Category: General

English There is hardly anything more charming to a German than someone trying hard to speak their language, no matter how many mistakes you do. If we laugh, it’s because we think you’re adorable. Let that motivate you! Deutsch Für Deutsche gibt es kaum etwas Charmanteres, als jemand, der/die versucht, ihre Sprache zu erlernen, unabhängig … Continued

English Tell yourself stories. When learning new vocabulary, try to build a narrative in your head. That will help you memorize the words a lot easier. Deutsch Erzähl dir selber Geschichten in deiner Lernsprache. Das wird dir beim Auswendiglernen helfen!

English At first, quantity is better than quality. Learn as many words as possible and don’t worry about knowing all their meanings to start with. Deutsch Am Anfang ist Quantiät besser, als Qualität. Versuche viele Wörter zu lernen und sorge dich nicht, wenn du mal etwas vergisst, Du wirst die Bedeutung in einem Moment auf … Continued

English In the digital age, don’t forget about analogue. Writing things down is particularly important as it helps you memorize things easier. Deutsch In der digitalen Zeit, ist es wichtig, nicht zu vergessen, Dinge aufzuschreiben. Schreiben hilft dir dabei, Strukturen besser zu verstehen und sie sich zu merken.

English Include the language in your daily routine. Go through the process of making your coffee in the morning in the language you want to learn. Deutsch Nimm deine neue Sprache mit in dein Leben. Wenn du dir morgens deinen Kaffee machst, erzähle dir auf deiner Lernsprache, was du machst, das ist ein guter Anfang!

English With language learning, progress might not always be an upwards hill. You will have your bad days and that’s normal. Don’t judge yourself by your ability on those days. Deutsch Wenn man eine Sprache lernt, geht es nicht immer nur vorwärts, manchmal hat man schlechte Tage und nichts klappt. Das ist okay, solche Tage … Continued

English Measure your progress. If you read a text and don’t understand much, put it aside and come back to it in a few months. If you’ve been working on improving your language regularly, you’ll understand more than the last time. That’s progress. Deutsch Messe deinen Fortschritt. Wenn du heute einen Text liest und nichts … Continued

English Set realistic goals. Learning Russian in six months is not realistic, for example. It’s also quite a vague goal, what does learning Russian mean after all. Do you want to speak fluently in six months, or do you want to be able to order a coffee next time you’re in Moscow? Deutsch Setze Dir … Continued

English At first, your goal should be to simply make yourself understood. Perfecting your grammar comes last. Deutsch Das erste Ziel bei einer fremden Sprache sollte immer sein, dass du verstanden wirst. Deine Grammatik kannst du später perfektionieren.

English Allocate time in a day to speak only in your target language. It might be to yourself, it might be with others, it really doesn’t matter as long as you do it regularly. Deutsch Finde Zeit am Tag, um zu Sprechen. Auch wenn du nur mit dir selber sprichst. Wichtig ist, dass es regelmässig … Continued

English Doubt is your biggest enemy, let go of it. Yes, you might get it wrong. Remember though that people will most likely still understand what you mean even if your grammar is not perfect. Deutsch An sich zweifeln ist dein größter Feind! Ja, du machst Fehler, aber das ist okay. Vergiss nicht, dass du … Continued

English Remind yourself constantly why you’re doing this. When the going gets tough and you feel less motivated, remind yourself why you started in the first place. If the reasons are important enough to get you started, they’re important enough to keep you going. German Erinner dich immer wieder, warum du das machst. Es wird … Continued

English Trust your tutor! Ok, we might be subjective here, but these people have years of training and experience behind them. They know why and how some exercises work and everything they “put you through” is aimed at making the learning process easier and quicker. Don’t question them, simply trust them. German Vertraue deinem Lehrer. … Continued

English Normally, we’d recommend traveling to the country where the language is spoken. Since that’s out of the question at the moment, explore the endless possibilities that the online has to offer. Find a language buddy online and meet up with them regularly. Be prepared for when you will finally be able to travel again. … Continued

English Choose a topic you’re interested in and write down all the words you know related to that topic. Give yourself 10-15 minutes to make sure you’ve written down all the words you might know. Once you’re done, think of words you don’t yet know, but might come in handy and look them up in … Continued

English If pronunciation is your foe try to befriend it by figuring out its patterns. It’s true that the English language is notoriously inconsistent when it comes to pronunciation, but even in English there are rules. Learn them sooner rather than later. German Wenn Aussprache dein Feind ist, versuche dich langsam damit anzufreunden. Es ist … Continued

English Talk to yourself. Yes, that’s right! If you don’t have anyone to practice the language with it’s perfectly acceptable, even recommendable that you keep practicing in your head. German Rede mit Dir selbst. Ganz genau! Wenn gerade niemand da ist, mit dem du sprechen kannst, dann übe eine Unterhaltung in deinem Kopf!

English When it comes to language learning, intensity trumps length. Unlike many other things you might be learning, with language it’s all about pushing it a lot at first. Studying intensively in the beginning will give you a good start you can then easily build upon. German Beim Sprachlernen, Intensität schlägt Dauer. Gerade bei Sprachen … Continued

English Repeat, repeat, repeat. You hear a word, an expression, an entire sentence that you think you might use later on, say it to yourself a couple of times. Say it until it sticks. If you do it long enough you’ll find yourself naturally using it in a conversation at some point in the future. … Continued

English Stop taking yourself too seriously. There’s no better way to learn and practice a language than by letting yourself make mistakes and make fun of those mistakes. No one sounds like an eloquent speaker from the start but you can’t let that stop you from trying to get there. German Nimm dich selber nicht … Continued

English Get familiar mnemonics. Mnemonics are patterns of letters, ideas, or associations which assist in remembering something. A great tool for that is memrise.com German Schau dir mal Mnemonik an. Mnemonik arbeit mit Zahlen, Ideen und Assoziationen, die es erleichtern, eine Sprache zu lernen. Ein tolles Tool für diese Gedächtnisübungen ist memrise.com 

English Look up your ‘true friends’! In every new language you will already know some words from your mothertongue. True friends are a good way to start because they’ll help you build up the courage to take up learning a new language.  Deutsch Suche nach “wahren Freunden”. Du wirst in jeder Sprache Wörter finden, die … Continued