Üben ist nicht arbeiten

Why Practicing Is Not the Same as Working

Many students — especially adult learners — treat language practice like a job.
They sit down, open a notebook, and start “working” on German.

But here’s the truth:
Üben ist nicht arbeiten.
Practicing is not working.

And when you treat practice like labor — it stops working altogether.

Practice is play, not production

In German, there’s a clear difference between:

arbeiten — to work
üben — to practice

Arbeiten implies duty, result, fatigue.
Üben implies repetition, ease, progress.
You’re not digging a ditch — you’re tuning an instrument.

Why this matters for language learners

If you treat your language sessions like factory work, three things happen:

You expect results too quickly.
(“I worked hard. Why didn’t I learn this yet?”)
You start measuring effort instead of understanding.
(“I spent an hour on this — I deserve to speak better!”)
You burn out.
(“German is just too hard.”)

But language learning is not about how much you sweat.
It’s about how much you notice.

And noticing comes from a curious, relaxed, repeated exposure — not force.

In other languages: Why “practice” is misunderstood

Let’s compare a few terms:

Language	Word for “practice”	Common confusion
English	to practice	Often confused with repetition only
German	üben	Clear mental focus — not labor
Russian	практиковать / упражняться	Tends to sound like training, often physical
Ukrainian	практикувати / вправлятись	Similar — linked to drills or rehearsal
Spanish	practicar	Often overlaps with real action (e.g. practicar medicina)

In English or Slavic languages, “practice” often sounds like repetition, or even actual use (like medical or legal “practice”).

In German, üben still means a preparatory phase — not the final performance.
It’s a safe space to try, repeat, and grow.

From music to language: same principle

Ask any musician.

You don’t “work” your way to playing Mozart.
You practice your way — slowly, imperfectly, intentionally.

You stop, repeat a bar, listen, adjust.
And that’s exactly how language should feel.

You play with the structure,
test the tone,
listen to the feedback —
without worrying if it’s “done.”

Our approach at Levitin Language School

At our school, we don’t assign “homework.”
We design practice spaces.

Each session is:

Exploratory — we ask, “Why does it work like this?”
Repetitive — but never boring
Focused — but never pressured

Because we don’t just teach German.
We teach students to love the act of practicing —
not just the result.

Practice is a mindset — not a task

When students say, “I need to work on my German,”
we invite them to say instead:
“I want to practice German.”

It changes everything.

Because work ends when the result is achieved.
But practice continues — because learning never ends.

📘 Author’s Column — The Language I Live
Language. Identity. Choice. Meaning.
✍️ Tymur Levitin — founder, teacher, translator
🔗 https://languagelearnings.com

🟡 Choose your language
🔗 Related reading:
→ Real Language Is Never Literal
→ Lebensarbeit, Lebenstätigkeit, oder Lebensjob?
→ Stille vs Stil