Free German classes — what’s wrong with that?

Technology companies bring people to Germany from all over the world where they speak English at work. This is common in Berlin where there are a lot of tech companies. Some of these companies offer free German lessons so the employees can settle in, because that means they will stay with the company longer or that’s how they justify the investment.

Usually this doesn’t work. Why not?

No opportunity to speak in the workplace

If you speak English all day at work and don’t talk to a lot of people outside of work, there is no pressing need to learn. If the time taken for the German class is working time that needs to be made up — employees will prioritise meeting deadlines over a German lesson.

Not valuing free stuff

It just happens that people who get things for free, don’t value them as much as things they had to pay for. To put it another way ‘people are going to get their money’s worth’, if they paid for it themselves.

It takes too long

People want to see results quickly. A class is too dependent on how good the teacher is. But what happens with remote learning? Remote learning has its own challenges to overcome. Structure and discipline problems are what kills progress. If the program is fun and the student can see progress right away, that will help. But that’s not enough. The student has to forget they are learning German — it has to feel effortless and not like it is boring.

What can be done?

Even if the cost of the program is subsidised, let the student pay something for it themselves.

Give everybody access but pay only for the lessons that get done. Then it is the course provider who has an incentive to ensure their course is fun and engaging so that people do it.

Let us face the fact. You have to be pretty motivated to learn German. Might as well admit it. The job of the people running the program is to be positive and welcoming and never judgemental. If a student is motivated, they will succeed. The question is how motivated do they need to be? If you have no clear idea of where you are in the process and how far it is to go to the end — motivation suffers. If you have expectations of yourself and you exceed them, then you are motivated to keep going.

Summary

I run a language program that includes scenarios, grammar, 1:1 speaking coaching, and preparation for immersion using Workaway.

Dr. Peter Merrick

languagegym.net