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The Learnen to Talk Show | ||
Tags: Germany | Living abroad | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 4079 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes  Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 1 of 8 01 June 2014 at 3:53am | IP Logged | ||
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=AY91mcyiLaI http://fourththing.wordpress.com/2012/10/02/th e-lernen-to-talk-show- episode-41-a-random-chat/ Guy went to Germany with 0 German, and filmed his progress every week. EDIT: Arrived with Minimal A1.1 German learnt during commute for a period of 10 weeks. Only 41 weeks in (as am I). My level is 1/3 of this guy. I know people say to not compare yourself to others, but still...I will hate myself a bit for the next few days. Edited by Gemuse on 01 June 2014 at 4:49am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3904 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 2 of 8 01 June 2014 at 4:09am | IP Logged | ||
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I can speak as well as that guy....................English that is, haha
That is impressive, I'm interested to know what he did (does) to learn the language that well over those weeks. And don't down yourself about it, he may (probably) has some sort of advantage that many others don't have, like a native German roommate that that helps him every day or he spends every waking moment studying/practicing or something. Either way, we all learn at our own pace, we'll all get there. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| chokofingrz Pentaglot Senior Member England Joined 5186 days ago 241 posts - 430 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Japanese, Catalan, Luxembourgish | Message 3 of 8 01 June 2014 at 11:28am | IP Logged | ||
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Maybe the weekly video is one of the reasons. He was motivated to study daily, to make sure each video was an improvement on the last one.
3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Retinend Triglot Senior Member SpainRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4305 days ago 283 posts - 557 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish Studies: Arabic (Written), French | Message 4 of 8 01 June 2014 at 3:38pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yes that sounds plausible. He's also outgoing and willing to make real communication so it
couldn't have hurt him at all. The begrudging side of me at first wanted to think "well perhaps he's all talk and doesn't listen so well," but he was following the recounting of the Stephen King plot well enough to ask a question for clarity. Very good accent, to my ears. No long pauses... minimal grammar mistakes... It shows some admirable dedication across those 10-11 months. Looking back at random to week 13 is really inspirational. Even with only minimal language he's able to completely engage with the people he meets and draw them into loose and amusing conversation. I would be very stiff and apologetic in his position. But he's very confident - he's having fun with the challenge, instead of being self-conscious about it Perhaps his American extroversion was another benefit for his style of learning! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| drygramul Tetraglot Senior Member Italy Joined 4465 days ago 165 posts - 269 votes Speaks: Persian, Italian*, EnglishC2, GermanB2 Studies: French, Polish | Message 5 of 8 01 June 2014 at 8:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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I think too that the fact that he made a video each week helped and I really like his pronunciation.
However this video is actually comforting. I've learned German just for about 4 months now and I'm close to his level in oral production. The reason why I'm not there yet it's that I lack the confidence to engage in conversations often and long. I feel ashamed of my mistakes, even with familiar people. His attitude on the contrary is inspiring. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 4079 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 6 of 8 02 June 2014 at 5:00am | IP Logged | ||
I hate you.** What has been your method of learning? **: But not as much as I hate myself. Edited by Gemuse on 02 June 2014 at 2:13pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| drygramul Tetraglot Senior Member Italy Joined 4465 days ago 165 posts - 269 votes Speaks: Persian, Italian*, EnglishC2, GermanB2 Studies: French, Polish | Message 7 of 8 02 June 2014 at 3:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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Lol.
To sum up, leaving everything else behind and using half of my savings. I studied Assimil with ease for about a month, I think nearly 75 lessons passively and 40 actively, but I may be mistaken. I started with 5 lessons a day and after a week that number dropped to 3 or 2 lessons a day. Then at the end of February I came to Aachen and went to one of the many language schools (not Goethe). That wasn't my intention, but the VHS are all full for the foreseeable future, so I decided it was better to pay a little more instead of wasting time. I took the admission test and I was classified as a B1 starter. Here each level lasts two months, and I was lucky enough to have a great teacher most of the time for the first two months. I can tell you that even if Assimil wasn't the only resource I used (I started watching for instance the Big Bang Theory as soon as I could, and I made an Anki deck) I am quite pleased with it. I never used it before, so it was my first experience with the method. I did it however intensively and not in the traditional way. I had learned araound 400 words five years ago, but apart that, no grammar knowledge of German whatsoever. Those who started the course from the very beginning had to do 3 additional months instead, and so far I didn't struggle to keep up. We have to pass each month a test in order to be allowed to go on with the folloqing module, and so far I was ahead in respect to most of the others. I need to point out however that: 1 - for me it's a full time job. We work at school all morning, and when I'm home I pass 80% of my time repeating or trying to do something additional. The course this last month was quite demanding and I didn't have enough time to do anything else. In fact I'm taking a break this Juli and I'm planning to go on by myself. 2 - the other students don't probably use other tools, for instance ANKI, DW or podcasts. 3 - at the end of last year I gave IELTS on September, worked on and gave my specialization dissertation on November, studied by myself intensively one month Spanish for a trip to Seville in December and then I was a couple of months in Poland. Maybe all these things helped because I was already "fit" in some sort of language learning or general learning. 4 - that my level is close to B2 in a fictitious way. The grammar and passive comprehension may be there, but as far as vocabulary knowledge or spoken production a high B1 is a safer guess. The books they use at my school are Berliner Platz from A1 to B1, and Halit for B2-C1. I really like both because they deal with interesting and adult topics like renewable energy, privacy and internet, discrimination, and so on. Berliner Platz is clearer and you may use it for self study. Halit isn't useful without all the additional copies from the teacher's book. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 4079 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 8 of 8 02 June 2014 at 8:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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Nicely done drygramul! Assimil 75 lessons passive and 40 active and getting to B1
beginning in one month is damn impressive bow I will have a look at Berliner Platz, Edited by Gemuse on 02 June 2014 at 9:25pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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