The right mindset to learn German
- Surenthar Manoharan
- Apr 2
- 6 min read
Updated: May 15
''I HATE GERMAN!'' to ''GERMAN IS MY FAVOURITE LANGAUGE!''?
Is it possible? Ist es überhaupt möglich?!
For this part, I don't think there's a better way of putting things here on how this 'blockage' in our mind of hating the German language is actually preventing you from progressing with the language. Let me maybe put this in my perspective:
I think this is something that I myself have faced before. Even before starting on the journey of learning the German language, it always felt like I was learning for nothing, as people surrounding me were just speaking fluently and comfortably in the German language during my uni time, and I couldn't understand much at all, day by day...
Well, for one, they are native speakers, and being one of those people who's waking up every day to go to classes and hearing the lectures in German with zero chance of ever understanding what these professors are saying since semester 1, as well as communicating with colleagues in German, felt like an everyday fucking burden, which is something you just want to pass away as soon as possible. Well, HAHA! This continued for me for almost 6 semesters of lectures done 100% in German. And just sitting idly trying to get hold of what the fuck these professors and my fucking German colleagues are saying has always given me the constant thought of how much easier life it would have been had I just stayed in my own home country and finished the courses all in English while having the comfort of well-known surroundings and a culture that I was already familiar with and grew up with....
How easy it would have been if I had just finished my bachelor's degree in 4 years and quickly gotten into the job world and excelled in Malaysia, rather than taking a very fucking long time to get a fucking bachelor's degree in Germany - 8 years in total, to be honest, with 3 years just to prepare to speak the language and 5 more years to complete this bachelor's degree in engineering!
Looking back now, it all happened for a reason. Without those struggles, I wouldn't be here teaching German to you guys. Without those struggles, I wouldn't be here having the great opportunities of assisting people in achieving great heights, ranging from passing C1 without ever stepping a foot in Germany, getting a German-speaking job in Austria with self-study and without any prior German language cert or even any language courses prior, or even making huge profits selling wine in Germany with a B1 German level and a strong Eastern European accent!
And today I see some of my students and also a couple of my international friends who are living in Germany struggling to speak German to both native and non-native speakers, sometimes just giving up altogether to speak the language due to a high level of inconvenience and not knowing adequate and the right words to say something.... What a reflection of my past self! 😮.
So what can I say here that can give some strong practical advice that for sure tells someone that whatever struggles they are facing right now are just phases, or that the difficulty that they are facing with the German language will become something natural in a very short time???
Here's what I can say to anyone having a hard time in Germany, Switzerland, or Austria (DACH region) and having the need to communicate with people in the German language:
Don't be knit-tight and forceful to speak the language: Yes, you need to be speaking the German language as much as possible, but in the beginning, when your German is just not at the same level as a C1 nonnative speaker or just a native speaker, try mixing up English here and there, and keep a practice of requesting interpretations on the words or phrases that you are hearing for the first time. And always request your fluent-speaking companion for corrections every now and then on what you are saying.
What I'm saying here, pretty much, is do keep the spirit of always wanting to learn, to improve, and to master the German language, but never throw yourself into the ocean or put yourself in a very super-duper difficult position where you need to think super deep into your brain, thus causing some serious headaches or even worse, unpleasant memories unnecessarily.
Speaking of the difference between native and nonnative speakers: It's good to speak with native speakers to develop the language, but unless they are dumbing down their level of German tempo or the complexity of the language, you're going to feel like an amateur player in an amateur league, say from league 5, trying to compete with someone in league 1. I mean, what are the fucking odds that you're going to win...?
My strong suggestion here is to either find a native speaker who is a multilingualist (typically someone who knows 4 or more languages) or speak to non-native speakers who are at a higher level of fluency, usually at the B2 or C1 level.
Finally, and this is the most important point of all to keep in mind aside from the first 2 that I have mentioned here, it's better to take a daily dose of unconscious emotional (DSU) learning rather than once-in-a-while huge conscious efforts or tasteless efforts.
Let me bring some better clarifications via this analogy and see if you understand what I'm saying here: Let's say you are going to watch a favorite Netflix series of yours (e.g., Squid Game), and also you are preparing to learn & understand one chapter of a boring history lesson. You'll be starting both of them at the same time, with the requirement that you watch that favorite Netflix show for max. 30 min. per day and study history for min. 1 hour! And after a month, if I were to have an exam to test your knowledge in both of them, in which exam will you be passing with flying colors? Definitely not some boring-ass history chapter, that's for sure... You'll be telling me almost everything that happened in that favorite Netflix show more than sharing some details on some history that you couldn't care less about... And since it's a favorite show, you would have binge-watched it everyday.
The point here that I'm really telling here out of this analogy is that the more time you are exposed to something and the more fun you experience from something, whether in learning a new skill, coding, or learning a new language like German, obviously you feel like you are developing yourself really well while enjoying the process. Don't treat the language not only as a necessity to pass a subject or exam; treat the language as if you have treated your own native language, like listening to a favorite TV show that's in your mother tongue or speaking to or spending time with a favorite or an interesting person in your mother tongue. The exact same thing, but do it in German—that's it! That is it!
FYI: In terms of interesting people to speak to, this improving German language thing also works when you are having a life partner or meeting up with your old/new best friends when you think about it: the more time you spend and the more fun you have with them, the higher the chance they also become your close, best, or love partner. You can bet your ass your level of German language skyrockets to a whole new level🚀!
So my dear friends, brothers & sisters, best friends (and potential life partners😂), if you are feeling the need to give up learning the German language with its fucking difficulties, I say don't throw in the towel yet, don't pull yourself out of it, and don't fucking give up YET! You still got it. There's still time & space for you to overcome this obstacle and turn this language that's as hard as a rock into something as easy and as convenient as a flower to keep engaging. All the best guys, VIEL VIEL VIEL ERFOLG! 👊
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