And who, exactly, am I meant to talk to?

At some point, someone suggests that the way to get better at speaking German is to speak more German.

Reasonable.

Less clear is who you’re supposed to speak to at half past nine on a Tuesday, when your lesson is finished and nobody else in the flat speaks German.

A language exchange would be useful. So would a teacher. But neither is standing in your kitchen right now.

You are, though. And you know a few things you could say.

Can you practise speaking German on your own?

Yes. You can practise bringing familiar words to mind, putting them into sentences and saying them aloud.

In our first post, we looked at the gap between understanding German and finding an answer while someone is still waiting. Producing a reply is one part you can practise separately.

Saying a sentence after a recording gives you a model for how it sounds. Covering the sentence and trying it yourself asks you to find the words. Changing the request asks you to build something with them.

What can you do in ten minutes?

Choose a familiar situation. Ordering a drink will do. Use language you can check against a course, recording or teacher’s example. If an example below uses grammar you haven’t learnt, leave it out.

Minutes 0–2: find a familiar sentence

“Ich möchte einen Kaffee, bitte.” I’d like a coffee, please.

Read it, listen to a model if you have one, then say it aloud. Cover the German and use an English cue: “Ask for a coffee.”

Try before looking again. If you get stuck, check the part you need, cover it and have another go.

You’re allowed to look. Nobody is awarding a certificate for staring at the kettle.

Minutes 2–5: change one thing

Ask for tea: “Ich möchte einen Tee, bitte.”

Ask for two coffees: “Ich möchte zwei Kaffees, bitte.”

If you’ve learnt how, say you don’t want a coffee: “Ich möchte keinen Kaffee.”

Write the cues on separate pieces of paper, shuffle them and check each attempt afterwards.

The changes are modest. You can spend your attention on finding and arranging familiar language.

Minutes 5–8: answer a question

“Möchtest du einen Kaffee?” Would you like a coffee?

You might reply: “Ja, ich möchte einen Kaffee.”

Then change your answer: “Nein, ich möchte einen Tee.”

Read or play the question, hide the model answer and respond aloud. You can use the same question without giving the same answer.

Minutes 8–10: come back to it

Mix the requests and questions. Give yourself time to answer without uncovering the German.

Notice one place where you hesitated. Was a word missing? Did you lose the word order? Check that part and try again.

Tomorrow, try some of the same prompts before looking at the answers.

Why return to something you already know?

Because getting an answer right once and being able to find it again are not quite the same achievement.

In a vocabulary experiment, students who kept retrieving words after learning them remembered more a week later than those who stopped testing themselves. That supports returning to familiar material, though the task involved vocabulary pairs, not conversation. Karpicke and Roediger, 2008

In a study of 24 learners of English, both groups improved during speaking practice, but only those repeating the same topics maintained their fluency gains on later tests. de Jong and Perfetti, 2011

That study used longer speeches and a different exercise. Neither study validates this particular ten-minute routine.

What is missing when you practise alone?

Another person’s idea of where the conversation should go, for a start.

You choose the question and control how long you take. Someone else may phrase it differently, misunderstand your answer or ask something you hadn’t prepared.

You also need feedback on pronunciation and whether a sentence says what you intended. Take those questions to a teacher or speaking partner. Try a sentence you’ve been practising in your next conversation. Afterwards, bring a question that caught you out back to your next practice session.

That missing person is what Echoa is built to supply. You hear an English cue, build the German sentence and say it aloud, and Sam, your teacher, responds to what you actually said. Familiar language comes back in new situations, with help when you’re stuck. Fifteen-minute lessons, every answer out loud. Real conversations in 20 hours. A2 in weeks, not years.

You can begin with a few sentences and a quiet room.

The kitchen is available. That’s a start.