All About Me

Let me tell you a story.

I went to France three times during college and grad school to improve the French skills I started learning in seventh grade. From junior high, I continued my studies in high school, and then again in college when I was a foreign language major. None of these ten years of classroom learning with textbooks made me a fluent speaker, so I figured that I needed to go live in France and force myself to speak French all day. I did a couple of weeks at the Sorbonne in Paris, then a few weeks in St. Malo at the Université de Haute Bretagne (I think it has changed its name since 1987), and then a few years later a summer at the language institute in Tours (so I could comfortably teach a beginner's level French class). At the end of my last immersion program in France, I had finally learned and perfected ONE great French conversation (all about me). I was thrilled to use it each time I met someone new, and they questioned me about why I was in France. I was glowing with joy after each of these experiences. That's what I want for you!

The most memorable time back in that summer, was when I was in Germany with my mom and family. We were out on a beautiful summer's evening having dinner in a restaurant located in a German castle near the French border. Our waiter that night was from France, and we recognized his accent. I asked him in French if he was French. He smiled and said yes, so I told him in French that I had just been in Tours. He asked me why I was there, and that opened the door to my "perfect" French conversation. It was an awesome event in my French life. After he left, my mom smiled and looked at me so proudly. She was so happy for me, and so was I. It was like the grand finale of my summer studies. Our dinner that evening was highlighted with extra attention from our new friend. That moment in the restaurant with the French waiter and my mom will never be forgotten.

I could always count on this one speech to impress, put a smile on other French people, and often make me a new friend. Many would comment how good my French is and how fluently I speak, and I was on cloud nine. Even though I had only mastered one conversation, it was this long and detailed solo that made me sound like a native. My dream had come true.

The saying is: There are many ways to skin a cat.

This means you need to know what your purpose and goal is when choosing a method for anything. That goes for learning a foreign language, as well.

If you need to pass, or get the highest possible score you can, on a specific foreign language exam then you should be in a course geared specifically to teaching you the strategies and skills that that exam will test you on.

If you are moving to, or spending an extended time in a foreign country, your goal is to survive and meet daily livings needs in a new foreign country. That means you won't need grammar instruction right away. Instead, you will need lots and lots and lots of vocabulary words for every aspect of a typical day: grocery shopping, doing laundry, getting Internet access, etc.

If you want to meet new people, explore new countries, and market yourself or your company, you need conversation skills mixed with cultural knowledge. That will endear you to others, and make sure you don't offend them by disregarding a particular custom or an acceptable set of manners.

See? Different goals require different skill sets. For that reason the teaching method should match the purpose. My "faster fluency" method is just what you've been looking for if you want to acquire fluency as quickly as possible.

Your benefits are numerous.

Expand your sphere of influence. You become a more interesting person and more attractive to new people you meet, because you have this new story- the one about how you embraced a challenge and accomplished something most people only dream about.

Open the door to new travel opportunities. Even if you have been to a German-speaking country before, the experience when you can actually communicate with the people in their own language changes everything! People are eager to hear your story, they are more willing to help you, and you now have the chance to make new friends and expand both your professional network and your personal friendships.

Become more marketable... for a new job, a new responsibility, a promotion, a business trip, a partnership, a spouse. Who knows what else? Knowing another language opens doors for you that are currently closed.

Be a better time manager. It is almost painless to practice three times a day for only 10 minutes, yet if you do it, you'll make the fastest progress. Everyone can choose 10 minutes around breakfast, at lunch, and after dinner time to flex their brain muscles.

Maximize the downtime in your day. No more wasting time when you are doing nothing but waiting. On a daily basis, you may find yourself waiting for traffic lights to change, waiting for your turn in a line, waiting for someone to arrive, sitting in a waiting room, etc. Now this time becomes so valuable to you, as it's the perfect amount of time for flipping through your German flashcards.

Ignite your emotions:

• Experience your heart bursting with joy every time you finish a live 5 minute practice (five minutes straight with no English and no silence, is truly a great accomplishment for a beginner).
• Get more connected to the heartbeat of the world when you can understand the habits and customs of a new culture of millions of people.
• Feel a huge boost in your confidence and self-esteem when to tell someone you speak another language.

I'll give you many more examples during this course of how learning another language can benefit you.

I wanted to expand outside the four walls of the classroom.

Reflecting again on my experience in Tours, I realize that although I knew a lot of French vocabulary, I was only fluent when I mastered my one "speech". I knew it by heart, because I got the opportunity to practice it every time I met a new French person. This made me feel more confident when meeting new people in France, and anywhere else I ran into native speakers. I was much happier and felt much more fulfilled being able to rattle off in a foreign language for a brief time, than I ever had after learning a chapter in a French textbook. I did not get much satisfaction from simply ordering a coffee in a cafe, giving someone the current time, or from any other practical language skill that was taught in a traditional classroom. I thought about how to expand my curriculum beyond my own traditional classroom setting.

With that one memorized conversation I was indeed "fluent" in French, but I wished I could have continued adding conversation after conversation. Eventually, my own growing family and a full-time teaching career made it impossible to consider living in France and doing anymore study abroad programs.

So, as a German teacher, I thought a lot about how I could really change my current German curriculum and help my most eager students get this great feeling of being fluent in German. As result of much research, and trial and error, I have designed a series of new courses for my Time to Learn German (TTLG) school, that follow my new "Faster Fluency" method.

My big research project helped me discover the secrets of polyglots.

Last year I finished my two-year research project on polyglots. My objective was to discover how they are able to teach themselves to speak multiple languages in a short time, and then use that information to create a new system for writing a more effective foreign language curriculum. One that's intended for regular people who have a very strong need or desire to learn a foreign language. I found that the polyglots I studied had several noteworthy similarities, and each had a signature technique. I have now designed a new, comprehensive LEARNING method that anyone could follow to make them a fluent speaker in as little as 3 months. I chose German, since that's the language I've been teaching in a traditional classroom for over 20 years. I'm ready to present my first course created from the results of this research project. It's called "Bogard's Faster Fluency Method". The goal is to help get anyone who doesn't speak German to maintain a 5 minute conversation (= fluency) with a native speaker of German. This can happen when a learner is highly motivated (by fear, hope, love, challenge, etc.), and spends 30 every day following my step by step instructions. You will be following a very similar polyglot learning path, and performing the same techniques that many polyglots use to give them a beginner's level fluency skill in as little as 12 weeks. Remember, most students who study a foreign language in school, NEVER become fluent speakers of that language, so 12 weeks would be really wonderful!

Having concluded two rounds of testing this new "Faster Fluency" course with my own students, I expect to have the final round done by June 2015. I've been updating, rewording, making aesthetic adjustments, and adding extra features to this first course based their feedback on almost a daily basis. The flagship course you purchase now will include all of these updates, as well as all future ones, since my course is like a "living entity"- getting daily attention and support.

I plan to offer additional courses using the same method, but with a new conversational theme, so that successful students can choose to continue their practice in order to expand their fluency and conversation skills indefinitely.

I believe this very carefully constructed "Faster Fluency" course is unlike any other offered in any physical or online school.

What is TTLG?

Time to Learn German (TTLG) is an online school for anyone who needs to be fluent in German fast. The only requirement for success is that you absolutely must have a burning desire or serious need to become fluent fast. Not just a "wouldn't it be nice to speak German" attitude, because I have found that that's not enough motivation to make you maintain a daily 30 minute practice. High motivation and making a small, daily time commitment are the only prerequisites for registering for this series of courses.

Each course is a full semester (3-4 month) class, but you can do it faster or slower. I help you master one spectacular conversation, and along that journey, I teach you all the basics of German grammar and help you learn to read and write. You also have cultural lessons and learn social skills like how to tell a joke. The capstone project is you speaking with real native Germans! This is an exhilarating, challenging, and unforgettable experience that will make you feel GREAT! I walk you through every step of this entire process with short and simple videos, quick comprehension quizzes, and specific exercises that the polyglots I studied use.

When you finish the first course, I want you to move on to the next course in the series (still in development) that revolves around a new conversation, along with the grammar you were introduced to last time, so you can review and deepen your understanding of the structure of the German language. You can now add a new conversational topic much faster than the first time, because you are already familiar with the exercises and the "Faster Fluency Method".

My aim is to help you build your fluency one conversation at a time, as a huge chunk, instead of using lots of different topics, that lead you to be a "jack of all trades, but a master of none".

Why learn from me?

My first language is German, but I was born in New York city to an American-German dad and a German mom who spoke no English at the time. I started learning English on my first day of Kindergarten. Fast forward to today, and since my time studying in Tours, I have been a former university adjunct instructor at three different universities, and I am currently a certified high school classroom teacher for more than two decades. I have also completed a training program in adult education. My doctoral degree, from the University of South Florida in Tampa, is in Second Language Acquisition and Instructional Technology. My Master's is in Foreign Language Education, and my Bachelor's is in German. Foreign language learning has been part of my entire life, so I am very passionate about bringing the ability to speak German to as many people as I can.

My educational background, teaching experience, and love of learning translate into courses that are not only effective, but also academically solid. Each course in the TTLG series is a complete semester college class, that would cost you many hundreds of dollars, if offered through a university; and the traditional classroom methods of a beginner's language course are unlikely to bring you fluency.

However, you benefit in many more ways by doing it with me online. Since these classes are offered outside the university, you save a lot of money, and give yourself the luxury of choosing how fast or slow you complete the course. You also control the video lessons by being able to replay any portions, and you can do so at any time of the day, from anyplace with Internet access.

You will not only learn the basics of every part of the structure of the German language, but you'll also acquire reading and writing skills, and the ability to understand and adapt your behavior to fit into German culture, not to mention the main goal of being able to have a conversation with other speakers of German. The more courses you do in our Time to Learn German school, the stronger your language skills become, and the more fun and opportunity you bring into your life. You CAN build a better you!