We came here for an event about poetry in various languages by Chicago-based poets and translators…read more We used to come years ago (pre-pandemic) to watch movies, or listen to book reviews. We speak NO German but it was always a nice space to visit. We never joined to study the language or take classes but we definitely want to visit someday. The space is about how I remember it, and the presentation (we were kind of late) was good. The seating was not ideal. I was not able to see the subtitles for the readings (there were PowerPoint slides) so I sat in the very back on a sofa. I really blame myself for being too late to sit up front, not the institution. There was a wine reception following, with treats from local bakers as well as the Italian Cultural Institute. We chatted with a few people too. The view of Michigan Avenue from there is so great, even at night. I'd go back for another event, I do miss this place.

Once upon a time, I took German in High School. Over a decade later, I decided to rekindle my…read morerelationship with the language. There's a good chance that I may be going to Germany to teach English next year, so now is a good a time as any to take the class! I thought I would know a lot coming into the class (I barely tested into A1.2) but then I realized that there were already many things I didn't know or forgot. But the great thing about these classes is that you are thrown in and fully immersed in a certain theme of German speaking. ie, asking for directions, making a doctors appointment, telling time, etc. Unlike my HS German class, you don't necessarily learn "from the start" but take steps towards learning the language in a way that may be helpful in speaking and understanding. My last class is next week, but I've already signed up for the next level. The instructors seem to rotate and vary depending on skill level, but our teacher is simply the best! She's always high energy, positive, and makes the class engaging. I certainly hope she's the instructor for the next level! A great course at a great price. High recommendation.

There are lots of social activities for students, nice people around and so many nations! Lessons…read moreare split to three parts, 1.5 each and teachers rotate. Mike and Kevin are fantastic teachers, Kelley was my another favorite but she left :( Prices are good and we can pay by instalments. There are talks that Solex may increase tuition (currently, its $480 a month including books) but it will not effect old students, fingers crossed. Oh yes, they just bought new furniture and comps, it looks soooo nice. Hope we will get a coffee machine on the 4th fooor too.

Solex its very good school for many reasons first and foremost most of the students are…read moreinternational students and someone from different country could feel there very comfortable. All the instructors are very qualified and very friendly the school is located in the middle of downtown so the students can go for lunch to me millenium Park and enjoy all the things the city of Chicago has to offer .

Learning a new language as an adult is very intimidating. I found Berges Institute's Beginners…read moreSpanish class very welcoming, encouraging and a great atmosphere to learn. Melissa was an engaging instructor. Class would be reviewing the week's homework and past lessons, learning the new work and drilling the lessons. There is a lot of memorization involved as there is in any new language learning. While I attended with a Groupon, I found their regular class prices being more then reasonable and plenty of class times and able to make up a missed class. Also they email a couple times a week to remind you of the homework, the next class time and if you need to go at another time and also tips to reinstate the Spanish you've learned so far. I look forward to learning from them more.

I signed up for a beginner level Spanish course a couple of months back to learn Spanish formally…read more The office personnel made signing up very easy and answered all of my questions. Classes were going well, I was learning quite a bit from the teacher Sofia, she was great with the class. I put in plenty of time outside of the course to practice too. Unfortunately, the whole covid pandemic disrupted my work schedule so I had to discontinue halfway through. I am likely to retake the course once my schedule stabilizes and I have an uninterupted free day. Great place to learn, highly recommend the Berges Institute and the teacher Sofia. -Elias

Free English lessons, bring them on! New classes with trainee teachers starting every 4 weeks so it…read morenever gets boring :)

I attended the Teaching House in Chicago during the summer of 2014 and it was wonderful. The…read moreteacher trainers where extremely thorough in their feedback and help and they continue to help you and give advice about job searching even after the program has ended. They really know what they are talking about and are very experienced. I learned amazing things from the trainers at Teaching House Chicago. If you are willing to learn and ready to work hard and prepared for it all to pay off, join the Teaching House Chicago, you won't be disappointed

I have had, and am currently having, an amazing experience with the Spanish LC. I have been in…read moreclasses for almost a year now, and am planning to continue on with remote learning due to Covid. Valeria has been my teacher and she is AMAZING! She makes learning intuitive and fun while also going above and beyond with any questions I have. I highly recommend the Spanish LC to anyone who is thinking of learning Spanish.

Background: I've now taken classes at Cervantes, UNAM,…read moreSpanish Language Center and Spanish Lessons Chicago / Latin American Language Center, so I have seen a decent cross section of what is available here in Chicago. In my opinion, SLC is definitely worth trying and can be a very good value if you do the membership deal ($600 for 6 months all the classes you can take model). I took Beginner 0, 1 and 2 this Jan - June. Could have taken Beg 3, too, but got pretty busy at work and needed to take a break. I would also suggest that SLC is most useful for learning the basics and rules of the language, but it's not (at least not yet) been a great place for practicing much conversational spanish. This could be a function of my still being pretty early in the progression (Beginner 2) or the nature of the classes, where you've got 7 - 10 classmates and you go around the table taking turns translating examples and asking simple questions. So, it can be a help to start learning but you will definitely want to do other things to practice outside of the weekly class time. What I like: * The curriculum is clear. You know what you will be covering in each section (e.g. Beg 1, Beg 2) and in each specific class (e.g. class 1 of Beg 2, class 2 of Beg 2). I can't say the same of the other places I have studied. * The text / materials are clear, straightforward and useful. I have also purchased a number of general spanish exercise books online and prefer the workbooks that SLC has put together to complement their classes (Note: these materials do cost extra, but are pretty reasonable. ~$35 or so per class, I think). * They seem to draw a consistent mix of people who want to learn and consistently show up. So as you track through their levels you can be taking classes with familiar faces, which can be comfortable. What could be better: * Consistency of student levels This is a challenge everywhere I've taken classes. Not sure it can be solved. Seems you're always destined to have some folks who are in a bit over their head and others who maybe should be in the next class up. This mix can make some lessons a bit choppy. But I've seen this everywhere. * Consistency of the teachers I have had classes with 3 or 4 different teachers now, sometimes within the same track (e.g first 3 or 4 classes of Beg 2 started with one teacher, last 3 classes have been with another). Styles vary and just when you really start to click with one teacher he might be be gone without explanation. All of the teachers I've had have been pretty good, so it's not an awful drop off. But just know you should expect this kind of variety. The materials are the constant, the teachers may vary.

I studied Arabic here, and am not a fan of their method OR their policies…read more One of the first lessons was learning how to do addition and subtraction problems. It was excruciating. I had to do the math in my head in English, and then translate it to Arabic. Since I'm not good at math . . . you get the idea. I was taking Arabic to speak with my (then) in laws and family. I wasn't about to spout off to my (then) mother in law "56 + 24 = 80!". She would have been all "What? I only graduated 5th grade!" What I DID want to talk to her about was "How are you cooking that, and can you teach me? What was Nxxxx like as a little boy?" We spent so much time on the damn addition and subtraction problems that I felt like I was wasting my time and money. Their book policy. You have to pay $185 (that was the charge at that time) in addition to your lesson fees, for all the books. However, you do not then receive all the books you paid for. You only get the books you ALREADY paid for if you continue to pay them for instruction. And as I mentioned before, the instruction wasn't really meeting my Arabic language needs. I quit after one course, and didn't get a refund of my book fees. This irritated me. My tutor though, was fantastic. She remains a friend, and five stars for her.

Sarah T., the exact same thing just happened to me. Very disappointing, to say the least.read more

Andy is a great teacher! Very fun and energetic, makes learning chinese entertaining and lively. He…read moregives homework too and post class review material which i like

This 8 week program was worth every cent. I completed the course almost 2 years ago but still use…read morethe book and vocabulary taught in the class to this day! Andy and his teaching assistant were very thorough in their explanation of things, and gave me a solid beginner's understanding of the language. Just a tip: if you're going to take this class, listen to the pinyin alphabet on YT daily while you take the course. It really impacts your pronunciation.