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Strategy for learning German

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Jeffers
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 4908 days ago
2151 posts - 3960 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German

 
 Message 33 of 41
04 October 2014 at 9:59am | IP Logged 
day1 wrote:
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.


Those are some useful points, day1. I'm curious, Akeed, what do you plan to study when you get to Germany?
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akeed
Newbie
Sri Lanka
Joined 3715 days ago
22 posts - 23 votes
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 34 of 41
04 October 2014 at 2:50pm | IP Logged 
day1 wrote:
Do you need to pass a formal language test? If so, make sample tests
(mock tests) a part of your regular study, it helps.


YES! I will have to pass the TestDAF or the DSH German language test to get accepted
into most universities.

day1 wrote:
What are you planning to study?


I'm planning to study either Travel/Tourism or Psychology or sometimes even Music!
Honestly I really haven't decided that yet because it doesn't really matter to me
much. What matters to me is getting into any good German university (and going to
germany itself). But I will certainly not be studying anything advanced like
Engineering or Medicine (so there probably won't be too many technical terms).
I will surely think about reading some (university) subject related matter but only
once I get to at least A2/B1 levels.

day1 wrote:
A grammar book with exercises is also a great thing to use, if you ever
need to write in German along the way


Yes I am going to get one tomorrow probably but I'm not sure what I should get. I've
heard that "Hammer's German Grammar is the bible of German grammar but I've also heard
it is too much for a beginner. Do you have any recommendations?

Thanks for your help!
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akeed
Newbie
Sri Lanka
Joined 3715 days ago
22 posts - 23 votes
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 35 of 41
04 October 2014 at 3:02pm | IP Logged 

patrickwilken 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 completely agree with you. The grammar seems really daunting when you first try to
tackle it (and it surely does) but that does not mean it is hard to comprehend the
meaning of a sentence. It will probably be a problem when writing though!

patrickwilken wrote:
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.


As to my approach towards using native materials I thought I would use a really
passive method. I will watch German TV/Movies with English subtitles during my leisure
time BUT not as a learning method (I will not try to understand or remember) and only
purely for enjoyment. And if that does eventually help improve my German then so much
the better!

P.S : Would you mind sharing some TV shows (and maybe movies) that you have watched
and enjoyed? There's only a handful of titles that I can find by googling. (I watched
an episode of 'Stromberg' and found it quite alright).



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akeed
Newbie
Sri Lanka
Joined 3715 days ago
22 posts - 23 votes
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 36 of 41
04 October 2014 at 3:08pm | IP Logged 
Jeffers wrote:
I'm curious, Akeed, what do you plan to study when you get to Germany?


Hey Jeffers, I'm thinking something along the lines of Psychology or Music or even
Hospitality/Travel/Tourism.

It does not really matter much and I have certainly not made up my mind yet!
I want to spend the rest of my life traveling around the world and one of the main
reasons I want to go to a German university is for that ; to get to know a new
culture/people and as a way to kickstart my "travel around the world till I die" dream.
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day1
Groupie
Latvia
Joined 3891 days ago
93 posts - 158 votes 
Speaks: English

 
 Message 37 of 41
05 October 2014 at 7:27am | IP Logged 
akeed wrote:
I've heard that "Hammer's German Grammar is the bible of German grammar but I've also heard it is too much for a beginner.


You don't need all the smallest nuances of grammar just yet, likely, you'd never really need it. So stay away.

I'm not so familiar with German learning books, but usually any of Routledge German Grammar Workbooks is fine, just searched Amazon, and there are several books for beginners. Usually these series are of good quality. Also, Schaum's Outline of German Grammar offers exercises. Some of these more popular grammars have vocab practice sets on Quizlet as well: http://quizlet.com/lucidity01

Paul Noble German audio course is a good supplement to Michel Thomas, because the approach is very different. Paul Noble course explains the use of articles (when do the "der"s change into "die"s), which MT doesn't, besides, the course is not big. I would start there before I hit grammar exercise books. You'll have covered weird placement of verbs through MT and article changes through Paul Noble, and the rest will be just details. :)

You also asked about Textbooks. I don't think books such as the famous Themen Neu is a good choice for self study. Those are typical teacher based classroom books. From the titles I am familiar with, I'd choose good old Linguaphone. I believe there are other suitable books out there, just be sure that the book offers enough explanations and mainly dialogs, not exercises (you will have grammar workbook for that).

Myself, I listen to German audiobooks a lot lately. I choose the books I have read before, and just try to enjoy before falling asleep. I have not miraculously started speaking fluent German, but it's a pleasant exercise to do.

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drygramul
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Italy
Joined 4467 days ago
165 posts - 269 votes 
Speaks: Persian, Italian*, EnglishC2, GermanB2
Studies: French, Polish

 
 Message 38 of 41
05 October 2014 at 9:58am | IP Logged 
I'd suggest Mein Deutschbuch for grammar.
The topics are summarized in a clear and simple way and you'll find all the essential concepts for an intermediate knowledge.
It's a very helpful (and free) resource.

Edited by drygramul on 05 October 2014 at 9:58am
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akeed
Newbie
Sri Lanka
Joined 3715 days ago
22 posts - 23 votes
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 39 of 41
05 October 2014 at 2:17pm | IP Logged 
day1 wrote:
akeed wrote:
I've heard that "Hammer's German Grammar is the bible of
German grammar but I've also heard it is too much for a beginner.


You don't need all the smallest nuances of grammar just yet, likely, you'd never
really need it. So stay away.

I'm not so familiar with German learning books, but usually any of Routledge German
Grammar Workbooks is fine, just searched Amazon, and there are several books for
beginners. Usually these series are of good quality. Also, Schaum's Outline of German
Grammar offers exercises. Some of these more popular grammars have vocab practice sets
on Quizlet as well: http://quizlet.com/lucidity01

Paul Noble German audio course is a good supplement to Michel Thomas, because the
approach is very different. Paul Noble course explains the use of articles (when do
the "der"s change into "die"s), which MT doesn't, besides, the course is not big. I
would start there before I hit grammar exercise books. You'll have covered weird
placement of verbs through MT and article changes through Paul Noble, and the rest
will be just details. :)

You also asked about Textbooks. I don't think books such as the famous Themen Neu is a
good choice for self study. Those are typical teacher based classroom books. From the
titles I am familiar with, I'd choose good old Linguaphone. I believe there are other
suitable books out there, just be sure that the book offers enough explanations and
mainly dialogs, not exercises (you will have grammar workbook for that).

Myself, I listen to German audiobooks a lot lately. I choose the books I have read
before, and just try to enjoy before falling asleep. I have not miraculously started
speaking fluent German, but it's a pleasant exercise to do.


Well I went through a lot of amazon book reviews yesterday and decided to buy the
"Schaum's Outline of German Grammar" and I had just gotten back from the bookstore
today when I saw your reply (and your recommendations)!

I think it would be a good book because it appears to have a ton of exercises and I am
hoping to work through them as fast as I can.

I'll be sure to check out the Paul Noble course as well but personally for me, I want
to get straight down to the dreaded grammar now itself and just get it done with. Lots
of people recommend to not try to tackle the grammar too early and some never tackle
it at all. But I want to get it into my head at the beginning itself...I think that
will pay off (and keep paying off) further down the road.

As for textbooks I don't know whether I would really need one now that I have
Assimil,a grammar book and MT.

Edited by akeed on 05 October 2014 at 2:20pm
1 person has voted this message useful



day1
Groupie
Latvia
Joined 3891 days ago
93 posts - 158 votes 
Speaks: English

 
 Message 40 of 41
06 October 2014 at 11:48am | IP Logged 
Personally, I am not scared of any grammar. I quite like reading an elementary grammar book to just get some ideas on how things work. Then later on, when I encounter these details in texts, books, textbooks or elsewhere, I get that "Oh!" moment, when it sorta clicks. Like, oh, so that's how it is! So I'd say, it depends on the style your brain works. Try playing around with the "dreaded" grammar and see how it feels. If all you get is dread, just take things easy, do it bite by bite, Assimil style.


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