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- Category: German learning methods
Falling in love with a German is wunderbar, and ideally the focus of your relationship is, well, the relationship and the activities you enjoy together, not language learning. I'll say it over and over again: Do not make your German spouse your German teacher.
I said it again in class last week, and one man, who is dating a German woman said, “Yeah, we figured that out. She doesn’t teach me any more.” “Good call!” I exclaimed. He grinned. Really, it was a relief, because he’s sweet on her, and I’ve seen the kind of friction which often arises when people make their German spouse their German teacher, and that’s one of the negative reasons why people end up in my classroom. Instead of that, let’s make it a positive reason. First, here are the 5 reasons why you (say it with me now!) shouldn’t make your German spouse your German teacher! And after that, we’ll turn it into something positive.
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Read more: 5 Reasons Not to Make Your German Spouse Your German Teacher
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Are you intimidated by a new German book? You might be like one of my clients, who, after the comfort developed by having spent time working through the A1 materials, looked at the A2 book for the very first time and said, “But I can’t do that! It’s too advanced for me.” Except she had never worked on the materials in the A2 level before. So I reminded her, “Remember that you don't have to know anything until you've learned it and worked on it for a while.”
Focus on acquiring German language skills, not on ‘making the grade.’
Learning is nonlinear and also invisible. So how do you know you’ve learned, for example, dass + Nebensatz? You know you’ve learned it when you feel relatively comfortable executing it in conversation auf Deutsch. This is why we use self-assessment to make this visual. We don’t use grades here. Ever.
Because we have a formalized and rigid (and frankly quite out-of-date) school system, we are steeped in formalized education from the time we enter kindergarten, and for a lot of children, even before that. This create an immense amount of pressure because our educational system is based on performance.
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Read more: You don’t have to know German before you have learned it.
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- Category: German learning methods
In a high-quality A2 German class, you will find several hallmarks, one of them being a Nebensatz mit weil, another being an ever-increasing ability to say the same thing in (at least) two different ways in German. You should be able to give your opinions on more topics.
If you've completed the A1 level and/or have passed the A1 test, if you have a decent (60%) handle on the Akkusativ and Dativ prepositions, if you can use the Perfekt correctly at least 60% of the time, and if you can correct use (and identify) the adjective endings in the Nominativ, Akkusativ, and the Dativ 60% of the time, you're ready for the A2 level.
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- Category: German learning methods
Elf! Elf! Eleven! Elf!
11 Jahre GermanWithNicole.com! Diese Folge widme ich meiner Kundin Frau A., die seit achteinhalb Jahren bei mir Deutsch lernt und sie lernt sehr, sehr viel Deutsch. Hut ab, Frau A.!
This episode is dedicated to Frau A., my longest-standing client, at 8 and a half years and in that time she has learned an incredible amount of German. Hats off to you! Hut ab!
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I am Frau Warner and I am a B1 test proctor, which means I am qualified to give this exam with the Goethe-Institut.
The B1 class I teach, which meets on Monday evenings, just had their first of two practice tests, and they all did so very well! Ich bin sehr stolz auf sie! Ich bin sehr stolz auf sie! I'm very proud of them! Ich bin sehr stolz auf sie!
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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!
The next session runs April 24 – May 30th, and the session will include B1 topics the clients in this class have chosen. I have a couple of ideas, they're going to make their own requests, and in the first session we will make a plan together.
Here is the link to the class info page: https://www.germanwithnicole.com/b1-german-class-online
This June and July we will have a session which is focused on B1 test prep and a sample B1 test.
If you're listening to this episode and it's after summer 2023, please contact me via germanwithnicole.com to discuss your needs for B1 test prep!
Das ist genug für heute. Passen Sie gut auf sich auf!
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