" Our parents are from Ghana, Colombia, Korea, Turkey, Iran, Egypt ... but we are all typical German!? "
Private German Classes Online via Skype and Google Drive
If you don't like Skype, we can also do a video call in Google Chat.
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Servus, Leute! My name is Christian Rychta and teaching German online is what I do.
PRIVATE GERMAN LESSONS ONLINE WITH YOUR OWN PERSONAL GERMAN TUTOR
I am a native German who grew up in Garching bei München, a small town near Munich, the capital of Bavaria.
I am a professional and passionate language teacher who has been tutoring German learners of all ages and levels from around the world online for many years.
A few years ago, I met a woman from Colombia. We fell in love and I decided to move to South America. Eventually we got married, and now I am a happy father of three beautiful daughters. We live in a small, quaint colonial town in the Andes north of Bogotá, and I am teaching German full time to support my family.
My relocation to Colombia has created the need for me to study and learn Spanish. Still going through the process right now, I know how difficult and frustrating learning a new language can be.
Colombia lies in the same time zone as New York City, five hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC -05:00). The country does not observe Daylight Saving Time.
I am a professional and passionate language teacher who has been tutoring German learners of all ages and levels from around the world online for many years.
A few years ago, I met a woman from Colombia. We fell in love and I decided to move to South America. Eventually we got married, and now I am a happy father of three beautiful daughters. We live in a small, quaint colonial town in the Andes north of Bogotá, and I am teaching German full time to support my family.
My relocation to Colombia has created the need for me to study and learn Spanish. Still going through the process right now, I know how difficult and frustrating learning a new language can be.
Colombia lies in the same time zone as New York City, five hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC -05:00). The country does not observe Daylight Saving Time.
PERSONALIZED ONE-TO-ONE GERMAN LESSONS ONLINE
My German classes online offer you a very private and personalized one-to-one learning experience within the comfort of your own home. Every class will be individually tailored for your learning needs.
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While in class, you never have to share your teacher with other students. I work alone, so you will never be with a substitute teacher.
I believe that when you are given the opportunity to develop a personal relationship with your language teacher, your teacher can more easily address your learning difficulties and better monitor your progress, and as a consequence, you will be able to learn more efficiently. |
If you are curious and want to find out whether I am the right teacher for you, I invite you to meet me over Skype or Google Chat. We can talk about your learning goals and I will explain the various ways I work. Then, if you are still interested, I can arrange a free trial lesson for you.
PRIVATE GERMAN CLASSES ONLINE - WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU
• First of all, I offer you the opportunity to study German from the comfort of your own home. You don't have to commute to get to your class.
• I will let you choose a schedule that allows you to have your classes whenever it is most convenient for you. You decide when we start your classes and how many hours per week we do. And of course, you can take a break at any time without losing your class schedule.
• If you already know some German and want to improve your proficiency, I can help you become more fluent. To become more fluent, it is essential that you start using your active language (the language you produce every time you say or write something) more regularly. This means, you should practice expressing yourself as often as you can. Writing something about a chosen topic is one of the best ways to gradually increase your active language skills. Better writing naturally leads to better speaking.
• If you are able to carry on a conversation, maybe you wish to explore the world of German literature, learn more about Germany, or discuss current news events.
• I will let you choose a schedule that allows you to have your classes whenever it is most convenient for you. You decide when we start your classes and how many hours per week we do. And of course, you can take a break at any time without losing your class schedule.
• If you already know some German and want to improve your proficiency, I can help you become more fluent. To become more fluent, it is essential that you start using your active language (the language you produce every time you say or write something) more regularly. This means, you should practice expressing yourself as often as you can. Writing something about a chosen topic is one of the best ways to gradually increase your active language skills. Better writing naturally leads to better speaking.
• If you are able to carry on a conversation, maybe you wish to explore the world of German literature, learn more about Germany, or discuss current news events.
GERMAN CLASSES VIA SKYPE OR GOOGLE CHAT AND GOOGLE DRIVE - HOW?
• My classes are always private and personal.
• I teach in an online classroom that is very similar to a real classroom. I use SKYPE or GOOGLE CHAT for speech and GOOGLE DRIVE for reading, writing, and to share with you text, audio and video files. In Google Drive you find an office suite called GOOGLE DOCS. I use its features to prepare the lessons and exercises for my students. The documents created can be shared, opened, and edited by multiple users simultaneously in real time. (If you have never heard of Google Drive, check out this link here.)
• You will have total access to everything we do in class so you will be able to review each class whenever you want. And you can save all the documents in Google Drive to your hard drive.
• To become more fluent, I believe it is important that you use a language every day. This does not mean you have to have a class every day. I will offer you material and show you links with which you can practice German between classes as often as you want.
• I teach in an online classroom that is very similar to a real classroom. I use SKYPE or GOOGLE CHAT for speech and GOOGLE DRIVE for reading, writing, and to share with you text, audio and video files. In Google Drive you find an office suite called GOOGLE DOCS. I use its features to prepare the lessons and exercises for my students. The documents created can be shared, opened, and edited by multiple users simultaneously in real time. (If you have never heard of Google Drive, check out this link here.)
• You will have total access to everything we do in class so you will be able to review each class whenever you want. And you can save all the documents in Google Drive to your hard drive.
• To become more fluent, I believe it is important that you use a language every day. This does not mean you have to have a class every day. I will offer you material and show you links with which you can practice German between classes as often as you want.
The Grammatical Gender of the Word "das Mädchen" in German
Why does a girl have a neuter gender in German?
For many German learners, one of the great mysteries of the German language is the grammatical gender of the word "Mädchen", which means girl. The word is neuter, "das Mädchen", neither feminine nor masculine. However, the grammatical gender of the word for boy, "der Junge", agrees with its biological gender. In fact, the grammatical gender of a German noun which refers to a person usually matches the person's biological gender: der Vater, die Mutter, der Sohn, die Tochter, der Lehrer, die Lehrerin ...
So, what's the reason for that seemingly discriminating grammatical gender of the word "Mädchen" ? The answer might surprise you.
So, what's the reason for that seemingly discriminating grammatical gender of the word "Mädchen" ? The answer might surprise you.
It's the Diminutive!
The Diminutive is a form of a noun or a name that expresses smallness, intimacy, or endearment. Diminutives are not very common in standard English in comparison with many other languages.
But here are a few examples in English: doggy (dog), Johnny (John), booklet (book), duckling (duck)
But here are a few examples in English: doggy (dog), Johnny (John), booklet (book), duckling (duck)
The suffix "-chen" expresses the German diminutive and in German, applying the diminutive to a noun means to change the grammatical gender of the noun to neuter. The word "Mädchen" was originally the diminutive of the antiquated German word "die Maid", which is of course feminine and means young woman. Over time, the word "Mädchen" had become the standard word for girl and lost its diminutive meaning. But it is technically still a diminutive, hence its neuter grammatical gender.
Fortunately, the grammatical gender of the word girl in German has nothing to do with the idea that in the distant past, girls were seen as objects by the Germans.
A few other words that have survived only in their diminutive form:
• das Kaninchen = rabbit
• das Eichhörnchen = red squirrel
• das Märchen = fairytale
• das Maiglöckchen = lily of the valley
• das Eichhörnchen = red squirrel
• das Märchen = fairytale
• das Maiglöckchen = lily of the valley
○ More German grammar tips here at the bottom of the page!
