Introduction

The language learning process is tedious and adventurous at the same time. As an Indian and as a language teacher, I would like to believe that from our childhood we become a part of a multilingual culture as they say popularly-‘Unity in Diversity’. As a result, we pick up the nuances of at least 5 to 6 languages that are completely self-taught. Hence, I do believe that the basic level of any language can be picked up by an individual with dedication and consistency. Now German happens to be one of the revered languages of this world and with its powerhouse economy, it is attracting the youth more than ever before. So, let’s research and find out the ideas through which we can learn German without a teacher.

• Proper research

German is one of those languages where the dialect changes as per the region. I discovered this info as my purpose was tourism. Now if your purpose is a Career, then you got to channelize your research depending on the company and the place you are planning to work. Though the good news is- just like in our country all cosmopolitan cities are full of English-speaking youth, the same goes for them. So initially if you can start with words related to greetings and numbers, you may soon find the natives comprehending you and correcting you as well.

• Learn German with free apps

Let me start with a word of caution here, the word ‘free’ sounds attractive but sometimes the reliability factor happens below. Many people are talking about ‘Duolingo’ as it provides German learning programs. However, I must tell you that it cannot replace a full-fledged German language learning course and it also doesn’t give any explanation virtually why something is correct or not. Having said that, it’s a great tool for a beginner especially if you are a lover of video games then it can teach basic phrases through the gaming method and that sounds fun!

• Start by watching videos

Most of the trainees feel that they must start understanding word to word of the content they choose to see. Here I would like to mention, that word-to-word meaning and Grammar drills can wait- first, start to familiarize yourself with German and choose the video of your liking. Be it travel or cuisine or table manners or sewing- the list goes on and on.

• Create a mini-Germany in your comfort zone

In order to immerse yourself in German, firstly you can change the language of your device into German. It’s a courageous step though less taken! But this step will leave you no choice but to learn the language. Secondly, you may start labeling the furniture or the artifacts around you in German and then while commuting to your office you may start writing on a piece of paper as to how many words you can retain.

• The advantages for an English speaker

As I mentioned earlier if you can speak Germany in limited words and knowledge you can survive in their main cities as they mostly understand English and they may also correct you while you are speaking ‘broken’ Germany. Secondly, Hollywood movies have a huge market in Germany and they are all invariably dubbed in German. So, if you are an ‘Avengers’ fan (like me) you may start watching them in Germany and you will surely find loads of English words echoing into them. The third point would be, both German and English has 26 letters which is a great relief for an English speaker. In fact, when you start learning Grammar(especially Tenses) the similarity between English and German will make things fluid for you. 

• Develop a habit of keeping a pocket dictionary

I know you must be thinking that in this age of gadgets, it so not cool to keep a pocket dictionary! However, I would like to mention here, physically reading and writing and then retaining in your memory- has got no substitute. That’s what we did when we were kids. So why not follow that ‘old school’ technique. At the end of every week only shuffling through the dictionary will make you feel good about yourself as to how many words you have picked up so soon.