diff --git a/go/example/test_simple.go b/go/example/test_simple.go
index d71ae2c2..c0b580bc 100644
--- a/go/example/test_simple.go
+++ b/go/example/test_simple.go
@@ -16,10 +16,8 @@ func main() {
 	flag.StringVar(&filename, "f", "", "file to transcribe")
 	flag.Parse()
 
-	model, err := vosk.NewModel("model")
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
+	vosk.SetLogLevel(vosk.Verbose)
+	model := vosk.NewModel("model")
 
 	// we can check if word is in the vocabulary
 	// fmt.Println(model.FindWord("air"))
diff --git a/go/vosk.go b/go/vosk.go
index 8415d1c6..283bbc16 100644
--- a/go/vosk.go
+++ b/go/vosk.go
@@ -14,12 +14,12 @@ type VoskModel struct {
 }
 
 // NewModel creates a new VoskModel instance
-func NewModel(modelPath string) (*VoskModel, error) {
+func NewModel(modelPath string) *VoskModel {
 	cmodelPath := C.CString(modelPath)
 	defer C.free(unsafe.Pointer(cmodelPath))
 	internal := C.vosk_model_new(cmodelPath)
 	model := &VoskModel{model: internal}
-	return model, nil
+	return model
 }
 
 func (m *VoskModel) Free() {
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ func freeSpkModel(model *VoskSpkModel) {
 	C.vosk_spk_model_free(model.spkModel)
 }
 
-func(s *VoskSpkModel) Free() {
+func (s *VoskSpkModel) Free() {
 	C.vosk_spk_model_free(s.spkModel)
 }
 
@@ -154,8 +154,14 @@ func (r *VoskRecognizer) Reset() {
 	C.vosk_recognizer_reset(r.rec)
 }
 
+type LogLevel int
+
+const Disabled LogLevel = -1
+const Default LogLevel = 0
+const Verbose LogLevel = 1
+
 // SetLogLevel sets the log level for Kaldi messages.
-func SetLogLevel(logLevel int) {
+func SetLogLevel(logLevel LogLevel) {
 	C.vosk_set_log_level(C.int(logLevel))
 }