Is SmarterGerman any good?

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AML
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Is SmarterGerman any good?

Postby AML » Tue Jul 03, 2018 7:30 pm

Has anyone worked through the "Everyday German Course (A1-B1)" from SmarterGerman?

If so, did you find that its claims of getting you to B1 is true?
How does it compare to Assimil German in terms of amount of material?
Does the SmarterGerman course give mp3s to work with?
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Speakeasy
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Re: Is SmarterGerman any good?

Postby Speakeasy » Wed Jul 04, 2018 1:01 pm

Thank You!
AML, it is not often that we have the opportunity to discover a new online German course, thank you for bringing “SmarterGerman” to our attention!

First Impressions Only
To begin with, please note that I have not used SmarterGerman’s “Everyday German Course (A1-B1)”; therefore, I am not in a position to provide an in-depth review. In place of a review, I am providing my “first impressions only” based on my having watched, read, and listened to what appear-to-be the complete sample video, text, and audio materials of Lesson 1 of this programme, including ancillary videos that are available on YouTube. Access to subsequent modules is available to registered students only. So then, by way of comparison, my first impressions of the entire SmarterGerman programme are no more valid than had I completed the first lesson only of many highly-recognisable programmes such as: Assimil, Babel, Berlitz, Cortina, Duolingo, Fluenz, FSI/DLI Basic, Linguaphone, Memrise, Michel Thomas, Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone, and the like, and then submitted my comments.

Course Description
The creator of the SmarterGerman programme, Michael Schmitz, is clearly a sincere and experienced language instructor. He believes that, through the use of his learning cycle, an independent-learner can achieve a CEFR B1 level of skill in 90 days through the acquisition of a practical, if somewhat intuitive, understanding of German grammar accompanied by core vocabulary of 1,200 words, a level which he freely admits is less than half of the generally-acknowledged 2,800 words required for this level. The basic steps in his learning cycle are: Reading & Vocabulary Acquisition, Dictation, Grammar, Preaching (speaking), and Listening (active, passive).

The “Everyday German Course (A1-B1)” is available online. The video and audio materials can be downloaded to the user’s electronic devices (computer, tablet, smart phone). The programme itself appears to be based on the onscreen presentation of what-I-anticipate-to-be a charming and engaging murder mystery supported by a series of video lectures. Curiously, the text of the murder mystery seems to be available onscreen only; that is, there does not seem to be a PDF version available for download. CORRECTION as quoted from the SmarterGerman website: "… after 31 days, you'll be able to download a printable PDF copy of the book "Die Tote Frau im Garten" which contains all reading texts of this course … You can download the book here as PDF in case you want to do some casual reading. But DO NOT USE it for learning. Only work with this course."

In Lesson One, the course instructor presents the text of the murder mystery in German only (there are no translations) and analyzes it from the point of view of an English speaker (cognates, near cognates, non-cognates, verbs, sentence structure, et cetera). From one of the comments in Michael’s video lectures, I am left with the impression that approximately 15 new vocabulary items are introduced per lesson. As the entire programme is designed to lead the student to the B1 level, I assume that the sentence structure of the murder mystery will become increasingly complex with each lesson. While the text in Lesson One is entirely in the narrative style, it seems reasonable to assume that, as the story unfolds, different characters will be introduced, that they will engage in conversations and that the text will develop into a mixture of narration and conversations such as was done in the Cortina, Linguaphone, and similar courses.

The audio recordings of the onscreen text are presented twice in two separate tracks: (a) at a somewhat slower-than-conversational speed and at a faster speed, and (b) one track is recorded by a male, the instructor himself, with the other track having been recorded and by a female co-instructor. It is clear that neither speaker is a voice-trained professional! The student is not exposed to the clear, highly-articulated speech that one encounters in commercially-prepared programmes by Assimil, Berlitz, Linguaphone, Living Language and the like. For those of you who are familiar with the FSI Basic courses and who find that the speakers lacked voice-training, be prepared to revise your harsh opinions of latter. To be fair, Michael Schmitz does a tolerable job in reading the onscreen texts, tolerable in the sense that his voicings are on a par with those of the volunteers who lend their talents to Librivox. In contrast, his female co-instructor’s voicings are well below what one can reasonably expect from a commercially-prepared language course. She has a marked tendency towards mumbling through the texts, so much so that, in my opinion, a beginner would experience difficulty in understanding her. Quite frankly, I believe that, were she submit such sound files to Librivox, they would be returned to her for re-recording. Now then, it can be argued that these are “genuine” German voices which one will eventually be exposed to in real life and that early exposure to these mumblings is actually an advantage of the programme. Well, I suppose so, but the effect is a little jarring. It does not help that the audio recordings seem to have been prepared by well-intentionned amateurs who did not possess the knowledge of how to place a microphone so as to avoid the effect of their voices reverberating off the surrounding walls. If someone wishes to make the argument that this minor irritation is an additional advantage because it simulates the noise in restaurants, I’ll leave them to make the case.

Throughout the Lesson One video lectures, Michael provides well-considered advice on study habits, vocabulary acquisition, how to study using dictations, active and passive listening, short-term and long-term memory, and the like. His explanations of German grammar (we are only at Lesson One, here) are non-technical, bordering on the intuitive. The videos seem to have been prepared over a lengthy period; Michael’s hairstyle changes, he visibly ages and his beard turns from black to salt-and-pepper. None of this affects the quality of Michael’s lectures. He is a very charming public speaker who has embraced an informal style of teaching. The effect is as if someone had simply recorded his lectures in a typical classroom session. That is, the lectures are not at all in the form and style of, say, the highly scripted and polished Great Courses lectures. Nope, you’re getting Michael as he wings it. This is not disconcerting; in fact, it is quite refreshing.

The programme includes an onscreen fill-in-the-blanks feature which seems to be designed to self-test the student’s retention of isolated elements of vocabulary of the mystery story. The student can replay the accompanying audio recordings. Frankly, I was under-whelmed by this feature. That is, I do not view this feature as providing a particularly strong level of reinforcement.

Time to Complete
The Home Page of SmarterGerman implies that only 20 minutes per day are required to complete the programme. Perhaps this is really more a statement of how much time is required to complete a "first pass" of a given lesson; that is, this estimate of 20 minutes does not include the necessarily larger investment in time required to study and absorb the materials. If this is the case, then SmarterGerman should clarify the matter. In addition, the author advises that, using his method, only 90 days of study are required to achieve a level of CEFR B1. Then, somewhat later in the onscreen explanations, the author records that a CEFR B2 level could be achieved in 3 months but that doing so would require the intensive study of some 4.5 hours per day, that prospective students who must either work for living or attend university would be likely unable to maintain such a pace and that, as a consequence, the total study hours required for achieving B2 would have to be spread over a longer period. I agree with these additional comments; however, there is an implication that only 20 minutes of study per day, spread over 90 days, are sufficient to achieving CEFR B1, a matter which a professional language teacher should avoid making on the Home Page of his website. My intention here is not to disparage the author; he has, indeed, provided a reasonable statement concerning the amount of time required to complete a B1-B2 programme for the benefit of an attentive reader. Nevertheless, he could have been more forthcoming.

Effectiveness
Only a small portion of the course is available for preview. The choice of presenting German via murder mystery is bound to stimulate the student’s interest. Michael Schmitz is an effective, if informal, lecturer who puts his audience at ease. His non-technical explanations of the structure of the German language will surely appeal to many learners. As to the amount of vocabulary introduced in this programme, I suppose that we simply have to accept Michael’s assertion that a select core vocabulary of 1,200 words is sufficient for attaining the CEFR B1 level. Nevertheless, I remain sceptical on this point. My real-life experience suggests to me that even Lower-Intermediate Level communication is a challenge with only limited vocabulary. One feature seems to be lacking from either the audio recordings or from the programme itself. How is one meant to proceed? How much repetition of the audio recordings is recommend/required for assimilation? How does one use these materials to practice or to activate the language? In the Lesson One video lectures, Michael alludes to his “Preaching” technique, but his explanation of it lacks detail. Is Smarter German effective? Uh, I guess so!

Buy / Not Buy
From the materials available online, it seems to me that this programme offers the student a charming, engaging murder mystery in text and audio format, augmented by video lectures that help the student analyse the text and absorb the language’s underlying structure. In order words, and I do not wish to seem harsh, this is an audio book covering a range of A1-B1. Now then, as the price for the complete “Everyday German Course (A1-B1)” is 360 $US, would this be a sound investment? Well, it depends on the effectiveness of the programme and, in my opinion, while well-designed materials play an integral role in one’s success, the student’s own study habits are more likely to be the determining factor in his eventual success at second-language acquisition, not to mention that, in the long run, one’s greatest investment will be time. As many of us are already aware, for an equivalent financial investment, one could acquire a small but impressive library of materials which, with sufficient application, most definitely have the potential of bringing a student to the CEFR B1 level. In reply to the OP’s question “is Smarter German any good?”, I would have to say “yes, but …” Were I beginning the study of German, would I buy it ? Poser la question, c’est y répondre!

EDITED:
Addition of "Time to Complete"
Tinkering.
Insertion of "Correction" concerning the availability of a PDF version of the murder mystery.
Last edited by Speakeasy on Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:04 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Is SmarterGerman any good?

Postby Stefan » Wed Jul 04, 2018 4:45 pm

Michael Schmitz got some recognition a few years ago when he did challenges in which he supposedly took students from A0 to B1 in 14 or 30 days and passed the exam. Might say more about the B1 exam than his specific teaching though, I don't know. Note that it was through private tutoring back then and not this specific course. He used to have a grammar package (6+ hours of videos) which I was close to buying but never did because I was too cheap.

I assume this course is a bit more structured and traditional than other popular courses, in the sense that you use songs to remember grammar like most kids did in school. There are also separate video lessons for every area of the grammar you're supposed to know for the B1 exam.

Similar to Speakeasy, I would be surprised if it isn't a good course but it's a lot of money in comparison with other popular courses. There is a money back-guarantee so it might be worth asking how it works (so you don't void it) and then watch as much as possible in 30 days before deciding if it's worth it.
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Re: Is SmarterGerman any good?

Postby reineke » Wed Jul 04, 2018 5:51 pm

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Re: Is SmarterGerman any good?

Postby Elexi » Wed Jul 04, 2018 9:53 pm

I worked through Michael's older video grammar course - I found it hilarious and useful, money well spent. I would imagine this course is also good.
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Re: Is SmarterGerman any good?

Postby scivola » Thu Jul 05, 2018 3:39 pm

I am a little confused as to the amount of time Michael says must be devoted to this course. I do see statements on his website to the effect that "all you need is20 minutes here and 20 minutes there". But if you go to the "German Online Course" section of his website (link here: https://courses.smartergerman.com/p/lea ... urse-a1-b1) and scroll down to the FAQ section, it says this:

"How long do I need to reach level B1 from scratch with this course?

If you study 3 hours per day with this course you are likely to reach level B1 CEFR within 90 days or less. As learning is a highly individual task it might take a bit more or a bit less time. If you invest less time daily, you will most likely need a bit longer. Will I be fluent in German after this course? You can reach B1 fluency. B1 is still a pretty limited level compared to B2 e.g. You will also most likely still need a conversation trainer to practice what you have learned with a human being. I’ll provide you with tips on how to find a very affordable trainer in the course."

That sounds much more reasonable. 3 hours per day for 90 days for a total of 270 hours of study time seems to be in line with other estimates I've heard of how long it takes to reach a B1 level.
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Re: Is SmarterGerman any good?

Postby Sgt Schultz » Thu Jul 05, 2018 4:41 pm

This is the start of the video series that claims B1 in 14 days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdynW67-aZw

I vaguely remember a thread about this on the old site but don't recall what the consensus was on his course.

I do remember that I was curious how his courses actually were but assumed the worse since the claims of B1 in two weeks seemed impossible to me. Maybe I'll have another look at his course(s) since someone above said his course was useful.
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Re: Is SmarterGerman any good?

Postby Speakeasy » Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:26 pm

scivola wrote:I am a little confused as to the amount of time Michael says must be devoted to this course. I do see statements on his website to the effect that "all you need is20 minutes here and 20 minutes there". But if you go to the "German Online Course" section of his website (link here: https://courses.smartergerman.com/p/lea ... urse-a1-b1) and scroll down to the FAQ section, it says … That sounds much more reasonable. 3 hours per day for 90 days for a total of 270 hours of study time seems to be in line with other estimates I've heard of how long it takes to reach a B1 level.
Yes, I expressed a similar concern in the “Time to Complete” section of my initial post. I would not say that Michael Schmitz is being deliberately deceptive; however, I do find the statement on the Home Page, “All you need are 20 minutes here and 20 minutes there” to be misleading, if only initially. I say “initially” because Michael does provide at least five additional statements throughout his website concerning the amount of time required per activity, the additional amount of time that the student should work with Memrise, along with a global appreciation of the time required to reach the Upper-Intermediate level.

"How much time do I need for each step?
Every step in the sG Cycle should last between 20 – 30 minutes. Take breaks frequently. During the breaks, the brain processes and cements what it has learned. Theoretically, you can study up to 9 – 12 hours per day. But even 30 minutes daily will yield tangible results. I recommend studying 3-4 hours per day, 5-6 days per week. ... You should use Memrise "in the background", which means, constantly 10mins here, 10mins there. "

"How long does it take to become fluent in German?
While I have managed to bring a young and gifted woman to level B2 within three months (see video below) and believe that we could also have achieved that in just two months, the average learner will most likely need anything between one and two years.

While your progress depends on quite a few factors (age, intelligence, knowledge, education, motivation, living situation, to name just a few) it is mainly determined by the quality and amount of work you invest in to reach your goal. If you invest only 30 minutes daily in your German learning, you will certainly need longer to achieve your goal than if you invested 4.5 hours daily (like they do in an intensive German course, for example.)

The problem is that you most likely will have to work in addition to your German learning and those 4.5 hours of studying are quite exhausting and difficult to fit into your daily schedule.

Make sure to set realistic goals and to adapt them according to your working and living conditions. The learning cycle that you find in this book will help you fit your German learning into your day as it can be separated into 20–30-minute pieces, which is much easier than finding 90 minutes in an eight-hour workday."


Note, the statement "90 minutes in an eight-hour workday" is remarkably inconsistent with the statement "I recommend studying 3-4 hours per day, 5-6 days per week."

My calculations:
8 steps in the sG Cycle x 20 to 30 minutes per cycle = 2.7 to 4 hours per day
plus 10 minutes of Memrise x 4+sessions per day = 0.7+ additional hours per day
hence Michael’s estimate of 3 to 4 hours per day x 90 days

In the final analysis, the SmarterGerman programme requires that the student devote, in an independent-learning situation, approximately the same amount of time that would be expended in three months of daily classes at an average language school … (3 to 4+ hours per day) x (5 to 6 days per week) = total of 270 to 360+ hours spread over 90 days. Per Michael’s own evaluation, this is almost unsustainable for someone who must either work for a living or attend university.

Conclusion:
The 90-day estimate can be achieved only in situations where the student can treat this programme as a "full time" language course.
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Re: Is SmarterGerman any good?

Postby AML » Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:53 pm

I'm leaning towards purchasing the course and working through it. Once I finish it, or at least work through a substantial portion, I will return to this thread and give you my impressions.
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Re: Is SmarterGerman any good?

Postby AML » Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:55 pm

reineke wrote:http://www.blackcat-cideb.com/en/catalogue/german/graded-readers-en/


Thanks for the link, but how does it relate to the SmarterGerman course?
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