The secret's been out for some time now: Berlin nightlife is some of the wildest and most satisfyingly varied around. When you get down to it, there aren't many places in Europe - or anywhere else for that matter! - that live to party quite like Berlin.

As a student traveler on a German course in Berlin, you'd have thought that the last thing you want is yet another distraction from your studies, right? Wrong, actually: one of the very best ways of learning a language, after all, isn't by hitting the books, but after class in the bars and cafés when you put all that hard work into practice with native speakers.

As such, here's a roundup of four areas for the best of Berlin after dark:

Schonhauser Allee (Prenzlauerberg)

One of the best areas for bars in Berlin is Prenzlauerberg, and on and around Schonhauser Allee there are plenty of hip little neighborhood bars to choose from. It may not quite retain the edgy, avant-garde feel of yesteryear, but it's still a great place to go for a night out in Berlin.

Motzstrasse (Schoneberg)

To the southwest of the city in Schoneberg, Motzstrasse and the area surrounding Winterfeldplatz are both good bets for finding a bouncing bar or two. One of the city's major hubs of gay nightlife, meanwhile, can be found on Fuggerstrasse.

Bergmannstrasse (Kreuzberg)

The neighborhood of Kreuzberg has, for a number of years, been the city's pulsating bohemian heart. During the day, its café scene bubbles over with artsy chatter, which spills over into its lively network of bars when the sun sets.

For something a little wilder, the clubs to be found on Oranienstrasse and, as it goes up into Mitte, Oranienburger Strasse and the areas of Hackesche Hofen and Tacheles, all offer a slice of Berlin nightlife at its hedonistic best.

Warschauerstrasse (Friedrichshain)

And having a couple of drinks in a bar is really just an appetizer for the long night that lies ahead. Clubbing in Berlin is rightly world-renowned, and there's more than a hint of Cabaret-style decadence in the energy with which the locals throw themselves into the peerless dance music scene.

As you step out of the S-Bahn at Ostbanhof (or Warschauerstrasse) you begin to really see what all the fuss is about Berlin nightlife. There's a palpable sense of excitement in the air, and the locals are young, painfully cool, and invariably looking for a good time.

It drifts out of the grimy little dive clubs and warehouses into the street, and hangs there (along with the rumor of pounding techno beats!), until people finally start to go home in the grey light of dawn.

And if that means you're yawning a bit in class the next morning, the only solution is to take a strong coffee and struggle through it; to miss out on what the city has to offer nightlife-wise as a student on a German course in Berlin would be absolutely criminal!

Paul Collins is a travel writer who has spent many a happy week in Berlin. As a former English teacher with a number of close teacher friends in the city, he has an extensive knowledge of how to get the best German course in Berlin while at the same time, really making the most of a stay in the city http://www.languagecourses.net/.