FAQ

• All teachers have a great methodology training and work with our communicative teaching approach.
• We speak a lot during the lessons and often work in pairs / small groups.
• Pronunciation is an important part of our lessons right from the start.
• We organise small excursions to cafés or a  market place to practice your German knowledge in a "real life situation".
• Our students have lost of fun and leave our courses feeling confident.

No, at IH Cologne we work with our own teaching material. You will receive all material from your teacher during the course. Additionally, you will receive a list of course topics with your course confirmation, which will give you an overview. For your first course, you receive an IH Cologne folder, to sort your material into. You can buy further folders in the office.

Yes, but sometimes this isn't an advantage. German teachers, who had to learn the language themselves, have experienced the difficulties in learning German grammar, which can be very helpful when planning a lesson. 

We would, therefore, also employ teachers who are not native speakers as long as they are fluent in the level they are teaching.

• All teachers have taken a course in our communicative methodology and are, for the main part, full time teachers, which is not common in Germany. 
• All teachers regularly participate in further trainings and undergo course inspections.
• IH schools regularly undergo inspections and coachings by IH World, to make sure they meet all quality expectations.

• As a public school, we unfortunately cannot accept any entitlement vouchers from the employment office.
• You can submit education vouchers to us. You can find more information on how to apply here:https://www.weiterbildungsberatung.nrw/finanzierung/bildungsscheck

• Of course you can try out our classes before you sign up!

How does it work?

• First you talk to our office, then you take our placement test and we suggest courses for you to try out.
• After the trial lesson, we ask you and the teacher for feedback and if everything fits, you can enrol.
• You don't pay anything for the trial lesson if you decide not to take the course. If you register after the trial lesson, the trial lesson counts as the first day of the course and you will be charged for it.

• We will inform you as soon as we can if we see that a course will not take place. However, especially in the intensive courses it is often quite short notice, the registration situation often changes significantly in the last days before the course starts.
• Before we cancel a course completely, we always try to postpone it a little. When you register for an intensive course, you agree to accept a postponement of up to two weeks. For evening courses, we try to find a new date for the start of the course in consultation with all interested parties.
• For the intensive courses, we offer the course in a mini-group format of guided self-study and lessons with a teacher for a minimum of 4 participants. When you register, you agree to this.
• Unfortunately, we cannot give a guarantee. It can always happen that a course is cancelled. If this happens, we will refund the course fee in full, including the registration fee.

• Such a situation does not happen often, but when it does, it puts the teacher in a conflict: the one student who has reliably come to class has a right to be taught. However, if the teacher continues with the planned material, it becomes a problem in the next lesson because the class is not at the same level.
• Our way of dealing with this is as follows: the teacher teaches a lesson 1:1 , directly on the needs of the student present.
• Since it means considerable extra work for the teacher, we see the reduction in time as justified, especially since the pupil present naturally also receives a service that is clearly of higher value than a group course.
• You can also find that information in our terms and conditions

• As our teaching approach is to teach the class and not the plan, it may (rarely) happen that certain topics that were planned for the course level cannot be covered.
• We always try to address such things directly in the course when it becomes visible and then offer a course extension of usually 1 or 2 weeks if necessary so that the transition to the next level can work smoothly.

• If your placement test allows it, yes
• If you are not quite up to scratch, you can book additional private lessons to get into the course well
• You can join the course laterally, but not quit laterally (here our cancellation periods apply so that our courses don't fall apart).

• If you attend the course regularly (at least 80%), you will receive a certificate of attendance from us.
• If you wish, we can also include the results of your intermediate and final test in the certificate.
• Official certificates such as telc require good exam preparation, which you can also do with us, as well as the exams, but they are not part of a standard course.

• This is difficult to say as it is different for each student. 
• According to the Goethe institute, you need  350 to 650 lessons to reach a stable B1 level and 600 to 800 lessons for B2. 
• At IH Cologne it takes a minimum of 23 weeks to finish B1 and a minimum of 32 weeks to finish B2. This can, however, vary for each student. We give regular feedback on where you are at and what we would recommend for you as a next step. 

• A tourism visa (Schengen Visa, Travel Visa) can't be changed to a study visa once you're in Germany. It is easier and quicker to apply for / receive a tourism visa but you have to be aware that you have to leave Germany after the 3 months are up, even if your personal circumstances may have changed during that time.

• In order to apply for a study visa, you have to fulfill certain requirements, which you can find out about at the German embassy in your country. These requirements are different for each country - sometimes you need to show that you already know some German. 

You can find further information here:

• https://www.daad.de/deutschland/en/
• https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/einreiseundaufenthalt/visabestimmungen-node
• http://www.stadt-koeln.de/buergerservice/adressen/00083/

• If you want to apply for a language course visa, you mostly need to book a German language course with at least 20 lessons (of 45 minutes each) per week. Furthermore you need to show that you’ve made a down payment for the course. In some cases you actually have to have paid the entire course to qualify for a visa.

• If you want to apply for a language course visa with us, it works like this:
  1) After having taken our placement test (http://www.insulakoeln.com/en/einstufungstest), you sign up for the recommended course(s) and provide us with a copy of your passport.
  2) You will receive an invoice (down payment of at least 2 courses).
  3) Once we have received your payment, we will send a letter of invitation, which you need for your appointment with the embassy.
  4) In case your visa application is rejected, we refund the down payment less 50,00 € processing fee, in accordance with our terms and conditons.

• We do not have any influence on whether you receive your visa or not.

• Next to the letter of invitation, you also need to show proof of an overseas health insurance. We recommend the following insurance, it's affordable and reliable: http://www.care-concept.de/sprachschueler.php?vmnr=002899000S&mail=info@insulakoeln.com

1. You take our placement test and book a trial lesson 1:1.
2. We organize a trial lesson with a teacher.
3. You will receive an invoice for this (no registration fee, just the 1 trial lesson).
4. You do your trial lesson.
5. If you liked the trial lesson with the teacher, you make the “real” booking with the full number of lessons.
6. We will send you a 2nd invoice (which includes a registration fee if you are a new student and your first month of lessons. If you book many lessons and therefore get a better price/lesson, you will receive a “refund” for the difference to your trial lessons. (Example: You book 50 lessons, the price per lesson is €39.00, but you paid €44.00 for your trial lesson, so you will receive a credit of €5.00).
7. After that you will always receive a monthly invoice from us until you have received all your lessons.

• You can cancel an appointment up to 24 hours in advance without incurring any costs. If you notify us later, we will charge you for the appointment and the lesson will not be made up.
• A notice period of 4 weeks must be observed when canceling a booking. You can only cancel at the end of the month, i.e. if you cancel on January 1st, the contract ends on January 31st and the invoice will also be due by January 31st. If the contract is terminated prematurely, the hourly rate for the hours actually used will be converted if necessary.

• You will get better conditions if you register for several courses at once. The dates do not have to be consecutive, you can also take a break if you need to, but please let us know in good time (2 weeks before the start of the course), otherwise we will not be able to consider a change of date.
• If you bring a colleague or friend to the course, you will receive a 10% “bring-your-buddy” discount.
• You can only receive one discount per course.

In principle, it is difficult to make binding statements here, as there are enormous individual differences. 
However, a standard curriculum could look like this:

A1.1, A1.2: 6 weeks
A2.1, A2.2, A2.3: 8 weeks
B1.1, B1.2, B1.3: 9 weeks
B2.1, B2.2, B2.3: 9 weeks
C1.1, C1.2, C1.3: 9 weeks

In general, you should allow at least 3-4 weeks buffer.
If you are taking consecutive courses, we generally recommend doing more than just IK 20, for example booking a Grammar Flow or an icebreaker semi-intensive course.

• You can cancel up to 2 weeks before the start of the course without cancellation fees.
• From 2 weeks to 12:00 on the last working day before the start of the course, you must pay 30% of the total course fee.
• After 12:00 noon on the last working day before the start of the course, up to the start of the course: 60% of the total course fee.
• After the start of the course, cancellation is no longer possible and the course must be paid in full, even if you do not attend.
   

1. Get advice on choosing a course (by phone, Skype, Zoom or in person)
2. Take the placement test (online or in person)
3. Take a trial lesson in one or two courses
4. Sign up - we will send you a course offer, which you confirm with us
5. Receive your invoice and pay for your course (cash, PayPal, bank transfer)
6. Let's go!

1. Get advice on choosing a course (by phone, Skype, Zoom or in person).
2. Take our placement test (online or in person).
3. Take a trial lesson in one or two courses.
4. Register - we will send you a course offer, which you confirm to us.
5. Receive your invoice and pay for your course (in cash, PayPal, bank transfer).
6. Let's go!

You register for course months, not calendar months, i.e. if there is a public holiday on a day when you normally have lessons, we will add the date to the end of the normal course duration. You will therefore receive your 24 course dates in any case and we normally take this into account in the confirmation email where you receive your course dates.

No, we will calculate the price in proportion to the dates you can attend.

If you are unable to attend individual dates for health or private reasons, this is not a reason for a refund. In the event of illness, we will provide you with the material and if you are ill for a longer period of time and therefore have to drop out of the course, please talk to us, we will certainly find a solution.

• You pay for the entire course in advance, i.e. before the start of the course. You will receive a 2% discount.
• You bring a colleague or friend with you and get the “bring-your-buddy” discount of 10%.
• You can only receive one discount per course.

German online...

Learning and teaching is a special challenge. With customized offers, new designs and professional solutions for online adapted material, we react to the different teaching situation and thus enable you to have a great online experience with the proven communicative Insula methodology.
Trial lessons are possible at any time without obligation and free of charge.
Technology: here you can watch a video of our teacher Sophie explaining how we teach online and what you need for your first lesson!
You can find more comments from our students on our Facebook page: Reviews

• First we need your registration.
• As soon as we have 4 registrations for the course, we will confirm the course bindingly and then you will receive an invoice by e-mail at the latest
• You can pay in cash or by bank transfer, important: be sure to include your invoice number with the transfer

• You let us advise you, do your trial sessions and then let us know that you want to register.
• We will send you a registration link.
• As soon as we have received your registration, we will send you the registration confirmation and the invoice for your first course.

• No, you either pay for each course in advance or in monthly installments.
• However, the first invoice already includes the deposit for the second course, so the first 3 installments are €177.00 per month and only €155.00 for the second course.

• Students indicate their topic preferences at the beginning of the course
• From lesson to lesson: vocabulary from the previous lesson is repeated
• Vocabulary is taught
• There is a speaking activity (partner interview, role play, problem solving, presentations)
• This is followed by a feedback phase
• The feedback phase gives rise to ideas for short grammar revision exercises at the beginning of the next lesson

• Yes, even if you are a super student, the normal courses do not prepare you specifically for the exam.
• It is important that you familiarise yourself with the exam format, the types of tasks and the exam process beforehand, otherwise you will experience unnecessary stress in the exam and stress is never good if you want good results.
• A few figures:
  • Success rates of students who have studied with us / students who have taken a preparation course in addition to the normal courses: 100%, grades: very good / good
  • Success rates of external students without exam preparation: 30%, grades: satisfactory / sufficient

• We also offer the exam if you are the only person registered. We will inform you in good time if only you are registered and then you can decide for yourself whether you want to pay more or postpone/cancel the exam. We have to charge the following fees:
  • Exam with one participant: + 50,00 €
  • Exam with only 2 participants: + 20,00 €

Exam information B1 & B2:

• Written exam first (2h 30 - 2h 20)
  1. Reading comprehension and language modules
  2. Listening comprehension
  3. Written expression
• Oral exam following B1 (35 min)
  1. Getting to know each other
  2. Talking about a topic
  3. Planning something together
• Oral exam following B2 (35 min)
  1. Getting to know each other
  2. Talking about an experience
  3. Discussion
  4. Planning something together

Exam information C1:

• Written exam day 1 (3h 35)
  1. Reading comprehension and language building blocks
  2. Listening comprehension
  3. Written expression
• Oral exam day 2 (36 min)
  1. Getting to know each other
  2. a) Presentation, b) Summary / follow-up questions
  3. Discussion

In the event of illness on the examination date, medical proof of inability to take the examination must be submitted by e-mail no later than 2 days after the examination. The examination costs will be refunded minus a €20.00 processing fee.

If you arrive more than 10 minutes late because you have been stuck in a traffic jam or your train has not arrived, you will unfortunately no longer be allowed to take the exam and will not be entitled to a refund. So please plan to be in the neighbourhood about half an hour / hour before the exam starts.

All you need to bring is something to drink, a few snacks, your ID card/passport and yourself ;) We will provide you with a pen and paper.

No, you can also book just the exam. However, we recommend at least one exam preparation course.

1. We will send you all the information on request.
2. Take our placement test (online or in person) and let us advise you whether you are ready for the exam or would be better off attending a language course / preparation course.
3. Take a trial lesson in one or two courses if necessary.
4. Register for the courses and/or exam.
5. Receive your invoice and pay for your course/exam (in cash, by direct debit, bank transfer).
6. Let's go!