GLS Berlin Westend Summer School (Ages 14 – 17)

 “GLS Berlin was originally started many years ago as a language travel agency by Barbara Jaeschke, the current Managing Director of the school, and the agency is still in operation. There is no better professional figure than a language travel agent to appreciate how a language school should be, and with GLS, the result is awe-inspiring. Barbara with GLS was one of the founders of IALC, and I met her at one of the workshops at the beginning of my career. At the time, GLS had just moved from the ex-West Berlin to what was becoming the fashionable ex-East, a part of the city that suffered less war damage and has thus retained much of its traditional character. Every year the largest professional workshop in Europe for study abroad agents is held in Berlin, and by attending this regularly, I have had the opportunity to witness the evolution of this school’s facilities on visits to it afterwards. Students at this school will be able to appreciate the array of facilities on the campus (which takes up a whole city block) from the many classrooms, green areas, the cool and modern studio apartments, café, and restaurant. The school’s crowning glory is now the Hotel Oderberger at the far end, a historic public bath house that it purchased, restored and updated. Very few adult schools I have seen in my career can match this assortment of courses, services and top-notch facilities for its students. Bravo, Barbara!
Several years ago, GLS introduced a wide assortment of German language summer programs for teenagers. I have featured this one here for the fact that it offers a more intensive course than most of the others, allowing students to make progress with their German in a shorter length of time, but at the same time it includes plenty of fun activities in the afternoons and weekends. Teenagers will love the opportunity to see Berlin, the “New York City” of Germany in terms of cool, but with a longer and of course very different history. I was 16 years old when I first visited the city (it was shortly before the Berlin Wall came down, and the stark contrast between East and West was eye-opening.  Much of what I saw in person then has now, fortunately, been relegated to history in the fascinating Museum of the Wall at Checkpoint Charlie, which at the time was still a checkpoint). During that trip, I remembered making a mental note to read more about the history of World War II before my next visit, as the traces of the conflict and aftermath were everywhere.
Logistically, for Italians, Berlin is also very accessible to Italy, with several airlines offering both direct low-cost and regular flights. Students can easily arrive on their own or travel as unaccompanied minors. “