4 Steps of building confident speaking in Lightspeed German Learning...

The confidence for speaking in German seems to have been the biggest issue for my students. When signing up for my program, they often say that even if they knew the words, they are scared of making mistakes and not being able to finish the sentence. That is why they have been struggling with speaking.

At the end of the program, those same people always say that one of the biggest changes they see in themselves is that gained confidence for casual chatting, running errands, and speaking in meetings at work.

Even though we have so much to learn during the Lightspeed German Learning program, confidence is as much needed for fluency as vocabulary and pronunciation. Simply, if you don’t speak – you don’t even know if you are fluent.

So, I structured a program that is very focused on getting you to speak and build that confidence. This is how we do it.

The first step – we speak only German!

The largest part of every class is about speaking. From the very beginning, you will be put in situations where English is not an option. The thing about that is, as long as you know that you can switch to English, you don’t have that need to learn how to speak German.

We take away the possibility of going back to English, so German becomes the only language allowed in our classes. Even if you make mistakes, you will hear yourself speak, realize some of the mistakes, and correct them with the help of the teachers the next time you speak.

That way, German becomes the language you speak in any situation.

The second step – speak about what you need and want!

The next thing we do is let you choose the topics you want and need to speak about in your work or personal life. This allows you to prepare and excel in real-life conversations – learning the vocabulary, possible questions, and answers to them.

The third step – speak every single day!

The element of the program that has an especially good result is the daily voice message you send to the teacher. Speaking German only three or four times a week will not get you to fluency, so voice messages are sent daily, with no excuses and no days off. This is the way to make sure that you speak German every day, as you need in your life- at the supermarket, at the bank, post office, at work, or at a party.

Even more, the crucial feedback you get from the teacher allows you to practice again until you get it just the right way, so you can be understood when speaking. This takes away the fear of speaking, making you reassured in your speaking skills.

The fourth step – the dreaded phone call!

In the past four years, I haven’t had a student who wasn’t afraid of phone calls in German. When there is no time, no hand gestures, no time for Google translate, just native German on the other side of the line, it can be intimidating and blocking.

During Lightspeed German Learning, we have role-play phone calls at an arranged time. You will call the teacher and pretend to be calling a doctor to schedule an appointment, an airline to change the date of your ticket, or customer support because your internet is not working.

You choose the theme and prepare yourself for future situations like that so that the next time you are ready to make that phone call yourself, without fear or looking for a friend to do it for you.

Each and every one of these steps is applied constantly, so after the program, you are already someone who has been speaking German for three or four months. This will only not get you to fluency because you’ve learned all the necessary words, verbs, and grammar rules, and practiced the pronunciation, but this will build your confidence as well because you’ve practiced every day for 12 or more weeks how to make a conversation.

After the Lightspeed German Learning program, you will be able to speak with no fear or hesitation, and able to build up your knowledge further.

Check out what my students say about their confidence levels after completing the program – click the link to watch success stories: https://ivanvotipka.com/