About Us
Founding and Vision
The German Academy was founded in May 2015 by Marianne Siegfried-Brookes, along with Anne Honsel and Beate Dehnen in Leicester. All founders are experienced teachers with roots in German-speaking countries. Their shared vision: to create a vibrant learning environment that authentically connects language, culture, and community. Today, more than 130 teachers and over 1,000 students are part of this vision.
Our Mission
Our goal is to create a German-speaking community where German can be actively learned and experienced. We offer high-quality, immersive German lessons and German-language adventures and events for beginners and bilinguals, and everything in between – for children, teenagers, and adults.
We establish, organise, and support various language initiatives such as German Saturday Schools and Kindergartens as part of our larger language community. We support early language learning and bilingualism, actively strengthen bilingual education in the United Kingdom, and promote intercultural understanding.
We create jobs for German speakers and anyone interested in the German language.
We work in close partnership with the Association of German Saturday Schools UK (VDSS) to strengthen German language education across the UK.
The German Academy is a non-profit organisation and is supported solely by contributions and the huge commitment of teachers, parents, helpers, and students.
Our Offer
The German Academy currently includes almost a dozen Saturday schools, a German Kindergarten, and countless courses and private lessons ONLINE and on-site at various locations for all levels and ages. ONLINE lessons were added in 2020 during the pandemic and now make up a large part of the German Academy.
Classes are always active – with us, you can learn German while doing yoga, baking, or climbing a 3,000-meter peak :) Every year, we hold a big Sommerfest, several summer schools, organise adventure weeks and ski weeks in German-speaking countries – and even grammar cruises on the high seas!
We offer GCSE and A-Level classes, filling in the gaps when schools don't offer German as a subject. We also train our own GCSE and A-Level examiners, who can conduct exams at examination centers throughout the UK.
We enable our students to officially demonstrate their language proficiency – as a recognised telc examination center, we offer the appropriate exams and optimal preparation.
We have established our own teacher training and further education for school leaders, and run ONLINE courses for every aspect of teaching, and of running German language schools and initiatives.
Together, we form one large German-speaking family and the vibrant, shared experience of our German language adventures is our top priority.
Our Values
Our goal is to instill a strong German-speaking identity in all learners and to establish German as a natural part of their lives. We actively support families in raising their children bilingually.
Our class sizes are deliberately kept very small to ensure individual support. All our teachers are native German speakers and/or have German language proficiency at C2 level and hold a current DBS check.
We aim to create a German-speaking environment where playful, hands-on learning and lasting connections are at the heart. Authentic language, cultural values, and everyday insight into the German-speaking world are naturally part of the experience.
German For All Ages
1
Children
The development of German language skills can only take place holistically. That's why we play, laugh and discuss together, have many an adventure - and all of it in German. Whether we create our own pizza or hide in the grass as lions - it's always about the adventure itself, and we do it with a lot of energy and interest. We learn the German words, sentence structures and expressions required for this almost unknowingly. This active teaching and learning runs consistently through our offer. It turns classes into teams that hold together, and random acquaintances into German-speaking friendships.
2
Teens
We prepare students for a German GCSE or A-level exam in small groups. They can sit a GCSE from 11 years, and start with A-level training at the age of 13. Our teachers are experienced in all exam boards and often examiners themselves. It is especially important to have a German A-level for students who consider studying in Germany, Austria or Switzerland. At most universities in those countries, a German A-level counts as both a language subject and proof of German. We teach telc levels A1 through to C2 for interested teenagers as well.
From 14 years, they can also work as helpers at the German Academy.
3
Adults
Our adult students learn in small groups, where we can support them individually. We are always open to individual requests.
The adult groups at the Saturday Schools are also regularly involved in cultural activities.
We also offer ONLINE lessons for adults who would like to learn from home 1:1 or in small groups.
We help adults work towards a telc exam if needed, which is an internationally recognised proof of German.
Adults can also take part in our new adventure weeks especially designed for them :)
TELC Exams
We offer telc (The European Language Certificates) exams to our students - German language examinations for children from 10 years, teenagers and adults. The exams are ranging from A1 for beginners to C2 for language skills at the highest level. They correspond to the levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and are accepted as a qualification by employers and further education institutions in many countries.