How I Know You Will Succeed In Your Language Studies

I have been a German Teacher and Tutor for over 13 years. I have taught adult learners one-to-one and over skype. I have taught evening classes in schools and companies. I have taught children and young people preparing for exams. And over the years, I have build up a kind of ‘radar’ for those students, who I know will succeed in their studies.

 

Here are my observations:

1. You know why you are doing it. This may sound strange, but occasionally I get students, who just want to try something new for a while, or who have been persuaded by their parents or company to improve their German. It doesn’t work. You need to really want to do it.

2. You hardly ever cancel or postpone a lesson. If you have to cancel, you are keen to arrange a catch up lesson as soon as possible. In my experience, students who frequently miss classes will eventually drop out. But you would rather be late then miss the class.

3. Saying that, you are rarely late.

4. You have bought the book. And you are generally always looking for additional material, like apps, dictionaries, online resources, German books to read at your level, or German TV and Radio. When students do not want to buy the book ‘just yet’ a little alarm bell goes of in my head.

5. You are ready for your lesson. You’ve got your book, notepad, vocab list, pen (You would not believe how often students of any age forget those.) and dare I say homework.

6. Talking about homework: You have done your homework. Successful students try to do a little bit of homework every week. This includes learning any new vocab. They have strategies for when to fit this into their busy lives and use postits, cards, apps, colour systems and pictures to aid their memory.

7. You pay on time. This is a really odd one, but it is true. I think the reason behind it is, that you are valuing your German lessons and you are planning for them.

 

So, if you recognise yourself, there is nothing stopping you!