the previous course in order to reconstruct the contributing factors if you have not received a green light to move on to next course level. If there are legitimate objections to the assessment of your language level at the end of your course, please contact our language course office: kurse.shanghai@goetheslz.com.
If you have problems in class, please talk to the teacher first. If the problems cannot be resolved directly through the efforts of both parties, contact the Language Course Office, which may involve the Pedagogical Director at Goethe-Jinchuang to review your concerns, mediate, and find a solution.
Course changes can only be made on the condition that the desired target course still offers open spots and that the teachers of that course have no objections against additional course participants. A one-time course change is free of charge and must be requested in writing at the language course office. For further course changes, a fee of 100,- RMB per course change will be charged. Paid courses cannot be postponed or transferred to later course sections.
Generally, a course change between offline and online course formats is not possible after the course has started for organizational reasons.
The registration for an exam is completely independent of your participation in a course. Exam slots cannot be automatically reserved for course participants. However, course participants at Goethe-Jinchuang are given the opportunity to register for an exam at the Shanghai Examination Center a little earlier than the general public and at a reduced rate.
Whether or not you pass the exam depends solely on your performance in the exam and is independent of your participation in the courses at Goethe-Jinchuang.
There are mandatory listening, writing, speaking and pronunciation tasks at regular intervals, the transparent evaluation of which will be included in your final course grade. There is also a final test at the end of the course. All performances are added up for the final grade.
If you attended at least 70% of the course, you will receive a graded certificate of attendance.
You will receive your certificate of attendance on the last day of the course from your instructor if you attended an offline course, or by email/courier if you attended an online course.
All teachers at Goethe-Jinchuang have a university degree and completed an internal German as a foreign language teaching qualification program, including an evaluated teaching sample, before they are assigned to the classroom. Even after a successful start with us, we attach great importance to the professional support and further development of the entire teaching staff. In order to permanently keep the quality of our teaching at a high level and in line with the current state of the academic field of “German as a Foreign Language”, all teachers are continuously trained internally and through programs of the Goethe-Institut.
At least once a year, each teacher is observed by our Pedagogical Director and receives individual feedback for their professional advancement process.
We also support our teachers with scholarships for in-house trainings at Goethe-Instituts in the East Asia region and Germany, as well as participation in the Green Diploma. The Green Diploma is a standardized qualification for teachers at Goethe-Instituts abroad. It is recognized by all Goethe-Instituts worldwide as proof of teaching qualification in teaching German as a foreign language (DaF).
Our faculty is a mixed faculty of native and foreign speakers, which is a great advantage for both the teachers and the course participants. All teachers must have at least a C1 level of German in order to work at Goethe-Jinchuang.
You cannot choose your teacher. One reason for this is that we want you to meet different speakers of German in your learning process. We therefore try to avoid that you are taught by the same teacher in two courses in a row.
You will find out which teacher will teach your booked course at the beginning of the course.
Categories:
Learning content
The role of your teacher in the classroom is that of a supportive coach who trains and helps you advance in his or her subject area of “German as a foreign language”. This requires input from the teacher, which is provided in the form of activating learning settings and appropriate training tasks. Your teacher therefore plans a sequence of tasks and activities that focus on your output. You are expected to actively use what you have just learned, to listen, speak, write and read as much as possible so that it is memorized – instead of giving you maximum input, we allow you maximum output
If you do not understand every detail in a listening or reading text, this is usually not a problem at all, or even intentional, because there are different listening and reading styles that are trained in class. In addition to the detailed style, the goal of which is to understand details, selective and global comprehension are practiced above all. Your teacher will inform you before each listening and reading task which style is to be used in each case. This way you know where to focus your concentration.
The “studio 21” textbook is deliberately designed in such a way that not every word and grammar that occurs has to be understood immediately in order to achieve the respective learning objectives. Content that is not relevant to these learning goals is often not explained further, and often the texts are even quite intentionally above the level of the learners, in order to bring them closer to everyday life in German-speaking countries, where they rarely encounter texts exactly at their language level, but rather texts for native speakers. But don’t worry: the ratio of new and not further explained structures to already known structures is always balanced in the studio 21 textbooks in such a way that learners are able to filter out the decisive information from a text, and it is exactly this ability that the textbook wants to train with you. Part of the intended learning process is thus also to be able to fade out irrelevant information at least partially and to develop a certain tolerance for what is not immediately understood. By the way: the Goethe certificate exams are also not designed so that every detail in a task text must be understood in order to arrive at a correct solution.
In the past, the grammar-translation method was often used in foreign language teaching, where every sentence, grammar and word was translated accurately. From a neurodidactic point of view, this method is now outdated, because it does not lead to practical mastery of the language and effective communication. Since the latter are the goal of language learning, we employ other, more effective methods that help you at your specific level (see below). Your teacher will give you everything you need to master each level.
Your teacher will give you ample space in class to ask your individual questions. Don’t be afraid to ask your questions in class. This also helps the other course participants and promotes the learning process for everyone involved.
It’s great if you want to go deeper into a particular learning content and develop questions about it.
However, we deliberately leave blanks at certain points because lessons and textbooks work with sensibly portioned content and learning objectives that build on each other. The Common European Framework of Reference gives us these objectives at your level. Therefore, your teacher may put certain questions on hold for the time being and provide the corresponding answers at a later time if it makes sense from a CEFR perspective for your level.
Classes and exams are different stages in your learning process and are clearly separated at Goethe-Jinchuang. The goal of your course is to enable you in the language skills of READING, LISTENING, WRITING and SPEAKING and to achieve the standards of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages for the target level of your course. The same standards will also be tested on the exam for your level, so your course implicitly prepares you for the exam. If you would like to prepare specifically for the format of an exam as well as strategies for mastering specific exam tasks, you can attend one of our one to two-day exam format trainings, which we offer before each exam phase for levels A1 to B2.
Methods
You learn best when you actively engage with the learning content. At Goethe-Jinchuang, we follow this principle and promote an active, problem-based approach to teaching and learning. Content that you have actively engaged with finds its way into your memory more easily. Learning a foreign language like this is much more effective and sustainable than if your own activity is limited to listening – as is the case, for example, with a pure lecture by your teacher.
Classes at the Goethe-Jinchuang are always held in German, even in beginners’ courses. This further enhances the learning effect for you, because the holistic immersion in the target language created in this way multiplies your encounters with German, and you train your receptive skills in a very effective way. We are aware that this can be a challenge. Therefore, our lessons are planned and conducted in such a way that you, as a learner, are picked up exactly at your respective language level and are not overburdened.
Our motto when it comes to grammar is: “understanding comes with application”. That’s why you usually use new grammatical structures intensively before you deal with their implicit structures – “practice often comes before theory”. This is a much more effective way of ensuring that you internalize new linguistic phenomena and can actively use them yourself. Afterwards, the largest space is taken up by practicing and trying out the new grammar. But don’t worry: if you like to learn with more abstract grammar diagrams, you will of course get those from us as well.
In our classes, variety is very important because it motivates and thus increases learning success. Your teacher will therefore strive to make the lessons diverse and varied, also with a view to collaboration among the learners – in your course we encourage collaborative learning with and from each other. This means that you will often be given tasks to solve together with a partner or in small groups – the amount and quality of your own activity in class will contribute significantly to your learning success.
Material
The main material foundation for your class is the textbook, which you will receive from our language course office before the course begins and which will accompany you throughout the course. Your teacher can also use additional learning material such as worksheets. The scope and quantity of these additional materials are at the discretion of your teacher, who will supplement the textbook when it’s didactically useful, but the amount of additional material is not fixed and can vary from class to class. Our experience in this context: less is often more. The priority is to meet the learning objectives, which are often better and easier achievable when additional material is used more economically.
It is very advisable to take notes yourself and write a journal of your learning process “on your own” instead of relying on ready-made material. This is because active note-taking in class promotes the memorization of new content and concepts and is thus an integral part of the learning process.
In principle, yes, but everything in its own time. Listening comprehension can be expanded more specifically and effectively if it is actually practiced as listening comprehension (and not as reading), i.e. initially separate from and without the support of transcripts. In many listening tasks, it is also important to use a listening style that is intended to practice only selective or superficial understanding of a listening text. In a case like that, reading the transcript while listening is counterproductive. But don’t worry, most listening texts are played back several times in class, and transcripts can be used to support passages that are very difficult to understand and where comprehension is important for the rest of the class.
Of course. However, since this is material that we use more frequently, please understand that the final test may only be viewed in the SLZ and may not be taken home or be copied. Your teacher will also discuss typical errors that he or she has noticed during the evaluation of the participants’ performance in class.
