ERIC M. verhaal

I am 73 and practiced European and international law for over 40 years. I am a father of 3 children and grandfather of 4 grandchildren. I started studying German four years ago when I retired. I had never done it before. I took classes in person, then via Zoom when the pandemic hit. Then I continued with a teacher two or three times a month. I'm still taking these classes in person. But Gymglish allowed me to move up a gear, in the Germanic language that I personally find a bit difficult for a French speaker (especially one like me not particularly gifted for the study of languages!), in a pleasant way (ie without any anxiety or complex) and with encouraging teaching methods. The stories that underpin the course are fun (and therefore a bit addictive) and full of a humor that I would describe as “Berliner”. But above all, I find Gymglish in general (and Wunderbla in particular) to be a method that offers at least three very attractive features. The first is that it allows you to work every day, or at least several times a week, at a time which may vary at your convenience and for a maximum of one hour. The second is that it is based on a rigorous methodology where mistakes, errors, and difficulties are analyzed and systematically reviewed (apparently without time limits) until the vocabulary or (especially) the relevant “resisting” grammar rule is completely assimilated. I compare this way of teaching a bit to the so-called Singapore method used to teach mathematics to children in particular. The third is that, with the possibility of tutoring, the student can practice, in writing or orally, conversing for five or six minutes a day with a robot that, I believe, using AI, allows it to address all subjects and respond to the student fluently. I could even add two more things. One is that I find the cost (or as we now say, the value for money) of the teaching extremely reasonable, and the other is that if you have a question about a particular practical or administrative difficulty, someone from the staff will quickly and kindly provide you with an answer. I have also been using this method for a few months to improve my Italian (which I have been studying for 20 years with a mixed degree of success!) and, as with German, I recommend this method without reservation.