If the answer to the above question is: "Yes, I want to learn to speak German", then I will be happy to share my knowledge with you.
Helping others learn to speak German is my specialty!
In this article I will introduce you to a great learning technique below.
If you like the learning technique, feel free to subscribe to my free e-mail German course and download one of my audio stories. Then you can test the technique yourself.
What you don’t need:
- You do not need to attend an expensive language school
- not to pay a tutor
- and no conversation partner
You can practice at home or on the road – whenever and wherever you want.
Before I introduce you to the actual learning technique, however, I want to show you the three basic requirements for self-study:
Three basic rules before I explain the learning technique
Rule 1: Practice every day in small portions!
Continuous practice is very important.
Have you ever heard the saying "practice makes perfect"??
No matter what you want to learn, you need to practice a lot to make progress. It doesn’t matter if you want to learn a musical instrument, play a sport or learn knitting.
If you don’t practice, you can’t improve. If you want to learn to speak German, it’s the same. The more you practice, the better you get!
It is clear to everyone!
But many people don’t know that it’s much more effective to learn in small portions every day, instead of several hours in a row only on weekends.
If you study twice a day for only 30 minutes, that’s 7 hours a week.
If you study only one day a week for 7 hours in a row, it’s the same amount of time, but you won’t learn nearly as much as if you split the learning over the days.
Rule 2: Have fun while speaking German
Many people think that learning must always involve effort, strain and often fear.
Why do you think that?
Well, most people have had negative experiences in school, especially if they had German as a subject and had to speak German in front of the whole class. This is always an uncomfortable feeling. You are afraid of making mistakes and embarrassing yourself.
Besides, you need to study a lot in school if you want to get good grades. Often you don’t feel like it and would much rather be with friends or doing some leisure activity.
So learning is often associated with negative feelings. But it does not have to be like this. If you find a way to learn and have fun at the same time, you often don’t even realize that you are learning. This is the most effective form of learning.
If you enjoy learning, you will enjoy learning regularly.
Rule 3: Never give up!
If you study at home without a teacher, you can quickly lose track of what you’re doing and feel like you’re no longer making any progress.
This is a dangerous time and many people just give up. You don’t see the point in continuing anymore. They have the feeling that no matter what they do or how much time they invest, they can’t make any progress.
But the feeling is deceiving.
If you learn a bit of German every day, you will improve.
So don’t let this feeling affect you and just keep going. This feeling also goes away.
If you follow the three rules above, you are already halay there.
learning technique to learn to speak German
Now let’s move on to the learning technique that will help you improve your speaking skills.
Now how can we improve our speaking skills?
I also like to ask this question to my students when I meet them and I always get the same answers:
- Learning vocabulary
- Do grammar exercises
- read German books and so on
These are all things that can improve your German in general, but not your ability to speak German!
There are some basic concepts for learning foreign languages:
- If you have your Reading comprehension you want to improve,
then you have to learn a lot of German read - When you have finished your Listening comprehension want to improve,
then you have to read a lot of German listen - If you fluency want to improve,
then you have to do a lot of German speak
This sounds so logical and simple, but still only a few follow it.
When I ask why they don’t speak much, I get in response:
"I have no one to talk to."
"I speak German only when I have to. I am afraid to make mistakes and therefore I do not dare to speak."
Of course I understand! And I’m happy to tell you that there is a solution for this!
There is a learning technique that you can easily apply.
It will help you to learn to speak German and you don’t need a teacher or a conversation partner.
You can practice on your own and at home, where no one can hear you.
So you don’t have to be afraid of making mistakes either.
This technique is called the Question and Answer Technique .
This is how the question and answer technique works to help you learn to speak German fluently
This technique was developed to simulate conversations and to practice speaking in a foreign language!
This technique consists of 4 steps.
The first three steps set the stage. Step 4 will then specifically improve your language skills.
Step 1: Reading
First you read a text in German.
This text is also available with a translation so you can understand what it means.
You read this text a few times and look at the translation until you understand the text 80%.
Step 2: Read and listen
This text is also set to music.
If you understand up to 80% of the text (step 1), then listen to the text. Try to read the text while listening to it.
By reading and listening at the same time, you deepen what you have already learned in the first step. Listen and read the text a few times.
Repetition is very important in the learning process!
Step 3: Listen only
After a few repetitions (reading and listening to the text at the same time), it’s time to drop the text.
Now try to listen only to the audio without reading the text at the same time. If you don’t understand the audio 80%, then go back to step 2.
Step 4: Speak yourself (answer aloud)
Steps 1-3 have prepared you for step 4.
You are now able to understand the recording of the text up to 80%. Now it’s time to apply the question and answer technique.
You will be asked specific questions about the text.
These questions you have of course again in text and audio form. So you can read and listen to it. Then there is a pause in which you have to answer the questions.
Always answer aloud! This is very important!
By answering the questions aloud, this exercise is like a simulated conversation.
The genius of this technique is that you can learn to speak German without a conversation partner.
- You can practice from home.
- You can practice at any time of the day or night, whenever you have a few minutes to spare.
- You don’t have to be afraid of making mistakes because no one hears you.
And the best thing is, even if you answer the questions wrong or you have errors in your answer, it doesn’t matter. Shortly after your answer you will hear the correct answer of the audio recording.
If you repeat the question and answer part a few times, you will answer correctly and only this correct answer will be memorized in your long-term memory.
Try it yourself and download one of my audio stories!
You will notice that you can quickly learn to speak German.
If you would like to try this technique for yourself, the best way is to enroll in my free e-mail German course. You will get a link to the download page.