I'm Mike Budden.

I help German speakers who feel stuck with their English

I'm here to help

1. Once you leave the language class, the learning stops. Why? Because teachers often don't teach independent learning strategies you can use to prepare yourself in English.

2. School classrooms have up to 30 students and do not reflect realistic one-to-one communication situations. The challenges force teachers to focus on silent tasks, like reading/writing and grammar exercises.

3+4. Many people measure their ability in English by how "difficult" texts are that they are able to read. However, if we just read for understanding, we don't train ourselves to focus on the sound of the language or notice small details. Furthermore, many learners do not understand the features of fast speech.

5. To "be" yourself in English, you need to learn Engish equivalents for what you would say in German. A teacher who is fluent in German will help you find the right words.

6. "Just talk!" is the advice that many friends and language schools might have said to you. This works for many people, but not for everyone. If you haven't played a sport football in 3 years, Would you run straight into a game? Of course not. You would start training weeks or months beforehand and only play when you are ready. Similarly with English, there are many strategies you can use to help prepare you to speak.

7. DuoLingo doesn't work because it doesn't stimulate the brain emotionally. There are much better ways you can spend your time.

BEFORE

• You fear speaking
• You feel bad because others are better at languages than you
• Your reading is much better than listening
• You freeze in conversations and are an expert in fehlerfreies Schweigen
• You worry that English is becoming more important.
• You are worried that you sound very German.

AFTER

• Be prepared for conversation with my 2-step smalltalk strategy
• You know for life what strategies expert language learners use.
• Relax when people speak naturally, you focus on the content of what they are saying.
• Connect with people more deeply—no more worrying about grammar and vocabulary.
• You know how to prepare for important meetings in English
• You know how German influences your English accent and have strategies get your muscles ready for English.