How German Changed My Life: Dr. Janice D., Alberta, Canada

Nicole’s note: This is an email that I received from a client this summer after she had her Swiss Citizenship Interview. In addition to practicing speaking in German, we spent several lessons discussing the Swiss governmental system and how to prepare mentally for such an exam. Our final lesson before her interview was a practice interview. Here’s what she had to say.

Let's get real: most German classes overwhelm you with information.

They're dry, filled with grammar and exercises as interesting as sawdust.

The homework is a chore.

Aber nicht hier! But not here!

Would you like to learn German in a small group?

Where fun is a major factor?

And where you know exactly what you will learn, and then learn it?

Then this German class is for you! We start on Saturday, September 8th. That's four days away!

Introducing: German for Beginners A1.1

Now you can learn German at a realistic pace, without grades, and with loads of speaking practice.

What You Won't Get in This Class:

You won't get overwhelmed.

You won't get too much homework.

You won't get exercises that are too difficult.

You won't get boring grammar drills. (Yuck!)

What You Will Get in This Class:

You will get clear explanations of the materials.

You will get plenty of time to speak German.

You will get fun exercises which you can practice during the week.

You will have the answer key the homework exercises.

You will get support from me (Nicole) every step of the way!

Would you like to learn German in a supportive environment?

Where fun is a major factor?

And where you know exactly what you will learn, and then learn it?

Then this German class is for you!

Introducing: German for Beginners A1.1

Now you can learn German at a realistic pace, without grades, and with loads of speaking practice. This German class is limited to 8 participants and meets for 90 minutes. Classes are Saturdays from 12:30 - 2:00 p.m. Central time and we'll have two Saturdays off, too. We'll be off September 22nd and then the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which is November 24.

What You'll Learn:

This course will only work on chapters 1-3 of the textbook, which was written specifically to help you learn to speak German. The next session (A1.2) will cover the next few chapters and so on, until you've learned everything in the book!

Chapters 1-3 cover things like:

• greetings
• ordering and paying in a cafe
• learning der/die/das
• talking about cities and attractions
• asking questions and giving answers

Remember back in January, when I shows you how to Royally Screw Up Your German Learning this year?

This is your mid-year check-in.

So go find that dusty goal sheet that you printed out and that got lost under another pile of papers...

...and, if need be, get out your German book(s) and notebook. Find your folders, stuffed full of papers, and let's do an honest-and-yet compassionate assessment of where you are now.

You are entering a guilt-free, self-bullying free zone.

Whether you've been nailing your goal or you can already tell you're way off track, this is the post to help you get your German on (again). Los geht's!

If you are already living with less or a minimum amount of possessions, or would like to, this philosophy works in your favor when learning German. Experience a language which is significantly more predictable than English; German is a great language to explore!

You'll also discover here how, in many ways, German is actually easier than English. I say this as a native English speaker, a near-native German speaker, and an instructor for both languages.

Of course both languages have their own unique quirks and things like prepositions are difficult no matter which language you're learning. English has incredible capacities for expression and creativity that German can't begin to imitate. At the same time, there are ways of expressing things in German through compound nouns that will never find their full equivalents in English. Schmerzensgeld, for example.

Here are four ways that German is easier than English and is a great fit for minimalists.

1. There are only 4 possible ways to say anything in German.

In German there are four cases: Nominative, Accusative, Dative and Genitive. We don't have these in English, so think of it like this: instead of having 8 or maybe 12 different serving dishes in your kitchen (like we have in English), you have 4. They're similar in size and shape, slightly different colors, but that's it.

You only have four possibilities. 1...2...3...4.

Done.

Herzlich Willkommen zurück!

This is Part 3 in the series on how to set ONE realistic goal for 2018. You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

If you haven't read parts one and two yet, I highly recommend you do. In fact, let's just be German about it and say "Das müssen Sie zuerst machen!"

This post is dedicated to all the perfectionists out there, all the recovering perfectionists, and those of us who get hung up on one small thing. A lot of people who are perfectionists are interested in learning German and discover that the tendency towards perfectionism goes well with learning German. German can be exacting. German can be incredibly precise and a lot of German is very rigid.

If you're a perfectionist and you're pounding your head against the wall when it comes to German, or perhaps you don't understand perfectionism and have a hard time dealing with how "perfect" German has to be, this post is for you.

Los geht's!