About The Center
Located in Berlin's charming Prenzlauer Berg, The Center is a genuine international activity center in the heart of Berlin where children and young people can immerse in an authentic English-speaking environment. Kids will meet English-speaking and bilingual peers to mingle, speak, and play with. All our classes are taught exclusively in English and the members of our team come from English-speaking countries all over the world.
Since opening its doors in 2005, The Center has steadily grown and now offers a wide range of performing arts classes in English for students of all ages. The Center's artistic staff are all professionals in their field: dancers, musicians, actors, singers.
Come by and enjoy being part of our international crowd! If you speak English – The Center is the place to go. If you are learning English –we are happy to help you reach you goals.
“As an English-speaking mother raising kids bilingually here in Berlin, The Center has been a place for my kids to take courses in their native language, increasing their vocabulary and helping to maintain their fluency. It has also been a wonderful way to make friends with other bilingual families in the neighborhood.”
How The Center came about
It all started with a two in one idea. First, provide a place where Berlin's bilingual children could use their English in a fun, stimulating and creative environment. Second, create a community center for international families to share, meet and bond.
In staying true with our original concept, we've kept The Center small enough to convey an intimate, homey feel. And we're proud to say it's run with a personal touch, heartfelt sincerity and love. That's the way we want it to stay.
“Thank you so much for providing these educational and fun times for Lilly and we both enjoy them very much.”
A message from Martina - Owner of The Center
Growing up as a bilingual child myself, I'm well aware of the challenges of being a child in a foreign country and having to oscillate between languages. I was born in Berlin, but spent my formative years and beyond in both Chicago and Cambridge, Massachusetts and attended school there until age 8. The smells and memories of Halloween and Indian Summer in New England are still very much alive in my mind. As are the twenty years of ballet classes which started around the same time. But it was only when my daughter, Anna arrived, that I became interested in, and actually helped start a parent initiative Kita (nursery school) in Berlin. It was during that time I met many native English speaking parents with bilingual children. And the message I heard was always the same; I wish we had a place that would provide more English language input for our son or daughter. From all these experiences came the idea and inspiration for The Center. I hope to see you soon, so we can start sharing and learning together.
“The Center is also a welcoming environment where the importance of imagination, creativity and a can-do attitude are part of every course. A bilingual friend from Frankfurt who brought her son to one Vacation course two years ago still tells me, “You are so lucky–I wish we had something like The Center here!””
“So werden Kinder glücklich.
Auch wenn Ida kein native speaker ist, so ist ihr in den U.S.A. erworbenes Englisch im Hör- und später auch im Leseverständnis auf annähernd muttersprachlichem Niveau geblieben.”
“Unser fünfjähriger Sohn hat im Februar einen Sprachtest für eine internationale Schule erfolgreich abgeschlossen. Der Besuch des Center war dabei sehr hilfreich.”