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My German 2010 Diary | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| tennisfan Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5363 days ago 130 posts - 247 votes  Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish Studies: German | Message 1 of 12 23 March 2010 at 8:48pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've been a bit of a lurker on the forum for almost a year now, and I've decided to start a language log to keep
track of my progress with learning German. I speak Italian and Spanish at basic fluency level. I've dabbled in Portuguese and French before, but without much interest. This will be my first time learning a second non-Romance language. I tried to start German a few years ago, using the Pimsleur course (which I used in the beginning with Italian and which helped me immensely). I got through about lesson 15 before I couldn't take it anymore--I felt my diction was at a high level, even if my vocabulary and grammar were not, so I didn't get much out of Pimsleur and was too impatient to sit around until it got more complicated. So.... I dropped German. I don't know why, but in the last month or so I developed an urge to pick it up again. I didn't know where to start, though. I had tried either the FSI or DLI program for French (can't remember which), and I didn't like it very much. So I wanted something else. I searched thoroughly through the forum, seeing which methods people used, and I finally decided on Michel Thomas. I picked up the beginner course last week and am through CD 5 in about four days. I wanted something to complement his program, though, so I decided on Deutsche Welles' online course "Warum Nicht." So here are the details: German materials --Michel Thomas: German (audio) --Deutsche Welle - Warum Nicht? Goals --Comprehension/ease of use of all verb tenses by June 2010 --1,000 word vocabulary by July 2010 --Basic fluency by March of 2011 Working in my favor --I think I have a good ear for the language and a good accent for a beginner --I have some experience before using MT Working against me --I have never been to Germany (or any German speaking country) --I don't know any Germans so actual conversations will be few and far between I'm a college student, so another one of my goals is to be at a high enough level to enter into an advanced course at my school this fall (early September). Having sat in on one of the classes this year, the word "advanced" seems to be relative, with everything from very advanced to the seemingly low intermediate---I think if I work hard until then, I'll be able to make it. I hope to spend anywhere from half an hour to an hour each day working on my German, although if this last week is any indication, I have to be careful not to spend too much time on it each day for fear that I might overload and take on more than I can handle. So I'll go through a few tracks of MT each day, and one or two lessons of Warum Nicht, and hopefully in a few months I'll be at a low intermediate level. Wish me luck. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 6145 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian | Message 2 of 12 24 March 2010 at 12:06am | IP Logged | ||
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Viel Glück!
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| tennisfan Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5363 days ago 130 posts - 247 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish Studies: German | Message 3 of 12 24 March 2010 at 4:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm just going to include everything I've done so far in this post, even though it includes over a week of studying.
MT is great, I feel very comfortable with using the what he's taught so far, and it's a great jumping point for seeking out my own vocabulary and plugging it in. Right now I'm about halfway through the beginner course, and even though he says not to write anything down, I've done just that, to see what the vocab count is---my estimate is around 90 or 95 new words. I'm using the DW course "Warum Nicht?" in conjunction. I'm having some problems with it. I can't tell exactly how I'm supposed to interact with the program itself---there are no prompts, no questions asking me to repeat anything or engage in the conversation. It mostly is just "here, listen to this." The storyline is interesting enough to keep my attention. I also am wondering how much I'm actually supposed to be learning. For example, in MT, he throws words out for comprehension such "ich," "Morgen," "Haus," and "sein," whereas in the first handful of lessons of Warum Nicht, they were using words like "unmöglich," "erweichen," "seltsam," and "Musikant." Random: I'm having a hard time understanding if the "i" in "wird" (i.e., "Er wird hier Morgen sein" is a long "ee," as in the English "beer" or short, as in "pitch." There seems to be some disparity here. At the end of the conversations in the lessons, they have a grammar discussion. Even after chapter 10 and these strange words and complicated conversations, they would turn to the grammar and be discussing the difference between "bist" and "sind." So what is the point of the complicated conversations, then? If the goal is to understand each and every word, then I think it expects a bit much. But the idea that we would still be going over "ich" and "bin" while hearing very complicated conversations makes me think this isn't the goal. I am using it in conjunction with MT, which helps, but I can't help but imagine that this would be a bit of a steep curve for someone with no experience whatsoever just starting out with Warum Nicht. Edited by tennisfan on 24 March 2010 at 5:07pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 6145 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian | Message 4 of 12 24 March 2010 at 5:07pm | IP Logged | ||
I have found that actually writing down the sentence and saying it before he gives the correct answer is very helpful. I usually just type the sentence in a Word document and then listen to see if I'm right, and if I'm not, I'll correct it as needed. I have only done this a little bit with the MT Advanced German course (I intend to start it over and do it for the entire thing) and have done it for most of the MT Advanced Japanese course. That other program sounds rather confusing. If you don't mind spending a bit of money, I would HIGHLY recommend getting Ultimate German Beginner-Intermediate, which is fabulous for both vocabulary and grammar. Ich hoffe, dass du diese Informationen behilflich findest. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tennisfan Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5363 days ago 130 posts - 247 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish Studies: German | Message 5 of 12 24 March 2010 at 5:13pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm posting below a short clip of me reading some German. If anyone is interested in judging my accent, please
feel free. I read one of the conversations aloud from Warum Nicht---Andreas the portier at the hotel is going to visit one of the guests in a room, who may or may not be a sketchy person. Here's my audio (no download needed, it should just play automatically): http://www.zshare.net/audio/74133945b33262ab/ (Andreas knocks at the door) Thürmann: Ja, bitte. Andreas: Guten Morgen, Herr Dr. Thürmann. Thürmann: Morgen, junger Mann. Sagen Sie mal: Was machen Sie? Andreas: Studieren. Thürmann: Studieren und keine Manieren, na ja... Was studieren Sie? Andreas: Journalistik. Thürmann: Und was machen Sie da? Andreas: Recherchieren, Reportagen schreiben.... Thürmann: Interessant, sehr interessant. Und was machen Sie hier? Andreas: Arbeiten. Thürmann: Was arbeiten Sie? Andreas: Ich bin Portier. Thürmann: Die Arbeit ist neu für Sie, oder? Andreas: Ja. Thürmann: Also, Sie Studieren Journalistik, und Sie arbeiten. Sie brauchen doch das Geld, oder? Andreas: Ja. Klar! Thürmann: Interessant, na denn---auf Wiedersehen. Andreas: Auf Wiedersehen, Herr Dr. Thürmann. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tennisfan Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5363 days ago 130 posts - 247 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish Studies: German | Message 6 of 12 09 April 2010 at 9:38am | IP Logged | ||
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Well, in the last two weeks I've had quite a busy time with my life, so my German has been put on the back burner, but not taken totally off the stove.
Some moderate successes: I finished the Foundation/Beginner course of Michel Thomas German today. I noticed in the last few tracks of MT German's foundation course, there was a quick cram session of vocab, that I am not sure if I am going to remember very well. Earlier in MT everything was paced well but it seemed like there were about thirty new words in less than fifteen minutes there at the end. We'll see how it goes. I'm on lesson 24 in Warum Nicht, and I also got a copy of Assimil German to supplement those other two. I see them working in conjunction, not in opposition with each other, with new vocabulary crossing over in all three programs, giving me explanations of things other programs don't, and so on. My next step: the next level of Michel Thomas German. I haven't decided whether to go to the advanced course, or to go to the language builder part first. I'll continue with Warum Nicht and with Assimil, doing 3 or 4 Assimil a day and 1 or 2 Warum Nicht a day, with two to three MT, depending on the length of each. My vocabulary is hovering around 300 words right now, hoping in another month to be around 500. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jables Newbie United States Joined 5374 days ago 30 posts - 30 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 7 of 12 09 April 2010 at 5:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hey there tennisfan. I am more or less in the same place you are on MT having just
finished the Foundation course yesterday, and have to agree with the cramming in the end there. I'm doing the Foundation Review today to see if the last 15 minutes or so is covered again there, and if not, hopefully it's in the Advanced course. I should finish the Review today on the walk to work, so I'll try to get back on here and let you know if it helps any with feeling a bit lost on that last bit of Foundation. *edit* Still working on getting through the review. Today's walk wasn't as productive as I hoped as my mp3 player battery died (right at the end of a track, so I actually thought I had finished it), but from looking at the website, it does look like it's mostly covered in the review on the later tracks of disc 2. Edited by jables on 09 April 2010 at 7:27pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| brian91 Senior Member Ireland Joined 5447 days ago 335 posts - 437 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 8 of 12 09 April 2010 at 8:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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This looks like a great thread. I also listen to Deutsche Welle, though my listening skills are atrocious. I recommend
getting a German speaking penpal at interpals.net. Brian, 18 1 person has voted this message useful |
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