This is another instalment in my grammar series where I try to answer some of the questions posed by readers of my newsletter and (hopefully) shed some light on certain bewildering grammar topics, always with a practical focus on how…
Learning Languages With Netflix Has Just Become So Much Easier
Many language learners are watching movies to improve their listening comprehension and pick up new words. Some like to just immerse themselves in the foreign language with foreign subtitles, others watch it with foreign audio and subtitles in their native…
“It doesn’t matter how good our product is if nobody knows about it.”
The following interview is part of an interview series in which we feature education professionals from a variety of different fields in order to highlight individual efforts and creative solutions to education in the 21st century. If you want to participate simply…
When Learning Online Is The New Normal
When I quit my teaching job more than ten years ago to strike out on my own as an online language teacher, I was met with stares of consternation. Old acquaintances warned me of the perils of pennilessness and urged…
“We Had To Quickly Learn How To Go Digital”
The following interview is part of an interview series in which we feature education professionals from a variety of different fields in order to highlight individual efforts and creative solutions to education in the 21st century. If you want to participate simply…
How To Start An Online Book Club
If there ever was a perfect time to start an online book club, this is it. Everyone is looking for inspiration, distraction, anything to feel like life as we know it continues. We finally have the time to tackle books…
Battling Corona With Culture: Berlin Philharmonics & Viennese Opera Giving Away Free Access to Livestreams
Ever wanted to visit the Berlin Philharmonic but never found the time or money? Well, now they’re coming to you, free of charge. Due to cancellations of physical events because of the coronavirus, they are now giving away free access…
Boost Your German Vocab With This Quirky Web Game
While sorting through some old files recently (definitely not procrastination but research!) I stumbled over some old notes and re-discovered this quirky little language learning game which is just too good not to share. It’s called Ba Ba Dum, and…
3 Simple Rules of German Negation: How To Position “Nicht” in A Sentence
German syntax can be quite daunting. There are many moving parts. It can be helpful to split things up into smaller more manageable bits. Earlier today for example a question came up on the newsletter about the correct placement of…
New: German Dialogues For Beginners & Intermediates (PDF, MOBI, EPUB)
Over the past few months I’ve been thinking a lot about the power of dialogue. Whether it’s the Socratic dialogues or the Analects of Confucius, both Eastern and Western traditions have been using dialogue as a teaching tool for more…
Should German Learners Use Google Translate?
When Wikipedia first became popular I remember my teachers and professors scoffing at it: “A free encyclopedia? On the Internet? Why, that can’t be good! You had better learn to use the library instead, young whippersnapper!” And yet everyone still…
“Schlaflose Sarah”, or: How to Make an App When You Don’t Know How
Ever since I first started writing interactive fantasy fiction for German learners back in 2013 I’ve been toying with the idea of doing something similar in app form. But I had two problems. First of all, the fantasy genre wasn’t…
