Inspirational, mother tongue German speaker ready to assist with your difficulties in the language

Max taught himself German for two years before coming to me. His main activity was watching films and series in German (some with subtitles) as well as listening to a number of podcasts and reading a variety of German texts, thereby practising his speaking, simultaneously developing comprehensive lists of vocabulary, focusing on specific grammatical areas, for example, the gender of nouns, the tenses, the conjugation of verbs and the four cases to some extent. He certainly learnt an enormous amount this way.
When he came to me, he was under the impression that he had at least six months to prepare for his B1 exam but soon discovered that he needed a B2 to be admitted to a Studienkolleg in Germany. Additionally, he was suddenly under pressure (for family-related reasons) to sit the exam with only one month left to prepare.
We worked at a ferocious pace, focusing solely on the B2 content in all four areas of competency. Although Max took great strain, he did not let up and forged ahead, working extremely hard. Possessing the ability to quickly see grammatical connections, enabled him to progress at great speed. Being a strong visual learner, having an unusually sharp mind and highly developed memory skills, he achieved an exceptional level of competence this way in the little time we had. It was impressive!
The exam was tough, but Max surprised himself and me by achieving a mark in the highest category. He dared taking the jump and succeeded, of which I am incredibly proud, and he deserves being proud of it himself!
May he pursue his studies overseas with as much confidence, dedication and vigour! He can only succeed!

Sasha has been with me for a while now, often only able to sporadically attend because of work commitments. By her own admission, she finds learning languages hard, but her great tenacity, immense patience, positive attitude, and deliberate, meticulous approach to wading through the many difficult areas the German grammar poses, are beyond admirable! This strategy is definitely yielding results because for a while now, she has been making consistent breakthroughs, surprising both of us for nailing it more often than not!
As long as Sasha keeps up with her current pace, setting herself achievable goals and accomplishing them, she should be able to do her B1 in the not-so-distant future. We celebrate every bit of progress, and teaching her is a most rewarding, inspiring experience beside the fact that we are having very enriching exchanges every time we meet!

Jonathan had set his eye on the A1 exam within a few months after starting with me. From the word go, he showed extraordinary levels of understanding and was very quick on the uptake in general, but specifically in the grammar, which was a pleasure to experience. Additionally, his intonation and pronunciation were almost pitch perfect from the start. As a result, he received an excellent mark in his A1 exam, and a few months later came back for more sessions to do his A2, which he aced as well. I am very proud of his achievements! Wishing him great success with all his plans for the future and with reaching full competency in German, which I know he can achieve.

Jamey, being highly motivated and ambitious in learning German has taken to it like a duck to water. He has only been with me for a month, but with his refined astuteness in noticing and remembering patterns, in this case grammatical patterns, and with his exceptional logical thinking he is able to apply many a rule of the cases already which is rather unusual. He is not shy and very keen to simply speak, using whatever he has learnt already and in addition attempting more complicated wording, implementing the grammar rules as much as possible and thereby learning an enormous amount. Being a strong self-directed individual, he is also using his own methods to learn and is advancing speedily on every level, his brilliant memory serving him well too. Our sessions are lots of fun and greatly enriching my teaching!

Finnian had attained a substantial amount of German vocabulary relating to his specific interests before he started with me, but, as he put it, had very little understanding of the sentence structure and grammar.

After only a month-and-a-half with me, he is moving speedily in acquiring this language. Finnian follows and implements the advice given, is goal-orientated, pro-active, diligent and quick on the uptake! He has an unusual ability to infer from the information at hand and logically make connections and arrive at the right answers. His brilliant memory and aptness to store lots of new information easily, aid this process enormously.

Being original and using his sense of humour in his writing and exercises also make the sessions interesting and fun. I am thoroughly enjoying teaching him! With all his competence, Finnian is extremely humble, which is so refreshing, and it will bring him very far in learning German and in life!

Sagwati is a sprightly, keen young lady who took on her German sessions with great enthusiasm, and although she quickly noticed that she was faced with a number of challenges, she has never given up following the advice given, practising regularly and working very diligently. All her efforts and hard work are certainly paying off as she is making very steady, consistent progress and not shy to start communicating in German, a huge, significant step, which most take a long time to reach. Sagwati is very mature for her age, an absolute pleasure to teach and we are having lots of fun during our sessions! Her ambitious streak to make a success of whatever she has set her mind on, matched with a quiet resilience, stand her in good stead and will bring her far, not only in German, but also in life!

Bongani came to me already having done his A1 and A2 exams as well as the course work for the B1 level, and for professional reasons wanted to deepen his knowledge of German further. Although a few years have passed since he did his courses, his understanding is still very solid with regard to certain aspects. We decided to focus on specific areas such as the cases, sentence structure and correct usage when speaking. We also addressed the declination of personal pronouns and of adjectives in the different cases, the prepositions, and some of the tenses.

Bongani loves speaking the language, speaks freely, and communicates in German when writing, not worried about making mistakes – an essential part of honing language skills. His lack of shyness, ability to push beyond the comfort zone, his quiet confidence, and understanding that development of skill takes time, plus possessing a definite feel for languages count in his favour in progressing with his German.

For personal reasons beyond his control, we had to put sessions on hold for now. I am confident that with continuous self-learning he will improve greatly, and I wish him well in his further pursuit of German. It was a pleasure teaching him!

Tracy has just started her journey with me and is a pleasure to teach. She is very eager and motivated, quick on the uptake and immediately implements and uses what she has learnt. Tracy has a very good ear for the language as well. I am positive she will progress speedily!

Jorin and Susana, through self-study, had acquired some German already. Jorin has also been exposed to the language as a child, which is very noticeable as, many times, he instinctively speaks correctly and uses a more complicated sentence structure.

Susana's in-depth knowledge of grammar and the ability to speak a number of other languages is aiding her acquisition of German in a completely different manner, but as effectively.

They have both applied themselves with dedication, always doing assigned work with little time at hand. The resulting improvement and growth in their German is very evident and made teaching them a highly enjoyable experience.

Moving to a German-speaking environment, their fluency and skill should improve speedily now, as they are both eager and not shy to speak German. I wish them all the best for the future!

Juliana and Byron had successfully completed their A1 level in German when they came to me.
Juliana started out with me, but after only one session had to put her learning on hold due to personal and work commitments.
Her husband Byron felt there were some gaps in his A1 learning he wanted to address. We took it from there, focusing on important aspects of grammar in order to clarify some of the confusion he experienced. Additionally, there was a strong emphasis on conversation and on honing his listening skills. Byron has a very measured and calm approach to learning, truly wanting to make sure he understands. Being ambitious, (he would like to read and understand German poetry one day) he found it hard at times to see his own progress. To me it was certainly evident, even after a short period of time - and at all levels: pronunciation, sentence structure, in the use of the tenses and general grammar.
Due to a sudden change of circumstances they had to stop sessions completely.
It was an absolute pleasure dealing with them! Both are very witty and have a sophisticated sense of humour, which added great fun to our interactions! I am wishing them only the best on their journey!

Jacob came to me with no knowledge of German whatsoever and initially found it difficult to make sense of this rather complicated language. However, he kept going at it with a quiet sense of determination and consistent dedication, never hesitant to ask for help, not afraid to show he does not understand, and one day it started coming together - that was just beautiful to see!

The breakthroughs and strides he has made since then, are remarkable. Things just seem to fall into place now; he makes the connections, is starting to understand multiple grammatical structures and rules, his diction has improved immensely, and we have not looked back since.

His positive attitude towards the language also shows in him taking the initiative to create his own learning tools (e.g., a list of nouns with their respective articles/genders and plurals) in order to consolidate his knowledge of German.

Jacob has gotten to the point where I can see that he is actually enjoying it, becoming more lighthearted , and we are having our laughs from time to time.

His own assessment of German as a subject (as part of the work he has to do for school) went from "difficult" to "good" to "super"!

It is an absolute pleasure teaching Jacob, and I am very proud of what he has already achieved and for continuing to make such consistent progress!

Michael pursues the learning of German with purpose and persistence.

He is a highly self-directed learner and very serious about the acquisition of the language, paying great attention to grammatical detail and nuances, prepared to put in the hours of hard work that this language requires.

As a professional, he sets the bar high and is motivated to deliver a quality output at every turn!

Dennis and his family (his wife and two sons, aged 15 and 10) are forging ahead in their German lessons with sustained enthusiasm, diligence, confidence, and commitment - and that is true for all of them! Attention is paid to each one, taking their different age levels into consideration.
Starting with me with absolutely no knowledge of German, short of two months ago, it is astounding that they can already speak in full sentences.
In every session, conversation is central, with a strong emphasis on pronunciation (using the logic of phonetics, diphthongs, digraphs, and trigraphs), and their accents are developing beautifully!
Commencing with the basics (e.g. introducing themselves, the family [including the extended family], address, numbers etc.) we have already moved on to other areas of interest (the home, shapes and colours etc.).
All along, essential grammatical elements are introduced and covered in detail (articles, verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs etc.) in the form of varied exercises, and vocabulary is expanded on a continuous basis. The family finds the exercises very constructive and engaging.
What makes their lessons really enjoyable is the fact that they are actively involved, making connections, showing independent thought, demonstrating clear understanding of the grammar after a short period only, and are never afraid to ask for clarification.
Sessions are fun-filled but strongly focused on learning, concentration, effort and attainment.
Dennis and his family are certainly driven achievers and an absolute pleasure to teach!