"Bill! How are you? I haven't seen you in such a long time!"

"Hey Cora, I've just got back from Berlin. I wanted to improve my German and thought why not get over to Germany and do it there? It makes more sense than going back to school here."

"Isn't German really difficult to learn? I was dreadful at school, but I really need to learn some for my business studies!"

"Well, being in the country makes all the difference. The school was great - small groups, people from all over the world, nice teachers - it all helped!"

"What was Berlin like? I've heard it's a pretty lively city, and great if you're into clubbing!"

"Yeah, you're right. But the club scene is just one of the advantages. Berlin's got a lot of everything. I saw as much of the city as I could and met lots of people from the course. My hosts made me feel totally at home. They even helped me with my language problems."

"So, how's your German now? Can you get by?"

"Yeah, I thought I'd forgotten most of what I learnt at school, but it came back pretty quickly. I'm better now than I was after four years of German at school! The class was really lively and our teachers were fantastic. I wish language classes had been like that when I was at school."

"You sound like you could go straight back."

"I could. There's still a lot I didn't get time to see. The school organised day trips twice a week around Berlind and some other cities, so we got a taste of the culture and the history. I was pretty knackered every day when I rolled up for class at ih Berlin PROLOG! You migh want to think about going there to round out your MBA course!"