Strategy for learning German (Advice Center) Language Learning Forum

Strategy for learning German
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patrickwilken
Senior Member
Germany
radiant-flux.net
Joined 4523 days ago
1546 posts - 3200 votes

Studies: German

Message 25 of 41

02 October 2014 at 11:28pm | IP Logged

J0sh wrote:

Hope this helps point out some areas where your plan may need some improvement, I
welcome comments/criticism on the approach.

I don't have any criticisms - everybody has to chose their own way to learn.

My approach is very different. Only a minimal grammar overview to start with. No speaking. No writing. Some Anki to build a get a basic vocabulary. Then lots of native materials, both written and spoken. Later speaking. (Perhaps some grammar). Even later writing.

1 person has voted this message useful

J0sh
Newbie
United States
Joined 3696 days ago
4 posts - 4 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: German

Message 26 of 41

03 October 2014 at 12:01am | IP Logged

patrickwilken wrote:

J0sh wrote:

Hope this helps point out some areas where your plan may need some improvement, I
welcome comments/criticism on the approach.

I don't have any criticisms - everybody has to chose their own way to learn.

My approach is very different. Only a minimal grammar overview to start with. No
speaking. No writing. Some Anki to build a get a basic vocabulary. Then lots of native
materials, both written and spoken. Later speaking. (Perhaps some grammar). Even later
writing.

That is a very interesting approach, my primary goal is to begin reading native German
novels and watching native German movies as soon as possible. Therefore I may replace
my time spent on grammar with increasing my vocabulary.

Do you have any tips on where to find lists of most commonly used words in German? I
know there are public Anki/Memrise/etc decks which I would most likely prefer as it
would cut down the time of my creating a 1000 word deck myself.
1 person has voted this message useful

akeed
Newbie
Sri Lanka
Joined 3706 days ago
22 posts - 23 votes
Speaks: English*

Message 27 of 41

03 October 2014 at 4:34am | IP Logged

J0sh wrote:

I have recently begun my German studies as well. My deadline is not
exactly as
aggressive as B2 in 9months but I am attempting a fairly intensive regimen.

Speaking:
Pimsleur: I have used Pimsleur in the past and I have found it to be extremely helpful
for pronunciation and internalizing the vocabulary. The only downside for me is that I
am primarily a visual learner and it annoys me that Pimsleur has no transcripts for
their lessons, which means you are learning words and you have no clue how to spell
them while attempting to pronounce them.

Reading:
Assimil: As others have previously stated, Assimil is a great foundation and core for
getting a basic understanding of the language and there are an infinite number of
approaches that you can use to study the material. I am pretty new to Assimil so I am
still experimenting with different approaches but currently my only issue with Assimil
is that I prefer Pimsleur's approach to helping you pronounce the words correctly.

Grammar:
Hugo German in 3 Months: I have not received this book in the mail yet but it has been
recommended by a couple forum members for introducing you to basic German grammar. I
will most likely take this book slowly and work on it when I have the time, I want to
have a pretty solid core with the other two approaches before overwhelming myself.
Assimil offers grammar hints and tips but seems to let your subconscious mind make the
connections itself rather than providing you with all the grammar rules before giving
you the sentences.

I feel that these 3 approaches combined with ANKI decks (sentences/clozes/new terms)
in my spare time will cover everything I need until I achieve a steady A2 at which
point I will begin immersing myself in TV/Movies with German subs. (pausing and
putting unknown terms in ANKI)

Hope this helps point out some areas where your plan may need some improvement, I
welcome comments/criticism on the approach.

Good luck on your studies, stick with it :)

Well, its really nice to hear from someone else who is also learning German! Willkommen!

I think your approach is probably similar to mine... I also use Assimil and Anki as
well as Michel Thomas (a sort of alternative to Pimsleur). I'm thinking of completing
both those courses before I start reading some easier German books (translations of
Harry Potter books maybe).

I think the toughest part of learning German (or any language for that matter) will be
the listening part and so I suggest you begin listening to some real German audio
(either songs/easy podcasts) from the beginning. I use the slowgerman website for easy
podcasts (thanks to Jeffers ) , lyricstraining.com for songs and the 'EasyGerman'
channel on Youtube for real-life street interviews of German people.

I'm also in the process of finding a language partner so that I can actually put to
use all of the German that I learn but have yet been unlucky.
Seeing that you too are starting out I think it would be ideal for us to be language
partners. Just tell me if you would like to!

Good luck!
1 person has voted this message useful

drygramul
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Italy
Joined 4458 days ago
165 posts - 269 votes

Speaks: Persian, Italian*, English^C2, German^B2
Studies: French, Polish

Message 28 of 41

03 October 2014 at 10:22am | IP Logged

J0sh wrote:

Do you have any tips on where to find lists of most commonly used words in German?

There's Derewo, but it seems the site is down at the moment. And then there's the Goethe B1 Wortschatz.
There's also a Frequency Dictionary of German by Routledge, which is more aimed to language learners.
1 person has voted this message useful

Mutant
Groupie
United States
Joined 3901 days ago
45 posts - 60 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: French, German

Message 29 of 41

03 October 2014 at 11:08am | IP Logged

I'm trying to do the same thing for German that worked for me with French, namely:

-Assimil German With Ease first.

-I also am doing a few Memrise decks just for fun and vocabulary building

-Watching a little German TV and German films to get exposure to the language.

Once I get further into Assimil, I plan on buying a cheap grammar (probably Essential German Grammar) and flipping through it. When I have finished Assimil, I'll probably start FSI German and maybe even try my hand at reading some easy readers.

That's basically what I did for French, and it worked for me. I have a history of getting too excited about my languages, buying lots of courses and books that I can't afford, and not having the time to finish all of them. So I decided this go around to keep it simple.

I wish you good luck on your German studies!
2 persons have voted this message useful

patrickwilken
Senior Member
Germany
radiant-flux.net
Joined 4523 days ago
1546 posts - 3200 votes

Studies: German

Message 30 of 41

03 October 2014 at 11:18am | IP Logged

J0sh wrote:

One of my biggest surprises when I started reading my first German books was how little grammar I needed. You do need to have an overview understanding, which includes things like for instance how the four cases work, but that's a lot less than knowing how to generate all the grammar.

I read a short grammar book half-an-hour-a-day, over the course of a month, which was sufficient. But Assimil or the like could also do this a bit more intensively.

J0sh wrote:

Do you have any tips on where to find lists of most commonly used words in German? I
know there are public Anki/Memrise/etc decks which I would most likely prefer as it
would cut down the time of my creating a 1000 word deck myself.

You can download various word frequency decks straight into Anki. However, these words lists can contain a lot of words that you may not encounter for a while depending on what you read (e.g., Harry Potter vs newspapers) so some of the words may be of little use.

I simply added words/sentences from the study material I had. So one approach would be to do Assimil, add all words/sentences to Anki, and then once you've finished Assimil, start reading books. I then added words from books I was reading or from phrases I heard and wanted to remember. In this way Anki is like your own personal notebook, which I found more effective.

WRT to native materials: I get the impression that a lot of new learners are relatively scared of them, and often seem keen to do just one more course before starting to watch films. I started watching TV shows almost as soon as I started learning (certainly while I was still A1). I didn't understand that much, but it certainly helped, and I have continued to watch TV for the last two years to the point where I do basically understand nearly all that is said. I think people who hold off with native materials, or who think its a big thing that they saw say 1-2 movies in a week, are missing out. Reading books is harder, and it might be more effective to build up a bit of vocabulary and grammar before starting, but I don't see any real downsides from starting with tv shows and the like as soon as you can.

Edited by patrickwilken on 03 October 2014 at 11:26am
1 person has voted this message useful

Elexi
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 5555 days ago
938 posts - 1840 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: French, German, Latin

Message 31 of 41

03 October 2014 at 11:53am | IP Logged

If you are beginning German, I would would also recommend watching the BBC's Deutsch
Plus drama:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lk9rS7n-4Q

Transcripts for the programmes are here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/dplus/tvtranscripts/

The textbooks for the above course state that the whole course (not just the videos)
they will take one to A2.

The more advanced Deutsch Plus 2 (mainly interviews) are here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KKNLCKyIB8

Also the older BBC Deutsch Direkt videos are on YouTube and are helpful to a beginner,
combining functions with listening practice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLXbuS7oW2M

All 20 episodes follow on in the selection box on the YouTube site.

Edited by Elexi on 03 October 2014 at 12:08pm
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day1
Groupie
Latvia
Joined 3882 days ago
93 posts - 158 votes

Speaks: English

Message 32 of 41

04 October 2014 at 9:50am | IP Logged

Do you need to pass a formal language test? If so, make sample tests (mock tests) a part of your regular study, it helps. A grammar book with exercises is also a great thing to use, if you ever need to write in German along the way.

What are you planning to study? If it is a specific subject you need, it would make sense to do your reading in that subject, try something easier to begin with, say, ".... for Dummies" German edition about your area of studies or anything else where you can get English translation of the text. What about some German video courses about your planned study subjects? https://www.coursera.org/courses?orderby=upcoming&lngs=de coursera offers only three, but there must be something similar out there. This way you'd feel much more comfortable in class even while at actual B1 language level.

You don't have much time, focus your language studies on area of language/ vocab you will need.

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