In Part 1, we explored the three most problematic approaches to learning German.

In Part 2 here today, we'll explore solutions to those three problematic approaches. They're all easier than you think, easily actionable, and will get you further in German than you might have thought possible.

If you're frustrated with German, if you haven't made progress like you wanted, and you just don't know what to do differently, this is for you.

N.B. While the GermanWithNicole.com Podcast no longer exists, you can still hear 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!

One: Go for QUALITY over QUANTITY.

To stop consuming German, you need to start digesting it. Roll it over in your mind, make friends with it, marinate in it, breathe it in and exhale it out, engage with it.

Stop doing the “fast food” practices and digest German like a beautiful, tasty, nutritious brunch. Take it in with all of your senses, go back for seconds, compare it, size it up, form an opinion. Brunch is inherently relaxed, so treat learning German like you would a lovely brunch with some of your favorite people.

Two: To get out of overwhelm, instead, simplify what you do.

If you are in a German class or are in lessons, then digest more of what you have done in class, digest your homework more, go over things again with fresh eyes, re-write a text, listen to some audios from the book again. Figure out how to really get as much out of those materials as possible, and then add only one or two specifically chosen things into the mix. Concentrate on ONE YouTube channel with videos you can understand and that aren't too challenging. Follow only a handful of your favorite German personalities online.

Again: quality over quantity.

Three: Instead of getting caught up in the latest “language learning whatever,” be selective about who you listen to. There is a LOT of hot air & hooey online, and the sheer ease with which we can put a text, a picture, or a video online means that anybody can be out there posting texts, pictures, and videos. Here's one illustrative example of why you should be so selective:

One of my clients came to a lesson really upset, and she said something like this “I know I've had a lot of extra work lately, as well as a lot of private matters to deal with, but I follow this German learner on Instagram and I know she's in a German-speaking country and she's in an A2 class that meets more often, but she makes so much more progress than I do. I try not to compare myself, but I just can't help it. This makes me feel awful.” My client was really frustrated, and it was painful to hear, so I asked her to send me a screenshot of this Instagram person's post that had caused her comparison-itis.

She sent me a screenshot and it took only a moment for me to see the truth behind the online façade: This German learner on Instagram had not posted a picture of her original text. She had posted a perfectly crafted and 100% correctly written text. There were no misspellings, no missed capital letters on the nouns, all the commas were perfectly placed, and some of the constructions this supposed A2-level learner had used were way beyond the A2 level.

I looked at my client and said, “This is fake. There's no way she wrote this herself, and if she did, her native German-speaking boyfriend re-wrote it for her, or her teacher corrected it and she re-wrote it. It's simply IMpossible for her to be an A2-level learner and to write such a perfect text.”

My client decided to unfollow this questionable German learner, and she was relieved. She had a lot less comparison-itis after that and it has made a real, positive, constructive difference in her German learning.

That is one fantastic example of why you should still listen to your gut and be selective about who you listen to when it comes to learning German.

Your time and attention are valuable, so treat them as such.

So there you have it! The three things you need TO DO for German are:

• go for quality over quantity.
• Simplify what you do so you can get more out of the things that you DO, and
• be selective about who give your valuable time and attention to.

I think you already know what your homework is. ;-)

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