Who are we?

 A language school for German with quality management!

The language schools BLAISE & PASCAL and the DeutschAkademie were founded in Vienna in 1999, and have enjoyed a lively growth in student numbers since then. The reasons for this are:

• active quality management

• attractive prices.

The founder and director is Mr Pascal Pätow, MA. His commitment to quality is exemplary. It was his aim to found a German language school which enabled everyone to

• attend a high-quality German course and

• to do so at a fair price.

For this reason, the greatest importance is attached to German teacher selection at the DeutschAkademie. There are three important criteria:

• training,

• personality and

• experience.

Choosing the best trainers for our German course participants is, along with course evaluation, a permanent part of the daily work of the DeutschAkademie. In this process, teachers are not just assessed at the end of a course, when it is really already too late for the participants, but also during the courses.

The quality and extraordinary price/performance ratio have caught the attention of noted companies such as:

· Semperit
· Dun & Bradstreet
· PSK Österreich
· Renault
· Peugeot
· Schwechater Kabelwerke
· Essilor Austria

Société Générale

for instance.

 Our teachers

They are specialists in German as a foreign language, and have studied, e.g., German philology, teaching or teaching German as a foreign language at university. They come from Germany, Austria or Switzerland. German is their native language. Our teachers are good communicators, and many of them have done a teaching practicum in a foreign country as part of their studies in Vienna.

Teaching German is more than just a job to them. It's their calling, and they are filled with new energy and enthusiasm every day. It is second nature to them to be patient, friendly and cheerful.

 Our students

The participants in our German courses come to us from more than 80 countries in the world to learn German.

 Administration: Quality control and advice

Ms Miriam Hill MA is responsible for ongoing quality control of our German courses as well as administration. She collects and evaluates the questionnaires and organizes the ongoing courses.

Ms Birgit Lackner and Ms Zara Dag are happy to advise you by telephone, by email or in person in the office.

Interview with the Director of the DeutschAkademie, Pascal Pätow

Mr Pätow, what gave you the idea in 1999 of starting a new German language school in Vienna?

Pätow: All the indicators were very favourable, and remain so today. Learning German is becoming more and more important for many people, because it enables them to speak one of the principal languages of Europe. German is the language of 130 million people, who

make up the largest part of the economy of the EU. But that of course is just one of many reasons. For many students, German is also an important language of culture, in which many of the major works of our civilisation were composed. That's why we established the DeutschAkademie in Vienna in 1999.

In other words, there is a growing trend towards learning German?

Pätow: There certainly is. The eastward expansion of the EU also increases the demand for German courses, because everybody wants to grasp the opportunity to do business in the German-speaking zone.

Do people come to Vienna for that?

Pätow: Yes, because Vienna is an extremely attractive cultural capital for music, literature, theatre and architecture. There is an incredible number of things to see an admire in Vienna. Even in the field of music alone, Vienna is an incredibly strong magnet for many music students from all over the world. The Conservatorium and the University enjoy a very good reputation internationally. No wonder, considering that Beethoven, Mozart and many other musicians were active in Vienna. Even today, the Vienna Philharmonic is the epitome of absolute top performance. But the level of prices in Vienna is also worth comparing with Germany...and security, for Vienna is one of the safest big cities in the world...and perhaps too the successful mix of old an modern - such as the old imperial traditions and the new stylistic tendencies in art. This is also why we can offer our students a very rich cultural program, which they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Don't a lot of students think more readily of Germany when it comes to learning German?

Pätow: That is certainly possible. However, one should not forget that the most famous German theatre, the Burgtheater, is right here in Vienna. Compared with other countries, there are much stronger regional differences in pronunciation in the German-speaking zone. These exist of course in Vienna too, just as in Berlin, Hamburg or Munich. But for language students, Vienna has the advantage that the delivery is slow and the pronunciation is very melodic. In any case, Hochdeutsch, that is Standard German, is taught in our German classes. This is understandable to any German-speaking person, and is used in television, film, theatre and radio.

What are your advantages as against other schools in Vienna; why should one learn at the DeutschAkademie in particular?

Pätow: We simply try harder, from the organization, the selection of teachers, all the way through to our quality management.