I was wondering if anyone has done a similar course and could share their experience.
Many thanks
I'm considering doing a Graduate Diploma online class in German with a British university. It appeals as it is a different approach to teaching, ie subject lead rather than Telc/GI syllabus lead. I am so bored with going through the syllabus and the various exercises.
A lot depends on the teacher, also on the learning material. Which school and which level? I remember learning so to say the standard way, grammar + vocabulary, but each chapter was a dedicated to different subject, e.g. protecting the environment.
What is your goal, everyday functionality, or gaining one of the required certificates?
I ask because after the typical grammar course I knew I needed something different. My main goal at that point was to be able to function in everyday life - to be able to engage in what I considered to be normal everyday interesting adult conversations.
While not a diploma course as you are looking at, I found something that kept me motivated, a reading/conversation course. Basically our textbook was the newspaper. First the 20min, then as we progressed we moved up to the Tagi then NZZ. We each chose articles of personal interest and discussed them with the group. I loved that course, and it was probably the most worthwhile class I've taken, in terms of personal goals and motivation.
While the class helped my ability to have interesting conversations, and thus immensely helped my conficence, unfortunately perhaps it came at the expense of my grammar skills. As you know, you can get sloppy to some extent when chatting. To this day my grammar, as measured by the CEFR scale, is still embarrassingly inadequate.
I switched to these 'fun' type courses because there was no pressure to gain certificates, this was before those requirements came in. I probably would have continued with standard courses were I in need of a langauge certificate. Heck, I probablly should go back and do so anyway... but now is not the time.