Hi all. I have the opportunity to send 4 to 6 weeks in January and February in SW Germany or just across the border in Switzerland. I will a digital nomad and hope to improve my German language skills. Am considering Freiburg, Konstanz, or Basel (Switzerland). Would love feedback from any of you who have stayed for extended periods in any of these locations or other sites in the general area. Topics of interest - housing options, transportation within and out of each place, language study resources, and any other insights. Much appreciated!
Posted by
Bend, Oregon
2737 posts
Switzerland will be way more expensive than Germany. Look at restaurant prices, rentals, transportation passes etc. to compare.
Posted by
Green Bay
22172 posts
Freiburg has a rather large international university.
https://uni-freiburg.de/en/
Posted by
Schwerin
3776 posts
Legally you shall take care of working visa and taxes - not income but VAT and business tax. Plus further topics when ou work for German customers or create revenue on German area.
Be informed that first cafés are coming up with bans for notebooks and laptops (article in German).
Posted by
18 posts
At that time of the year, all the cities will be rather dull, grey and short of light - unfortunately.
As noted before, Switzerland will be more expensive. The other two are university towns, so cheaper accommodation will still be tight, but it could be better once you move up the ladder. Konstanz is smaller, and it might be trickier to find one. Due to the lake, there will be fog rather than snow - might find snow in Switzerland or Austria though, and both are very near.
Freiburg is too warm for snow, but the Black Forest is near, increasing your chances.
As they are university towns, language study etc. should be easy to find.
All are on the same main train line, and not so far apart. Not much difference there I assume.
It will be peak season for Fasnet (carnival), culminating around mid February. Very traditional and somewhat closer to Krampus that what you might know from other places.
Posted by
Germany
255 posts
For German language studies in Freiburg check this website and here
They do also have online courses for Beginners to Advanced
Google may help in translation of the website :o)
For Public transport in Freiburg region
Posted by
Arctophilia, Northamptonshire, England
34899 posts
I am considering which dialect you wish to study. Do you want to become proficient in Swiss German or one of the many Swiss dialects or do you wish to become proficient in the German dialects around the Black Forest?
Or do you want to find somewhere that attempts to teach you pure High German without any?