Once you have mastered time, you will understand how true it is that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade! - Tony Robbins
The most frequently asked question is how long does it take to learn German, and the answer, from someone who has pursued a foreign language, is just these two words
- it depends.
I started learning German back in 2011; it was one of my papers when I was pursuing my higher secondary education. Our teacher would tutor at her residence, which was too far for me. This is standard practice - the teacher at your school/college runs his/ her own classes at their residence or institute. However, it was evident that more was taught "outside the classroom." I found another tuition class, went for a demo, and the lady just translated everything word by word. I did not like that approach at all. Breaking down a sentence like that with no context is just lazy teaching. I explored a couple of other classes since I had absolutely no guidance, I signed up for the Goethe-Institut's course for A1 at Ruparel College. The Goethe's approach was rather systematic, though it did not help me for my HSC examination, as it was more about memory recall, translation and mugging up stories. After my HSC, I went to Hispanic Horizons, a Spanish Language Institute run by a native herself and a bunch of other Latinas in Mumbai, which truly made me understand what it is like to learn a foreign language in a country where you are only exposed to it in a classroom. I absolutely loved learning Spanish there, I even went on with pursuing their A2.2 course online. I felt this was the best technique to learn a language - an in-classroom cultural immersion!
I came back to the German Language because I could see its worth in the coming years.
I went to Max Mueller Bhavan, Kalaghoda and pursued all my courses and exams there. I used to spend hours at the library, would watch movies, go out with friends during the lunch breaks and participated in every single activity I could. I volunteered at one of their exhibitions, we had one of the most memorable Christmas Party & course-end celebrations!
As much as I loved learning Spanish, my goal was to just get a hang of the songs by Enrique Iglesias, Amaia Montero, Rosalía, Marina Abad and so on. I could not push myself beyond that, however with German, it was not the case. Even with my classmates, I could easily get in a position where I could explain to them what we had learnt that day rather easily and with time, I started loving that process.
I started working as a translator soon after my B1, but I had started teaching informally during my A2 itself. there was a time when I was working 9-6 at an IT firm, yet would look forward to my classes from 7-9. It was then I realized what made me happy and what I would rather do.
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