Today I am going to speak about a very important thing to do when you learn German in Germany: getting a tandem partner. A partner for exchanging the language that is. Normally it works as follows:
You put up a notice in a board in the school or institute where you attend the German course (they always have one) that you are looking for a tandem partner for learning German. You describe yourself a little bit: your hobbies, where are you from, and the most important thing: your language. If you speak Japanese, you write: I am looking somebody who speaks German that wants to learn Japanese. You can also go to the city university and look for the faculty of languages, I am sure they have something similar. Of course, don't forget to write how they can contact you: email, telephone number, etc.
The best part, is that this is free. They are as interested as you in learning the language, that's why nobody has to pay anything. And you can make good friends as well.
Well, today I met my tandem partner for the first time. I put up my notice two weeks ago and I got an email last Monday. We spoke for almost two hours. Sadly, we spoke more in my language than in German. But that was my fault. I also noticed that my German is not as good as I thought it was and that when German people speak normally, I understand less than usual. In the classroom I understand almost 100%. With my tandem partner sometimes I was understanding 50% or 40%.
I am going to meet her again next Wednesday. I am going to try harder to speak in German this time.
I got several conclusions then:
- German in the real life is different from the classroom (you may think it is obvious, but it was not for me)
- The tandem partner is going to help me a lot
- As I mentioned before, I must seek the occasion to speak German and not wait for the occasion to come to me
4 comments:
Yes, I had a tandem partner who spoke better English than I spoke German. It was hard because we ended up speaking English most of the time. You really have to force yourself to speak in German even if you are barely conversational (like me).
Yes, listening to a conversation between Germans is a lot harder than understanding your German teacher.
Have a nice weekend.
I had a tandem partner last year in italy and it was really funny. We are still in contact! Now I want to find a tandem partner also here in Hamburg. Can you help me? I'm working as Au Pair to improve my German.
Thanks
Alice
Hello Alice
The best to do might be:
Go to the Goethe Institute, in the big building behind the Hauptbahnhof, in the sixth floor.
The people there speak English and they are very nice. Ask them you want to post a notice that you are looking for a tandem partner for a German language exchange.
Then you fill in a paper with your interests and contact details, and wait for someone to contact you.
Wait for some weeks. If that does not work, you will have to go to the university of Hamburg to the languages department. I am sure you will find someone there.
Best of luck!!
Thank you very much for your suggestions!
I hope to find a tandem as soon as possible.
Bye bye
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