Matt is an Expat living near München (Germany).
He’s an Engineer working as Senior Manager at AMD.
He was interested in reaching higher levels of German and maybe take an official B2 or C1 exam.
I told him that my program “From Zero to C1 in 25 Minutes a Day” would give him a strong foundation that is key to reach higher levels of German and that if he went thoroughly through the lessons, he could even pass a B2 exam just learning till B1.
He took my word for it and in May last year he succeeded in passing his official B2 Goethe exam doing no B2 work at all.
My program offered him a structured learning system that he could easily integrate into his busy life.
Step-by-step he has been improving his German by developing a better understanding of grammar and sentence structure and growing his confidence in expressing himself when speaking.
Here’s an interview I did with him so you can learn from his journey going through my program.
Let’s jump right into it.
Matt,
What did you try before starting with my program “From Zero to C1”?
Just about everything. Classes with Goethe and Berlitz, Duolingo, Lingq, and just working within the culture. All of those methods can help, but I never really clicked with any of them.
What was your biggest challenge you faced with learning German?
Fear. Blinding fear of making a giant mistake that, for example, might cause the heating oil truck to dump 3000 liters of oil into the wrong basement (which doesn’t have a tank). Or calling Vodafone or Telekom, asking them to upgrade your service and finding that they understood you to mean “cancel the service” and you’re out of internet for 4 months. Or filling out the wrong form in the wrong way, mistaking one giant word for another. The list can go on and on. Oh, to be a child again … there’s infinitely less risk to miscommunicating, especially in a process-oriented culture like Germany where one small error can be compounded by the automatic processing inherent in the “Ordnung” that we have here.
In practice, for me the main obstacle was finding the time and energy to practice in a position where I was based in Germany, but really traveling everywhere else. That, and overcoming my natural reticence to look silly in front of others by speaking pidgin German with them.
What kind of program were you looking for?
I was looking for a program that had significant audio component, because I was able to find time to listen to the podcasts and make progress just hearing the language over and over again. Treating language learning as it as if I were learning lines in a play really helped me move forward.
What was your goal when you started?
My initial goal was to pass the B1 exam. But as I got into the material, and the structure of the lessons and tests was explained to me, I became more confident that I could go farther.
What struck you the first time you came across my program?
The comprehensiveness of the program is what struck me at first. Following the structured lessons really helped in B1. Some of your recommended learning techniques were painful, but like exercise, it was definitely worth it. Also, they were structured similar to the B1 test.
What was the big difference between my program and the way you learned German before?
Repeating the audio lessons over and over really made a huge difference to me. In the past I had tried book exercises, and nothing ever stuck. I had also tried the “intensive” courses, and while I found that they were good for a few weeks, within a month or so I was back to the “all the German I know comes from Lufthansa announcements” level of confidence in the language. (e.g. Wir wünschen Ihnen einen angenehmen Flug.)
What are some of the results you’ve achieved so far going through my program?
I passed the B2 exam in May of last year. Again, I PASSED THE B2. If I were a foreign medical professional I would now have license to practice. If I were a college student I would be accepted to start German coursework. That’s amazing. Scary, too, but amazing to me. Maybe I’m not as far away from fluency as I had assumed.
I only studied in depth your B1 material, but because that material was so comprehensive, I went ahead and threw myself at the B2 exam just to see how it would go. My passing grade wasn’t terribly impressive, but considering that I had done no B2 work at all, just passing was a fantastic result. And yeah, you get a legal document out of it that you can present at the Landratsamt if they ever ask for such a thing.
How did you prepare for your B2 exam?
I crammed like hell. 12 hour days of exercises, audio, writing, and even some classes at the local Volkshochschule. That was probably the last two weeks. Before that, I had worked up some stamina by listening to at least one lesson per day, sometimes more. I usually scrambled the lessons as well and took them out-of-order.
How long did it take to prepare your B2 exam?
A couple of weeks of intense preparation, years of lazy preparation.
What was the most difficult part in the exam?
The speaking part was the hardest for me because I was tempted to stammer through it like I was ordering a meal for a group at a Biergarten, complete with hand-waving and article fudging (did he say ein or eine?) in the idea that “if you can’t beat ‘em, confuse ‘em”.
But in the end I controlled that impulse and had fun with the discussion. The examiners put the following issue on the table: the German language has too many English words. I was able to turn that around by explaining that American English has too many German words – we say “Gesundheit” when someone sneezes; police officers ask people to “Halt”. We describe forbidden things as “verboten”, and we send our children to “Kindergarten”. Then I went on to describe how New Braunfels, Texas published their newspaper in German until the mid-1960s, and how the descendents of German settlers in Cincinnati still preface every question with “Please?” (you can just hear their grandparents saying “Bitte?”).
Which specific resources helped you the most along the way?
The audio files helped immensely. And even though your recommended “Traditional Exercises” have all of the subtlety of a dentist’s drill, it was absolutely vital to pounding German into my head. I still have the scar.
How did you stay focused and motivated through the program?
Honestly I didn’t. I’ve meandered through German for 10 years, and this is the first program that actually got me to a demonstrable achievement level. The structure of the program (15 lessons with 15 topics which cover the grammar bones of whole language) really helped me break through the grammar hurdles which had stymied me for some time.
How did you manage to combine a full-time job and learning German on the side?
I didn’t. I took a year-long sabbatical, and during that time I pushed myself to get the B1 or B2 test. To be fair, with the exception of the cramming at the end, I maintained roughly the same level of practice that I had done when I was working, which is to say “uneven”. You can be successful at work while doing this program.
How did a typical daily learning routine look like?
In my case it was pretty variable – some weeks I really worked at it, while other weeks I slacked off. But the most consistent practice was to listen to at least one lesson per day.
How much time did you spend daily on average for your learning?
Outside of the intense cramming at the end, about 30 minutes to an hour.
What did you emphasize the most when learning?
For me it was primarily comprehension. The “From Zero to C1” lessons really made me feel comfortable with the language structure. Oddly enough I’m extremely comfortable in German grammar now. It’s the vocabulary where I need to put in more time.
What was your biggest obstacle and how did you overcome it?
My biggest obstacle was, and remains, practicing the language with others. I’m an introverted person by nature, and as a result I don’t engage that often.
What was the most important thing that helped you become more fluent in speaking?
Listening to the audio tapes and repeating the sentences. That practice was like learning lines for a play … it really worked well for me.
What helped you the most to overcome the fear of speaking to others?
Encouragement from them (hey, your German is okay!). But I maintain that fear even today, unfortunately, only because much of my career has been built on eloquence. Not having that tool available in German causes me to limit my exploration.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone who wants to learn German but finds it hard to find the time due to his/her busy life?
My advice would be to follow the coursework and set aside time every day to do at least 1 hour of German. Then, if you are in the country, switch some of your activities into German. Change your phone into German. Put the car navigation system in German. Listen to German radio. Watch German films (and try them with both German and English subtitles). But most of all use it where you can.
And have more courage than I have so far exhibited in terms of speaking and using it in professional settings. Germans tend to be really appreciative if a native English-speaker keeps trying to speak their language. They know that it’s “sehr schwierig”, and as a result, there’s more receptiveness to it than you think.
One other tip: throw away the Google Translate crutch. It limits your confidence, and it hinders your opportunities to see your mistakes and correct them.
“From Zero To C1 in 25 Minutes a Day” is my All-Inclusive, complete, step-by-step, no fuss, hassle free 75 Lessons online program (yes, only 15 lessons for each Module A1/A2/B1/B2/C1) for Busy Professionals like you, so you can go from scratch to become fluent and confident to join meetings with your colleagues, negotiate with your clients and give presentations in front of your bosses IN GERMAN. Even if you have a busy working schedule.
If you’d like to be added to the Waiting List of “From Zero to C1”, enter your information below, and you’ll be the first to know when I re-open the course.