1. Have the right attitude. Learning to use a foreign language well is a challenging, often frustrating, long, but very rewarding process. Stay positive! Accept that you will stumble and make mistakes at times, but strive to overcome your stumbling blocks. Dedication, persistence, and diligent work go a long way.

2. Treat German as a language, not an object of study. The aim of this course is to get you to put your thoughts, ideas, feelings, opinions, wishes, and so forth into words. In this respect, it's no different from a good course in English or History. The difference, obviously, is that the words you'll be using are in a language you didn't grow up speaking. But if you approach German as a way to communicate, and not a set of problems to be solved, then you'll achieve your goals. And you will gain all of the advantages of speaking a foreign language -- freedom to study and travel abroad, ability to communicate with people from other cultures, distinction on the job market, to name but a few.

3. Don't think in English. The natural tendency is to try to translate your thoughts from English into German. This extra step ultimately slows you down and causes lots of mistakes. Thinking in German feels funny at first, but in the long run, it's a lot easier -- simply because you eliminate the confusing middle step of running everything through English.

4. Make the grammar and vocabulary "automatic." When you study the assigned grammar lesson, write down the important points in a form you can understand. Commit them to memory before doing your homework. Also study the vocabulary intensively.

After studying the grammar lesson and the vocabulary, practice lots and lots -- daily practice is the best way to learn in a foreign language. Do your homework, trying to complete it without substantial help from your book or notes. (If you can't, you probably need to review and practice more.) And then run through things in your head, speak things out loud or under your breath, practice them as you walk across campus, study with friends, do whatever else works for you.

5. For vocabulary, make flashcards or vocabulary sheets. Writing down the vocabulary once will help imprint it in your memory.

• When studying vocab, learn English to German, not the other way around. Example: learn that "dog" is der Hund, not that der Hund means "dog." For some reason, it just sticks better in your memory that way.
• Also, make sure to learn the gender and plurals of nouns and the principal parts of verbs along with the main word. Example: learn that "dog" is der Hund, plural Hunde -- not just that "dog" is Hund. And learn that "to go" has four principal parts: the infinitive laufen, the present tense läuft, the simple past lief, and the past participle ist gelaufen. 

6. Review your mistakes from homework, tests, and written assignments the day you get them back.

7. Don't cram for tests. Learning a language is all about daily, incremental learning. If you keep up with your work during the weeks before the test, then you'll need only to brush up on your notes and most common errors the night before. 

8. Reading assignments: scan the text first to get a general idea of what's going on (about 3 to 5 minutes). Then go back and read more carefully. You shouldn't try to understand each and every word; this takes far too long. Instead, get a solid grasp of the main points of the text.

9. Writing assignments: don't try to write your essays in English and then translate. Experience shows that this causes more mistakes than it's worth. In order to write correctly in German, you should formulate your thoughts and sentences in German. This is tricky at first, but ultimately it's the best way to learn -- and to write.

10. Ask your teacher as soon as you have questions or trouble. This is a resource many students never take advantage of, but 20 minutes spent with your instructor going over difficulties can help a lot. We will be happy to make time to meet with you after school. All you have to do is let us know you need help. You can also contact us by email –  clementstf@vestavia.k12.al.us  or duncansc@vestavia.k12.al.us

11. Follow class and school rules