For those of you with children aged 10-17, the German-language sleep-away camp from Berlin’s D.A.S. AKADEMIE (Deutsche Akademie für Sprachen) offers an unbeatable proposition: you get a two-week break from your brats, they get beefed-up German skills and a trendy set of new international friends.
Not a bad deal, provided you can spare €1299 and a trip to drop them off in the Brandenburg wilderness – Das Jugenddorf am Ruppiner See, to be exact, an idyllic compound with dormitories and a private lake.
There, around 60-100 campers from countries as far-flung as Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Vietnam undergo 20 hours of German learning (both indoors and out) and speak the language during boat races, bonfires, singalongs and day trips into Berlin.
Lest you think this is all too spießig for your precious darlings, consider that the founder of the camp, who’s been running it for the past 18 years, is so invested in integration that he refused to identify himself or his nationality for this article, referring to himself only as “Nobody” from “The Universe”.
Wir sind die Welt, man.
D.A.S. Akademie Summer Camp, next session Jul 25-Aug 8, more info at www.sommercampberlin.com
