"Willkommen beim Goethe Institut Hongkong!"…read more Hong Kong is an international city and sometimes if you do not speak more than two or three languages, you may not be that of a competitive candidate in the eyes of employers, especially pretty much everyone hear speaks 3 languages already including English, Cantonese and Mandarin. If you are looking for a foreign language to pick up, and you are a big fan of Europe, try German. If you have decided to learn German, I have at least heard of two places in Hong Kong that are well-received. One is Goethe Institut. Located on the 14th floor of Art Centre in Wanchai, it is a non-profit German cultural association and it has branches over 159 countries to date. It mission of course is to promote cultural exchange and the study of German language. At times you may see some exhibitions at the gallery next to the reception that provides more information on German culture. There is also a library where you can borrow German textbooks, books, CDs or DVDs so that you can fully immersed yourself at home. As for the quality of the teaching, I have to say that it highly depends on the teachers. You will be expected to have a new teacher in every new term (which lasts around 9 to 10 weeks), therefore, chances are you may know quite a few teachers. Personally, there are quite a few good teachers there unfortunately I cannot go into details here but all I can say is they are i) a very funny male teacher who can make the class rather interesting; ii) a young male teacher who writes down the articles whenever we are introduced to a new noun; iii) a tall female teacher who comes up with interactive games to play with us, iv) a female teacher who sounds really professional. Though I have to admit it is not much useful to know German here in Hong Kong but who knows, it might come in handy one day and it certainly looks rather dashing to be able to have basic conversation in German; that might go a long way.

From the owner: The Goethe-Institut is the cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany with a global…read morereach. We promote knowledge of the German language abroad and foster international cultural cooperation. We convey a comprehensive image of Germany by providing information about cultural, social and political life in our nation. Our cultural and educational programmes encourage intercultural dialogue and enable cultural involvement. They strengthen the development of structures in civil society and foster worldwide mobility. With our network of Goethe-Instituts, Goethe Centres, cultural societies, reading rooms and exam and language learning centres, we have been the first point of contact for many with Germany for over sixty years. Our long-lasting partnerships with leading institutions and individuals in over ninety countries create enduring trust in Germany. We are partners for all who actively engage with Germany and its culture, working independently and without political ties.

Just finished a 3 month Mandarin Chinese course at Q Language. Perfect experience. Student visa…read moreprocessing, housing arrangement & amazingly effective lessons. The Centre is right next to the MTR and free coffee, tea, water, magazines etc. Met lots of cool people and already planning another trip next year..Thanks Q !

I was at this place to learn Chinese. Really bad facility. The classroom is very small and smells…read more No toilet paper in the toilet and this happened very often. And only one toilet on the whole floor. Many times we had to go downstairs to a coffee shop just to use the toilets.

There is one good thing about Hong Kong being an international city is that it is always easy to…read morefind places to pick up languages, Japanese, Korean, German, Spanish, etc. Since I used to work in one teaching English and also learning German currently, I guess you will not be surprised to know that I also did take some courses on Spanish. (Unfortunately I stopped for a while as too many languages are too overwhelming for me). Spanish currently comes to second to Mandarin regarding to its number of native speakers around the world. And of course I do not need to tell you how useful it is to pick up one extra language. If you are looking for Spanish, I would recommend this one as this is relatively more popular than the others (as the owner used to be a celebrity in Hong Kong and it does not hurt to have that kind of publicity.) As a matter of fact, what I like about this place is the variety of classes they offer. While most language centres (excluding English ones), aims at teaching teens and adults and they deal with more practical stuff like grammar and vocabulary, this one offers playgroup and classes for kids as well and there are some social activities that allow you to fully immerse yourself in the Spanish world. For some reason, Hong Kong parents have been urging their children to learn one extra language as young as possible excluding English and Mandarin; Spanish seems to be a hot pick for all. I totally agree with this as this is the golden age for learning languages. So basically if you study here, you can have a life-long education on Spanish as early as possible. Another good thing about this place is there are at least two teachers who used to teach at my university so I can guarantee you they are really good teacher.