Practice Speaking German On Your Own

There are quite a few methods out there that promise to help you practice speaking German. Not all of them are suitable for beginners and not many are any good for advanced learners either.

I've been asking myself since I was 18 and started learning English outside of school. I can safely say that I've tried or researched every language learning method out there in depth over the last 30 years. And the answer is simpler than one might think - or than certain companies might suggest to push their product.

How can I practice speaking German by myself?

I'm aware that I'm running a company and selling a product. That's why I always recommend you try my courses for free to see whether my claims hold up. And after purchase you always get a 30-day money-back guarantee. There's never any risk when working with SmarterGerman.

So here's my pitch: I've developed a technique that's challenging but gentle. I call it the Secretary Technique.

What is the Secretary Technique?

As free speaking can be quite demanding, I introduce this technique only after my learners have reached the 50% mark in my online German course. The Secretary Technique helps you leave the tight structure of the Preaching Technique or a simple read-out-loud exercise.

It motivates you to create your own sentences. To be creative, spontaneous, and intuitive. Don't worry if you think you're not creative with language - all it takes is proper training and some persistence.

Just practising speaking German out loud doesn't do much on its own because you need solid feedback on whether you said things properly. To get that feedback, all you need is a smartphone or a browser. Open speechnotes.co, a free transcription tool that handles German. The Secretary Technique combines dictation, writing exercises, and the Preaching Technique.

How does the Secretary Technique work?

Step 1: Pick a topic you're interested in and could speak about freely in German for one to two minutes. Even one minute can be enough. Write down up to 10 keywords in German or English to help jog your memory.

Don't be too anxious about picking the "right" topic. It could be anything: describing a birthday party, summarising your favourite TV show, even the weather if that rocks your boat. Something from your personal life or something general - as long as you let your fantasy roam freely.

Do not write out any sentences. This is neither a writing nor a reading exercise. You need to think on the spot and create every sentence from scratch.

Step 2: Speak out loud on your topic while speechnotes.co transcribes your words. This is where the name comes from - you're dictating to a virtual secretary.

Step 3: Look at the transcription and correct your text. Correcting your own work is tricky because we all have blind spots. But with DeepL, you'll be able to hunt down 3-5 mistakes at a time. Over time this adds up and your speech improves without putting in extra effort.

The whole thing should take 30-45 minutes. If it takes longer, you're not following the instructions correctly. In that case, contact me via the SmarterGerman Community and I'll get you back on track.

What can I use the Secretary Technique for?

It's your chance to prepare simple talks, presentations, or conversations about topics that are simple but interesting enough to feel free about your German speaking. This requires training. Don't expect fluency after just a couple of hours. Patience, my dear Padawan. Patience. Stay with me and you'll get there.

And always remember: never try to achieve perfection. It'll kill your motivation in a very short time. Stick with the Pareto Principle - 20% of your work is responsible for 80% of the outcome. Trying to master the remaining 20% until perfection will cost you an immense amount of energy and time. Save that for after you've mastered B2.