Learning German in Germany

Hi guys, Kelly here or should I say, Hallo, Kelly hier. Wie geht’s?

Right, so let’s jump right in and talk about learning German! Yeah… easier said then done. Whilst it hasn’t been an easy experience it’s something that had to be done. I started learning German years ago back in London. There I took a few intensive courses at the Goethe Institute and actually got quite good at speaking German.  However,  I then had a horrible teacher in my next class and that ruined it for me!  I stopped learning and never looked back.

Fast forward 10 years and now here I am living in Frankfurt, Germany.  Speaking German?  Well, is a must!  Moving here I was told otherwise, but that my friends, is a little trick they use to get you to Frankfurt haha! Just kidding!

My husband is German and most of our close friends are German too so I’ve been around the language for quite some time. My husband has been very consistent and only speaks German to our daughter. So I guess you could say I was used to hearing the language, but only the very basics!

Language Schools I chose

My intensive German learning experience began at Language & Progress on Sandweg. I loved the fact it was literally two doors down from my flat. It was great. Also, I passed the very first course A1.1 and went straight into A1.2.  At Language & Process I had two teachers.  One taught Monday and Tuesdays whilst the other did Wednesday and Thursdays. They do it this way so you can get a feel for different teaching methods and accents. I truly learned a lot at this school and loved my class. I took two classes at this school and then I had to take a break for the summer holidays to be with my daughter.

After the summer holidays unfortunately the school didn’t have a place for me so I had to look for a new school. One of the teachers at Language Progress had suggested Akzente Sprachschule on Große Friedberger Straße. I called and tried to get a place but they were fully booked and I was put on the waiting list. Luckily I got a place at this school after all and I have to say I am so glad I did!!!!

Class Structuring

My class class was scheduled to meet Monday to Friday 9:15 – 12:15 but as a class we changed it to Monday to Thursday, 8:30 – 12:30pm. This was much better as by Friday all of us were done! I’m not going to lie, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Akzente but it was hard.

My teacher Ella was patient, funny and all around just a great teacher. She truly cared for us her students and wanted us to learn the language. In this class we spoke a lot and that’s what I felt I was missing in my last class at the other school, speaking. Also, this class was smaller so we had the opportunity to speak more. We had about 12 of us in total where at Language & Progress we had 20!

I wasn’t Alone

Also we had a WhatsApp group chat that I didn’t have at the other school and this made such a difference. We could ask each other questions, let the others know if we were going to be absent and also discuss our homework. After a while we really started to get to know each other and starting joking around in the chat too which was really needed as the class itself was hard. I now knew I wasn’t alone in my frustration of learning the language.

Students in my course came from all over. Bulgaria, Russia, Moldava, Iran, Morocco, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia, Brazil and the US. Some of the students in my class came to Frankfurt alone to start a better life for themselves. In some of these countries, the political environment is not that of a healthy one so many were left with no jobs. Some of my fellow students were teachers, architects, in finance, but left that all behind for a chance to have a better life here. I have the upmost respect for every single one of my fellow students. We all have our struggles, but some have come a long way to live a good life.

Final Step, The Leben in Deutschland Course

I completed my B1 course and passed my B1 Prüfung, yay!!!! All the worry and hard work paid off! I also completed the Leben in Deutschland course and prüfung but am yet to receive my results. Saying that, I’ll let you know as soon as I get them! But to be honest I think I did very well on the test as I found it super interesting.

I learned a lot about the history of German, German politics, German laws (Gesetz), insurances (Versicherungs, the Germans love these), and German society. While taking this course I learned too about the similarities and differences between German politics and my government (USA). We also went on a few field trips to the Goethe Haus, Seckenberg Museum, and the WeltKulturen Museum. We were given a tour in German which was super interesting and very helpful with our German learning.

I was truly sad to see this class end, but have been very happy to have my freedom back.

Was it worth it?

So here I am a free woman. Is my German better? Yes absolutely!!!! I can understand almost everything, I read well, and I’m speaking much much better. Do I feel like I have totally integrated? Absolutely not! I still have a very very long way to go with the German language and with feeling like Frankfurt is my home.

For now I have decided to take a break and relearn a few things.  I need to review my German vocabulary, speak more, read more, watch more German telly and definitely need to listen to more German podcasts. Having said that, I will continue on to the B2 course in the future.  In a years time perhaps, until then I’m afraid I have a lot more work to do.

Why Learn German?

To summarise, I urge you to learn German if you are going to stay living in Germany, especially Frankfurt. It helps you with everyday living. And at some point will help you integrate and make more friends. You will need a lot of patience. But I encourage you to learn with an open mind and try to have fun with it. They say once you stop caring about getting it all wrong then you can actually start learning.

Find a school that suits you and your needs. If you can’t dedicate loads of time to it then I suggest a private teacher or learning online, there are several evening courses as well.

Tips For Learning German

  • Check out Herr Professor, a great podcast for learning and speaking quickly.
  • Use Duolingo or any app for language learning. Apps are great for when you are commuting. In my experience, learning through ever form possible is key.
  • Listen to HR Radio in the mornings for the news,
  • watch Tatort on Sunday evenings,
  • listen to German hip hop or music radio,
  • read simple German kids books. Do everything to surround yourself with the language.
  • And make your friends speak German with you!!!! This is key!

Resources

  1. HR Info – news can download the app on your phone
  2. Short Stories in German by Olly Richards and Alex Rawlings
  3. Tatort, also The Voice Germany is great for learning.
  4. Herr Professor
  5. Read magazines!
  6. Flash cards
  7. Language Apps

If you have any questions about courses, schools or tips, give me a shout! Also happy to meet up and have a chat in German or maybe we form a small German conversational group??!!!

Good luck!

 

Language & Progress
Sandweg 12
069 27 24 74 10
info@language-progress.de

Akzente Sprachschule
Große Friedberger Str. 44-46
069 / 66 12 43 14
info@ak-zente.eu