“Ich ahmmm…”. Are you stuttering in the middle of the conversation only because you are trying to converse in German? This might take away the meaningfulness of the whole dialogue.
Want to reduce thinking pauses in between the sentences?
Or just want to be more confident and fluent while speaking this foreign language?
Don’t worry! I’m going to open Pandora’s Box today, which contains some tips & tricks on German conversation practice to no longer feel as if you are speaking in a foreign language.
Yes, you are right! These are all my own experiences while practicing German conversation and proven by students to be helpful for rapid progress.
Come on now, let’s get ourselves involved in having natural & eloquent conversations in German. Here you go with my piece of advice on how to practice German by yourself.
5 Ways to Practice German Conversation
- Start thinking in German.
- Speak to yourself in German.
- Record your voice in German.
- Find yourself a tandem partner.
- Practice by repeating with German-speaking media.
These pointers may seem a bit difficult & different to someone or appear super easy & traditional to others. But believe me, once you start practicing these religiously, they will give you more confidence than ever.
Come, let’s see what I mean.
1. Start thinking in German:
Isn’t that tricky? Or maybe it sounded weird to you. But what I mean is, you should stop translating subconsciously while speaking so that you don’t lose the flow.
If you keep translating from your native language into German in the back of your mind, you will go wrong. For the simple reason that the linguistic parts may vary in every language & your language will sound weird & mostly, you will go wrong.
Once you start thinking in German, you will get the flow & speak like a native. Just imagine for a second – have you ever translated while speaking in the language you are best with?
2. Speak to yourself in German:
I remember those days of my learning phase & dealing with the issue of not having anyone to speak with me in German. Yes, that’s a foreign language!
So that’s not normal to always have someone to speak & correct you. Unfortunately, that’s the fact!
But instead of worrying, you can start speaking with yourself in German. It so happens that you just have to practice saying your sentences loudly & your brain possesses a magic method of correcting yourself.
So you got to listen to what you are saying & that’s it. You will eventually start correcting yourself with more confidence than ever.
But for corrections, you need to know the language in the first place, the grammar, the vocab, etc. For that, let’s go to the next important tip.
3. Record your voice in German:
Oh my God! How do I do it? I mostly go wrong while speaking German. It is ok to make mistakes.
Please don’t bear such presumptions or notions in your mind & get afraid. Definitely, the grammar parts are vast & with all the exceptions, at a level that you tend to think that it’s more challenging.
But patience is a virtue, my friends! And focus, dedication & determination are your words.
As you speak to yourself, like suggested in the previous point, try recording your voice. You can then listen to these recordings multiple times & correct yourself. With this, you will also come to know your pain points.
You can find out whether you are going wrong in some specific grammar parts or with some usages. You can then systematically plan, learn and improve on your conversational skills accordingly.
4. Find yourself a tandem partner:
A Tandem partner is the most traditional but effective method of making remarkable progress on the conversational part. It is the fastest way to achieve maximum fluency.
It is like having an exchange partner for languages. Your tandem partner helps you converse in the language you want to learn &, in exchange, he wants to learn the language you are good with.
This can take place online, or there are also local places where Tandem partners meet, for example, to watch a movie together. Sounds incredible, right?
Maybe, you prefer this happening more online, which is also a good idea if local Cafe meets are impossible. It is like having a pen-pal or an email-pal, with a difference that actual dialogues are exchanged between the partners & it is not in the written form.
Plus, it is not an app where some recorded voice is speaking to you. Yes, it is completely a different & personal experience – with normal human beings!
5. Practice by repeating with German speaking media:
Now you will think, why is she suggesting something so advanced? But that’s the trick.
You can access a wide range of movies, TV series etc. on the internet. It’s ok; you don’t understand stuff. At this stage, you can watch those with subtitles for better understanding & then repeat those dialogues for good pronunciation.
You are just acclimatizing your ears to this new tongue & your brain is also getting trained, as you get to know German slang as well which generally textbooks won’t offer.
I know it isn’t easy to concentrate on things you don’t understand. But sometimes, baby steps do count when you are planning for more giant leaps.
You may think that all this is time-consuming. But not if you practice every day.
With this, I remember something. “Ich bin Ausländer und spreche nicht gut Deutsch.” This is the song which you generally learn while learning basic level German.
This literally means – I’m a foreigner & can’t speak good German. But don’t let that turn into reality! Try these tips and speak as if you own them.
Let’s change this & write new lyrics in German – “Ich bin Ausländer und spreche sehr gut Deutsch” which means I’m a foreigner & speak excellent German.
