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Are you looking for tips and methods to improve your speaking in German language? Normally speaking can be improved over the period of time being in the environment where the language is being spoken. It is a fact one can learn speaking by hearing the sound...as we all know that deaf born baby is not able to speak anything even though his speaking organs are fine. There are number of other factors which can help you to reach fluency in the speaking in German. Your background and your practice and method are the biggest one.
Here I will share the learning tips which helped me during my journey until now. Follow if something you can try for yourself if it helps you in your fluency. 1. Play DAMSHARAS
I know it sounds weird, but it's impossible at the beginning of your learning a new language phase that you know every single word, so in that crucial time you can use gestures and body language to convey your message. Sometimes you have a hint of the word, but not able to remember it completely, associating it with the gestures you will be able to use the purest form of communication. In another way, during this communication method, the receiver can give you the word for the thing you were trying to say with the gestures and body language.
I will share my experience of being alone in Russia for the first time in my life at the age of 18, I had no clue about the Russian language. I was waiting at Saratov train station for someone to pick me up, but after waiting for 2-3 hours, I was so tired due to travelling since 3 days from Surat to Saratov via Delhi and Moscow. I decided to book a room so I can rest until this miscommunication can be solved. I went to the stations guest house, I could only say Hello and the lady over there could not speak any English. I was showing with my hand 1 room for me. I showed her my ticket from Moscow to Saratov. She was replying back with her hand one or two, I insisted one again and again. But later she showed me the room one was private and two was for sharing and she showed the price on her phone (Nokia Phone) for both rooms. This way I was able to find myself a room for that night without speaking Russian language and no chance of having internet on my phone in 2013 on my first day in Russia. After that, I got the WIFI and contacted the responsible person about my stay and the problem was solved. That was my AIESEC Exchange Programm in Saratov. 2. Get the environment
The best way to grab the fluency is by being in the environment of that particular language. That would be by moving into a German-speaking country like Germany, if possible or else making some native friends of that language. Even I have seen many people from foreign students are always in their country groups, even after staying in Germany for many years. It's good to be with your countrymen but if you have goals of speaking the language fluently you should also have more native friends, it helps not only in learning the language but also you get familiar with the culture.
I have been living in German-speaking houses since my first day in Germany, In Berlin, I was living with a German guest family where I had my full time talking session all day from breakfast to evening tea, which made me or forced me to speak in the German language. Even after that, I have always found a WG(Shared Apartments) with German speakers throughout my journey in Germany since December 2015, excluding a few months where I was living in non-German WGs. Sometimes it is not possible for people with a family to have experiences like me, they can find some Facebook Groups for German speakers or some useful sites Like Meetup Duolingo Events and other for language exchange meetups near you. You can find some tandem partner to practice your language, there are many such apps available on play stores. Italki is one of them. Even I am also offering speaking sessions due to this lockdown situation. You can get information on M4dspeaks Facebook page. 3. Get yourself a Teacher or be your Teacher
I had to go to a language school as I had planned to do my Masters in German taught course. But many of you are studying either in an English course or working in an English speaking environment. You need German to enjoy your social life and also to secure higher positions or in finding a job. Going to a language institute is easy but sometimes expensive and time-consuming. So instead of language school, you can have an online teacher which can help you out or just go through the online tutorial made on YouTube and other sites, even Udemy can be an option. Most important your tutor should be the one with whom you feel comfortable speaking in front of. There are many people who are offering online teaching nowadays you should check them well before deciding or attend the trial classes. Your goal should not be to get the certificate, it should be how fluent you can communicate with others. Getting a certificate is easy, there are many who are just preparing you for the certificates nowadays. Takelessons.com, for example, provides you with the live sessions for some nominal charges. and there can be many others just a google search away.
When you are having any sort of classes don't forget to utilise it with your friends or natives as mentioned in step 2. This will make you confident and it will be fun to use it first hand. 4. Grammar is crucial
I would say Grammar is important, but it is not that needed when you are working on your speaking part. If you make some small mistakes in your speaking it won't bother anyone around you. That doesn't mean we don't need to learn the grammar at all. You are learning the language with a tutor or yourself using online material, in both cases, you should learn the grammar rules up to certain extents that you do not make silly mistakes like verb positions. You go through all the topics Nouns, Verbs and Tenses and Word orders of different sentence types and make sentences which you can understand easily, make some more sentences using some other words to install them in your memory, if you do mistakes in a particular topic, than make some more sentences about that topic, at some point, you will know them better, just don't try to understand too deep why it is so. Just know that it is so in the language books. Other than that there are some most commonly used prepositions and conjurations, which you can learn again by making some example sentences. The last thing you can do to learn is the real or correct pronunciation, which can only be corrected by listening to natives and practising them for long times.
5. Jump into the language
It sounds silly but you might have heard from many peoples that you should start thinking in German. You should have your digital gadgets in the German language like your smartphone and laptop. These things might sound silly but it helps a lot. I have my smartphone in the German language since January 2016, my Laptop and my Browsers are completely in the German language. This small thing makes you addicted to the language and indirectly you learn so many words without putting any extra efforts. My Facebook and my LinkedIn accounts including other social media accounts are converted in the German language. This will be your first step.
The second step would be listening to German Radio, they have a pretty good playlist and their accent is understandable most of the time. Sometimes they also discuss important things which can be useful to yourself. For example Corona Updates, etc. This removes the use of second hand translated Information, and you learn indirectly as well. I was watching some classic German movies when I was attending my B1 Level classes. I remember the movie named 'M' a classic German drama about the city which was looking for a serial killer of children. Another movie I watched is 'Die Welle' which was also quite good. If you are a student you get free Amazon Prime account you can use it to look for some more German movies, if you are working you can afford to have a prime or any other streaming services to watch some German TV shows and films. This had helped me I am sure it can help you as well, in the beginning, you can have subtitles on until it starts disturbing you. Many people love their eyes and want to give them some relaxation from the digital world can go for German books, you can get any book from the library of your interest with a German dictionary, as I find written German is some more Harder or complex than the one we see or hear on TV and Radio. We are also paying Radio Tax so why not use it to learn the language. If this stuff sounds boring for you, I would suggest playing German board games with Wordplay with your classmates or friends who can or who are learning the German language with you. I took advantage of offerings from my University in Hamburg, where we were organising a weekly culture cafe to practice the language in a fun way, we play some games, speak on different things, celebrate different festivals and also do picnics. This way you enjoy the speaking and learning the language without any boredom. 
These were my tips or experience in learning and speaking the German language, you can use some of them to improve your language and be more confident with your life in Germany.
Last week I started a free online speaking session for the people who are above A2 in German and are willing to practice their speaking with me. I have put all information on my Facebook page M4dspeaks. You can book your session for free under the service tab on this page, for any other query or inquiry you can write to me here or on my Email [email protected] with your questions or feedback. Below you can give your input to help me out with the sessions for the future, I will organise this as live session or as one to one, as per the demand and input on this chart. You can submit your suggestion on this link. https://www.menti.com/xae21h12e5 Ankit SHELADIYAAnkit belongs to the country known for its cultural diversity, which we usually know as INDIA. He studied his master's degree in automotive engineering at HAW Hamburg, Germany, and is currently working with the renowned engineering services provider AKKA Technologies. Before he came to Germany, he conducted his B.Tech in the same field and also helped his father with a start-up to supply the workshop owners in the Indian state of Gujarat with high quality car parts in a timely manner. He sees the world from a different perspective and you can expect 100% transparency, no horror stories and bad surprises when you work with Ankit.When he is not working, he is always on the road to experience the world as a solo traveller. |
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