Khan Newbie Australia Joined 6288 days ago 26 posts - 26 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German
| Message 1 of 29 11 July 2007 at 11:13pm | IP Logged |
I've decided to start keeping a log of my attempt to learn German. I'm also new to the forums, so g'day all.
I decided to start trying to learn German about two months ago out of a need to see if I had any particular aptitude for languages. I selected German because I enjoyed the sound and (metaphorical) feel of the language and had a really basic acquaintance with it from my studying of history and viewing of documentaries and movies.
To begin with I did the online 'German Steps' course that the BBC has (http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/German/). I finished that a week ago and, being reasonably happy with my progress, decided to move on to the FSI courses from fsi-language-courses.com (what a useful resource).
After searching these forums for opinions on FSI German I came to the conclusion that I should supplement it with some other resources because of its age and questions over the background of the male speaker. To that end I'm going to watch the Fokus Deutsch series and continue my listening to Deutsche Welle's "News Read Slowly" podcast each day.
For flashcards I originally wrote my own little web-based program but have since run across wordchamp.com which seems far better suited to my needs.
I aim to spend about 10 hours a week (2 hours each weekday) on my studies. I'll watch a Fokus Deutsch] episode every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. DW's "News Read Slowly" I'll read and listen to each weekday and, when time allows, will set it to repeat while I'm not studying in order to advance my listening skills. I'll try and do two FSI units per week + revision of material from past units but may revise that down to one unit if it doesn't prove practical. Flashcards I will do for 10 minutes or so each day. If I stick to this schedule I expect to complete FSI and Fokus Deutsch by October/November.
At that point I'll re-evaluate my proficiency in German and will decide whether to look into the courses DW offers or take a self-learning approach from there on in.
I intend to post a short log daily in the hope that it will act both as a way of seeing progress and as a motivator. If this is too ambitious or I find myself posting the same thing every day I'll revise it to an every-other-day or weekly format.
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Khan Newbie Australia Joined 6288 days ago 26 posts - 26 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German
| Message 2 of 29 12 July 2007 at 10:16pm | IP Logged |
Day 1
Due to unforeseeable circumstances I only had an hour to study today. Watched Fokus Deutsch Episode 3 and listened to/read DW's "News Read Slowly".
Find myself picking up the gist of most of the conversations in FD, but still completely missing some of them.
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Khan Newbie Australia Joined 6288 days ago 26 posts - 26 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German
| Message 3 of 29 15 July 2007 at 11:36pm | IP Logged |
Day 2
Spent an hour and a half studying today. Watched Fokus Deutsch Episode 4, DW's "News Read Slowly" and re-read the FSI course intro and did most of "Basic Sentences" of Unit 1. Also did 10 minutes of flashcards.
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Khan Newbie Australia Joined 6288 days ago 26 posts - 26 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German
| Message 4 of 29 16 July 2007 at 11:14pm | IP Logged |
Day 3
Unfortunately only an hour today. Watched Fokus Deutsch Episode 5 and DW's "News Read Slowly". Only got a bit of FSI's "Basic Sentences" done.
May have to revise my schedule to only one FSI Unit per week if I can't find more time to study. It can be a bit of a struggle sometimes to clearly hear the male speaker on FSI.
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Khan Newbie Australia Joined 6288 days ago 26 posts - 26 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German
| Message 5 of 29 17 July 2007 at 11:19pm | IP Logged |
Day 4
Got a full two hours in today (finally!). Did the usual daily stuff (DW's "News Read Slowly"). Finished off FSI "Basic Sentences" and did most of "Notes on Pronunciation". Did 10 minutes on flashcards from the Fokus Deutsch episodes I've watched so far.
Started taking my own brief notes on grammar and pronunciation rules based on what's in the FSI document. Really enjoyed the FSI work today, unlike the previous two days. I found myself, bar a few words I hadn't yet run into, getting most of the pronunciation correct before they said it.
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tsp_uk Diglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 6602 days ago 30 posts - 33 votes Speaks: Cantonese, English* Studies: Korean
| Message 6 of 29 18 July 2007 at 9:14am | IP Logged |
Hi Khan can you tell me on the DW site, where I have to go to access the News Read Slowly?
Many thanks!
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Khan Newbie Australia Joined 6288 days ago 26 posts - 26 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German
| Message 7 of 29 19 July 2007 at 1:51am | IP Logged |
Day 5
Didn't get any done at all today. I hope to make it up somewhat by spending three hours studying tomorrow.
I think I'll watch Das Boot tonight to..err...better my listening comprehension.
==========
Tsp,
Pop over to http://www.dw-world.de/ and look for 'Podcasting' under the 'Interactive' section on the left hand side menu. Click it and scroll down to 'Learn German with Podcasting' and you'll find it.
Direct Link
The person reading it varies each day. Most of them are quite good but occasionally you get one that reads it at something approaching normal speed.
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Khan Newbie Australia Joined 6288 days ago 26 posts - 26 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German
| Message 8 of 29 19 July 2007 at 6:02am | IP Logged |
Day 5
Found a spare hour after all. Didn't bother with DW, just did FSI and flashcards. Finished off 'Notes on Pronunciation' and completed the Substitution Drill.
Came across das as the 'pointing-word' in FSI. What a great system for handling that/this/these/those.
Edited by Khan on 19 July 2007 at 6:03am
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