- Walter Gropius (18 May 1883—05 July 1969) was a renowned German-American architect and academic authority who founded the Bauhaus in Weimar in 1919. The Bauhaus was an advanced academic institution focusing on applied arts, architecture, and design which conflated the teachings of the Weimar Academy of Arts and the Weimar
- Germans will be obliged to take integration test – Re-education upon failure Today, the German office for migration and refugees (BAMF) published a report which admitted a partial failure of their current approach of teaching migrants and refugees the German language and culture via so-called Integration Courses (Integrationskurs). Yet
- Weißwurst, Bratwurst, Schweinebraten: Germany’s cuisine is known as good and robust – and also as very meat-based. When it comes to traditional dishes, it is not always easy to find something suitable for vegetarians or even vegans. But besides the lack of meatless meals, there is a growing number of
- In many countries, birthdays are an occasion to celebrate that the person involved has survived another year. Germany is no different in this respect, but the traditions there are a bit different than what people in the UK or in the United States might be familiar with! First: never wish
- The Situation of Church and State in Germany In times of religiously legitimized fundamental terrorism, religion is obviously still playing a big role in the ways of the world. Though it’s easy to think the world would be quite secularized, the great religions are in fact gaining in numbers. And
- Of course, Germany is well known for its favorite beverage beer. Drinking it is common and important, but thus it can also lead to some unpleasant moments when you don’t know how to handle the thousands of years of drinking culture. Let’s face the most important rules. Drinking in Public
- So your qualifications are not considered enough for studying at a university in Germany? Time to check out the Studienkolleg – a preparatory course especially meant for international students to be able to study in Germany. There are two main types of Studienkolleg; basically, ones attached to a university, and
- Historically, the lands we know today as the nation of Germany were in reality governed by an loose conglomeration of princes and nobles, each with their own lands (even in the days of the Holy Roman Empire). With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in the early 19th century,
- After closely following the course of the US-Election, a couple of new terms entered my vocabulary – terms such as “Filter-Bubble” or “Fake-News”. And as Americans are always a little faster than most Germans in all things social media, I was not surprised when Fake-News and Filter Bubbles made the,
- The Location of the Palace of Sanssouci Frederick II of Prussia (Frederick the Great) (24 January 1712―17 August 1786), a strong supporter of benevolent despotism, built his magnificent rococo palace in a 290-hectare park in Potsdam, just southwest of Berlin, between 1745-1747 as a respite from the official court in
- It is a wet morning in September of either 7 or 9 AD, and the might of Rome is on the move. In response to a series of reports of unrest by their ally Arminius, chieftain of the Cherusci and trained veteran of Roman campaigns, Governer Publius Quinctilius Varus
- The Relationship between Rome and Germania When we typically think of relations between Rome and the Germanic peoples across the Rhine, it tends to be colored by warfare, conquests, and the eventual fall of the western empire around the fifth century. Popular media and popular thought tends to depict those
Google Reviews
Google Rating
4.9 
4.9
Ruzanna Harutyunyan
17:13 14 Jan 17
Michael has helped me immensely during my journey of learning. He very quickly identified the weaknesses I have and figured a way to solve them. His approach is tailored to the individual needs of the student, rather than a generic plan on how to stuff the head with information. He helped me organize the information that I already had from various sources, but was unable to put it into practical use.He gave me the confidence to start speaking the language. With his help, now I like the process of learning. And that is the most important achievement I had!
Sai Kiran
22:03 21 Apr 17
I had the opportunity to work with him over a year ago. Though we were not able to continue working due to my unpredictable job and travel, I found his method and training methodology extremely logical and intuitive. Though smartergerman services are relatively expensive than others in the market, the quality is many times more than worth it. Mr. Michael Schmitz has over 20 years experience in language teaching and summons all his expertise for the student's benefit. Highly Recommended.
Tammy Furey
16:03 20 Feb 17
6 years ago, I thought it would be a jolly good plan to move, from the UK, to Switzerland with a young child. Without a word of German. With a husband who didn’t have a word of German. I really didn’t realise the reality of learning a foreign language in a land that doesn’t actually speak high German.
So after 5 years of struggling with the local language schools and banging my head against the wall, I finally decided that I was going to get serious about language learning. I made it clear: this was make or break. I put my work on hold, purely to focus on German learning.
Michael was a life saver. This is something to understand about working with Michael: you are not simply employing a German Teacher - you are employing a coach. Michael had to undo years of anxiety at failing to actually learn the language, years of misunderstandings, frustrations and generally beating myself up. So much was in the way of being able to look at the German language with a clear head and not in sheer panic!!!
So after telling myself for years that I could never, ever get to B1 standard, I got 84.5% on the exam!!! And here is the crucial thing: Michael has changed my way of learning languages for life. I now have a system in which I can continue to learn German, not as a rush to the next exam (although goals are good!), but as a life long learning process which I enjoy. Yes….actually enjoy learning German - who would have thought that was possible?!!……
Simon K
18:24 26 Jan 17
I found Michael & smarterGerman in September 2016 upon realizing I need to start working on my German fluency to be eligible for a couple of International Business Master's degrees I am considering. My main reasons for having decided to work with Michael were a combination of the flexible scheduling (as I'm in my last year of undergrad) and that he had successfully taught numerous students from zero to B1 in a short period of time. Full disclosure, I've had limited German studies in the past at lower levels (university course in 2011, Goethe A2.3 in spring 2014) while struggling along the way, but no active learning during the past two plus years. Having met roughly a dozen times between the end of September and my exam date in December, I'm happy to say that I passed my B1 Goethe Exam with an overall average of 80.25%! Keep in mind, I had to dedicate time around my lessons to the homework and exam preparations, but it was still the most efficient time I've spent learning German. Given my experience, I can highly recommend working with Michael to all who are serious about achieving results quickly.
John Gillam
17:59 20 Mar 17
I began learning with Michael at the beginning of July 2016 and at the time I had only sat my A2 exam a few months earlier and so my goal was to reach B1 with Michael by October. After a short chat with Michael, he upgraded my goal to B2, which was to be achieved in the same time frame. I didn't believe that it was possible when we first began our work together but after only 11 45 minute long sessions, and one hour per week conversation training with another teacher, I sat and passed my B2 exam - including a 100% pass mark in the oral section. I couldn't have done it without Michael's confidence, motivational skills, and ability to root out mistakes and explain things clearly using my mother tongue. His methods (learning cycle) really are fool proof if you follow them. Aim high and Michael will help you reach your goal as long as you're ready to work with it. Best value for money yet!
Nick Doan
22:15 27 May 17
Michael was very generous with his time and expertise when I approached him. He was quick to offer help and provided immediate, valuable insight.
Laura Avivar
15:38 04 Jun 17
The method that Michael uses for teaching is really the one! I studied German before but never so successful as this one. I really recommend him.
John Dean
02:24 26 Jun 17
What a wonderful learning tool Michael has put together! The text of "Die Tote Frau" is fairly simple (for the most part), but he teaches you a new way of figuring out the not-so-simple parts, ways to learn how to read German texts without necessarily knowing all of the words. When I learned Latin way back in high school, I was able to quickly figure out the meanings of many difficult English words, and that was tremendously helpful. In this series, Michael makes it just as easy, using techniques that allow the reader to spot recognizable words within larger contexts. It's highly analytical, which I appreciate, although others may find that they don't necessarily want to go "into the weeds," as they say. Even so, if you stick with it, you'll be glad you did. I often found myself reading a passage, and thinking, "hey, that's an interesting phrase, I wonder where that came from." Sure enough, as if Michael and I were on the same page (figuratively and literally), he would invariably get to that sentence and say, "this is an interesting construction, right here." You gotta love that. Oh, and I should mention - it's quite inexpensive, relative to what you get in return. Highly recommended!
Brandon Dickerson
18:10 03 Jul 17
So far, Michael's learning methods have been very creative and helpful. Looking forward to seeing more.
John Crickett
13:50 04 Jul 17
I have recently purchased the german article buster app and have found that with a little practice (tutorials given on the app) the baffling allocation of der, die and das for nouns is made easier by simply using your own imagination.
I have found the app to easy to use and much better than staring a long list of words which can be very intimidating.
Shay Halpenny
12:08 19 Jul 17
I have been trying to learn German for more years than I care to admit. I've used Rosetta Stone, Duolingo, Memrise and I can even go back as far as Linguaphone tapes! I have attended many German classes including the Goethe Institut in Dublin, Jerusalem, Munich. It was the awful experience I had at the GI in Munchen that drove me to seek out something else. That is when I found Michael.
He is passionate about giving his students the best chance to succeed. His videos are short but do not underestimate their impact. But above all it works.
If you are trying to learn German, especially if you want to site B1 or B2 exams I would recommend you give this a try. I also wish you every success :-)
Shay
Yariv Adan
19:48 03 Aug 17
This is not SMARTER German, but rather SMARTEST German :)))
The learning cycle is purely genius - building on advanced learning and memory techniques. The grammar videos and exercises are by far the best I have ever seen - ultra clear, memorable, and fun to do.
I definitely reached a new level in German I never thought I would, as well as easily passed the dreadful B1 exam ??? :) THANK YOU!!!Finally, I had great fun doing it, and highly appreciated and enjoyed the humorous, intelligent and refreshing approach to teaching.CLEARLY THE BEST, AND WELL WORTH THE PRICE!
Aparna Taneja
12:46 09 Aug 17
I highly recommend Michael and his team for learning German. His learning methods are unique and effective. He is very prompt in answering any questions and helping you practice writing and speaking skills. He focuses on the areas you need most improvement and makes learning German fun :).
TIJA Driss
15:11 04 Aug 17
I never attended a live course with Michael but I bought his grammar book. I write him all the time when I have a technical problem and he always finds time to answer me. I printed his book and love working on it. I make all the exercices and I feel that my methods before were bad. I lost so much time in the past. We should all begin by his book. Thank you Michael
Oksana Cyhanukova
07:58 07 Aug 17
I just began learning with smarter German and so far I find it very helpful.I think the programme that Michael Schmitz created is engaging.The approach is more practical and that works for me better than intensive classes I used to take. There is still much material that I need to go through, but so far I would highly recommend it.You get also several tips how to make your German language learning easier.
Nicole Mignone
16:02 13 Sep 17
I have so many positive comments about Smarter German. I appreciate the various methods Michael uses to present the rules, the exceptions, the concepts, the logic, and the practical use of the grammar. The crime story translation process is brilliant and I highly recommend it for someone who is a visual learner. Some of his mnemonic devices are just brilliant. Thank you.
paolafaessler
16:10 08 Sep 17
It was a great idea to convert smarterGerman course into an online format. I found it very intuitive and balanced (not too easy nor too hard). Besides, it's being much easier to keep me on track and to avoid procrastination. Still amazed about the amount of attention and care Michael puts into it.
Panagiotis Tsareas
20:13 16 Aug 17
Interesting and impressive job that simplifies the learning of German language. Just set up your goals and spend some time and the results are there.
Timothy Alston
08:15 08 Sep 17
I agree with all positive reviews, refreshing to see such an intuitive tutor at work. Highly recommend the course. Only smart people explain complex problems/issues in an understandable way :)
Danielle Stewart
17:25 05 Nov 17
When I decided to learn German, I previewed many different online grammar courses. Most of them were fine for tourists, but lacked in learning how to speak fluent and correct German. I took advantage of smarterGerman free article course and I was hooked. Michael and Margareth provide a beautiful structure in which to learn. It is not overwhelming and you slowly build upon previous topics. There are tricks they teach that help with remembering genders and learning how to speak in complete sentences.The course has you read, write, and listen. It is easy to ask questions and responses are fast and clear. Despite it being an online course, it really does feel like I have real life teachers. It's obvious they care about me as a student and want me to succeed. They have made a beautiful language even more stunning and accessible at the same time.I hope someday someone asks me where to go to learn German. I know exactly where I will send them. It's worth every penny - and more.
Fatemeh Nikayin
08:32 07 Nov 17
I am so happy and grateful to find Micheal website. His method is very engaging and make learning language also fun. His technique in remembering articles is amazing. I would highly recommend his online course to anyone who wants to learn German without spending hours of time in different lessons. Keep up the awesome work Micheal :-)
Jason Fishburn
14:38 12 Feb 18
SmarterGerman is a fantastic resource for learning German, None of the nonsense that Duolingo gives you. Easy to understand instructions, it's like learning German as easy as a child does
Filip Stojiljkovic
18:40 01 Jan 18
SmarterGerman easily fulfilled all my expectations and with its quality gave me the opportunity to go even beyond my initial goal which was to reach B1 level German in three months. It’s simple yet very effective way to learn a language. I enjoyed the materials tailored to provide information in a way that is clear and easy to remember, making learning process simpler and more enjoyable while providing constant feeling of progression. Along with great materials the passion and dedication of sG tutors were simply amazing! It has been a great journey. Thank you!
Kate Jobe
13:42 11 Feb 18
I've tried a lot of courses for learning German over many years. First of all, this course if fun, I get a sense of my progress through it's structure and diversified repetition, (not rote learning). Michael knows how to boil things down without losing the complexity of the language. It's brilliant in its simplicity and comprehensiveness. Michael brings information not only about the language but also educates about learning helping one create a healthy learning environment. I learn so much from participants comments as well. Overall this is a great learning experience.... at last. Thanks Michael and team.
Jo Dill
15:43 14 Apr 18
True to its name. SmarterGerman makes learning German language interesting, time efficient and easier than normal. As a busy mom with two babies ...the techniques of SmarterGerman motivates me to aim for a high quality of learning the German language in a fun way but in a short but very efficient time.
Tony Georgiev
21:54 25 Feb 18
The creator and the instructors of the platform have found and implemented great techniques to help you speedup the learning process and make it more fun
