Goethe Institut

I’ve taken two courses here, A1.2 and A1.3 (both in 2015). The good things about Goethe are small class sizes and the location is right downtown. However, I would not recommend classes there if you’re wanting to really learn German. If you’re just wanting to learn the basics for an upcoming trip, than Goethe might be a good option (albeit expensive $ 580).
In one class, the teacher was so bad that Goethe gave all the students a $ 100 discount for the next course. Another thing is that Goethe doesn’t ask students to take placement tests (unless you’re brand new). I was in A1.3 but all the other students were at a much lower level. They didn’t know basic possessive pronouns (mein, dein) or very commonly used verbs. Plus, everyone spoke in English so I felt I was not able to improve my conversation skills.
I emailed Goethe about the situation, and they were responsive but said that people will always be at different levels, and they can’t ask students to take placement tests. Goethe needs to make money and so I understand why they’re hesitant to ask students to take tests before enrolling. However, I wish they were more concerned about the quality of the courses they offer to ensure students really learn German.

I took 4 classes and didn’t learn squat. The teachers follow and use books that have no structure. Also, the books used and the teachers don’t explain any of the grammar. In my case the teachers did not know the grammar themselves. The classes are boring and it is the same thing class after class.
I have studied many languages at many schools and this was by far the worst experience ever. Don’t waste your money.

This place is pure awesomeness! I am having so much fun taking their A1.1 German course (the one for complete beginners). The course load has been relatively light, yet you are learning lots of new and useful things every class.
They typically make up some kind of fun game for each class which helps you more easily absorb all the vocabulary being thrown at you (After we learnt how to count, we played german bingo and the winners (and everyone else) were given german candy)!
Classroom size is relatively small, surprisingly diverse, and, unlike high school/​college language classes, everyone here actually wants to be here and are pretty engaged in all the activities. For a 9 week course with such a small classroom size and such a high quality instructor, this is really cheap!
If you have been trying to learn German on
, you should know that the material this class covers is pretty different from the sort of things duolingo is good at teaching you. IMHO duolingo is awesome for great for picking up a lot of vocabulary from and helping you just practice. This place will teach you how to introduce yourself, communicate in a variety of everyday situations and will help you gain a much better grasp over german grammar. They complement each other pretty well!
Fünf stars indeed!

First time at the Goethe Institut. It’s a really nice open space/​gallery. Taking a class on Berlin and it’s super cool to see some art and talk to the artists.

Came to Goethe Insitiut for the 1^st time ever, as part of the Berlin & Beyond Film Festival
The movie entry was «MORE THAN HONEY» & it was a sad but powerful tale about the plight of the bee.
The institut is a nice, open space that reminds me a lot of something you’d see in maybe a Frank Lloyd Wright building — lots of industrial steel & glass
The meeting room where they showed the film was smallish but pleasant. The classroom seats they had provided were excruciatingly painful to bear but thankfully the documentary was only 1.5 hrs.
And I thought it was nice that they brought in more chairs & even provided pillows so a few more people could come in & enjoy the movie — it was sold out
Staff was super nice & everyone seemed excited to be there. I understand they offer German language classes & other kinds of German culture-​related things & I’d be interested in checking out some more of what they had to offer
So far, they offered a great (but hard-​chaired) evening of Berlin & Beyond Film Festival & that makes me a fan!

Fußball.
I can’t speak to the language courses since I don’t know German (I do speak 8 languages though, so it’s not for being a monolingual American!) but I can say with some authority that the Goethe-​Institut SF is the BEST place in the Bay Area to watch the German national football team play in big international competitions.
I’m surprised none of the other Unilocalers have mentioned it so far but the Goethe-​Institut SF hosts the most wonderful viewing parties, drawing German expats and Germanophiles alike who all gather to cheer on die DFB-​Elf.
Having watched Euro Cup 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 here, I must say nothing beats getting up super early (the time difference almost always guarantees some early morning matches) and watching Germany play live (on a huge projection) at the Goethe-​Institut!
There’s no proper cover, rather suggested donations of $ 5, which not only gets you a seat (on a chair if you get here early, on the floor when it’s packed!), but also the typically generous breakfast array (sometimes featuring authentic goods from the wondrous Esther’s German Bakery in Los Altos) and drinks (such as beer!). Though abstemious myself, I totally see the appeal of football and beer in the morning. And what fun there is to be had:
Raft of Deutschland scarves, flags and sundry football paraphernalia brought without fail by fans? Check.
Germans yelling expletives at the screen? Check.
Polite applause whenever Angela Merkel appears in the stands? Check.
Scattered laughter whenever coach Jogi Löw picks his nose on camera for the nth time? Check.
Good-​natured crowd collectively groaning following missed shots, poor calls, obvious dives (always by the opposing team, natürlich), shoddy fouls and the like? Check.
And of course raucous celebration whenever Germany scores/​wins/​proceeds to the next round? Check, check, check. Seriously there is no better place to experience locally the vicissitudes of German football than the Goethe-​Institut!
If like me, you love Philipp Lahm, Manu Neuer, Mats Hummels, Mesut Özil, Mario Gómez, Thomas Muller, Sami Khedira, Lars and Sven Bender, Lukas Podolski, Per Mertesacker, Jérôme Boateng (not his evil half-​brother Kevin-​Prince who cruelly ended Michael Ballack’s World Cup dreams in 2010 with an atrocious foul), André Schürrle, et. al. and you’re in the vicinity during international competition, you need to be here!
In addition to football/​soccer, the Goethe-​Institut offers topnotch cultural programming including regular film screenings (both at the Bush St. location and the annual Berlin Beyond film festival), dance, art and literature events and roundtable discussions, truly bringing the best of German culture directly to San Francisco.

my company transferred me to Munich and I didn’t speak a single word of German. I contacted the Goethe Institute — they set me up with semi-​private lessons (with my partner) — the schedule was designed to fit with MY schedule — we had an AMAZING instructor (Thank you Henning Bauer!!!) With just a couple of months of instruction under my belt, I am by no means fluent in German, but i am definitely better prepared to fumble my way through living in a foreign country.
I highly recommend the Goethe Institute for German language instruction. it’s definitely a difficult language and there’s no way any instructor is going to change that fact — but the quality of the instruction you’ll receive is top-​notch,

I’m currently taking German classes here on Saturdays and I’m just about to kick off my third in their beginner’s series. They have a really great system that is way more efficient than the 3 years of Spanish I took in high school! While German is a really difficult language grammatically I think that I’m picking up quite a good foundation that I can build on and practice as I go!
One really nice thing about the Goethe Institute is that it’s Germany’s official language school. They can administer the exams needed for citizenship and other things needed to either live or work there. That’s cool
I would highly recommend them and their style of teaching!

I had taken the German beginners class taught by a non-​native of Germany that had no prior teaching experience. I called the Institute after the first week of class and the phones were down. After three weeks of trying to communicate, no phones calls were received so I went to the office to talk to the staff about this matter and i was told no one else complained and that they would be sending him for training. I wanted to retake the class or have my money refunded. I was declined on both matters. To this day I will never recommended or support the Goethe-​Institu since I was treated so poorly.

Hard to believe, but March will mark my 2^nd year taking German language classes at Goethe-​Institut SF.
Goethe is a well organized language institute with a wide variety of levels/​classes. There are also frequent cultural events that take place at the school (German movie viewings in their auditorium, guest speakers, artist installations, German card game tournaments, meet-​ups, etc.) which are interesting to participate in for anyone who is invested in learning more about German culture in addition to the language.
When I first decided to learn German, I enrolled in the SF German School, which is mainly geared towards children as a Saturday language school. They do offer a couple classes for adults, but they are best suited for people who already have some background in the language. The class was not really rigorous or structured well and I lost motivation and stopped going after a few classes.
Then I found Goethe. It is a well oiled machine, and the teachers are all highly professional, conscientious, and dedicated. Classes definitely do not come cheap, (including text books, plan to drop about $ 440 every course, which lasts about 10 weeks) but if you are serious about eventually being fluent one day, I highly recommend the classes here. I’ve had 3 different teachers over the past 2 years and they’ve all been excellent.
Goethe also offers certification tests (B, C, etc.) which may be helpful or necessary for you to obtain employment abroad in Germany.
Classes used to be 3 hours long and once a week, but they’ve recently switched to having 1.5 hr classes 2x a week.

A few years back I started thinking about the German I learned in college and decided to start studying again. I had been to Germany a few times over the previous couple of years and remembered how much I liked the language, the country and the people.
In researching the various options, including city college, Berlitz and private tutors, I found that the Goethe-​Institut offers the best way to learn German. Sure, the prices were a bit higher than some options but I’d rather pay a bit more for quality education.
Most of the teachers there are great and I’ve since become friends with a few of them. The students also tend to be more serious about learning German.
If you’re interested in learning German, the Goethe-​Institut is the way to go!

Danke fur seinen filmfest!

Once my friend and I were at a cocktail party and the subject turned to Italy. Since she had just returned from three weeks there, she waxed rhapsodic, and the woman we were talking to, impressed, asked her, «wow, are you Italian?»
Now anything is possible — the World gets smaller every day — but it’s important to the story to know that my friend is Canadian by way of Jamaica.
Without skipping a beat she smiled devilishly and said, «no, but I’ve had some Italian in me.»
Here’s the appallingly bad segue:
The Goethe-​Institut is a place you must go if you’ve got some German in you, and are interested in having more, culturally and linguistically speaking. Or, judging by the number of spouses, girlfriends and boyfriends of Krauts attending the classes I took here, intimately speaking as well. I’m half German by birth, and I have always been the weak link in the Teutonic chain of conquest. My bro and sis both speak German fluently and I don’t, so I took some intermediate courses hier (Entschuldigen Sie, here). The instruction was fun, interesting, and challenging. These are intensive courses though — don’t expect a joyride.
The Institut also hosts film screenings, lectures, and other social events to promote cross-​cultural exploration.