learn German effectively
Even though many of my colleagues do in Berlin with English only, knowing German helps a lot so I try to learn it. I also reflect on that and sometimes notice certain techniques that simplify the process of learning. On the contrary some approaches make learning unnecessary harder. The former I want to do more often, the latter less often. I decided to share these notes after they were gratefully accepted in one of the language schools. Still it's just notes and not a proper text.
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In the very beginning try to start learning most used words from top 100-300, as opposed to the ones that you see in the book.
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I am quite well disciplined and have strong willpower. That wasn't enough to study by myself. Paid courses help you fight laziness and don't skip classes.
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But remember: you are not in school school. You have a goal. You pay money for the help, but you still need to put a lot of effort into it.
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One month of German classes costs much more than the best dictionary, and dictionary will serve you for years. But don't think that online dictionaries are good. An example of great dictionary is ABBYY Lingvo: not only it understands all the crazy forms of german words, but it can build them for you even for irregular verbs. Also it works without internet connection or where the connection is poor.
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Another important learning instrument is your textbook. But don't hammer in the nails with a microscope: know your instrument. Usually the textbook has helpful sections like grammar tables and solutions. So check what it has to offer before using it. Also the visual type of people might like to see the explanations in the book first, before listening to the teacher telling them.
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Most of the courses I've seen are taught in German, that's called language immersion. But I have a feeling that German grammar is better explained in your mother tongue. This way even at first stages you can get the details rather than trying to deduce rules in the examples the teacher gives you. Also your mother tongue can have helpful similarities to German which no one will mention in the international class. And the immersion is very helpful for other moments of learning.
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Two classes a week mean recalling German twice a week. If you do your homework not 10 minutes before the class but rather on the previous day that would result in recalling German four times a week. You can increase this number even more by gradually switching your computer programs, your smartphone, your tablet to German. Also listening to German radio during commute helps a bit. And additional practice is reading a dedicated magazine in simplified German (Deutsch Perfect is one example).
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Repeating things helps you memorize them, and you can improve that even further. A technique called spaced repetition recommends repeating first time after four hours, then after a day, then in two days, and keep increasing intervals. There are dedicated programs for that, i.e. Anki or Memrise. And a good language school will have repetition in their program.
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Time is often limited, and it doesn't help to waste it or to spend it ineffectively. So if your class has 30 people, you will only get 2 minutes of teacher's attention per hour. The rest of the time will not be too helpful, just a practice of passive language skills. Compare that to 10 minutes in a group of 6 people. These minutes of teacher's attention are very important because you get to talk and to practice your active language skills.
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In a good school you'd be also practicing these skills in dialogs with other students.
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When the textbook has solutions to homework it is wasteful to check the homework in the class.
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When a student has asked a teacher a question which is outside of the current lesson's scope then the teacher can answer very shortly, and this will not help much. A long answer would be a waste of other students' time. The best approach here is to direct this student to the chapter of the textbook which explains the topic in full details.
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There are always new people in the class. Wearing a name tag will make their life easier.