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Where to start? (German grammar) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| Crawling Diglot Newbie Norway Joined 5208 days ago 6 posts - 6 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English Studies: German | Message 1 of 7 12 March 2010 at 9:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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I hope this isn't a stupid question.
I have been looking at the German grammar for a little while now, but I feel I don't really study it in a good way. I jump from one thing to another. Learn a little here and there, but doesn't feel that I get very far. I'm not really sure where to start to get a "good start". What is the basic stuff that I should work on first? Can someone push me in the right direction? :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| josht Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6257 days ago 635 posts - 857 votes  Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Spanish, Russian, Dutch | Message 2 of 7 12 March 2010 at 9:57pm | IP Logged | ||
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Declensions of the definite and indefinite articles, along with the declensions of adjectives, is more or less a must. I would start with mastering those, along with the present tense indicative and present perfect (past tense, compound form, e.g. "ich habe das gemacht" as opposed to "ich machte das").
I would also recommend that you work on reading a lot, and making note of anything you don't understand. Focusing on the grammar that you keep running into in actual reading / listening is a good way to find what you need to be learning. Are you using a course, or are you just working with a grammar text? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Crawling Diglot Newbie Norway Joined 5208 days ago 6 posts - 6 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English Studies: German | Message 3 of 7 12 March 2010 at 10:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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Not really. I have been using the course at Deutsche Welle a little bit, and I have another course I bought a long time ago (that I don't find very interesting so I don't use that a lot). Right now I can't afford a very good course so I'm working what I have (school books, workbooks, whatever I can find on the internet ++). I feel I'm understanding more and more when it comes to reading and listening but I feel stuck when it comes to writing and talking.
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| Pyx Diglot Senior Member China Joined 5546 days ago 670 posts - 892 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: Mandarin | Message 4 of 7 12 March 2010 at 11:13pm | IP Logged | ||
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Get a good book, start to read it, and look up the grammar of a sentence you don't understand because of its grammar. That's the grammar you need. Then continue reading.
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| josht Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6257 days ago 635 posts - 857 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Spanish, Russian, Dutch | Message 5 of 7 12 March 2010 at 11:24pm | IP Logged | ||
That's not really that odd; your production abilities will almost always lag behind your ability to understand. You could be stumbling when trying to write or talk simply because you're not ready to do so. While I agree with Pyx that you should try to read and learn grammar that you encounter, you really do need to get the very basics down, otherwise reading will be so slow and painful that you'll never make any headway. The grammar section at http://german.about.com, while not comprehensive, is a good start; it has sections on German articles (indefinite / definite), adjectives, and other absolutely essential bits that you'll need to master. The Wikipedia article on German grammar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_grammar) also is a good place to go. The main page has an overview, and most sections link to a more comprehensive treatment of each topic (i.e., there's a general section on the main page about German adjective declension, and then a link to a more comprehensive explanation). If you are interested in getting a book on German grammar, Hammer's German Grammar and Usage (ISBN: 0071396543) is excellent, providing a very comprehensive guide. It's also fairly cheap; you can get a new copy for around $20, or used for $12 or $13. Edited by josht on 12 March 2010 at 11:27pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| anole Diglot Newbie Czech Republic Joined 5182 days ago 10 posts - 14 votes Speaks: Czech*, English Studies: French, Latin | Message 6 of 7 12 March 2010 at 11:30pm | IP Logged | ||
I think, that's good idea... that's how I learnt French and now, I'm going to learn German... so I hope, it will works .) Edited by anole on 12 March 2010 at 11:30pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Crawling Diglot Newbie Norway Joined 5208 days ago 6 posts - 6 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English Studies: German | Message 7 of 7 13 March 2010 at 9:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks for the answers. And thank you for the links josht. I'm going to check them out.
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