Hi Karlo!

I think i might be able to give you some advice….i’m a linguist (in training) and spend all my time devoted to the study of languages and studying them!

HERE IS MY PROBLEM: When a teacher says something new, I can understand her but 5 minutes after that when we are doing something that will test what we have learned just 5 minutes ago I am just blank page

This is normal. I have a couple of questions first:
1) what is your native language? (or the language you feel most proficient in?)
2) What are your current study habits?
3) How long are your classes, since it’s intensive i assume anywhere between 3 -6 + hours a day?

Once you have answered these questions, i can give you more suggestions; until then i will give you the low down on language learning.
Firstly, language learning is a skill, so don’t put yourself down and call yourself stupid. Language, especially German are not easy languages, heck Chinese is easier than German [i study korean and chinese] (no gender, grammar similar to English). German is only superseded by Russian, which is like an angry beast!! You have proven in the past that it’s not so much that you can’t memorise or intake what your learning, it’s just that those methods you used to pass Engineering courses are not effective when they come to German language learning. A different approach is needed. What that approach is, well that’s up to you. The most effective learning method is the one that works for you (don’t let anyone tell you otherwise), so try different ways; online tutor, online language forums like (italki & duolingo), specific german language websities etc.Look up learning methodologies. Ask your teacher.

Secondly, most learning may occur in the classroom, most understanding and reinforcement occurs outside the classroom. So, don’t feel bad or anxious about not being able to answer something that you only learnt 5 mins ago. Your mind is NOT geared to uptake (learn) everything it hears and sees. That would be impossible, our minds are more like computers, both have limited memory space, computers are just better at prioritizing what to know and learn. As long as you take some notes, and reflect and review after the class, don’t worry about answering the questions in the class. Take your class time as a way of ‘learning’ the materiel and ‘review’ afterwards. You can blow them away during testing times 🙂 You have 4 months which is heaps of time, don’t focus on the exams in a negative or ‘doom-gloom’ light. Many language learners do this (i’m in the lang. building right now with them and it’s only first week, emotions are running high 😉 !!) and they put so much pressure on themselves to perform to a level higher than they can realistic achieve in a certain time frame.

I am a part of a program where I am obligated to pass the exams of A1, A2 and B1 Levels of foreign language

What will the exams be like? written i assume, but what else? because if you are aware of what ‘kinds’ of exams you will be doing in the future then you can actually prepare to ‘pass’ the exams. Anyone can pass an exam, passing exams is a skill in of itself. Also don’t look at the exams as the end point, exams only test your ability to recall information that they want, not the knowledge you have gained! We always have more knowledge, but in most cases we can’t always recall it.

I will end my advice on this last note, once you answer the above questions i can help out some more.
Try to monitor your emotions. Even though your saying you don’t care that others say things about you in the classroom (which i highly disagree with and the teacher should be stopping this, they are after all not German! stick a native speaker in front and watch them breakdown!!) just be aware that in language learning, no matter the language, our emotions provide stability, if our emotions (concerning the learning process) aren’t stable it can make us anxious and perform under the level you can achieve.

Am I just simply stupid? I just can’t get the things right away anymore!

Like this, this is destroying your confidence! There are many ways to control your anxiety within a classroom (technically a teacher trained, no matter where should try to create a ‘good’ learning environment that promotes learning):
1) Focusing on your goals (motivation)
2) People are still people (sameness) –> Whether they be teachers or students everyone is still human, they want you to pass, they want you to give it a shot. ask questiond, talk to your teachers in german, if you make the effort, it can open doors.
3) Check your emotional temperature (monitor) –> if you get a little too over your head, you start getting angry at yourself in class, take a walk outside for a couple of miniutes, take a break, refocus. When do you feel like you have conquered the world? When do you feel happiest? try to duplicate these feelings to make your learning more enjoyable.
4) Ask questions (if unsure, just ask, even if its already been covered there will always be someone else that will benefit)
5) evaluate your learning (being unbias, what’s your current ability? how could you improve? what are you trying to achieve? etc.

We learn this stuff and more at university, but type into a search engine indirect strategies in language learning and this will probably give a better overview.

Once again, it’s not that your wired differently, just that learning a language in a classroom can be often times be quite stressful and not always the most effective way of learning a language. Everyone is at different levels, different skills etc. Try not to put yourself down, or compare yourself to other students. Ask other students who you think are more advanced than you, “what/ how do you learn?”, you can learn a lot among your peers too! Also don’t let your ability to learn a language be a reflection of your worth or value. If learning a language was easy, everyone would be polyglots.

Sincerely,
Matty