Learning German - How to Become Fluent

By Attila Rettig

A COMPACT EBOOK ABOUT LEARNING GERMAN AND LEARNING LANGUAGES IN GENERAL.

 

How to learn a language with Netflix? Why should I have a learning plan? What are the best language learning apps? Which online dictionaries should I use? How can I sound like a native? Which 4 skills should I work on? What are the most common mistakes German learners make? 

 

In this guidance, you will find not only answers to these questions but also many motivational, encouraging thoughts and tons of practical tips from Attila, a German teacher with 25 years of experience. 

 

Have you been learning German for years but got stuck on a certain level? You don't know how to get further? You understand much but you cannot speak as well as you would like to? You have come to the right place.

 

What will you find in the book?

 

→ Relevant, up-to-date and useful content.

→ More than 450 clickable links.

→ Plenty of fun and effective methods.

→ 15 PDF downloads.

→ A flexible learning plan.

 

You will learn how to motivate yourself and how to overcome the massive hurdle which won't let you reach fluency in German or other languages.

 

Since the eBook contains over 450 clickable links, it's recommended to read it on a smartphone, tablet or laptop.

 

Recommended to B1 students and above.

 

Let's get started!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Attila Rettig
• Release date: Apr 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201951863

Book preview

FOREWORD

Short introduction in which I tell you why this book will prove useful.

When I started learning languages too many years ago, it was clear how to proceed. Charts and lists, work, and control. First grammar, then vocabulary. Communicate?  If you insist, fine with me. Good way to check grammar and vocabulary. 

Everything worked out as planned, and the predictable result was sheer terror when the time came that I would finally want to use the language.

Times have changed. There are so many new approaches and possibilities; you just have to choose. 

However, finding the right tools can be just as challenging. And that’s where Attila comes in. Fortunately, you have come across his book. It will help you to find what suits you best:  fun and practical means to progress, ways to stay motivated and to avoid frustration, resources and methods that will help you to integrate learning into your everyday life. Even when things sometimes seem to be going nowhere, Attila will be your amiable, knowledgeable companion who provides guidance and assistance to help you out.

Viel Spaß!

Mr Enno Blanke, German Philology M.A., copywriter

PREFACE

With regard to the story behind the writing of this book, I was looking for a book for my students that has both motivational and practical components with a lot of up-to-date and useful tips and tricks, ideally in an eBook format so they could just click on a link and go directly to the YouTube video, the book sale page, the external website or another source.

Moreover, I didn’t want that book for my students to be a boring compendium of grammar exercises or pages-long descriptions of how to use flashcards. It needed to be written in an entertaining yet highly practicable way where you can say after going through a chapter or even the whole book: I had a fun read, got inspired and learned a ton of good stuff!

After a long, unsuccessful search for this book, I thought, Ok, I’m going to write one.

This eBook is the result of my one and a half years of writing, summarising experiences of twenty-five years of teaching German in three different countries. I’ve learned in these times about the characteristics and specifics of the German language at least as much as the students I taught.

I started my career after getting my university degree as a German teacher in Budapest¹. I thought I could work applying my new skills as I learned how to teach, therefore, I know how to do it. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

It’s like getting your driving license. Do you have the permission to drive a car? Yes. Can you drive a car? Not really. You have the basic skills but with a learning-by-doing approach (you drive a lot, thousands of kilometres), you can become a good driver after a while.

I worked in different language schools for two years in Budapest, and after that, in 2001, I went to North Germany, and later I became part of an integration project in Hamburg. My colleagues and I have provided German lessons to people from different countries to get them integrated. It was one of the most beautiful experiences in my entire life. I had the opportunity to get to know beautiful people from over thirty countries, together with their culture, mentality, and food! Aside from this, I used to work in the same centre as a German school teacher for native Germans to help them get their secondary school certificate. It was sometimes tough – most of my students in this second project had gone through a rough patch, such as drug addiction, teenage pregnancy or even spending time in a correctional facility, but I met great people, it was very rewarding, and I could make useful experiences.

I also taught at the Academy of Arts in Hamburg for two semesters with a bunch of interesting students from all over the world. It was a fun time for me – I hope they enjoyed the lessons too.

In 2012, we moved to Cracow, Poland - we have lived here ever since. I restarted my career as an English and German speaking communication trainer in a large international company for two years, I later worked in language schools, and in 2014, I started my own language school. We are in our fifteenth semester right now.

While working in language schools and in my own school, plus delivering company courses in several large corporations since 2012, I have taught over 150 groups. More than thirty private students can be added to this list.

Altogether, I believe I’ve had in my activity as a German teacher and communication trainer for the last two and a half decades more than 2,000 participants, which means more than 2,000 different personalities, personal histories, individual needs and goals.

We have lived through very emotional situations – both negative and positive. Once, a young refugee spoke about her struggles that she experienced on their way to Germany. She told us very sad, personal stories, and all ten participants and the teacher (me) had tears in our eyes. Some of them openly wept. Another time, a young man enthusiastically told us his story about a successful integration into the society, finding a German partner, friends, and a new job as an architect. It was an uplifting moment, some of us also had tears in our eyes – this time it was tears of joy.

I’ve heard in my classes about the deaths of relatives and friends, sadness, and tragedies, but luckily, there was more often a lot of happiness and joy. During the integration courses in Hamburg, once a week we went on an excursion in the city with the group and then we had a nice cup of coffee afterwards. That's how we got to know Hamburg – and each other.

Several times, participants in my courses became a couple and they would not have met each other if it wasn’t for the course. Some of them even got married and became parents later – beautiful and heart-warming experiences.

But it is not only the emotional component that makes my job great: it’s also amazing to experience the progress from being a language-baby (completely beginner) to a fluent speaker, within a couple of years. People got jobs because of their developed language skills, people became integrated in German society, people found a new perspective in their lives. For me, it was often a life-changing experience – I learned a lot, moreover, I could change the attitude or even the lives of other people too.

Yes, there are so many beautiful aspects of being a simple language teacher. Needless to say, we also had a lot of parties after the last meeting in the course. Back in the days, in Hamburg, we organized international food trade fairs – people from different countries bought their own prepared food – a truly rewarding and delicious experience!

Helping people, experiencing the development of language skills, changing negative attitudes, broadening horizons, living moments of great intensity and emotions with other human beings with different backgrounds – that’s why I love my job.

Due to the global pandemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (ah, that’s why it’s called COVID-19!), caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the world has changed and so have my German classes. In March 2020, I had to re-organize all my classes and private students. Fortunately, I was able to change my complete teaching system, including homework, whiteboards, and live sessions, even for the better; teaching online has opened a new horizon of possibilities and great tools. To be honest, I like it more than conventional classes, thanks to the almost endless digital-virtual possibilities and the flexibility.

As for my language learning experiences, apart from English, I have also learned Russian and Spanish - both still at a low level, between A1 and A2.

Currently, I’m learning Polish, and I’m at the moment on the so-called intermediate plateau (the main topic of this book), somewhere between the B1 and B2 levels. The plan is (after I reach fluency in Polish), to learn Italian – which is for me the most beautiful language on this planet – and Estonian, because it sounds like an Elvish language, simply beautiful and exotic. If I will still have energy, I would like to learn Korean – among other reasons because of the cinematic culture.

So, there we have it, these are the reasons why I chose to create this book and I hope you have as much enjoyment reading it as I’ve had writing it.

I invite you to grab a coffee, put your feet up, and enjoy reading my book.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome! You have probably bought this eBook because you would like to optimise your German language level, or you are stuck on a certain point, and you have the feeling you cannot go further. You stay in this purgatory, in this intermediate state between having solid grammar and vocabulary basics (let’s say B1) plus a lot of understanding, but on the flip side, you are facing the seemingly unreachable realm of fluent speaking.

Or maybe you bought the book because you just liked the cover or the sample you read, and you want to find out a bit more about language learning.

Or perhaps you’ve had lessons with me, and I’ve recommended that you buy my book.

Whatever your reason, congratulations! You are holding a tremendous amount of useful content in your hand.

This book has been primarily written for people who:

So far so good. Probably your next question is: It sounds nice, but what am I going to learn in this book? I can easily answer that question. This book is about the following things:

⭐ You will get useful advice on how to break the blockade you are having with speaking.

⭐ You will get tips and tricks on how to overcome the intermediate plateau, this difficult period I’ve described above with being stuck on a certain level and thinking I’m never going to speak German fluently, ever!

⭐ You will get guidance on how to optimise your learning strategy for German.

⭐ You will get motivational and concrete practical tips which have been used in my career as a German teacher and which have been found to be both liked and successful.

⭐ You will get fifteen high-quality PDF documents with exercises and explanations to the most discussed grammar and vocabulary issues.

I hope I’ve made you curious enough to keep reading.

When it comes to learning and perfecting a foreign language, you must be willing just to take it in. Just let the language come into you and be open to different ways of thinking. You must accept it - it’s different from your system. To be convinced that only your own language is right and logical, and the others are not normal or stupid – this is blocking you. How often I hear from my students: Oh my God, why are German words so long? or Come on man, these articles are killing me! or Those reversed numbers in German are really weird – three-and-sixty? Why would you do that?

Fair enough.

Now for some clarification.

But let’s get back to the topic. There are some rules but also a lot of exceptions. At best, you learn all the words with articles and the rules to them. Now the good news: it’s not a big deal if you use the wrong article. But please use AN article. Without an article it just sounds bad, like the sentences in English, with a very thick Eastern Europeans in American movies accent: I have car. Car is good. Woman must be in kitchen. Now you might be able to imagine how it sounds in German when you don’t use articles. Once again: 1) no article – not really good, 2) wrong article – better 3) right article – very good! The other good news: there are rules with which you can find out the articles easily – in CHAPTER 16, I will talk about them in detail. By the way, there is nothing like an Eastern European accent. In Eastern Europe, there are several languages with remarkable differences in pronunciation, in grammatical structures and in vocabulary. As I’m from this part of the world, I just wanted to clarify it.

My purpose was not to justify or even defend the German language – it doesn’t need it. What I wanted to show you is that there are explanations, even for the