How to Learn German by Speaking to Yourself (with Robin MacPherson)

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► PRODUCED IN COOPERATION WITH:
Easy Languages is an international video project aiming at supporting people worldwide to learn languages through authentic street interviews and expose the street culture of participating partner countries abroad. Episodes are produced in local languages and contain subtitles in both the original language as well as in English.

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Edit: Janusz Hamerski / Carina Schmid
Translation: Ben Eve

[jiafeistan]

Amazing! He doesn't care about the fact that he could make mistakes when he's speaking, he only cares about getting the point across and speaking. This is exactly what everyone should strive for before drowning in grammar books!

[chigwife]

I use this method all the time - in the car, around the house, I even talk to my cats in German. If you already know a lot of the rules, then talking like this gives you time to think and correct yourself, without the pressure of another person, and the more you use or hear combinations of words, or word endings, the more instinctive they become. A native speaker will never think "okay so that's a feminine noun in dative so the adjective takes -en and die becomes der" or whatever - it's all natural, from habit, and the more you talk to yourself, taking your time, the more all these thousands of grammar combinations stick in your head. That then helps your listening skills because you recognise the patterns rather than thinking and translating individual words or endings.

[bernardcleary]

I talk to myself all the time in my foreign languages. It really does help with fluency.

[secilcelebi]

Ich rede mit mir selbst den ganzen Tag im Kopf, und irgendwann kann ich das richtige Wort nicht finden und schaue direkt auf den Übersetzer, und lerne, was dieses Wort ist. Es ist eine sehr gute Methode, empfohlen 👌 und danke Cari für deine sehr deutliche Aussprache, du erinnerst mich, dass Deutsch eigentlich nicht so eine schwere Sprache ist 😊❤

[agustinamansur]

Dies ist die introvertiert Method, um Sprache zu lernen😅

[Civil.Structural]

I read an interesting article about learning and communicating in a language. The writer's main argument was this: we don't need to focus on ourselves (trying to minimise mistakes) when we communicate in a new language. Instead, we need to focus on the other side of the conversation, in our case, let's say German native speakers. It matters how much you understand when talking to native speakers. Furthermore, when you understand the natives fully, they will always understand you, no matter how many grammatical mistakes or mispronunciation may have. What I saw with Robin today was like the true example of this argument.

[Rmkrh]

When I listen to Cari speaking Deutsch, it feels like I can do it..it seems so easy...thanks for this channel and especially the subtities...

[UkrainianLiterature]

I use a “diary’s method” :) basically writing several sentences about my day in a diary in German :) now about my days in Germany (I have been in Munich for three weeks now, so it is even more fun!)

[sarithmejia]

He's so inspiring for everyone out there including me who's learning German and feel discouraged by the difficult grammar

[horsetv]

Ich lerne Deutsch seit drei Monaten und finde es fast unglaublich, dass ich das ganzes Gespräch ohne die Untertitel verstehen kann.
Dankeschön, Cari. Du bist eine der besten Deutschlehrerinnen!

[na_zsu]

God what a good idea!

I have tried so many times to speak with native Germans or to find German speaker partners.... Nothing worked.... All they wanted to speak just English with me😅

He gave me very good ideas how to improve my German speaking skill😄 Thank you very much 🤗

[symbelmine]

This absolutely works. I thought it was quite obvious for everyone when I was younger. I speak to myself a lot in my mother tongue since I was a kid, and was always very "praised" for being very eloquent in everyday life. When I had to learn a foreign language I automatically started doing it, realized afterwards. And yup, it works. Also, when I realized not everyone does it I asked my best friend, a psychologist, if I was going nuts. His reply was: "as long as you don't hear anyone replying to you, all is good" :)

[ampersandcastle]

This is really useful because I do conversation class in school but I’m not very good at it - I tend to freeze up when I’m put on the spot and everyone’s looking at me. This seems like a great way to improve, danke!

[BuvanAlmighty]

The way Cari feels genuinely happy when someone speaks and learns german, feels so gud to see it.. You are so sweet Cari and dieses Video hat mir sehr geholfen.. Vielen Dank Cari

[blumenbauer]

❤️💕Cari, immer sehr gute Deutschsprache Lehrerin.💕❤️

[abubakarsaad]

I have been trying to learn German for over five years now, and for now there is an improvement even-thou i am a Nigerian and i never going any where outside my country but however i know so many things in Speaking German in terms of pronounce, spellings, counting cardinal numbers, etc I believe one day i will get the opportunity for going to Germany. Thank You Cari and Janutz and Walt. Ich Freue Mich.

[desmondhume]

I am so happy because for the first time I could understand almost everything they're saying. I think that was because he was being very careful with the words and speaking slowly, discovering new ways to express what he had in mind. I did that when I was learning english, and I am feeling confident that I will learn German after this video. I LOVE THIS CHANNEL SOO MUCH

[anonymom]

This is so timely for me! I have been learning German off and on since 2015. I have taken some classes with the Goethe Institut (am taking A2.2 now) but mostly learned on my own and have plateaued over and over. I felt like I couldn't remember everything I learned because I didn't get to use it. And on the few occasions I did have to speak, I was so nervous and self conscious that I did terribly. When we were on lockdown in the spring I restarted my learning and I am so motivated to make progress. I read something that Emanuel from Your Daily German wrote, that you should read aloud to yourself every day, and I have been trying to do that. I have also done things like, describe the book I am reading to an imaginary audience, or talk about a trip I have taken. I have just started working with a teacher on iTalki and told her my issues with speaking. So she is going to basically force me to become comfortable speaking. I am so encouraged, and motivated, by Robin. I feel like that is what REAL German learning looks like, that you don't get to see. It's not perfect, but he doesn't stop to think for long moments about what the adjective ending should be or whatever ...he keeps going and he seems comfortable doing it. And I had no trouble understanding him. Thank you for featuring him!

[Leo]

It’s really a good method to start learning to speak a foreign language. You don’t even have to talk to yourself, just trying to think in that language or interpret your thoughts to that language is good practice. It's not easy at first but as you realize each time that you don’t know a word or how to express something, there’s no pressure, you just go look it up and take your time doing it so it gets better with time.

[alyssahiemstra]

This is an awesome idea that I'm definitely going to use. As well, I feel so self-conscious speaking German when I know I am making these same mistakes Robin made but I loved that he kept going and emphasized fun and that Cari understood everything he was explaining. Makes me think I should just go for it. One of my fave videos from this channel ♥️