For those of you who want to learn to speak German the good news is that you have made a wise choice; that is, only if your online course uses a variety of effective teaching strategies to help you learn.  First, in order to learn German quickly, you must be self-motivated.  Lack of motivation will result in wasting your time and money and guarantee failure.  Second, no matter how great your German teacher/tutor, German school or online course is, if you have no desire, you will not learn German. And lastly, research has shown that with motivation and desire you need to utilize learning and communication strategies to empower you to learn to speak fluent German in the most effective way.

Learning strategies are techniques used to improve learning, such as mnemonics or using a dictionary.  You can implement any of the following learning strategies to further assist you to learn to speak German online:

1.  Find out your learning style.  Ask yourself this question how do I learn or process information?  Once you know how you receive and retain information, you will be able to find the learning activity that is best studied for your learning style.  For example, I am a visual/tactile learner and I prefer to receive German vocabulary in the form of a picture and then write the word under the picture.  In this way, I will be more inclined to remember and learn German vocabulary.  There is a wealth of information on how you can use various activities geared to your learning style such as Game software, flash cards, Audio lessons, etc. which any good online German course should include.

2. Find a community.  If you learn German in a community with a positive attitude toward German, it can have a profound impact on your learning to speak German fluently.   It is all about networking.  You can find a German forum or study group or join a local social club that can give you more exposure to use and hear German.  Thus a good online course should have the resources that allow you easy access to communicate with native-German speakers, fellow students and/or teachers.

Communicative strategies are techniques used to get the meaning across even when you have little or no knowledge of the language. To be able to communicate in German to native-German speakers, especially verbally, is vital.

• Using objects, pictures, mime are things that you can do to communicate on a basic level.  This is a quick technique to build up your vocabulary, especially if you are trying to say something but unable to find/recall the German word.
• Engaging in conversation is an excellent way to fine-tune your speaking, listening and comprehensive skills.  You should always try to have conversation with an individual who is at a higher-level in German than you.

Remember that even if you are highly motivated but remain unwilling to use these strategies, your learning and progress of German will stagnate.   Having a solid footing with an excellent German course plus these two strategies will assist you to eventually learn German fluently quickly and effectively. German lessons near me