Ardi's Path to an Ausbildung: A German Journey

When Ardi sits down to practice German, it’s often before the world around him has fully woken up—or long after it’s gone to sleep. His schedule is a puzzle, shaped by six rotating shifts at his church job in Indonesia. Sometimes he has mornings free, sometimes evenings. But almost every day, Ardi finds a quiet window of 30 minutes to an hour just for German.

“It’s a little dream of mine,” he says, smiling. “To move abroad, maybe Germany, and do an Ausbildung (internship) next year.”

Just a month ago, Ardi was searching on Instagram for something more than just flashcards or vocabulary apps. He was tired of memorizing words without context, of feeling like he knew the ingredients but couldn’t cook the dish. What he really wanted was to speak.

When he found LingoLooper, it clicked. “It’s not just word by word,” he says. “I can talk, go to different places, mimic what the characters say. It’s really good for me.”

At first, German was a bit overwhelming. Grammar and vocabulary felt like a steep mountain, especially without a language partner nearby. But Ardi leaned in. Every character he met in the app became a stand-in conversation partner. He trained his expression daily, listening closely and repeating phrases out loud. If he stumbled on a word, he could tap for the meaning in his own language. That tiny safety net helped him keep going.

Even now, just one month in, Ardi feels a shift. "My German is improving every day," he says modestly. Alongside his private lessons three times a week, his solo speaking sessions have become a meaningful part of his learning rhythm.

The dream of Germany still shines ahead. But what’s changed is that it no longer feels so distant.

"I always try to mimic what they say. It helps me with grammar, with new words—with everything."

‍