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Strategy for learning German | ||
Tags: Learning Strategy | German | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| akeed Newbie Sri Lanka Joined 3706 days ago 22 posts - 23 votes Speaks: English* | Message 1 of 41 22 September 2014 at 12:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hey everyone, this is my mission and I need your help!
I want to get to at least level B2 in German (so that I can sit for a b2 Goethe certificate) in nine months, that is by June 2015...I started learning German two days ago. My problem is that there are so many resources to choose from (for ex : Michel Thomas, Assimil, Pimsleur etc etc) that I don't know what to choose. I need to draw up a plan for my mission and this is where I need someone's help (may you be blessed!). My goals are to be fluent in speaking,listening,reading and writing in German. The reason I want to learn German is that I am planning to study in a German university next winter (2015) and I need to be quite fluent by the time I apply to such a university. AND right now I'm starting from scratch. The past three days I've been using only the Michel Thomas method and a lone dictionary and I actually quite like his method! BUT...I need to make sure that I learn German in the best possible way so that I can learn it as fast as possible, especially as I'm learning it myself, alone. So what do you guys recommend I do: Should I use: MT method / Assimil / Pimsleur etc. Duolingo / Busuu / Livemocha etc. (online web based methods) anki / memrise / flashcards books How do you recommend I learn : stick to one above method or complement different methods together (please elaborate) or any other suggestion? Also i understand that it is also necessary to speak with some one and as there is no German speakers around I would have to meet people online right? What are some good effective free sites through which I can meet quality language partners (speak from experience please!) ? Also what are some good radio channels/TV programs/podcasts etc etc that I can use to enrich and practise my skills? final note : i have no time constraints, i can spend 6+ hours learning German a day (unless that's too much cramming to learn anything at all?) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6572 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 2 of 41 22 September 2014 at 2:09pm | IP Logged | ||
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Welcome to the forums!
I don't know about German specifically, but in general, Assimil is considered the gold standard by many of us here. Many successful polyglots have used their products extensively. I'm using Assimil for Portuguese right now and I find it excellent. I recommend studying a bit more instensively than the method suggested by Assimil, though. I'm using a verion of my old ChinesePod method and it works great for me. It includes extensive shadowing and Anki flaschcards in the routine. The main thing, however, is just to put in the hours. Keep at it, and you'll get there by any method (except maybe Rosetta Stone). People vary in their preferences, so you could try out different methods. I'd advise against doing several methods at the same time, though, or switching too often. Choose one you like and stick with it for at least a month, then evaluate. Perseverence is the key factor for success as a language learner. Also, if you have lots of time, combine your study with things like watching TV/movies (with subtitles in the beginning) or doing the listen/read method (read a book in English whilst simultaneously listening to the audiobook in German). These are good "bulk" methods, since you can do them for hours at a time, which is harder to pull off with regular self-study methods and flashcards. Search for "L/R" or "Listen/read" on these forums to find out more about that method. Edited by Ari on 22 September 2014 at 2:10pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4999 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 3 of 41 22 September 2014 at 2:38pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi, welcome to the forums. I've been learning German for some time (with breaks due to my university studies) and I've been using the following ones and I'm happy about my progress, even though I am still far from your desired B2. For info exactly from people who have already reached those high levels, I recommend going to the log section of the forums.
I like to stick to two main sources and switch between them when I get bored with one. Get more than three and you are going to spread yourself too thin, in my opinion. Main courses I really enjoy: Themen Aktuell. A really good coursebook meant for classes but perfectly usable by a self-teaching student. Clear grammar explanations, vocabulary lists, good dialogues and texts, tons of exercises in the exercise book, audio of very good quality. The three volumes lead to B1. For the higher levels, there are other series, such as Aspekte which I have yet to get to. Assimil. I really like it. There have been many htlalaers having success with it and I am going to return to it after my break from it. The audio is awesome, the dialogues stick to memory and won't bore you to tears. And most importantly, it works, even though it isn't perfect as a stand alone for everyone. For pronunciation, which is extremely important to learn correctly from the beginning, I'd recomment the introduction chapter of the FSI. The rest of the course, despite all it's qualities, is old and uses outdated orthograph. Then I love to use external grammar/vocabulary exercise books, I am now totally excited and diving deeper and deeper into Klipp und Klar (grammar) and Sage und Schreibe (vocabulary) by Klett but there are others, such as those published by Hueber. These two I like should lead to B1 but the grammar does have a follow up. For further practice, I totally love the materials on the Deutsche Welle website. Courses, interactive exercises, podcasts, everything for free and in awesome quality. I highly recommend checking this out. Germanpod101 is of good quality, I've tried it but just decided not to continue and pay because it quite overlaps with my primary methods. Things like Busuu may be fun and useful at the very beginnings but I find them quite too lighthearted and not too efficient. Anki is awesome. Another srs you might want to consider, if you don't prefer anki, are Memrise and Quizlet. All of them are of good quality and each does have some advantages but as well some shortcomings. As soon as you get the very basics, I recommend getting some real input. Graded readers are a very useful crutch before you are ready for real books. Then you might want some translated things of easier genres first, Harry Potter is a classical exemple. And so on. I highly recommend tv series to anyone with the basics of the language. There is nothing more important than such high doses of listening and tv series have some advantages over other such things. However, before you are ready for them, I have good experience with the deutsche welle website or you could try audiobooks. Michel Thomas is good, even though I prefer Pimsleur, but neither will get you too far. They can give you a nice start but then you're going to need something more advanced. For writing practice, you might want to try italki or lang8 to get corrected by natives. For speaking, you might find a conversation exchange partner but I can't tell you much about finding those as I've been having badluck looking for them so far. Most importantly, have fun! YOu might like to make a log and share your path, get encouragement and advice there. There are many German learners (and many successful German speakers now) on htlal. And very helpful natives! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5156 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 4 of 41 22 September 2014 at 10:57pm | IP Logged | ||
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A bit of my path:
I did a false start with Assimil (didn't finish it) and with the course Deutsch: Warum Nicht from Deutsche Welle. Then this year I resumed. I finished all of three existing Assimils then the two intermediate Assimils. I also remember working on a textbook that is mostly about grammar, an old edition from Teach Yourself. Then I did the remaining courses Wieso Nicht? and Marktplatz. I also started with native resources - my first ones were graamars in German about other languages. Right now I'm working with Modern German Grammar - a Practical Guide. It is not just about grammar, as it also covers actual usage of the language extensively. Now i'm working at the workbook and the exercises include a lot of role-playing and how to make your conversation be as authentic as possible. It is much more about content thank it is about grammar. I really recommend it. I've watched the series aimed at learners at Deutsche Welle's site and I'm reading books in parallel with a translation. There is also the series from Easy German at easy-languages.org which come with double subtitles. I've also started watching German films with subtitles in German and English/Portuguese I've added to a subtitle merger. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4523 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 5 of 41 23 September 2014 at 12:52am | IP Logged | ||
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I have been learning German for 2.3 years and are a pretty solid B2, though I would still need to get some tutor work to pass the B2 exam (my writing is not good enough or my speech). However, I think I could raise myself up to that level fairly quickly. However, there is no way in my mind I could have got to a solid-B2 in nine months, and I live in Berlin, so I have certain advantages.
What are you planning to study in Germany? If it's a graduate level degree its possible (I'm not sure) you could sit lectures in German, but write your thesis in English, which would obviously make things easier. There is no way you will be "fluent in speaking,listening,reading and writing in German" in nine months, and in any case B2 is not that level. However, I do know people who have been at B2 level and have done completed masters degrees real fluency is not necessary. Given how little time you have, and the importance of getting a certificate at the end of nine months, the best thing you could do is contact the Goethe Institute in Sri Lanka http://www.goethe.de/ins/lk/en/col.html and tell them your situation and find out what you need to do. You'll be sitting their exam, so you might as well find out now what they require. You could either sit their courses, or perhaps get advice on cheaper options that might work. I would recommend getting a personal tutor who is experienced with the requirements of the Goethe Institute exam. I've actually been through the standard A1-A2-B1 level course at the Goethe Institute here in Berlin. It's through, but it's not sufficient on it's own. Basically you'll get exposed to lots and lots of grammar but won't get very much practice speaking and unless you make a conscious effort won't learn enough vocabulary. If you do something like the Goethe Institute course, then I would strongly recommend using an SRS program like Anki to learn all the words in the course as you go (the vocabulary tends to build so if you learn earlier words that will hold you in good stead later). In addition to words, add the sentences from the books so you can learn phrases, and get exposed to grammar. I would also find some sort of tandem buddy to practice speaking German with over Skype. You should also try to start watching films/tv and perhaps even start reading books (I started books about six months into self-learning). However, given the limited time you have I am not sure you'll have so much time for that. You can check out my log if you are interested in learning about the techniques that helped me, but I don't think my approach is the best for passing a B2 exam in nine months. I worked as a graduate admissions officer at one of the universities here. The program was in English and we had a B2-level requirement for the course. When considering applications, what the certificate showing language proficiency was a prerequisite, but only really something to check off. So my advice, given your very limited time frame is don't waste it learning things that won't be on the exam. You can pick up the rest of your German when you get to Germany. Edited by patrickwilken on 23 September 2014 at 1:00am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4523 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 6 of 41 23 September 2014 at 12:55am | IP Logged | ||
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... Edited by patrickwilken on 23 September 2014 at 12:59am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| akeed Newbie Sri Lanka Joined 3706 days ago 22 posts - 23 votes Speaks: English* | Message 7 of 41 23 September 2014 at 3:01am | IP Logged | ||
Thanks a lot Ari, I think I will stick to Michel Thomas a bit during the initial stages alongside using Anki. Edited by akeed on 23 September 2014 at 3:47am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| akeed Newbie Sri Lanka Joined 3706 days ago 22 posts - 23 votes Speaks: English* | Message 8 of 41 23 September 2014 at 4:03am | IP Logged | ||
Hey Patrick, I'm planning to study an undergraduate program in a university. The reason is that I want to go abroad for my higher studies but my parents can't afford it, so as education is free in Germany I thought I would go there. When you say that it is almost impossible to get to B2 in 9 months, I just want to ask...how much time did you practice daily? Because I'm able to study for even 6 hours daily if I have to. And I know that there are programs in Germany that do teach in English or require only little German but I want to be as fluent as possible so that I won't have any language level restrictions when choosing a degree program. Also, I want to be able to communicate as well as I can in German in a social context. In short I want to learn German, not because I have to but because I want to. Additionally I did contact the local Goethe center but their German courses are painfully long winded (it takes at least 2.5 years to finish B2) so that is not an option. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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