Berlin

How to Get People to Speak to You in German

Have you had the experience where you speak German and you get a reply in English…

Practical tips on writing in German to better learn the language

How to Structure a Language Tandem

The German verb ‘austauschen’ really sums it up. ‘Tauschen’ is an exchange where I get what you had…

Really Learning German — An Unscientific Review of 7 Approaches

Ideally when I’m learning something new I want a clear roadmap. In the absence of a roadmap, I’m relying on somebody else that they know what they’re doing and they’re going to take me where I want to go efficiently.

Using Personal Narrative to Kickstart Learning a New Language

Note: the examples given here are from English to German but the source and target languages…

A practical guide to free online tools that support learning a new language

So you want to speak German? I taught myself and I like these tools

Forget Google

How to use creative writing to learn a new language

If you are learning a new language, then there is nothing better than writing stories in that language. True, you may not be able to do this as an absolute beginner, but once you know something — you can write.

Grammar sucks

Even the word ‘grammar’ is a turn off. What’s it for? Can’t we just speak? Sometimes people define a word by using the word. That’s…

Tarzan German

Some years ago I was paralysed by the German language and all of it’s rules. Then I wondered how Tarzan would have spoken German. So here’s what I came up with…

I wanted it to be incredibly easy (for English speakers anyway). We are told that English came from German. We know…