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Learning German - Which course? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| language_learn Newbie India Joined 5453 days ago 4 posts - 4 votes | Message 1 of 9 19 December 2009 at 6:25am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi all
I am starting German. I need your advise as to which course would be the best to start with. I am thinking of the following options - 1. Assimil German with Toil 2. Michel Thomas 3. Colloquial German 4. Living Language German Request your advice on which of these/combination would be good to start with. Thanks in advance 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| fanatic Octoglot Senior Member Australia speedmathematics.com Joined 7145 days ago 1152 posts - 1818 votes  Speaks: English*, German, French, Afrikaans, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch Studies: Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Modern Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Esperanto | Message 2 of 9 19 December 2009 at 8:15am | IP Logged | ||
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I would say Assimil German without Toil without hesitation. It will take you much further than the other three and it is easy and pleasant to use. I have recounted many times on this forum how I began German with zero knowledge and learnt with Assimil. I was speaking with my German friends in less than two months and after five or six months we travelled to Germany and I managed well in the country and got a job translating technical texts from English to German.
I only used Assimil German Without Toil as my textbook. I spent less than half an hour most days. That time was split into 5 or 10 minute sessions where I learnt and revised the lesson for the day, as well as revising the lessons for the previous days. On weekends I would usually spend more time going over the past week or two's lessons and I would listen to my tape recordings for extended times when I got the chance. You don't worry about remembering all of the vocabulary. You will revise it over the next days in the new lessons and also as you revise previous lessons. Assimil is the most pleasant and painless ways to learn a language I know. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| language_learn Newbie India Joined 5453 days ago 4 posts - 4 votes | Message 3 of 9 19 December 2009 at 9:13am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi Fanatic
Thanks for your reply. Even I regard Assimil quite high and my first choice was Assimil. But do you think it would be necessary to support Assimil with Michel Thomas or Pimsleur? Thanks 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Tezza Groupie United Kingdom Joined 5677 days ago 41 posts - 64 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 4 of 9 19 December 2009 at 4:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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If you can afford it then it can't hurt. Assimil will take you far, as will just watching native programs and listening to German radio. This alone could well be enough, as Fanatic has already demonstrated and I have reason to doubt what he did. Remember podcasts are always available too, and livemocha.com is pretty much rosetta stone without the ridiculous price tag (free) and with natives correcting any problems you have and also actual translations of the target language if you want it.
I've heard some good things and some bad things about Michel Thomas's German course though, some errors in his rules and pronunciation, so maybe podcasts will be better, they also don't come with the annoying student making the same mistake over and over too. I've heard some of his rules are really good though and explain them in a manner that was very simple and effective. You might want to search the forums to see which rules are the ones to follow and which are best ignored. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| delta910 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5874 days ago 267 posts - 313 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Dutch, German | Message 5 of 9 19 December 2009 at 4:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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I would say Living Language Ultimate German. Be careful not to get the Complete Course because those are just a waste of time and money.
I feel you could do with out Michel Thomas and Pimsleur. Assimil and Ultimate German would do just great for starting out. Applying the passive wave and active wave to the Ultimate German course is a good idea, too. If you want another resource I would suggest going to Lingq.com and getting a free account. Go the the library and get the short story dialogues called eating out and who is she. (More information about lingq.com go to Steve Kaufmann's youtube channel lingosteve.) It has helped tremendously for my Spanish. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| fanatic Octoglot Senior Member Australia speedmathematics.com Joined 7145 days ago 1152 posts - 1818 votes Speaks: English*, German, French, Afrikaans, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch Studies: Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Modern Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Esperanto | Message 6 of 9 20 December 2009 at 12:39am | IP Logged | ||
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I would probably go for Colloquial German. You can read the nuts and bolts of the language and their extended explanations to complement your learning with Assimil.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| mpete16 Diglot Groupie Germany Joined 5521 days ago 98 posts - 114 votes Speaks: Tagalog, English* Studies: German | Message 7 of 9 20 December 2009 at 6:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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What about FSI German? To my knowledge, it's one of the best language programs ever made. And it's free online to download.
2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| ruskivyetr Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5480 days ago 769 posts - 962 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish, Russian, Polish, Modern Hebrew | Message 8 of 9 20 December 2009 at 8:42pm | IP Logged | ||
First, a little back round information on my German (I promise it's pertinent to this story). My mom's step-dad is German. He was the grandfather that was around most for her and for me and my siblings. When I was really young, my grandparents would come over and he would make dinner. I always sat in my high chair watching, and since I was really young, he spoke German to me thinking it would have no effect. They came over nearly everyday and most of my time was spent listening to my grandpa speak to me in baby German. He and my parents had no idea that it would have an effect on me (my parents not even knowing what was going on at all) until I spoke my first word, in German. Being monolingual, my parents were delighted at the fact that they would soon have a bilingual child. They bought Muzzy in German and I delightedly watched it with my older sister. Eventually when we moved I didn't see my grandpa all the time and I was at a crucial age where language skills were developed, so my German suffered as my English flourished. When I was about three, I was still watching children's shows in German and my mother even got a few children's books in German to keep my language alive as long as possible. I still maintained a minimally conversational level, and I had naturally gained all of the cases (I realized this from later research about the language in my early teens). When I was 13, I could understand and I could maintain basic conversation (of about a 4 year old). I decided I would enforce it by self study, as I was already trying to learn a few other languages (ones that I dropped- they were WAY to advanced). I chose FSI because I could get if for free online and I thought that it was really hardcore. I went through a few lessons (which I am still continuing to this day of the second book) and they brought me from the level of a four year old to a 9 year old (a VERY big difference if you look at vocabulary and grammar). They are boring, but just keep trying. They will take you so far it is unbelievable. Make sure you read the instructions about the drills before you do it though. It can be confusing, but trust me, when you need to speak, you will know what I mean. If you want a course that is not so aggressive and still brings you up to a satisfactory level, do Assimil. It will take you far enough in your studies, you will not need to worry about drills and there are no times when you want to drill your mind out or go on Facebook because you HATE drills (like you will want to with FSI occasionally :) ). What I wish I did, is to have used Assimil with using FSI drills to practice such things as case forms other grammatical features. The link to the FSI courses is here: http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php Edited by ruskivyetr on 20 December 2009 at 8:43pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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