German language classes for adult students

Aiming to fill Adelaide’s need for a specialist German Language Institute for adult learners, the German Academy was established in late 2016, striving to provide high quality, professional and enjoyable German language classes for adult students – from beginners to advanced levels.

With our 2024 German Language Programs and thereby our eighth year having drawn to another successful close (please see Testimonials for students' feedback), we are proud to present the first half of our 2025 Course Schedule, with all Semester 2 course offerings expected to be released around May 2025!

The combination of small class sizes, carefully selected workspaces and highly qualified and experienced teaching staff is designed to ensure a pleasant and effective language learning experience.

OUR TEACHING STAFF

Hildegard Belzer

MA (University of Tübingen, Germany: German Linguistics and Japanese Studies)

Goethe-Institut certified Examiner (Goethe-Zertifikat A1-C2)

During her studies of German and Japanese linguistics, Hildegard already worked as a tutor at Tübingen University's Department for German as a Foreign Language in several programmes aimed at Japanese and other international students. After completing her studies, she continued to teach German including Business German (‘Deutsch am Arbeitspatz’) with a private education provider in Tübingen for a number of years.

Seeking a new adventure overseas, Hildegard came to Australia and Adelaide in 2020 and joined our team not long thereafter. Ever since, she has been greatly enjoying teaching her native German language and culture to students across all levels - with us at the Academy, as well as at Adelaide University's European Languages & Linguistics Department.

Frauke Guenther

MA (equiv., University of Göttingen, Germany: German and English Linguistics & Literature, Pedagogy, Pedagogical Psychology)

Goethe-Institut certified Examiner (Goethe-Zertifikat A1-C2) - Chief Examiner ('Prüfungsverantwortliche') for South Australia

A native speaker, Frauke brings to the German Academy her prior experience in lecturing in German Studies at Adelaide University (School of Humanities) as well as in the University's Professional & Continuing Education’s former German Language Program. Before that, she taught at the Goethe Institutes Sydney and Melbourne, and has also worked at the University of Potsdam, Germany.

For many years by now, Frauke has also been assisting the SACE Board (South Australian Certificate of Education) in a number of roles involving her German language expertise.

Apart from being a deeply passionate teacher and dedicated language professional, Frauke has been serving the German Academy as Director since 2016.

Vanessa Kreusch

MA (Potsdam University, Germany: Foreign Language Linguistics for German & English as a Second Language)

Having already assisted and taught at the German Department at the University of Adelaide (as well as us) in 2020, Vanessa has since returned from her native Germany for a PhD scholarship position in Linguistics and Language Teaching at the University of Adelaide - and we are delighted to have her back!

With multiple years of experience at private language institutes and schools across Berlin and her ongoing involvement at the German Department at the University of Adelaide, Vanessa has taught adults and children of various backgrounds and ages from beginners to advanced levels.

She has a keen interest in language acquisition, is deeply committed to teaching German language and culture including lots of conversational practice - and loves the challenge of making complex grammar accessible to all learners.

Hedwig Lindner

MA (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany)

Being a native speaker, Hedwig contributes to the Academy well more than a decade of experience in teaching German as a foreign language at the Goethe Institute Sydney, the University of New South Wales (UNSW), the University of Adelaide as well as at the Workers' Educational Association (WEA) in both Sydney & Adelaide.

Her deep passion for language teaching and the immersion in different cultures stems from having learned various languages herself (at native level as well as later on) and her fascination with the manifold ways of language acquisition across a broad spectrum of students.

Hedwig has taught German at multiple levels from beginners to advanced, as well as in specialised classes for individual learners.

Iris Milewski

After her studies of Linguistics & Latin American Studies as well as German as a Second Language at Berlin’s Free University & Humboldt University, Germany, Iris undertook an internship with the Goethe Institut in Indonesia and subsequently taught German at Connecticut College, USA, as well as at various language institutions in Germany and Australia.

Her own love for learning various languages as part of her university studies led to a lasting passion for teaching her native German to students of numerous ages and backgrounds, from beginners to advanced levels, and in group and individual settings alike.