Double Your Confidence in Speaking

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"To be right to the point, my biggest challenge is to speak without thinking too much.

I learned the grammers, the rules, and so on, but when it comes to saying the sentence my processor is so slow. I need time to think should I say den, der, or dem, also for adjectives endings and many cases. It is not that I don’t know the rules. I know them and I solve them perfectly like I am solving a mathematical problems and equations on papers and exams.

But when it comes to saying them loud it takes forever to say the sentence correctly. No matter how much I study the rule it never comes automatically when I try to speak.

One more thing, the everyday speaking. The needed talk in street, supermarkets, shops, with friends. Those used talk they don’t teach in courses. Like if I am in bus and I want to say darf ich durch bitte. No one teach you such sentences, although it is very simple." Mike

She speaks pretty fluently. I would say her German has become pretty advanced.

Notice how effortless it sounds, how she doesn't need to think anymore when formulating sentences, what a rich vocabulary she has, and how correctly she speaks.

It seems like she has stopped thinking about what to say and how to say it, stopped monitoring her speech and everything is just popping up spontaneously, intuitively.

And what if I told you she achieved this:

Without studying any grammar rules
Without memorizing any vocabulary list
Without doing any exercises or drills
Without doing any homework

And without spending ONE EXTRA MINUTE of her busy life.

Hi, I’m Manuel.

I’m an engineer by trade and a native German and Spanish speaker.

Years ago some colleagues that had to move to Germany for work asked me whether German is a difficult language to learn. I said: “Of course not, it’s actually easier than English”:-)

In order to keep my word, I made it my first priority as an engineer to design learning programs for busy professionals to show that their German can become as good as their German speaking colleagues’ English in just a fraction of time and energy the latter have spent.

The Counterintuitive Secret to becoming more fluent and confident at Speaking

Between the first recording and the second recording Niketa focused on one thing and only one thing, it's what linguists and language scientists call Comprehensible Input.

Let me explain:

It’s actually a very simple idea all of you have already experienced with amazing results.

All of you somehow struggle with the German language, but at the same time, all of you feel very fluent, very confident with at least one language.

You name it: Your mother tongue.

How come acquiring your mother tongue seemed so effortless yet produced such amazing results?

Let’s take a deeper look into why you’re so fluent and confident with your mother tongue as opposed to German.

Let’s see what the main difference is between how you acquired your mother tongue vs how you’re trying to learn German.

How you can acquire German the same way you acquired your mother tongue

When you were a baby for the first 1-2 years you still didn’t speak the language.

In most cases before the first year you didn’t even utter a word.

And there is actually not one single baby on earth who came to the world and started speaking right away.

What did you do instead?

You listened to the messages of your parents.

But did your parents talk to you like they were talking to each other?

Not at all.

They talked to you in a way that was comprehensible to you. Using simple, easy language and progressing naturally step-by-step as you understood more and more.

When you uttered the first word, you had already heard thousands of messages which helped you create meaning and comprehension.

Or as Dr. James J. Asher, the originator of the Total Physical Response (TPR) method puts it:

"When speaking appears, language learning has already taken place. The first step is comprehension. Infants develop comprehension for at least a year before they say Mommy or Daddy. What's happening is that in the brain they are developing a map of the target language and when the map is detailed enough, speaking appears. It occurs in every language and every generation. Throughout history we never had people speaking before comprehension."

We can use a simple metaphor which explains the concept very clearly:

Imagine a glass which is filled up with water.

The water pouring in represents Input, so all messages the child is receiving which helps the brain create a map of the language in a subconscious way without even noticing it.

The water running over at the top represents Output, so the moment the child utters a word and starts speaking.

Before the child starts speaking there is a necessary “silent period” of input which fills up the glass.

And once the glass is full, output appears naturally.

Water sips over effortlessly.

Can you see that speaking is not the result of the child “practicing”, “repeating”, “memorizing” or “drilling” anything but just a matter of continuously filling up the water glass with “Comprehensible Input”.

Once the glass is filled up with enough Input, Output occurs naturally, effortlessly.

Now, understanding this concept of Comprehensible Input, it’s easy to explain why many students feel discomfort when it comes to speaking.

Most students try to say something when they are actually still not ready to express it.

The glass is still not filled with the words, the structures, the connections.

They might have “learned” a lot theoretically, but they still haven’t “acquired” it and have a feel for it in a subconscious way so that it just pops up spontaneously.

Let us analyze for a moment what’s going on when you feel discomfort, distress or even anxiety when you try to speak.

Why you feel discomfort when it comes to speaking

Let's start with a simple scenario.

Imagine you wanted to express: "I'm still learning."

How would you say it in German?

Listen to how this student is trying to express it (BTW, see if you can spot the mistake and correct the student):

Now, it’s not so much about being a beginner, intermediate or advanced student.

The pattern is always the same.

Students are not sure HOW to say something.

So what do students do?

Of course, they resort to the best tool they have at their disposal, their mother tongue.

You’ll start “padding”, which means using the knowledge from your mother tongue, supplying what is known to make up for what is not known.

So you’ll say things in German the way you’d say them in English. You’ll start “translating” subconsciously and saying things like:

Dann ich gehe zur Schule. (Then I go to school.)

Instead of:

Dann gehe ich zur Schule.

Or

Wenn ich war jung,... (When I was young…)

instead of:

Als ich jung war, …

Or:

Ich kann nicht den Tag erinnern. (I can not remember the day.)

Instead of:

Ich kann mich nicht an den Tag erinnern.

This padding feels stressful!

Why?

Remember our analogy with the water bottle?

It’s like having the glass of water still not filled up but trying to get water out.

It requires more effort to get water from a water well:

So what’s the solution then?

You need more Comprehensible Input to get a feel for how things are expressed correctly so you fill up your glass and make continuous progress as the input continuously runs over!

Now, you're not a child anymore and your parents most likely won't talk to you in German :-)

But you can create the right conditions, the right environment with the right ingredients so you can acquire German the same way you acquired your mother tongue.

What would these conditions look like?

You would listen consistently to messages you understand whatever level you're in, be it beginner, intermediate or advanced.
You would listen to and immerse into real, authentic messages and conversations like the ones your parents had in the context of their lives
You would get corrections and mimic your parents thus becoming more and more accurate with the accent and the grammar of the language in a natural way just by repeating correct sentences.

Since what we’re looking for is a similar immersive experience you had with the language when you were a child, a great analogy adapted to your current situation as an adult and Busy Professional would be that of an sports athlete who has a consistent training plan to make continuous progress.

Like a Pro Athlete you’ll follow a specific weekly “training plan” from Monday to Friday where you’ll listen to a series of podcasts on our Herr Professor App while commuting, while going for a walk or while having breakfast, and this way not wasting one extra minute of your valuable time.

You’ll go through a simple 5-step process in every lesson that will take into account whatever level you’re in right now and which will help you to take it to the next level.

At no point you’ll need to “memorize” anything or “learn” anything.

Just by listening interactively you’ll acquire the language subconsciously without even noticing it.

This will be a very counterintuitive experience for most of you because while it’s happening you won’t even know that it’s happening.

The acquisition process will happen subconsciously and involuntarily.

With time, you’ll just see the results of it:

Like the glass of water which is running over as it is filled up continuously you’ll just notice that more and more German words are popping up like bubbles without any effort when trying to speak and interact in the podcasts.

In Step 2 you’ll listen to our “Speak Confidently Intermediate” podcast so you uncover common hidden mistakes that you're probably making.

Think about it, what are the most common mistakes you still make when speaking?

And be honest with yourself.

Still simple structures from A1 like accusative and dative endings, pronouns, two-way prepositions and past tense or A2 structures like sub-clauses, relative clauses, passive voice, phrasal verbs and subjunctive?

Most intermediate students don't need to learn more or new structures, they have to become fluent and confident with what they’ve already learned.

Step 3:

Ich musste mich um das Haus kümmern.

To express "to take care of" we say "sich kümmern um".
It’s a tricky verb because it’s reflexive and goes with a preposition:
Ich kümmere mich heute um die Kinder. (I take care of the children today.)
Hast du dich gestern um den Hund gekümmert? (Did you take care of the dog yesterday?)
Nein, Peter hat sich um ihn gekümmert. (No, Peter took care of him.)

Those sentences oftentimes contain key elements that act like an unmovable barrier on your way to fluency and accuracy, they hinder you from making progress and keep you stuck at a certain level, which leads to that feeling of being in a plateau.

We’ll take those sentences and review all those challenging sentences in detail so you get a feel for how to express all those sentences correctly.

So to summarize, in this 5-step process you’ll basically listen to 3 types of podcasts:

In our Speak Confidently podcasts:

You'll listen to real-life talk and real-life conversations as if you were talking to a colleague or friend, this way you'll learn the real 80% of words and structures you'll use in everyday conversations
You'll overcome little by little the fear of speaking by listening to students who are going through the same challenges as you are
You'll learn things you still struggle with from students at your level and new details of the language from more advanced students

In our Weekly Round-Up podcasts:

You'll learn the "gaps" between what you want to say and what you are able to say, so you notice what you do not know or only know partially when trying to express something
We'll dig deeper into this "gap" and the EXACT grammar and vocabulary that keeps you still stuck at a certain level and hinders you from making progress
We'll help you get unstuck by showing you the hidden difficulties in the sentences students made mistakes with
We'll help you get a feel for how things are expressed correctly by showing you examples and scenarios in which those difficult words and structures are used in context

In our Fluency Stress Test podcasts:

You’ll do some quick translations similar to the Verb-Juggling episodes
You’ll see how other students are doing in these tests so you can overcome little by little the fear of speaking by listening to how they are going through the same challenges as you are
You’ll be able to test yourself, check what you’ve already acquired and check your progress

Repeating this 5-step cycle, consistently lesson after lesson you’ll go from speaking like this

But not so much for me, since I see my children every day.

So what's the best way for YOU to check YOUR progress?

Very simple, we'll check how you spoke a few months ago and compare it to how you're speaking right now.

So, every few months, I'll send you an email to check your progress in terms of becoming more fluent and more confident at speaking.

In the program I call this Growth Progress Review (GPR).

This way you'll be able to keep track of your progress.

We'll record a short audio, 1-2 minutes:

In the program you'll get step-by-step instructions on how to download our app and get started.

Do I need to listen EVERY week to ALL podcasts of the 5-step process?

No.

Always adapt the pace and volume to your personal situation.

First: the 5-step process represents a learning cycle, one lesson.

Some students might be able to go through the cycle in one week, some might need more and some might need less.

Adapt the time you need to complete a cycle and a lesson to your situation.

Second: The 2 most important podcasts are the “Weekly Round-Up” podcast that is like a summary where we review all challenging sentences of the previous Step 1, 2 and 3 and the “Fluency Stress Test” podcast where you can test yourself and check your progress.

So see the "Weekly Round-Up" and "Fluency Stress Test" podcasts as your "minimum core 2-step plan”:

Then, depending if you're a beginner, intermediate or advanced add those podcasts as you see fit and described below.

I’m still a beginner, do I also need to listen to the intermediate or advanced podcasts?

Not necessarily, but you can try in the beginning.

As long as you can understand 80% or more, it would make sense. But if, for example, the “Advanced” podcasts are incomprehensible, just skip them for now.

The 5-step process is not written in stone. Adapt it to your needs and remember, you can always switch to the “minimum core 2-step plan” and just add to it the "Beginner" podcasts in the beginning.

I’m an intermediate, do I also need to listen to the beginner podcasts?

I would suggest, yes, at least try.

As mentioned before, see it as a warm-up and check if you really can outperform the beginner students by spotting their mistakes and being able to correct them most of the time.

If that's the case, then yes, most likely you’ll find them too easy. In that case, just skip them and add the "intermediate" podcast and/or the "advanced" podcast to the “minimum core 2-step plan”.

I’m advanced, do I also need to listen to the beginner and intermediate podcasts?

Same as before.

At least, give it a try and check if you really can outperform the beginner or intermediate students by spotting their mistakes and being able to correct them most of the times.

If that's the case, then yes, most likely you’ll find them too easy. In that case just skip them and add the "advanced" podcast to the “minimum core 2-step plan”.

I’m quite advanced but still struggle to understand real German TV.

In addition to the podcasts of the 5-step process you’ll also have access to our “Speak like a native” podcast series with native speakers for the most advanced of you.

The problem with real German content is that it’s still oftentimes too fast spoken and unclearly pronounced which makes it incomprehensible.

In the “Speak like a native” podcast series you’ll listen to native speakers who still speak clearly, not too fast and still go into some details of the language.

These podcasts represent your last step before you can listen to real German content.

Do we just listen passively to the podcasts?

Not at all.

While listening to all these podcasts you’ll become part of the conversations and you'll always try to listen INTERACTIVELY and ask yourself 3 key questions while listening:

Can I spot the mistake of the student?
Am I able to correct the student before the teacher does?
Am I saying it right?

Then you’ll also always take action by speaking OUT LOUD:

whenever we correct a student and you hear us saying the correct sentence or writing it down word by word
whenever we ask in the Fluency Test: "How'd you say..."

How do I know if I’m at a beginner, intermediate or an advanced level?

Simple.

Check if you really can outperform the beginner, intermediate or advanced students when listening to the podcasts of Step 1, 2 and 3 by spotting their mistakes and being able to correct them.

Of course, not all the time, but most of the time.

And be brutally honest with yourself: Can you spot the mistake and correct it before the student gets corrected or do you just think you knew the answer after hearing the correction.

I am not good at learning by listening, I’m a visual learner.

I would argue that this is actually not true.

When you were a kid, you just listened to your parents, you were not able to read written words, yet it worked, you speak your mother tongue pretty fluently.

This is the same process here.

Trust that it can and it will work the same as it did with your mother tongue. You listened for years, then speaking appeared naturally as a result of comprehension.

What if I can’t focus 100% on the podcast?

No worries, this is a process you’ll get better at with time.

In the beginning, you’ll learn to get into the habit of including these podcasts while commuting, while going for a walk or while having breakfast.

If you’re not used to it, this in itself will take some time.

But never worry about missing anything because you haven’t paid attention to it.

On the one hand, keep in mind that you can repeat episodes as often as you want.

On the other hand, know that since you’re acquiring the language through real authentic conversations like you did when you were a child, there’s no need to worry about missing something.

Every lesson represents a new opportunity to learn and grow.

In the Weekly Round-Up, we’ll also review all important sentences of the Beginner , Intermediate and Advanced podcasts.

So be patient in the beginning and trust that with time the podcasts will capture your attention more and more as opposed to you making an effort to focus.

What if I miss a lesson?

No worries, every week a new lesson will be released, but you can refer to it whenever you're ready.

For every lesson a new 5-step plan will be released and you’ll keep access to all released lessons.

Since you’re acquiring the language through real authentic conversations like you did when you were a child, there’s no need to worry about missing something.

Every lesson represents a new opportunity to learn and grow.

In addition, you can review, and repeat the lessons any time whenever you feel like it.

How long will I have access to the podcasts?

You’ll have access to all released podcasts as long as you’re subscribed to the program.

What about “practicing speaking” with a language partner?

There is no need to intentionally “practice”, “train”, or “drill” speaking with a language partner.

Speaking will appear naturally, like when you were a child.

In most cases, it starts in a situation where you might be alone, more relaxed, without the fear of being judged.

Maybe you’re in the car listening to a podcast of this program and you notice that you can correct the student, that you’re able to say correctly what they intend to say or say incorrectly.

Or you just start trying to express ideas in German and notice that words are just popping up (remember the glass analogy.)

In the next stage you might be in the supermarket or a store and while you didn’t say anything when approached in German before, you now answer in German because you feel like German words are on the tip of your tongue.

Eventually, you’ll end up speaking more and more in your real life, which is your ultimate goal.

Does this program also include Live Calls?

One of the hardest challenges to learning German is doing it on your own.

What do you do when you have questions about the program or the German language?
What if you get stuck?
How do you stay motivated?
Who can you reach out to?

This is tough!

Every student is highly motivated in the beginning, but as we all know, motivation depletes over time.

Even with a step-by-step plan, questions arise.

Every student is different. Every person is different.

How can you get feedback on YOUR questions based on YOUR situation?

Now you can.

Let's go through the process together!

Every week we have a 1 hour live Zoom Q&A Call at 12:00 and one at 20:00 where I'll answer 1on1 all your questions about the program or the German language.

Can I use this program parallel to your program “From Zero to C1”?

Yes.

“From Zero to C1” has a different approach to achieve similar results but it's rather based on going through the standard grammar curriculum A1, A2, B1, B2 and C1 and also learning in an explicit way grammar and vocabulary.

“Double your Confidence in Speaking” has a more “natural” approach based on listening to real authentic conversations and learning in a more implicit way grammar and vocabulary, like the way you acquired your mother tongue.

If your goal is to take an exam I would suggest you follow the “From Zero to C1” learning system to prepare for and pass your exam.

If your focus is more on becoming fluent and confident at speaking and having real conversations I’d suggest you focus on “Double Your Confidence in Speaking”.

Besides that, while going through “Double Your Confidence in Speaking” nothing speaks against for example looking up grammar topics you’re curious about from the “From Zero to C1” program.

Manuel, how do I know if this program is right for me?

I don't know either, but actually, you'll only find out if my Program is right for you if you give it a try and test it for yourself.

What is the cost of the program?

It’s a monthly or annual subscription model.

The investment is only 59€/month for the monthly subscription (billed monthly) or 29€/month if you choose the annual subscription (billed annually).

For just 59 €/month (or 29€/month if you choose the annual subscription) you can join our weekly live Q&A calls and you will have access to 20+ hours of podcasts each month on our Herr Professor podcast app that will help you double your confidence in speaking consistently in a natural and effortless way.

The investment is the same as just a couple of sessions with a professional teacher.

And I promise you, in my program you’ll learn 10x more than with any professional teacher.

Do I bet on this? YES!

Try one complete month and if you're not seeing results or you don't like my program, send me an email and I’ll refund your money.

No questions asked!

My program comes with no strings attached.

You have a 30-day money-back guarantee and you can cancel your subscription at any time. Just email me and let me know.

My goal is to help you achieve YOUR German learning goals and I am completely confident I can do that. I’ve actually done it with dozens of students over the years and based this course on best academic research on language learning and rigorously tested all my methods.

But I also know that my approach and my materials might not fit YOUR unique situation or learning style.

So I think that it’s my obligation to make you a fair offer:

In your first 30 days, I want you to try the program out and if you’re not satisfied with the quality and your progress I insist that you get 100% of your money back. No questions asked. Just sent me an email at any time during the 30 days.

So first try one complete month and then decide if this program is right for you and worth continuing.

And as I said before, after 30 days, you can cancel your monthly subscription at any time.

No strings, no fees, no penalties, no hidden surprises. Just send me an email. No questions asked.

"I just wanted to share a win I had today.

I had some new insurance documents come through and I thought something didn't look right with them, so I had to call the insurance company.

While the first time I managed speak to someone in English, the second time he was unfortunately busy so I had to manage the conversation in German.

While it didn't go perfectly I think we both understood where we were in the end (waiting for new documents to come through in few days so we'll see).

A few months ago I definitely wouldn't have had the confidence to push on with the conversation and would have just called back later, so it was great to see some signs of progress in both my ability to communicate and also my confidence.

Thanks Manuel and Dan and Johannes."

Chloe, PhD student in Experimental Particle Physics at the University of Zurich (Switzerland)

"Before when I call any customer care center (telephone provider, Insurance, Car dealer, Electricity provider etc..), I ask them if they speak English. If they say no I directly hang up the call.

But nowadays I start directly to speak in German ( as I have learned many words and sentence structures through the program) and try to understand what they say. When they are so fast and if I couldn´t understand anything, then I ask them to be slow in a way that I could understand. Some are so humble to oblige and some not. But atleast I could make them understand what I need and get solutions. Before it was not possible. "

Amal, Project Engineer at FEV Europe GmbH living in Rüsselsheim (Germany)

“My greatest difficulty with the German language has always been to speak. Manuel has guided me through this process of putting ideas into words. With his help, I have been able to gain fluency and also quickly improve my grammar. Two weeks ago I had to go the Foreign Agency Office in Germany to run some errands. An employee there asked me if could help her with a customer who couldn’t speak German, so she needed a translator. To my surprise, I was able to help them both."

Mauricio, Engineer living in Berlin (Germany)

“It always felt especially difficult to manage the conversation with native speakers. In our job-meetings, I usually started the presentations in German but as soon as I faced some difficulties I switched to English. Sometimes you get to this point where you think they don’t understand you or even for yourself it’s hard to understand and follow the conversation.

In just a few months I could improve my business communication . I’ve noticed an important change in our last meeting when I got again this feeling of insecurity and I wanted to switch the conversation to English but it was the first time that my German colleague looked at me and said: “Please continue in German, we understand you perfectly.” This feeling was really satisfying and gave me a lot of confidence.”

Francisco, Civil Engineer living in Stuttgart (Germany)

What would it feel like to become more fluent more confident with your German one month from now, 6 months from now and 1 year from now?

Imagine how it would feel like to approach your next conversation in German without the fear of messing up, without the fear of making mistakes.

Feeling just confident to talk in German.

Imagine noticing how your German is improving.

Imagine getting feedback from people around you saying that your German got better.

In which ways would your life be easier one month from now, 6 months from now, one year from now?

How long have you been putting this aside and waiting for the RIGHT moment to start?

There’s no better time than NOW.

Give it try TODAY and finally become confident in speaking German!

“When it comes to speaking, I feel like I look silly or mess up.”

The “natural” and “effortless” way to Speak more fluently, more confidently and more accurately in your day to day life.