I returned 5 months later for a 3 month session because my last visit to Bellingua was full of hard…read morework, great people, and excellent teaching. This time, I was put in a class with a bad teacher. I wont go into detail about her because I feel mean bashing someone so openly. The worst part though, was that she was a good teacher when she wanted to be... which was when we had management sit in to analyze her teaching ability. Why didn't the students suffer? Because Bellingua's materials are golden. The books are easy to understand and pair well with the exams. The students want to learn because they're paying a buttload for the classes, and if they fail more than 3 exams they are kicked out of the school. So really, a teacher is there to help but ultimately the students can teach themselves with the course work. Teachers like Ladina (my teacher the first 4 months I was at Bellingua) make the 3 hours of class enjoyable, different, stimulating, and enable the students to learn a bit more efficiently. Why didn't I switch teachers? I tried, but I was told by the manager that my expectations were too high and I wouldn't be satisfied with anyone. For the record... they weren't! It was unbelievable some of the things my previous teacher did. The manager went as far to say that I couldn't take a break and return with another teacher. This is what she told me, in English and German. I would question whether I was expecting more than necessary, but the fact that every student in the classroom was complaining about the same things showed me that something was wrong. Months later, I wrote the owner of Bellingua, telling him that he has a really bad teacher, and that students should be able to at least switch to a GOOD teacher. I told him that the manager refused to let me change teachers. He did a lot of research, updated me with e-mails, and ultimately concluded that there had been a misunderstanding. He said that he was unable to conclude who said what, but that he updated the paperwork and website to ensure students that they are allowed to change teachers. That's really all I wanted. I didn't message him while I was taking classes, because my teacher already knew I had problems with her, management thought I was better than everyone else, and I knew that e-mailing the owner would just escalate emotions. He was an efficient and helpful man, and I am thankful that he handled the situation the way he did. Unfortunately, I have no desire to go to Bellingua again. The relationship between me and the management would be awkward, and if my previous teacher is still there things would be even more awkward. Too bad

The material is good. Some of the teacher lack experience…read moreand cannot explain everything all that well. It is very good to have weekly tests however the grading is unnecessarily harsh and is more stressful than helpful. It is not reflecting the students capacity and focuses on errors rather than progress. The idea behind is to teach people to do the simple minimum rather than try to use more difficult structures and words as they are being punished for it. Punishing effort seems misplaced for a learning institution.

Ok, I'm more than halfway through my course, so I suppose it's time to write a Yelp review on the…read moreschool... I'm currently enrolled in "Abendkurse 217, Mittlere Kenntnisse 1, A2", which is considered an advanced beginners course in German. Class is once a week on Monday evenings at 6 pm. CHF 364 for 20 lessons at 75 minutes each. I wouldn't call it extremely intensive, but it's perfect for me so I don't get discouraged by too much learning. Plus, I only have to run out of work early once a week. My instructor is Joel Duss, and he's quite a pleasant guy who tries to explain everything using German instead of English. As a result, I sometimes don't have a clue what he is talking about, but I guess that's part of the whole learning process. We have anywhere from 8 to 11 people that show up to class, and Joel is pretty good at giving everyone the opportunity to speak and read aloud in every class. What I do like about this course is that they focus on German in Switzerland (AKA "Deutsch in der Schweiz"). This is directly applicable to life in Zürich, although Joel does teach us both the Swiss word and High-German equivalent whenever there is a discrepancy. Book fees are on top of course fees. You can buy the books directly from the school, but they were out, so I just got them from the bookstore. I got the Kursbuch, Arbeitsbuch, and Vokabelheft for about CHF 70, although the last one was unnecessary and could have saved me CHF 8.50. Oh well. We got 2 weeks off for winter break and now another 2 weeks off for February ski break, so progress is going kind of slowly. But I think if I take another course after this one, then I should (hopefully) be ready for the A2 exam at the end of this year.

From the owner: Corporate and private language courses for both learners of English at all levels, but also…read moreexpatriates wanting to learn German. Many more languages offered.

From the owner: Höhere Fachschule für Sprachberufe. Übersetzer/in werden,…read moreJournalismus studieren, Erwachsenenbildung & Sprachunterricht, Literarisches, Drehbucht und Autobiografisches schreiben, Weiterbildungen, Sprachcoaching, Übersetzerdienst - Kompetenz seit 1969.