⦁ Back in 2010, my dream came true – I got into one of the top universities in Hong Kong, studying mechanical and automation engineering.
I knew early on what I will study – But I had no clue that the question “where” could be a turning point in my life.
I met a girl from Germany in the dorm.
Fast forward a decade: this girl from Germany is now my wife and we have 3 lovely kids, living in Offenburg, a city on the edge of black forest.
Everything is wonderful now.
…but it was not the case at the beginning.

After we got serious with our relationship, I had to answer a big question:
Should I stay in Hong Kong and finish my study, or should I take the leap of faith and restart my life in Germany?
This question almost tore me apart.
Believe me, it was not an easy decision.
“You always regret that you did not do something, but seldom you did something.”
Silly enough to believe a saying I once read on the Internet, but I decided to go to Germany because of the fear of regretting.

Suddenly, learning German became the most important aspect of my life.

⦁ Before I learned German, I did try to learn French in school once, but I failed miserably. The exact same problem popped up – I did not understand the construction of a German sentence at all.
I just did not know how to start.
Some people told me that German is similar to English, I was naive enough to believe that I will be learning some kind of “modified version” of English, with some new vocabularies and slightly different form of grammar.
“You don’t need to speak German in Germany.” Some people argue.
Yes, you could. But there was a condition of the program I got into:
No graduation without a B2/C1 German certificate!

To make the situation worse: after the first year of program, the international students were mixed with the local students, all the lectures were then conducted in German.
All the lectures, all the material, all the exams – Everything. Is. In. German.
Could you imagine not only having to learn German, but also having to use your half-assed German to learn something highly technical and academic?

And I had only one year to prep myself up for this huge challenge!

As I tried my best to advance my German skills, I had so much questions…
Like all beginners do.

⦁ I tried a lot of learning methods and searched for answer to my questions for hours – maybe you will say that is meaningless, but I just couldn’t stand the feeling of reciting hard facts without comprehension!
I bought a lot of exercise books, reference material, grammar books, etc…
No questions were answered in a way that I can sleep well at night.
And when I ask my teachers, they said:
“You will understand this later”
“Accept this first. It is not important now.”
“Das ist Deutsch!(This is German)”
I was so insecure, even if I greeted someone with “Guten Morgen”, I irrationally thought that they would challenge me by asking me:
Why you have to say “guten” but not “gut” only?

⦁ It was no fun, I almost got depressed in the third semester in this never-ending fight with German.
I had to find a way out.
I decided to be kind to myself first: I gave myself time to ask questions and find answers on the internet.
As I was struggling, I lost my control. My note got chaotic, scribing on worksheets, notebook and textbook. Switching between written notes and digital notetaking app quickly.
Engineers have a good habit(normally): things should be in order, systematic and clearly organized. I was obsessed with organizing my notes for the engineering study at that point of time – why not doing so with my German study?
Let’s do it!
I organized my findings and slowly built up my personal German notes. It was mostly about the German grammar and how to understand the concepts.

⦁ I decided to open up a single OneNote notebook, wrote down the topics and questions one by one, and wrote down my findings accordingly.

No stop until I was happy with it – at the end I have a notebook with more than 100 pages of my personal notes.
Not only I kept writing, I also spent countless hours reviewing the notes and revising them as I needed.
It was only a belief I have: understanding is always the first part of a learning journey!
The power of my notebook was still unknown to me, until the winter of 2012 –
I decided to take my TestDaF exam earlier and to make sure that I have B2 to C1 level for the advanced part of the program.

⦁ The urge to prove that I made a right decision to come to Germany was unbelievably strong.
I needed a proof: I am right!
Not to the people around me but to myself – If I can make it, that means I can sweep out the last challenge out of the way and graduate as an engineer in Germany.

After the exam, I was obsessively checking the result on the website!
The moment the result got in, I was blown away.
TDN 5 for reading and listening, TDN 4 for writing and speaking.
In case you don’t know – that means I passed the exam!

From there on, I knew that I mastered one key aspect of German: the grammar.
Also by deepening my understanding and practicing what I have learnt, I got better and better.
The rest is history: I finished my study in 2014, wrote my thesis in German, passed the C2 exam in 2016 and now a qualified German teacher.
Everything came from that determination: I have to understand first!

⦁ “Isn’t it stupid to waste your time on those questions and answer?”
No, I am happy that I made the decision and paid all the effort!
And beyond the mastery of a new language, I have learnt so much on the way.
I became a person with more acceptance in communication.
Every time I encounter a challenge, I see differences only, not difficulties.
I became more creative, even in Cantonese and English, in terms of expressing my though.
Now you know why I am so eager to share my story and knowledge about German to you, right?
My last word: I sincerely want you to get the barriers out of the way and reach your goal in German (and Germany) and I will be more than happy if I can help you on the way.