Information on Teaching with Comprehensible Input

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Listening and Reading Are the Key Early Skills:
It takes a lot of listening to a language to be able to speak it, and a lot of reading to be able to write it, so it is best if your child focuses mainly this year on the language input skills of listening to and reading German before venturing into working on the more sophisticated output skills of speaking and writing.

Authentic Language Output (Speech and Writing) Emerge Naturally Over Time and Cannot Be Forced:
Your child must never be made to feel as if “they can’t do it” (speak and write) until they have heard and read German a lot first. It is my job to provide that listening and reading input to your child in ways that make them experience confidence in German from the beginning. My belief is that if your child enjoys the class, and doesn’t feel pressured by large amounts of homework and big tests, your child will learn much more than if they feel nervous about it.

Instructional Minutes Cannot Be Wasted:
I look forward to perhaps playing a part in developing in your child a life-long interest in German. It takes thousands of hours of contact (mainly in the form of input as described above) to gain output mastery of a language. In one school year, even if your child is hearing and reading the language every single minute in class, we still can only get about 110 hours of practice in per year, far less that what is sufficient to result in real authentic gains in speaking and writing.  We will strive to spend as much time as humanly possible communicating in German in class, but even so, this is the first step of what I hope is a long journey for your child. Obviously, you have the great advantage to be living in Germany at this point and the greatest language gains are seen when children interact in German regularly outside of the classroom.

The Goals of German Class:
The goal of German Class is that your child feel happy each day when they leave class. I want them to experience a growing feeling each day that they are good at German, that they can do it, and that they want to learn more. I want them to leave each day understanding more German than they did the day before. And gradually, I want them to acquire enough German to start using it to communicate in speaking and writing, when they are ready, and in a way that makes them feel happy, comfortable, and confident.