The German Course

(note: this information was valid in 2009, we are not sure if something has changed for 2010)

The German course ("Technical German for Engineers") is an intensive language course for students beginning their first year of PEESE with limited or no knowledge of German. It is taught by ZEMS (http://www.zems.tu-berlin.de/) which is the language department of the TU Berlin. It is a special course offered to PEESE students, 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, for around six months. If you are at the beginning of learning German, you will need all of these lessons in order to reach the level required.

The course is taught by Renate Klebe and Eliana Bislanis, who both work at ZEMS. In 2009, the course times were approximately:

Monday: 12:00-17:00
Tuesday: 8:30-12:00
Wednesday: 8:30-13:00
Thursday: 8:30-13:00
Friday: 12:00-17:00

This schedule was created to avoid conflicts with the other classes you can take (Energy Engineering, Energy Economics, and Optimization), which were (and still are) in the morning on Monday and Friday and in the afternoon Tuesday-Thursday.

In theory the classes should have started on October 18th, 2010, so if you are not attending, please try to find the course as soon as possible. It is not listed on the ZEMS website, but simply go to the Telekomgebäude (TEL building), to the 5th and 6th floors and ask anyone you find about the PEESE German course, or ask for Renate Klebe and Eliana Bislanis, and explain your situation.

Please be warned: they may be upset that you are coming late and show you that directly. Just stay calm and remember it is not your fault. Right now there is no administrator responsible with connecting you to them, so they are just as frustrated as you. Remember, your goal is to get into the German course.

Regarding money: This is not a free course and the price is comparable to other German lessons you would find in Berlin. Last year, students who took the entire German course paid 1250€. There is also the possibility to take the course starting half-way through if your German is sufficient enough, and pay less. In theory this money is used directly to pay the teachers, who are required by law to receive a certain amount for each hour taught. It is no longer clear who is responsible for receiving your money and distributing it to ZEMS, so you will have to explore this issue with the teachers. Finally, it is worth noting here that the course is not too expensive. The students of 2009 were concerned about the price, but when you consider how many hours the course is and calculate the amount you pay per hour, it is comparable, if not cheaper, to other German courses.