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Would you like to learn more German?
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- Category: German learning methods
In a German class about 15 years ago a student said he started German to meet new people because he never met new people. I sure was glad he started the class, because he had a stressful job and, as we later discovered, a terrible roommate. Class gave him some new connections and a really wholesome activity to enjoy.
People who talk about the loneliness epidemic (it's real!) never make suggestions like "Take a German class!" If you're lonely, take a German class! Clients in my German classes have begun to relate to one another in a really beautiful way: they remember things about one another from week to week and ask how things went. They ask about each others' weekends and how projects are going. There is a real sense of holding the other German learners in positive regard.
One of my students in an in-person class I teach here in Milwaukee is putting in an order at his local bakery for the most traditional German baked good they can bake because he wants to celebrate the end of our class together. Das ist so lieb!
Last week in the online Kurs A1 several people asked about a client who stopped attending due to scheduling reasons; I saw this client at GermanFest and I told her, so we took a photo together for me to share with the clients in the Kurs A1. Das ist so süß!
Those are only a few examples of how everyone feels connected to one another. Here are 7 ways a German class (really does) help you connect with other people, and by doing so, it helps stave off loneliness.
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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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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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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 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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