Tandem Training

The Successful Language Exchange

Find tandem partners and learn languages together!

A great idea and a wonderful experience, which will enormously improve your language skills.

Alessio will give you insights and practical advice to bootstrap your language practice and guarantee fun and success.

15 years of personal and professional experience, learning six languages and helping thousands of people learning languages, all condensed in a single course.

This course covers all the aspects for language exchange: find a partner, schedule the meeting, decide what to do, ask questions, ask for examples, being corrected, keeping a journal, and much more.

There’s also a whole section about the role of the native speaker, who can also learn to help you better.

What is Tandem Training?

Why choose my course?

A Uniquely Efficient & likeable Approach

You won’t find this kind of teaching anywhere else. Michael’s delivery of knowledge is one of a kind.

Your Independence Matters to Us

The aim of a good teacher must be that her student becomes independent from her as soon as possible. I will provide you with all necessary tools and strategies to continue your learning savely on your own.

We care about your Experience

Alessio and I are deeply invested in you enjoying your German learning experience. We know what it feels like to learn a new language.

No Bullshit

You don’t need to know every single grammar rule or to understand every single word. I work by the 80/20 rule. Look it up if you haven’t heard about it yet or just join sG and experience it first hand.

What my students are saying

Learning German with SmarterGerman was one of my best investments. There is a lot of interaction, humor, and structure in the classes. Thank you very much, Michael, for creating such an engaging course that helps me improve my German step by step in a very systematic and comprehensive manner. A clear recommendation to any German learner.

Andresa Lêdo Marques

Student

I've been doing this course for about 6 months now. I'm taking it slow as I don't always have a great deal of time but I am finding it to be excellent. The way things are broken up and described really are wonderful, and the courses approach to how people actually digest information and what it takes to actually learn and understand a language really sits well with me.

Duncan Alastair Brown

Student

At 25% progress I can already slowly pick up the signs and guess the meaning of texts - without making any extra effort. The methodology seems to enable learning by osmosis. Michael is quick to respond to questions and ensures we are on track. This is a course for you if you have a clear goal or if you just want to enjoy a stress free way of learning German.

Sherry Hsu

Student

Frequently asked questions

No. SmarterGerman is all about simplicity. With an All Courses Membership you get access to 10 courses for the price of one. If I had to fiddle with 20 diff. kinds of subscriptions, I’d have to hire someone to deal with this nonsense and you’d pay twice as much. And I understand that 29,90€ / mo might be a lot of money for some which is why I offer generous social discounts that reduce that price to 9,90€ / mo and if the shit really hit the fan even to 1€ / mo. All trust based. I mean why would you lie to me, right?

So: A1 alone costs 29,90€ a month and A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, A1-Exam Prep, B1-Exam Prep, DSH-Exam Prep, Grammar Course and Trandem Training all together cost 29,90€ a month. 

A standard German course in a group anywhere in Germany costs 250€ / mo. And they move on whether you keep up with the group’s speed or not. You need 2-3 months per level and once you are out of school, you can’t reach your teacher for questions anymore.

And in language schools they often speak German which in my 25+ years professional and personal opinion is making learning German a lot more difficult than it should be. I base my opinion on science: https://bilingual-approach.com/

Even in Africa and India a month in such a group costs easily 100€ / mo. So you do the math, okay?

Of course, I understand that €29.90 per month can be a lot of money for some. That’s why I offer generous social discounts — fully trust-based — that reduce the price to €9.90 per month, and if things are really tough, even to €1 per month.

I trust you to be honest — why would you lie to me, right?

If you can’t afford the regular €29.90/month but can manage €9.90/month for a high-quality German course, apply for the Social Discount. It reduces the fee for my All Courses Membership to just €9.90/month.

If even €9.90/month is impossible right now, you can apply for my Scholarship, which brings the price down to €1/month.

Please note that this scholarship is made possible by those who pay more – it’s a community effort. Therefore you’ll be asked to pay this gift forward to others in the future.

The scholarship also comes with a few other reasonable conditions, which I explain in detail on the scholarship page.

If you truly, truly can’t even afford €1/month, don’t give up. Write to me via my homepage, and I’ll make you a personal offer. You might receive free access for as long as you need it – in return, I’ll simply ask you to pay this kindness forward once your situation improves. 

Please understand: I can’t promise access to the scholarship or free plan. These options are reserved for highly motivated and disciplined learners, because they cost both me and the community money. They’re an investment in people who face hardship through no fault of their own — but who are determined to change their lives and help others in turn.

As there are no live classes included, it starts whenever you are ready and ends either when you have achieved your goal or when your access period ends.

All my courses are accessible exclusively through my Membership subscription. As long as you are subscribed you get access to my courses. 

Jein. Quick technical support is of course provided for free. If you need support with your studying you need an active paid subscription to my Personal Support Membership. If you subscribe to my bundle you’ll get a solid 50%discount so it only costs you 10€ instead of 19,90€ / mo. 

Yes. We will provide you with links and information about where to find free and paid materials for your tandem.

No. You need an internet connection.

Yes, of course. The mobile version of the course is beautiful and there is even an app for Android and iOS. Some features like our vocab trainer, the community widget or the dictation tool are not available in the app though. Therefore it’s highly recommended that you use the mobile browser. Ideally however you don’t work on a mobile as mobile phones are simply not made for proper studying. If you have no other choice, so be it but ideally you get your hands on some 100€ laptop and take that. Doesn’t have to be fancy.

Alessio Bona

Your Instructor

Alessio is a polyglot who helps students and professionals to conquer and master the German language.

He learned German himself, more than a decade ago, studied in German universities and currently lives in Berlin.

As language coach he focuses on two things above all: first, to empower his students, giving them the tool to understand and control the language they are learning.

Second: to find and develop methods which aren’t only effective, but also fun and enjoyable.

In his Grammar course he opens up the German language and shows you how it works and how you can own it.

It’s a must for every committed student.

Make The Most Out Of
Your Tandem

Work smart, not hard. A language exchange can be a very strong motivator and is a wonderful opportunity to use your German skills with a human being.

*with 5 year subscription – total price 599€
regular price is 29,90€ / mo
generous social discounts available
prices in EUR incl. VAT where it applies

  • Welcome! (3:49)
  • Structure of the course
  • When to start? Which level should you have?
Part I — How to Structure the Meetings
  • 1. My tandem partner
  • 2. Structure vs. spontaneity
  • 3. How to alternate languages?
  • 4. Which activities should we do?
  • 5. Duration of the meeting
  • 6. Frequency of the meetings
  • 7. Micro-exchanges
  • 0. Introduction
  • 1. Conversation
  • 1b. Conversation topics to add / draft
  • 2. Google Translate
  • 3. Reading
  • 4. TED Talk
  • 5. Theater: Preaching for Two
  • 6. Game: Two Truths, One Lie
  • 7. Game: Twenty Questions
  • 8. Game: Taboo
  • 9. Reflecting on language & learning
  • 1. How to start
  • 2. Find a tandem partner (online)
  • 3. Where to meet (online)
  • 4. Find a tandem partner (in real life)
  • 5. Where to meet (in real life)
  • 6. How to end it
Part II — For the Student
  • 0. To be a learner isn’t easy
  • 1. Am I that bad?
  • 2. Please correct me!
  • 3. Feeling indebted
  • 0. She’s no teacher
  • 1. Correction
  • 2. Example
  • 3. Shadowing: crash course
  • 0. About asking questions
  • 1. “How would you say it?”
  • 2. “What does this mean?”
  • 3. “Can you write it down, please?”
  • 4. “Other examples?”
  • 5. Single words are useless
  • 1. It’s not just the meeting
  • 2. Before
  • 3. After
  • Schedule of activities by level to add / draft
  • Why to keep a journal draft
  • Practice journal for learners
  • Journal templates (tablet & print)
Part III — For Native Speakers
  • 0. To be a native isn’t easy
  • 1. Grammar
  • 2. Authority & responsibility
  • 3. Motives & reward
  • 4. Consistency
  • 0. You can speak better
  • 1. Pronunciation
  • 2. Speed
  • 3. Language style
  • Practice your speaking with languagegym
  • 0. About corrections draft
  • 1. How and what to correct?
  • 2. Fix · Replace · Extend
  • 3. Quantity & frequency
  • Practice journal for natives
  • My last advice