AFTER 12 WEEKS OF MY COURSE: CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO ENGAGE IN A SMALL TALK WITH A STRANGER...

During my classes, every student has multiple tasks, but the most important one is sure to speak in German, not only in class but all the chances they get. With no excuses and no switching back to English. Even just for a few minutes a day. It is a great practice where they can apply all they learned.

I know it sounds intimidating, but trust me, there are some good sides to it. First, it is the thing you need the most if you want to get comfortable speaking. There is no other way. Second, in my course we practice your specific real-life situations and prepare you for them, so you know in advance what you can expect.

But again, that is not all you will get from the Lightspeed Learning German course. The whole point of learning a language is not to rehearse possible scenarios and play them out when they happen. The point is being comfortable talking in any situation, and that’s why being fluent is so important.

In your everyday life, you will interact with different people. Some of them are native speakers, some of them speak a different dialect, and some are on a lower level of the language than you. Many of them will not have the same interests as you, so you are not familiar with the terms they use.

So, being fluent is about being able to talk to a stranger about anything. That is the ultimate test for all of my students. Let me tell you how it went for Chibundu.

He came to Germany from Nigeria for a master’s study in software engineering and his experience wasn’t easy. He had some basic knowledge and before he signed up for my classes he was satisfied with his German-writing abilities, but he just couldn’t talk to people. Every time he tried, after the first mistake he couldn’t go further. Making mistakes created a blockage in him so he would go back to English.

The thing about Chibundu is that he was very committed to classes. He gave 100% of himself in every class, worksheet, and practice. He created a routine for learning and was disciplined. What meant the most to him was that he learned that there is no way around speaking German.

There is no certainty that the person you are talking to will understand English and would be able to understand you if your German is not good enough. So, he engaged in as many conversations as he could, even when he wasn’t feeling motivated. That is why after the 12 weeks of my program, he was able to sit in a cab and engage in small talk with a driver.

The driver was native German, so Chibundu had to instruct him on where to go and which way to go, speaking only in German. He handled it great – there were no misunderstandings, but Chibundu once again took the chance to practice his German. He engaged in small talk with a driver and was very happy to have a flowing conversation with a native speaker.

The confidence, motivation, and discipline Chibundu exercised during the 12 weeks and continued to work on his German every day after the program finished, is a great example of how anyone who is committed to learning German can become fluent with the right mindset. I am so proud of Chibundu and I truly look forward to hearing this kind of story from my former students.