10 Jahre GermanWithNicole.com!

This business started out 10 years ago this month, in May of 2013. By mid-2015 this was a real part-time job, and now every week I teach two classes, over a dozen private lessons, and since I began teaching German back in 2010, I've taught a total of more than 5,550 hours of German.

Wir feiern heute! Wir feiern heute! We will celebrate today! Wir feiern heute!

In the episode/blog post you'll hear and see 10 of my favorite moments of the past 10 years – meine Lieblingsmomente der letzten 10 Jahre.

Sind Sie bereit? Los geht's!

A special mention:

N.B. While the GermanWithNicole.com Podcast no longer exists, you can still hear all of the audios here on the blog. The audios are available on the blog posts published between August 1, 2021 and October 1, 2024. Viel Spaß beim Hören!

First I'd like to tell you about my very first private client, Dan Pinkerton, because all of this started with his German lessons. (Yes, I began with one single client, and we met over Skype.) Dan has two major accomplishments regarding the Germanic countries, one is that he wrote a play called “Do You Want to Know a Secret?,” about Berlin and the Stasi, and it was performed by the Actors Repertory Luxembourg in 2016. Dan was also the editor of the Austrian Studies Newsmagazine at the Center for Austrian Studies at the University of Minnesota from 1992-2017. For this he recently received a medal from the Republic of Austria, the Goldene Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich, erste Klasse.

Das ist wirklich klasse, Dan! Herzlichen Glückwunsch!

Dan Pinkerton's bio is here https://pwcenter.org/profile/daniel-pinkerton and his production company is here https://fortunesfooltheatre.org/ . You can read the official post from the Center for Austrian studies here: https://cla.umn.edu/austrian/news-events/story/daniel-pinkerton-awarded-decoration-honor-gold-services-republic-austria .

Hier sind meine zehn Lieblingsmomente der letzten zehn Jahre:

1. Being called “German Lady”

In an A1 class session earlier this year, one of my clients, who is married to another German learner I've worked with, said they refer to me as “German Lady.” That is a title I am delighted to carry!

One of my friends has my name saved in her phone as “Nicole Deutsch.” I've even been referred to as “Frau Deutsch.” Es passt!

2. Video: "Relaxing video trip to Bavaria."

In August of the dumpster fire year that was 2020 I decided a bit of an escape was necessary, and I sat down and make a video that's 4 minutes and 30 seconds of Bavarian escape goodness. There are lakes, a field, different towns, and more. There are a lot of water elements, too.

Es ist sehr entspannend.

Here's the link to the original post: https://www.germanwithnicole.com/blog/43871-take-this-relaxing-video-trip-to-bavaria 

3. Having been quoted in the Washington Post about Krampus.

Last December freelance writer Gina Rich wrote a wonderful article for Washington Post KidsPost about Holiday traditions in other countries and she quoted me in the section about der Krampus, Santa's scary sidekick. Here's the link to this very fun and informative article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/12/20/christmas-traditions-around-the-world/ 

4. Sending my clients German pens and pencils

Last week I sent out a fun anniversary gift pack to my clients and in it were a few of my favorite German pens and a German pencil! You'll hear more about my favorite German pens and pencils in June. Clients and I going to play Kaffeeklatsch BINGO in May, and now everyone is outfitted with lovely German pens! And a German pencil!

5. Der Adventskalender 2022

Der Adventskalender 2022 war wirklich super! Der Adventskalender 2022 war wirklich super! The 2022 Advent Calendar was really great! Der Adventskalender 2022 war wirklich super! Clients and listeners alike really enjoyed the short, daily audios.

[Those posts have been archived. NW 5/7/24]

6. Das Rezept für Kartoffelsalat

Kartoffelsalat schmeckt sehr gut. Kartoffelsalat schmeckt sehr gut. Potato salad tastes very good. Kartoffelsalat schmeckt sehr gut.

Sharing this recipe with my clients was a delight. The authentic, southern German recipe I have from Germany is available for you to download right here:

Kartoffelsalat Recipe Cards.pdf

7. German Vocabulary Masterclass

Vokabeln sind sehr wichtig. Und man muss viele Vokabeln lernen! Vokabeln sind sehr wichtig. Und man muss viele Vokabeln lernen! Vocabulary words are very important. And you need to learn many of them! Vokabeln sind sehr wichtig. Und man muss viele Vokabeln lernen!

If I had decided to get my Ph.D., this would have been my thesis, but I really didn't want to wait that long, so I forged ahead and made this course. I took all of the techniques I have used in the past 20+ years of learning German, the methods my clients have taught me, and everything I learned from my teaching certification courses, both for English and for German, and I put them in the German Vocabulary Masterclass.

This Masterclass is available to all of my clients in classes and private lessons; it cuts out all the hooey & hot air you find on the internet, streamlines your learning process, saves you time, and as it's based on Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences, you'll find techniques you can use to suit YOUR natural aptitudes.

8. Video: How to pronounce the 'Ich-laut'

Der Ich-Laut is the German name of the /C/ sound in “ich.” Seven years ago I made a video on how to pronounce the Ich-Laut and it has helped a lot of people learn to produce the /C/ sound! You can watch this video in this blog post.

The original article is here: https://www.germanwithnicole.com/blog/36260-how-to-pronounce-the-ich-laut-in-german 

9. Ich atme ein, ich atme aus.

This is an audio that I made which helped us all between 2020 and today. It still helps my clients, from teens with test anxiety (because oh my goodness, teens take so many tests now! It's really sick.), and we even used it in the evening B1 class before they took a B1 practice test and they did very well!

Listen to the audio here. First you'll hear me say “Ich atme ein, ich atme aus” three times, (I breathe in, I breathe out) and then when the music begins, simply continue to einatmen und ausatmen.

Sehr gut.

Right-click this image to download it:

10. Writing Elfchen poems for short learning fun.

An Elfchen is an 11-word poem in German, I believe it's called a cinquain, which comes from French. The form is 1-2-3-4-1, and here's a silly Elfchen for the 10th anniversary:

Deutsch
schwere Sprache
nee, schöne Sprache!
Ich lieeeeeeebe Deutsch, ja!
wunderschön

Also liebe Zuhörerinnen und Zuhörer, vielen herzlichen Dank für's Zuhören! Vielen herzlichen Dank für's Zuhören!

Thank you very much for listening!

Vielen herzlichen Dank für's Zuhören!

Das ist genug für heute. Passen Sie gut auf sich auf!