From language teacher to language learner (versuchen, Deutsch zu lernen)

I’ve always wanted to learn a language. 

And, it pains me to say to my students, with them often being gobsmacked, that I can only speak English. So, not wanting to be jealous of my students’ abilities any longer, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I had been studying on and off with Spanish for some time, but I wanted to delve into something fresh. Enter German, oder sollte ich sagen, Deutsch. 

I feel as if I have a good idea of what it takes to ‘acquire’ a language and that’s why I have decided to write this series of posts to see if my beliefs and research turn out that way. 

If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ll know that when it comes to me and learning languages, I am like a fish out of water. However, during the pandemic era and having all that free time during lockdown, I gave it a real go this time and I have managed to keep going. I guess the trick to diving into a new language and staying committed to it is to have a solid foundation of resources (when you get tired of one you have others to fall back on), routine, realistic and achievable goals, and strong motivations.

I made sure my resources aligned to some of my beliefs in language acquisition which are outlined below: