I’ve just started my A2.1 course and once again, I found myself overwhelmed. I sense a pattern here –feeling exactly like I used to during my first classes in A1: flooded with information from left, right and centre, anxious that I might not be able to keep up, but really keen to get good. Fast.

I’m what you could call a lazy perfectionist when it comes to learning new languages. Until I get them right, I don’t bother practicing them outside of my own mind (i.e by speaking to people, writing), probably because of the fear of embarrassing myself. I’ve done exactly the same with French or Spanish many years ago.

So with this in mind I started my German-learning journey a couple of months ago by speaking a cheeky amount of English in class (against DeutschAkademie’s rules…), hiding under the pretext that I simply understand new concepts better in this language. While this might be true, I am aware that it is also detrimental to my evolution, and that sitting in my English comfort zone will not push my limits enough.

But the thing is, in this new course my lazy perfectionism does not work anymore! People actually speak in German exclusively, be it by asking questions directly in German, or explaining new words to using synonyms. During my first class there were tons of question marks around my head: how do people know so much already? Am I in the wrong level? How do I ask this thing in German? How do I explain this thing to my colleague, without using ANY words in English?

Then it hit me… THAT’s what the learning strategy of this school is really about: throw you into the deep end and almost force you to find your way up. It’s painful, it’s hard and it’s uncomfortable. But I can totally see the logic behind it and it’s growing on me. After all, without this system my inner nerd would not have seen the light of day again!

Sintia

Hi everyone, Sintia here. I’ll be taking over this month’s blog. Before I start telling you about my Munich adventure, let me introduce myself.

I am Romanian, but have lived most of my adult life in the UK where I spent my Uni years and began my career in PR & Communications. And as with all “aww!” worthy stories, love has brought me to Munich . In hindsight, it was a huge step considering I did not speak the language and I did not know anything about Munich’s job scene. Buy hey, you gotta do what you gotta do when the heart asks for it!

Eager to fit in as fast as possible, I wanted to start German classes as soon as possible. DeutschAkademie seemed by far the best option. Now, as you know, DeutschAkademie’s rule is to speak ONLY German during classes. I was quite taken aback and took me a couple of classes to put my brain wheels in motion and really grasp as much information as possible. But then… it happened. My inner nerd has been unleashed.

I was a proper grammar nerd growing up. I lived and breathed it all my teenage years, and working in communications as a young adult, proper grammar has also been of utmost importance.

I really think it hadn’t actually hit me before that I am REALLY going to learn a language from scratch. And boy, there has been just SO much grammar rules and vocabulary to learn!

During my classes, I’ve turned back into the old nerdie me who hoped for more homework and who was glad and eager to take tests.

But please don’t get me wrong – I am faaaar from being a pro. I’m just starting my A2.1 class. But man, am I excited and keen to learn this language!

Bis bald!

Sintia