Learn German - your way

Diplomats or embassy staff in Berlin can benefit from my personal language and culture training, which helps to ensure you always find the right word – quickly and effectively. We can focus on the topics that interest you, such as politics and the economy, German history and culture, or the press and media. I provide advice and support if you need to write talks or speeches, and can give tips on striking the right tone. An important part of my work involves promoting clear and distinctive pronunciation. With recommendations for restaurants, weekly markets, or bookshops, I’ll help you to feel quickly at home in Berlin – just ask!

Trust in my many years of experience and take advantage of my flexibility to arrange lessons at short notice. Everything we speak about, of course, is in absolute confidence. I will be happy to provide you with references.

As a chemist, I am particularly fond of the natural sciences. I offer language courses for study and research in the STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

In terms of language use, study and research demand a particular level of precision and clarity. I can provide support.

Since 2017, I have been assisting refugees interested in STEM degrees with STEM language courses at the International Affairs Preparatory School of the Technische Universität in Berlin.

Clear and understandable pronunciation gives you confidence in your professional and everyday communication and demonstrates linguistic skill. Because pronunciation varies from person to person, one-on-one teaching offers the best opportunity to work on your intelligibility and fluency.

Basis is your articulation, i.e. how you form sounds. You’ll learn how to do this properly by training the right muscles in your face. / Articulation is a sport!

Also essential is the right intonation, i.e. how your voice rises and falls when you speak. You’ll find out how important it is to stress words and sentences to make sure you’re understood. / Intonation is music!

Fancy going for a walk while you learn German?

As practical findings in brain research and foreign language training confirm, learning while on the move can help you to memorise new information.

Das bestätigen praxisrelevante Erkenntnisse aus Hirnforschung und Fremdsprachendidaktik.

Let’s practise together on a walk & talk: we arrange to meet outdoors in a place you find interesting or relaxing. Berlin and Potsdam have a wealth of beautiful walks to offer through woodlands, parks, and even historic cemeteries. You set the pace!

Take a “language bath” and completely immerse yourself in the German language, learning as you speak German from morning to evening. It’s a big challenge, but extremely rewarding.

You speak, hear, and think German all day long. After breakfast together, I accompany you throughout your day. Regular lessons alternate with authentic situations that provide a variety of speaking opportunities – in town, in a museum, at businesses, or in a restaurant. When we sit down together for dinner, we review the day, summarise what happened, and begin to structure the new vocabulary that came up.

Thanks to close contact with Germans in situations where you really need the right language, you get to learn intuitively, “from the horse’s mouth”. We speak German, but what we talk about is more than just language. At the same time, you get a great insight into German etiquette and culture.

What exactly we do together is determined by your personal interests or professional needs.

Is life preventing you from learning in peace and quiet? If so, my weekend special gives you the opportunity to focus entirely on your language studies and make rapid progress. You decide the timeframe and content: we will then, for example, work on points of grammar or focus on specific skills such as writing, business correspondence, or reading comprehension using texts you choose. We will work on your pronunciation or devote time to your desired topic and its vocabulary, read press articles relating to it, or engage in discussion.

Would you like to visit a UNESCO World Heritage Site? Get to know historical places and memorials in Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, or Thuringia? Industrial monuments? The Liebermann Villa on the shores of Lake Wannsee? The Bundestag or the Babelsberg film studios? Explore Berlin’s weekly markets? Einstein’s summer house in Caputh? The BMW factory in Berlin-Spandau? Or follow in Marlene Dietrich or Joseph Roth’s footsteps through the Berlin of the 1920s?

I’m happy to make suggestions and accompany you. When we’re out together, you will have the opportunity to ask questions, read authentic texts, and engage in conversation. We prepare these excursions together. Afterwards, we work on our new vocabulary or examine new grammatical structures.

Examples of excursions (one or two days):
The Gartenreich of Dessau-Wörlitz, the Bauhaus city of Dessau, Lutherstadt Wittenberg, the City of Light Jena, following in the footsteps of Prince Pückler in Branitz or Bad Muskau, the industrial culture of Chemnitz, Eisenhüttenstadt, and Neuzelle Abbey, the Schiller House in Rudolstadt, the Hanseatic towns of Quedlinburg/Magdeburg/Stendal/Havelberg, following in the footsteps of Theodor Fontane in Margraviate of Brandenburg, and much more.