Riyas is an Expat living in Stuttgart (Germany).
He works for SEG Automotive Germany GmbH, as Technical Consultant, in Stuttgart.
He started my program “From Zero to C1 in 25 Minutes a Day” at A2.
After completing my A2 and B1 Module, he told me that he wanted to try a B1 exam.
I told him that by completing thoroughly my A2 and B1 Module, one could even pass a B2 exam.
He was not sure about this so much, so I suggested trying first a B1 mock exam and then a B2 mock exam.
He was surprised at how well he did in the B2 mock exam.
So in September last year, he gave it a try and took the official B2 Goethe exam.
A few weeks later he finally got his results.
He was able to pass it with an incredible 100% score in Speaking:
- Reading: 90/100 (90%)
- Listening: 90/100 (90%)
- Writing: 94/100 (94%)
- Speaking: 100/100 (100%)
Here’s a complete interview I did with him so you can learn from his journey going through my program.
Let’s jump right into it.
Riyas,
What did you try before starting with my program “From Zero to C1”?
I attended a course for A1 offered by my employer. I had the comfort of not traveling in order to attend a German class but on the downside, the course was only 3 hours a week and I hardly got a chance to speak any German there.
What was your biggest challenge you faced with learning German?
The biggest challenge was to find the right course for me. I liked the comfort provided by the course in my office but I was not making progress the way I expected. I was searching for a course which would improve my confidence in speaking German.
What kind of program were you looking for?
I was looking for a program where I would be able to understand the basics very quickly and make clear progress with my speaking skills.
What was your goal when you started?
I (still) have only one goal – To become fluent in German or perhaps speak like a Native German. Besides, I had a target of completing B1 by the end of 2020. But I ended up passing my B2 exam :)
What struck you the most the first time you came across my program?
The Daily Verb Juggling Podcasts struck me the most. The concepts of Nominativ, Akkusativ and Dativ were so clear to me after 1 one month of “Verb Juggling”. I was growing more and more confident that I can manage to learn German.
What was the big difference between my program and the way you learned German before?
The classroom training was more book-oriented. I don’t have anything against that approach but I just feel it doesn’t suit me. Even after many classes I was finding it difficult to understand the basics of Akkusativ and Dativ. Now after doing many courses with Herr Professor, I cannot imagine myself in a classroom training which focuses only on a book.
What are some of the results you’ve achieved so far going through my program?
I am able to write error-free (almost) Emails in my office. I can attend calls in German and clearly communicate and understand what is being spoken in the call. I have conversations with my colleagues in German. My work meetings are now in German. I manage to explain almost everything in German. When it gets really complicated, I switch to English for a short while and then I switch back to Deutsch.
How did you prepare for your B2 exam to pass it with flying colors?
After enrolling in “From Zero to C1” I also enrolled in Herr Professor’s advanced “Personalised Speaking Coaching” program and attended the Calls regularly every week. I have been doing this for 10 months now. It has really helped me with the speaking part of the exam. 2 months before the exam, I started joining the “Prepare for your official exam” call. I got valuable tips for the writing part of the exam and we also practiced a lot of mock exams for speaking. For Reading and Listening, I had tried solving a lot of Model question papers which really helped me get to know the template of the exam and I got used to the limited time available for Reading in the exam.
How long did it take to prepare for your B2 exam?
It took me 3 months of focused effort. I spent around 1-2 hours every day on this.
What was the most difficult part in the exam?
The most difficult part for me was “Reading”. Particularly there is an exercise, where I have to fill in missing sentences in an article from the newspaper.
Which specific resources helped you the most along the way?
All the podcasts in Herr Professor’s programs helped me improve my grammar, vocabulary and a great deal with the speaking part. I’d refer one book which helped me a great deal for clearing the exam – “Werkstatt B2 – Lehrbuch: Training zur Prüfung Zertifikat B2”
How did you stay focused and motivated through the program?
Once I started understanding the basics and the grammar concepts I became very curious to learn more. I was very interested in finding out how one would express specific structures in Deutsch compared to English. I was listening to podcasts when traveling or cycling.
How did you manage to combine a full-time job and learning German on the side?
Once I set a target of becoming fluent in German, it was easy to stay focused. I spent most of my time learning German when I was traveling or during my leisure activities. That was possible because I could download the podcasts and listen to them anytime.
What did a typical daily learning routine look like?
The morning started off with Verb-Juggling. Then I would listen to Podcasts during traveling to work and returning back home. I used to spend at least 30 mins every day learning German after I came home.
How much time did you spend daily on average for your learning?
On an average of 1-2 hours every day
What did you emphasize the most when learning?
I emphasized more on the sentence structure. I used to give a great deal of importance pretty early on about the position of the verb in a main clause, sub-clause or when more than 1 verb was involved. Though speaking with the right sentence structure was difficult early on, I picked it up eventually with time.
What was your biggest obstacle and how did you overcome it?
My biggest obstacle was to speak German with the locals here. Initially I could not imagine myself speaking in German because I was not confident at all and I was making way too many mistakes. Herr Professor’s programs helped me a lot to get to speed with everyday conversations. I grew increasingly confident. People started taking note of my German improving quickly.
What helped you the most to overcome the fear of speaking to others?
The German people are very encouraging once you start speaking in German with them. They start appreciating you so much, eventually you would need to live up to their expectations :). And Manuel has repeatedly appreciated my speaking. This has given me immense confidence to speak to locals here in German.
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?
If you have decided to learn the language, enroll with Herr Professor. Start with “From Zero to C1” and try to get later into the advanced “Personalized Speaking Coaching”. This in my opinion is the quickest way to improve one’s German. Once you start seeing your German improve relatively quickly, spending time would no longer matter to you and it is completely worth it.
“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.
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