Speaking German really fast to cover up mistakes
If I’m not really sure if it is der, das, die, den or dem, then I’m most likely to fudge it and say it quickly and hope nobody notices. But they do notice and a lot of the time it’s OK and they know what you mean. But it’s not correct, and you know it’s not correct (but of course, sometimes you guess right — but you are never going to guess den or dem — now are you? Honestly?). Why bother? English has ‘the’, so choose one. Maybe just say die all the time.
People have busy lives. Who has the patience to listen to me bumble through a sentence filled with mistakes? Nobody. When I make a mistake, who’s going to correct me? Who has the patience? Who cares enough?
When I make a mistake, what I need, is somebody to repeat what I just said properly and to make me repeat it. That’s what I need. Where am I going to find that? I might get lucky. I might find a friend who will do that. But how often? Is it not going to disrupt the flow? This is a conversation after all, not a lesson.
Now if I continue to make the same mistakes because I don’t understand how the grammar works, then it’s going to be painful for everybody. I’m going to feel guilty. My friend is going to run out of patience. We are friends after all. We want to have a real conversation. We want to say things.
So, I have to do a little work first. I need an idea of how the grammar works. I don’t want to keep making the same mistakes over and over again.
The best way to speak German is to prepare first than find a good coach, a good companion, an instructor and talk to them a couple times a week. Use italki. Then immerse yourself in the language with something like Workaway. But before you do this — prepare. Would you climb Everest without preparing yourself? Is learning German like climbing Everest — no because there is no danger of death!
At Language Gym — Berlin, I deliver a grammar program unlike any other. It’s based on ‘systems thinking’ and patterns. In the first course you can do up to B1 (whether or not you have already done it — it’s a great review, and you can finally understand it). I also offer Scenario Learning. This is preparation.
Slow down and figure it out. You can do it. It’s not easy. It’s not hard. It’s doable.
Language Gym (Berlin) — the home of Scenario Learning and Hammer the Grammar
