AYA - Academic Year Abroad 20

I really enjoyed how interactive the teachers were. They had really good conversations about any topic with the students and always pushed us to use the new German we learned and helped us correct our mistakes. The teachers were clearly very well experienced. I also really liked having students of my similar level in the class, it built a sense of unity. Any age differences never bothered me because we were all there to learn the same thing. The classrooms were decent but were often very hot.

I personally liked the classes, they were intensive and improved my skills without being too stressful.
I think the location was good, considering it was very near Stadelhofen station.
The housing & teachers were just excellent.


I think there was nothing I really didn't like, although I didn't partake in the activities
— I had nothing against them, but I generally like discovering things on my own instead of in a guided group.

Positive: Enjoyed lessons with Christopher, very good and efficacious involvement of the class based on discussing, dialoguing, trying to make us reasoning. Sehr gute Lehrer.

Negative: 8 people in 90 minutes too mahy, not enough to get a real improvement.

LSI aided me with all the necessary information and the changes I wants to make in regard to the courses.

The class was OK but a bit less of expectation for more professional learning but that was due to not previously informing me it was an oral practice class. I wish I could have had that information! But anyway, the team working together as a great community and students are friendly. We discuss Swiss culture together in class.

I wanted some personalized help and it was arranged promptly.

Very very nice school principal!

However, I must say the host family was not responsive at all when I contacted her in prior and she was asking when exactly I arrived *until I arrived*.

I told her my plan of going to Germany first (since I booked November class and I arrived in Zurich airport first in Oct), she did not respond to my text messages or calls and emails. Wow!

Then after I got back to Switzerland after a week in Germany- well, do people know that Germany manages internet badly and as a tourist I only got pre-paid sim plans that cannot call abroad? texted me back while I was there and accused me of not responding instead.

What a joke. She also argued with me during the stay in host family about shower usage. Or some other tiny details that should have been put on the table and discussed in prior. She knocked on my door to wake me up on the doctor visit, well that was nice to have her private doctor but maybe she should change her manner too. I was scared to live there cus she said she’s gonna host me.

I moved out and was dissatisfied with the home. My friend companies me to go pick up my last bit of luggage . I think it’s a lovely neighborhood and friendly neighbors too but the host was very concerned about people around. I would say next time I’ll look into host family part a bit more before I book.

Thanks for the last-minute accommodation. Overall I enjoyed my time in Switzerland. Feels a bit like a German version of England. I would not recommend anyone who seriously want to learn German there but if anyone has the dedication to listen to YouTube videos, follow other resources, why not? Some teachers are great and some have accents. It all depends. Learning and living is the best mix for this program, hopefully we can get weekly event information a bit more in prior ;)

The teacher was really good, the whole experience was fun.
Location was easily accessible by public transport.
While I was there, the school put on a Christmas get-together, it was interesting to meet the other students.
All the staff were friendly and knew their stuff.
Also, I stayed with a host family, she was very friendly and it was helpful to have someone to practise my German with.
Recommended!

The school is located close the sea. There is a Train line station only 5 minutes by the school. I had a good experience with my host family. One disadvantage with the family is far from the city (30 minutes by Train) and the train is expensive.

I fixed housing by myself, so I will not rate LSI one.
As per location, it was ideal, near the opera, central Zurich and the lake. The course filled my expectations because it was conversation-oriented and the subjects were various. Both Michael and Iris were professional and nice, and I really have the feeling that I progressed a lot in German.

I thought that everything was great. The classes and teachers were very good and helped me learn a lot . It was also nice to have a coop and a Denner next to the facility

The teacher was really friendly and other students too. We were working very hard and had lots of different exercises but the lessons were still very interesting and funny. On our speaking lessons we had different fascinating conversations. I am very happy with this month in LSI!

I was very happy to notice how well all went and was arrenged from the School etc.Teachers were great and the lessons were interesting too.Only negative thing was too shourt cource but i could not stay any longer in Zurich.

It was nice. The location was great for me, there are a lot of a bit cheaper hotels around (and also it's only 3 minutes from lake, which is beautiful).
I had two teachers - one was brilliant for my level, I learned a whole lot and also brought a lot of material to work on and slowly learn at home (since I only studied for one week), in the second class the group I was in knew language much better than me, so I wasn't able to fully participate (the teacher tried to do smth about it, but it didn't really work).
All the staff was very helpful and friendly.

I really liked the classes, my classmates and out teacher Christian were awesome! the experience exceeded my expectations. The pace of the course was great, the class was small so it was easy to have good interaction with the classmates and from the teacher and I personally feel that I made a good start with the foundations of german so that I can continue on my own before I return for another session next summer. The staff was also very personable, friendly and very helpful.

I could never imagine something like this before, the unforgettable experience of learning a language with such highly-qualified teachers, with students from all over the world! I won't forget it. The location of school is also very comfortable, it was so easy to get to the school! The administrative personnel were very polite and kind.

The school is located in the city center. You can move quickly by tram without problems.

Since the first day, everyone was kind to me, which I appreciated. During classes, the atmosphere was great, and I enjoyed being there. The teachers were professional and at the same time were very friendly. They were always ready to explain new things and details about Swiss culture as well. The location was good, easy to find and to reach. The only negative thing about it was that there were some works being done in Bellevue, and I had to walk about fifteen minutes from my tram stop, but I did it without much effort.

I went to just one outside school activity, and I found it well-organised. Anything negative? Probably just the school building, which was a bit old, and so were the furniture - my chair broke when I was sitting on it, and I nearly fell.. But, to sum up everything, I made a lot of friends, learned about other cultures, and learned in 2 weeks more German than I would have in 3 years of middle school, which is such a good result, to my mind.

Before LSI, I was participating in Dutch classes in another school, but in that school, courses were only from 9 to 11, and the level in the class was not similar among students. In LSI, the course duration is better - from 9 to 12.15 with a break. For the first 3 months, my teacher was Michael Schnell, who was a very good teacher. I think he deserves a special thanks from his students. He explained really well with examples and exercises. He encouraged all students to speak more by being more interactive. Homeworks and reading were all accurate and sufficient. We corrected all homeworks by the next day, and we clarified our mistakes. He made numerous repetitions when there was something not so clear to us. We read a diary (tagesbuch) every day, which was a good way to speak in a confident way for us. He answered all of our questions in a helpful way, with all his best effort. In my next class, I just had one week of it, but my two teachers were also good. The only problem was that we didn’t check all homeworks regularly (maybe because the class had 17 people), so I lost my motivation for doing my homeworks.

Classes were intense, teachers were very nice and helpful. They were great with students, a high quality experience overall.

It was a very nice experience, I met very nice people and practiced my language.

also extensive building work being carried out at the property, in the apartment above my bedroom, work starting at 8:00am, we didn't need to be awake until 8:30am. the noise was so loud, you would have to leave the apartment immediately, unbareable.