Native Berliner | Yale Graduate | LAMDA-Trained Actor — Clear, Refined German for Academic & Professional Excellence

Find out more about Florian

• Do you speak this language fluently because of your origins or because a teacher inspired you to learn?

  I was born in Berlin, and German is my mother tongue. That being said, I had an excellent primary school German teacher who inspired me to write stories centred around five more or less random words she would give me. I loved coming up with stories, and the joy of combining imagination, creativity, and language has been with me ever since.

• Can you name a living, historical, or fictional character that you think is the emblematic representative of the language's culture?

  I think that Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, apart from having a strikingly German name and being incredibly multi-talented, is also emblematic of the deep and rich culture Germany has to offer. Something that I think makes Germany special is that it manages to balance a variety of different approaches, goals, and values and integrates them into a vibrant and ever-changing political, social, and cultural landscape. At the same time, contemporary Germany is very different from the Germany of the Sturm und Drang period, and I think Goethe had a passion for life that is visible in the German language itself, but perhaps less openly displayed by the Germans of today.

• Is there a typical word, phrase, tradition, or behaviour in the language that you particularly like?

  "Wortschatz"
  
  One of the many beautiful words of the German language, it is a compound noun created from the words for "word" (Wort) and "treasure" (Schatz) and can be translated as "vocabulary" (as in: all the words a person knows). I love the evocative nature of the word. It conjures up the image in my head of a treasury filled with shiny, sparkly words, which is not only beautiful but also very apt given what it means.

• Why does speaking this language matter to you?

  To steal a quote from another German speaker, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and apply it in a different context: "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world."
  
  Your own language(s) and foreign languages are a medium to interact with the world. Diving deeper into any language and learning about a country's culture permits you a kind of creativity, access, and a level of connection with other speakers of that language that is far beyond what Google Translate & co. will ever permit. Expression can be meaningful, joyful, tragic, and so much more. But more than that, every language has its own architecture, logic, flow, and playfulness. All languages fulfil similar necessary functions, but do so in different ways. And the more I teach German, the more I realise how much I enjoy discovering the thoughtfulness, many little secrets, and idiosyncrasies present in the German language.

• What is the main difficulty in learning this language, and what can help the process of learning?

  Every student has their own strengths, difficulties, and ways of learning, meaning there is not a single main difficulty for everyone. That being said, there are a few challenges worth mentioning here, some of which apply to learning language in general and some that are particular to German. Learning a lot of new vocabulary, idiomatic expressions (expressions that might not make sense when translated literally), and the pronunciation of unfamiliar new sounds are all tasks necessary for learning any language, even if languages differ in terms of how "foreign" they will sound to you. German, in particular, also has a complex grammar structure that includes cases, genders, and unique word order.
  
  To help with the different tasks, it is important to use a mix of learning strategies in order to help cover the different areas and skills. This could include immersing oneself in the language by enjoying German films (at the beginning with subtitles), music, books, and newspapers; having regular German classes with a teacher that you trust; using language apps; and integrating practice and vocabulary learning into your routine.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your language learning or your days at school.

  I really did not enjoy French at school because the teaching in the German school system is very focused on grammar and teaching "by the book." As a result, even though I had started the subject with great joy at the prospect of learning and speaking French, I dropped French as soon as I was able to. It was only at university that I decided to give it another try and go the exact opposite direction: immersion. I did an exchange semester at the Sorbonne IV in Paris and loved it. Every day, I was eager to engage with the language because the use cases were so clear. After I finished my exchange semester, I even came back a year later to study in Paris for another whole year. The lesson I took from that experience is that learning a language without using it in a real way and only by focusing on textbook pages can really diminish and even kill the spirit and joy of learning.

• How has travel or a specific trip helped you increase your skill and knowledge of the language?

  I don't think any particular trip has helped me with German, but my exchange year in the USA when I was 16 and doing my bachelor's and master's degrees in English all helped me tremendously in reaching a high level of fluency in English.

• What makes you a Superprof in language?

  I am a native speaker with a standard German accent who loves the language. I am an actor and writer who works with the language and a closet academic who loves to learn new things about the language every day. As a result, I have extensive experience using German in a large range of contexts. I can speak, write, and teach using advanced grammar and vocabulary (where useful and wanted), and I am passionate about sharing the joy of discovering its flow, nuances, beauty, as well as its quirks and kinks. I have several years of experience teaching and really enjoy working with my students. I love learning languages and have studied both English and French as foreign languages. As a result, I am familiar with a variety of ways for learning a new language (e.g., school classrooms, language exchanges, private language courses, tandem learning, university courses) and can easily adapt to a student's needs. I am also very familiar with elite educational institutions, meaning I can really empathise with students in demanding educational environments and high-pressure exam situations.