Olly Richards and Kerstin Cable – German Uncovered
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Such life-affirming experiences are tragically out-of-reach to the vast majority of German learners. Those who limit themselves to tired, old traditional methods to learn German…
Olly Richards and Kerstin Cable – German Uncovered (Beginner)
Check it out: Olly Richards and Kerstin Cable – German Uncovered (Beginner)
Dear Reader,
My name is Olly Richards. And perhaps the most interesting fact about me is that I’ve taught myself eight languages.
I learn languages with an unusual method involving stories. This method allows me to learn to speak the new language up to six times faster than with traditional methods.
As an aspiring German learner, you might be interested in one particular feature of my “story” method:
This Method Makes Learning German Grammar A Breeze!
In fact, by learning with stories, you can learn German to a high level in a way that doesn’t feel like “study” at all!
But can you really learn German without suffering the following common grammar struggles:
- Frustration with gender rules?
- Hesitation over the bizarre case system?
- Nightmares over sentence structure?
- Boring grammar lessons?
Actually, yes you can!
But more on how this works later.
First, I need to tell you that most German learners are going to be like this one student, who recently confessed:
“Grammar is what has stopped me ever progressing in German, although I have had a few attempts throughout my lifetime.”
Doesn’t it break your heart that something as “fiddly” as grammar stops people from learning the language of their dreams?
It certainly breaks mine, and here’s why…
How Grammar Ruins Lives
How many aspiring German learners never experience any of these guilty pleasures because they were too busy striving for perfekte Grammatik…
- Strolling through Berlin on a spring afternoon and understanding every plaque on every statue
- Secretly enjoying envious looks from your friends as you order food in fluent German?
- Uncovering hidden corners of Northern Italy where the locals still speak German and recognising regional slang?
- Taking a tour around a breathtaking castle on the Rhine and understanding every word the guide says?
- Drinking Weissbier in a German cinema understanding the movie without any subtitles?
- Leafing through the jobs classifieds and knowing you could apply for any one of them and sail through an interview in clear and crisp German?
- And when back home or anywhere in the world, falling easily into conversation with German tourists without skipping a beat?
Any one of these experiences is enough to make the journey of learning to speak German worthwhile!
And yet…
Such life-affirming experiences are tragically out-of-reach to the vast majority of German learners. Those who limit themselves to tired, old traditional methods to learn German…
Where grammar is taught in rules…
Where tests are your measure of success.
But what if you had a way to learn German without being “held hostage” by grammar?
“I’m Not Interested… And I’m Not Coming Back!
Earlier, I told you about my special story-based method for learning languages. And how this method makes learning grammar a breeze!
Well, the curious thing about my “story” method is that the grammar practically learns itself!
You’ll see what I mean shortly.
In late 2017, I wanted to see if my method would work for German learners, so I searched for a volunteer.
As you may know, I host an online community of people who delight in learning languages in unconventional ways. With 1,000s of successful members, I was sure I would find a volunteer to test my unusual method to learn German.
One enthusiastic person, named Mark, was first to respond:
I asked Mark about his track record in German, and why he said it was so slow.
His answer shocked me:
“I walked out of my very first German lesson at school, shouting: ‘I’m not interested, and I’m not coming back!’”
I was worried!
Why did Mark walk out of his lesson? Did he really never go back?
I quickly realised that walking out of his class was a defence against the brutal truth: Mark was actually deeply interested in German.
Mark loved the sounds of German. It had a special “magic” for him.
German was the language of Mozart and Beethoven. Einstein and Marx.
But despite the appeal of German, Mark’s very first class put him off for life. It was as if his enthusiasm for German was crushed under a landslide of confusing grammar terms and sentences with verbs in the wrong place!
A full 40 years would pass before Mark found the courage to revisit the topic and ask a question you’ve probably asked yourself many times…
“Is there a better way for me to learn German?”
Using Stories To Fall In Love With German
When I suggested Mark try learning German my way, I was a little apprehensive!
Was he going to walk out of my lesson too?
Luckily, the opposite happened.
I began by taking a simple story – the hallmark of my method – and used it to teach Mark some of the basics of German.
But Mark learned more than just the basics – a lot more!
After the class, here’s what he said:
“I’m a complete beginner and, within just one hour, I’ve broken it down and understood two thirds of the story!”
Mark was stunned that he could understand two thirds of a story in German in just one class.
“So what?” you might ask.
Well, while most new German learners brace themselves for years of rules and tests, Mark had discovered that he could read and enjoy German right from the start.
Mark realised in an instant that studying (if you can call it that) could actually be fun!
But what Mark didn’t know yet was this:
While Mark was busy enjoying his story in German, his brain was quietly working behind the scenes to absorb all the vocabulary and grammar that he saw in the story.
With continued practice, his skills would continue to grow to the point where German would become intuitive, and words would start to roll off his tongue without having to think for 5 minutes before speaking.
This way this works is just as incredible…
How To Absorb German Grammar…Without Realising It!
Studies around the world have begun to show how “input-based” methods outperform traditional language study.
One 2014 study in Spain demonstrated that this style of teaching worked about six times faster than traditional instruction.
In Hungary, a 2007 study showed that students learning with stories can learn more vocabulary than students in regular classes… without any study at all!
It’s a method that harnesses your brain’s natural ability to absorb new information – and it’s far more effective than learning with a traditional approach based on grammar rules!
Learning with stories is a method endorsed by the world’s top academics, such as Dr Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus at USC, who explains:
“As we get input through listening and reading, we ‘absorb’ the grammar and vocabulary of the second language.”
Notice the word absorb?
Wouldn’t you prefer to absorb German, rather than study it?
By reading stories in German with the method I’ll tell you about today, you are able to learn grammar and vocabulary naturally, instead of trying to learn with a rules-based approach.
Take my student Courtney Baird, for example. Courtney discovered how it feels to learn languages the natural way, and said:
“I have been able to become fluent… something that I have wanted to do my entire life! I find it amazing that I was able to learn more in 9 months with your techniques than I did in the 6+ years I studied in school!”
Whether you want to learn to speak German so you can make new friends, bring your family closer together, create exciting career opportunities, or simply indulge your love German literature, comics or cinema…
Start learning with stories, and you’ll wonder why you never learned this way from the start!
Assembling A Team Of Experts
When it comes to my own language learning, I insist on learning from the best.
And so when I began learning German, I turned to one such expert…
Kerstin Cable is a native German speaker with astonishing “native undetectable” English!
(I look for teachers who can… as well as who teach. It’s how you know they’re legit!)
Kerstin is a language teacher, author and fellow language blogger! She gave me advice that quickly fast-tracked my own German, when I first began learning.
When I decided to develop my method into a course, so that anyone can learn German with stories, Kerstin was my first and last choice to help me do it.
However, as a successful online personality in her own right, Kerstin is not usually “for hire”.
Fortunately, my own work in the world of language learning has given me some “sway”. After months of discussion, I managed to persuade Kerstin to do something incredible – to join forces with me and offer her expertise for creating the programme I will tell you about today.
I never undertake any project without world-class experts on my side.
Then again, if you’ve learned with me before, you already knew that!
With her language skills and university-level teaching experience, there was no-one better than Kerstin to help me create this course.
Excited to change the way German is taught, Kerstin and I set about creating a unique opportunity to learn German…
A course for people who prefer stories to textbooks, intuition to rules, and the Biergarten to the classroom!
Introducing…
German Uncovered
German Uncovered is a comprehensive online programme to learn German using the power of story!
By the time you complete German Uncovered, you’ll have an Intermediate Level of German (B1 on the CEFR), and be a confident German speaker, able to:
Converse with people in confident German, making new friends or deepening existing relationships
Travel to Germany, Austria, Switzerland – even parts of Italy – as an “insider” not just another tourist
Improve your career prospects by applying for German-language jobs and impress everyone who looks at your CV
Indulge your passion for the German way of life, and deepen your knowledge of culture and history by reading in the original language
Keep your brain fit and agile, preparing your brain for a healthy old-age, including staving off several forms of dementia
Or finally complete the learning project you began at school many years ago and has been nagging at you ever since!
The foundation of the course is a story: Der Mann mit dem Hut.
(The title translates as: The Man with the Hat.)
That’s him, in the corner:
(He’s hiding for a reason. But that’s a story for another day…)
In the story, three friends find a mysterious note left in a dusty library book, and set off to travel around Germany, following clues left by the man with the hat.
It’s a really fun and involving story, with lots of suspense!
But here’s what’s important…
Der Mann mit dem Hut is written in simple German.
This means you can begin to understand it as a complete beginner, with no previous knowledge of German, and begin picking up German with ease, without being overwhelmed by difficult words and grammar.
A view inside the beautiful, interactive course area
In over 20 compelling chapters, Der Mann mit dem Hut introduces all the key grammar and vocabulary you need to understand and speak German.
You’ll find the same amount of language content as any textbook! The difference, of course, is that by following our method, you get to learn vocabulary and grammar naturally, without feeling like you’re studying at all!
Let’s talk about how German Uncovered works…
Learn German With Stories, Not Textbooks
The process of learning with German Uncovered is as natural as turning the pages of a gripping story!
In fact, that’s exactly what German Uncovered is!
You’ll begin by immersing yourself in the first chapter of Der Mann mit dem Hut.
By reading the story and listening to the accompanying audiobook, you’ll begin with an immersive experience that builds you ability to understand written and spoken German from the start.
Unlike a regular German course, we don’t ask you to understand what you’re reading at first. Instead, we ask you to simply immerse yourself and enjoy the language!
After spending time with the story in German, you can check your understanding with a full English translation, so you can follow the plot and keep up with the story.
Having spent time reading and listening to the story, it’s time to sit down with a master and discover how natural it is to learn German when your lessons literally emerge from the pages of a story!
You’ll do this using with the help of over 80 video lessons, taught personally by Kerstin. These lessons are based on my proven methods, and are unlike anything you’ve seen before.
The teaching segment of the course is where the course comes alive!
Grow your vocabulary instantly by identifying German words with a shared root in English…
“Unlock” the story by learning the key words you need to understand the plot:
Uncover grammar from the story, and learn naturally, instead of from rules:
As you can see from the samples of our lessons, we don’t ask you to memorise grammar rules, verb tables or lists of vocabulary!
With German Uncovered you uncover German from the story, naturally!
Thanks to our special interactive video lessons, you’ll feel like you’re sitting with Kerstin one-on-one, as she walks you through the lesson.
Kerstin takes key German words, phrases and grammar that you’ve already encountered in the story, and guides you toward understanding them naturally from the context of the story.
In fact, the magic of German Uncovered is that we hardly have to “teach” at all… we just help you notice the important German from the story, and give you a few little nudges just to make sure you understand.
And, of course, the benefit of learning with a master teacher is that you won’t miss a thing!
We’re with you every step of the way!
In fact, as you progress through the course, you’ll also have me (Olly!) “drop in” at strategic points to share pro tips about staying motivated and learning as quickly as possible!
If you’re someone who enjoys a spot of traditional study, then you can have the best of both worlds with German Uncovered.
After each lesson, there are worksheets of fun exercises, to help you consolidate what you’ve learnt from the story.
Where this differs from traditional language methods, is that all of the exercises and worksheets are based on the German you’ve read in the story.
Our activities don’t aim to “teach”. They aim to build on and refine the learning that’s already taken place!
This means everything you learn is much more meaningful and memorable, so you’ll learn faster, while having fun!
It’s the most natural way to learn!
Now let’s be clear…
The aim of German Uncovered is to teach you to SPEAK German… not just to read!
Learning to express yourself fully in German, and enjoy your conversations, without freezing up, forgetting words, or taking ages to form a sentence, is a central aim of this course.
It’s by learning to speak German that you can:
- Make new friends or deepen existing relationships
- Travel to German-speaking countries as an “insider” not just another tourist
- Show your boss or prospective employer that you’re serious about your career
That’s why each module of the course comes jam-packed with training to help you activate what you learn and become a confident speaker of German:
- Speaking Packs: In each chapter, you’ll find a set of speaking activities for two people. These packs are written in German, so you can literally hand the pack to a native German-speaker friend, partner or tutor, they’ll read the instruction and instantly have a selection of exciting activities to help you practice what you’ve learned from the story.
- Pronunciation Training: In our exclusive pronunciation training, Kerstin teaches you step-by-step how to pronounce the tricky words and phrases from the story, using the same techniques she’s used to reach her “native indistinguishable” level in English! You’ll quickly reduce any foreign accent you may have and speak German with more confidence.
Tangible Progress You Can Feel
As you can see, the STORY is at the heart of German Uncovered, and this is how we’re able to tie all parts of the course back to the three friends on their journey around Germany, and allow you to learn on such a deep, satisfying level.
This cyclical story structure makes the course easy to follow and gives you a clear sense of achievement and rhythm to your learning. This kind of visible progression through the story, and through the course, will leave you excited to study hard and stick with the programme.
This is NOT a programme you’ll start and fizzle out on… because your goal is to read the entire story! and you won’t be able to rest until you’ve finished the last chapter!
Learn In Your Own Time & Become Fluent Faster
- Intuitive member area:Makes browsing the course and access the course materials a delight
- Responsive design: Access the course from mobile, tablet or computer
- Fully downloadable materials: Download the story, worksheets, videos, and audio onto your device, so you can take it with you to places where your internet connection is not too reliable!
- Interactive discussion areas: within each lesson mean you can ask questions about anything you learn on the course and get a reply from myself or Kerstin
- Free Lifetime Updates – Any improvements or additions that are made to the course in the future, you get FREE. So you can join German Uncovered today, safe in the knowledge that you’ll always have the most up-to-date version!
- World-Class Customer Support – I have a fantastic, dedicated customer support team who love helping you out. If you do run into any technical trouble, for whatever reason (however small!), you can rest assured there will be help at hand, and it won’t stop you learning
