Testimonials
- Anne M. Klint
- Cyrus & Rebecca Farivar
- Elisabeth Ward Hightower
- Laura Carpenter
- Lu Stevenson
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Marion is a friendly and effective teacher. We signed up for classes with her when we decided to move to Germany for work, but neither of us spoke any German. From the beginning, Marion ran almost the entire class in German, even though we were starting from square one, but it never felt overwhelming thanks to her positive and encouraging attitude. Classes were well organized and fun, and we learned so much in the process. Now that we are in Germany, we are amazed by how we are already able to communicate simple ideas and sentences, and all that after only two months of classes! Her enthusiasm for the language is infectious! Danke schön, Marion!
Rebecca and Cyrus Farivar. Rebecca is an English Teacher and Poet, and Cyrus a Freelance Technology Journalist.
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I’ve taken several German classes in groups and decided that I wanted the attention and focus of private instruction. I was delighted to find Marion and the Gerlind Institute. Marion is a very talented, inspiring and patient teacher. She is genuinely interested in her students’ lives and cares deeply about helping them improve their German skills. She is great at figuring out how you in particular learn, and she’s also good at pushing you that extra bit. I thoroughly enjoyed the two years I spent learning with Marion.
Penny Dedel, Berkeley
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Marion was a fantastic teacher of German and our sessions were really enjoyable. I am an intermediate speaker of German and wanted to get more familiar with some basic phrases and professional vocabulary for my work. Prior to my trip to Berlin we met once a week for six weeks. The lessons helped me immensely. Phrases and words that we studied were reinforced with the audio-recording I made, and in everyday situations while traveling. I felt more confident speaking in German and this was ever so meaningful.
Marion is truly an excellent, patient, and engaged teacher.
She is well prepared for lessons, and discusses the goals with students
on the first session. Her teaching style is very directional, and also
collaborative and flexible. I recommend Marion highly!
Thea Farhadian, M.F.A.
Marion is a responsive, knowledgeable and confidence-building teacher, as well as a kind person. She gives full attention, full patience, and an open mind.
Marion makes a point to be well-prepared with outside materials and lesson plans, but she's also flexible with her curriculum. It is genuinely important to her to teach towards a student's personal German-learning goals, and she listened and adjusted her teaching to meet my interests, questions, and needs, and she encouraged me through every step of my learning.
I have found that there are advantages to learning from a native German, and was able to ask her many questions about the idiomatic usage of different words or phrases.
Additionally, as a college student I could not have studied with Marion if not for her sliding-scale prices. She shows a real commitment to working with students from a variety of backgrounds.
-Nell Shaw Cohen, musician and student at New England Conservatory
Marion, Thanks so much for your excellent professional service. This [translation of old German documents into English] is a nice addition to my husband's family tree.
- Nancy Drews, Minnesota
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Marion was a tremendous help to me in writing and editing my application materials in German for the International Parliamentary Scholarships program (which included an essay, my resume, and paragraph answers to several questions). She was very helpful not just with the translation of my materials and the proofreading of spelling and grammar, but also in terms of editing my materials so that my application conveyed how much I wanted to participate in the program, and was tailored to the program's goals. Although I was not selected for an interview for the program, in retrospect, I am glad I completed the application because I learned a lot from Marion and it was a good experience to have—it made me realize how much I am still interested in the German language, culture and the country, and has rekindled my desire to continue with my German studies. It meant a lot that Marion was willing to help out someone who she'd only met once before, at a previous conversation group meeting; she truly exemplifies the role and ideals of a teacher.
Noeline Arul, San Francisco
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Bevor ich Marion fand, war ich verzweifelt, und ich wusste nicht, was ich tun sollte. Ich hatte einen Deutschkurs belegt, der es mir erlaubte, die Prüfungen zu machen, ohne die Klassen zu besuchen. Nachdem ich das Textbuch bekam, wusste ich sofort, dass ich das Material nicht allein bewältigen konnte. Nachdem ich mehrere Wochen mit den Stoff kämpfte, gab ich auf und suchte nach einem deutschen Tutoren. Ich fand viele, aber etwas an Marions Beschreibung war sehr zugänglich und qualifiziert. Sie war eine deutsche Muttersprachlerin, sie zeigte Enthusiasmus, und sie war flexibel mit verschiedenen Niveaus. Meine Intuition war richtig. Es gab Tage, an denen ich völlig überwältigt war, aber ich kam trotzdem zu meinen Privatklassen, und Marion führte mich durch diese schwierigen Zeiten bis zu dem Punkt, an dem ich den Kurs erfolgreich absolvierte. Sie hat mich inspiriert, weiter zu machen, sogar in Momenten, in denen ich scheinbar keine Energie mehr hatte. Ich empfehle sie als eine ausgezeichnete Lehrerin.
Paulo-Juarez Pereira, San Jose, CA, walkballsoccer.com
Marion is an exceptional teacher. She makes learning German fun! She was always positive and encouraging. I looked forward to and enjoyed each class. Marion possesses the gift of teaching and gave me confidence in my abilities, even when I struggled. It was refreshing to learn with Marion. My only regret is that our time was so short. I hope to be able to study with her again in the future.
Laura Carpenter
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Working with Marion the past several months has been very rewarding. As a requirement of the PhD program I'm in, I had to pass a German translation exam, and this is what Marion and I worked on together.
Over the past semester, my translation abilities improved remarkably, due in large measure to Marion's ability as a patient, effective German tutor. She tailored our lessons to those that would best suit my needs and encouraged me with consistent reinforcement and helpful strategies. Cannot praise Marion enough. Her teaching abilities are matched only by her own character, which is honest, considerate, professional, and kind.
Last September, before I began taking lessons with her, I did not stand a chance at passing this translation exam but I'm pleased to say, that after a semester working weekly with Marion, I successfully passed this challenging exam last month.
Ramie Gold, Ph.D. student, UC Berkeley
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Anne M. Klint, ArtistI cannot speak highly enough of Marion Gerlind and her language training! I am the recipient this year of a highly competitive Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to study abroad in Leipzig, Germany. Basic language competency is naturally required to study in many foreign countries, but having learned German in high school and a bit in college (too many years ago to mention!), I thought I would be able to pass my preliminary language exam.
Boy was I mistaken! In a panic, with my scholarship hanging in the balance, I had the good fortune to find Marion Gerlind. Not only was she able to accommodate my frantic schedule, but also in a handful of sessions she helped unlock my latent German skills and thoroughly prepared me to successfully retake my language exam. I refuse to consider my fate had we not met! Vielen Dank Frau Gerlind—für deine grossartige Hilfe und Freundinschaft!
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Marion has been a great help to me in learning German over the last two years. She had a multitude of training techniques and was very adept at picking the ones that would improve my comprehension the fastest. She could clearly explain German grammar, which is notoriously difficult, in a manner I could follow. She could clarify not only the rules of grammar, but often the sense behind the rules. Other tutors I had tried couldn't provide this level of insight.
At the same time, she kept the learning process fun by using casual conversation and role-playing in German. She was patient when I needed help, but also knew when to challenge me to find the right words myself. Over time, I found our lessons a very comfortable place to speak and listen to German, which is exactly the type of environment I needed to improve.
Finally, Marion made a real effort to reveal the culture and cultural perspectives of Germany. I believe that, in her view, an essential part of learning a language is learning the cultural perspectives of the language-speakers. These are the things a textbook cannot teach and prove very valuable when learning a language.
Ti-Fred Torres, Director of Xinet Technical Support
Marion was an amazing tutor, and I highly recommend her. Her teaching style is warm and thoughtful, and she is personally committed to helping her students meet their goals. In less than three months, she taught me how to read very complicated scholarly German articles so that I could quickly translate them into English. I was very impressed with her breadth and depth of knowledge about German language and culture, and also with her efficiency. Thank you Marion!Elisabeth Ward Hightower, Ph.D. student, UC Berkeley
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I am privileged and honored to provide this recommendation for Dr. Marion Gerlind. Dr. Gerlind has served as my private German tutor for over two years. I find her teaching methodologies age and culturally appropriate, engaging and refreshing. Dr. Gerlind draws from her wealth of experience as a language teacher, native German speaker and oral historian incorporating cultural aspects of German literature, folk traditions and history to enhance instruction and language acquisition. Her mannerisms are gentle, attentive and engaging. Teaching plans are mutually negotiated with attainable set goals to ensure the student progresses at a satisfactory pace.
I have progressed with Dr. Gerlind from the point of a non-speaker to achieving the ability and inner confidence to tour Germany alone, speak with local residents in German, utilize basic German reading skills and be comfortable in group social settings. Dr. Gerlind has assisted me to build a bridge to my German roots and enriched my life.
Scott W. Miller, RN, MS, Ph.D. (abd)
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Though it is apparent Marion has formidable talents, her approach is the opposite of intimidating. She takes careful notes during each session, and guides the conversation back to familiar topics to repeat vocabulary. She alternates between letting words flow freely, mistakes included, and going over finer points of grammar and syntax in a clear, concise manner. She is amazingly patient. Marion is truly the reason I have persevered to conquer an area of learning that is difficult and frustrating for me. I recommend her to anyone.
Madeline Kingsley, UC Berkeley UNIX computer specialistLu Stevenson, OaklandI have been a German language student of Marion Gerlind’s for the past 10 years (the first three years meeting regularly with her for private and semi-private lessons, and since then meeting with her for assistance on translation projects and in group classes she has held.)
I have the highest esteem for Marion as an instructor. She is truly gifted—with a natural talent for teaching, which she has developed and enhanced through her interacting with her many private students as well as her university-level teaching and studies. The one hundred percent full attention she gives to everything she does she gives to her teaching as well, and it is evidenced in my learning of German as well as the results I have seen in other of her students.
When I began studying German with Marion I was an almost complete beginner. I have never learned another foreign language so quickly, easily and naturally. Marion is able somehow (seemingly magically) to impart knowledge, support, and confidence to her students that translates into enlivening and enjoyable yet solid core language learning that is intellectually stimulating and challenging. Her lessons are always thoughtfully prepared: they usually (at least in my case) included “everyday” conversation as we shared about the week “practical” situational German (for example exercises in asking or giving directions, or booking a hotel room); and literature or other reading with discussion of form and content. I always leave an instruction hour with Marion feeling more stimulated, enlivened, and informed than before.
Marion's aliveness, effectiveness, ethics and joy-in-teaching are a gift and great luck to anyone who studies with her.