Was nichts kostet, ist nichts wert.

This is a German saying that translates as "what costs nothing is worth nothing".

I am reminded of this every Monday when I get just between one and three takers for my free English practice sessions, now that the two exam preparation courses have come to an end.

As so many events are no longer available and as the relaxations of the lockdown restrictions only came into being two weeks ago, I started offering my former students the chance to log into the usual website once a week to keep up their English a bit during the long summer break. And it would cost them...nothing. They seemed to welcome the idea.

I had good attendance rates in my classes, but now that I am offering something for nothing...it seems that most people aren't interested. Weird or what?

Maybe they believe what the German adage says: what costs nothing is worth nothing. Was nichts kostet, ist nichts wert.