Blog 6 von Oane In today’s class, our textbook had a unit on German newspapers, thus our class discussion (in German) was about Austrian newspapers. The textbook’s topics often provide a launchpad for lively chats. With the new vocabulary we just learned, it is also easier to join in the discussion. Combining the new vocabulary with our everyday experiences makes it easier to remember all the new words. So far we discussed in different chapters what we want in our futures (when we learned the Futur I tense) and our most outlandish dreams (for the Konjunktiv II). With the diverse back ..read more

Blog 5 von Oane Each day, we get a short break during our classes at DeutschAkademie here in Vienna. Some of us bring a snack. Some of us run across the street to the supermarket to get a pastry or a sandwich. But right outside the school’s doors, we also have one of the ubiquitous sausage stands, or Würstelstands. These small buildings with a tiny kitchen and a takeout counter are on all the busiest street in Vienna. Most people order and eat standing up at the counter. Probably the most popular item on the menu in Austria is the Käsekrainer.  Käse of course means “cheese” in German, a ..read more

Blog 4 von Oane Our teacher in our DeutschAkademie classes always ends the class with a game.  We have played card games like Tabu, roll-the-dice games, charades, and more. In our intensive course every morning, spending the last minutes playing a game is a perfect way to power down after three hours of practice. The school has a library of games and our teacher sometimes asks what we feel like playing. As a board gamer back in Canada, I used to play different German games. Among these so-called Eurogames, which require more strategy than luck and use different scoring methods, Settlers ..read more

Blog 3 von Oane DeutschAkademie is located in a central part of Vienna, with a major landmark across the street.  This is the world-famous Opera House.   DeutschAkademie is across the street from one of the most famous landmarks in Vienna, the Opera House. But the Opera House is not the only musical landmark in the neighbourhood. The Wiener Musikverein is a concert hall around the corner from our school.  Opened in 1870, it is famous for its acoustics. Many people also know its New Year’s Concert as it is broadcast around the world every year.  Like many music venues i ..read more

Blog 2 von Oana Speaking only in German: DeutschAkademie classes are German-only. The instructions and the explanations are all in German. Even during our breaks, we students speak in German. While this seems challenging at first, I found that after the initial difficulty, German got easier to understand. Our teacher encourages us to talk in whatever vocabulary we can at our level. Studying languages requires a combination of both absorbing information through listening and reading, but also actively producing the language through writing and speaking. Speaking however, requires us studen ..read more

Blog 1 von Oana Hallo zusammen!  My name is Oana and I come from Canada. This is my second time living in Vienna. I lived here for my first grade of school. This time I came back to go to graduate school.  I chose Vienna because it’s a beautiful city with a lot of history. I love the architecture and the museums. I also really like the transportation system here. I’ve felt at home in Vienna immediately.  Vienna is consistently voted as one of the most liveable cities in the world. In fact, it is often in the top five alongside my Canadian hometown, Vancouver.  Both cit ..read more

Blog 16 von Weronika Honestly, one of my favourite “activities” to do here is just going for a walk. As simple as that sounds, it is really fun. The city’s architecture is one of a kind and truly breathtaking. So, just spending some time with no plan or map going around the city centre is so much fun, as you find new hidden gems that you wouldn’t find on any list or tour. Take some friends or go alone and just follow your heart and you might find some unusual places, cute shops with interesting window displays, delicious restaurants or just pretty architecture. Vienna is truly one of the most ..read more

Blog 15 von Weronika A fun and less typical idea for a day off is going to a Botanical Garden and Butterfly Garden (Palmenhaus & Schmetterlinghaus). There is one not that far from the DeutschAkademie in Burggarten. It’s an amazing idea for a rainy day when you can’t really spend the day outdoors. Here you can spend some time admiring nature and the beautiful butterflies, a great activity to get rid of any stress. There is also a cafe, so you could go for some nice hot coffee or tea, to make light of an otherwise rainy day. And if the weather clears up, you can spend the afternoon in ..read more

Blog 14 von Weronika Friedrich Stowasser, better known by his pseudonym Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser, was an Austrian visual artist and architect, who was very opposed to the idea of “straight lines” and any “standard” or “typical” ideas. So, his art is characterised by its uniqueness. One of his most famous works is HundertwasserHaus in Vienna, it’s a very unusual apartment from both the outside and inside. The outside of the building is very colourful and a varied mix of patterns and building materials. It really stands out from the surrounding buildings. Inside ..read more

Blog 13 von Weronika If you’re looking for a fun activity to do alone or with a group, but don’t know what to do, sign up for a pub crawl with Dick Mack’s Irish Pub. It’s a great way to spend a night out, meet new people and enjoy some drinks at a few different pubs. The pub crawl guides are truly amazing at their jobs, they have games and challenges planned out for you to really enjoy your night. Included in the ticket are some free long drinks/beers and shots, and the games (we played beer pong and flip the cup), but the craziest part were the challenges, which were dares that we could do to ..read more