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Beginning to learn German | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| alex.james.dook Newbie Australia Joined 4891 days ago 7 posts - 7 votes | Message 1 of 8 05 February 2012 at 11:52pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi everyone!
I've recently become pretty obsessed with the idea of going to Switzerland and I'm keen on the idea of learning some (or a lot) of German. I'm of the opinion that if you really want to learn a language then you can study it by yourself (going to the country is obviously a better idea but I'm in Australia, so immersion isn't an opinion just yet). I had a fair amount of success with French last year, but I was building off a solid foundation as I had studied it in school. I have zero experience with German. Can anyone recommend a book (with a CD) that would be a good starting point? And perhaps one to progress to after that? Thanks! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| speightashley Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4475 days ago 17 posts - 19 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Italian | Message 2 of 8 06 February 2012 at 1:47am | IP Logged | ||
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Start with Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur. This will give you the schoolboy level ground of the language. Rosetta will teach you enough vocab to be able to understand little bits and pimsleur will give you the ability to string them together in sentences.
After this you want to think about moving onto the FSI course. I've not done this for German but the FSI stuff tends to be pretty comprehensive. You can grab the FSI course for free from the fsi language website. It's audio with some ebooks. I have mine (spanish) set out with the audio on my ipod and the books on my tablet. Really simple system but much better than sitting at the computer reading an ebook....I can't seem to do that for some reason. Deffo worth looking into though. There was also a video course that was brought out by the BBC for German...pretty sure it was called Deutsche plus or something or the other. BBC language stuff tends to be pretty good though. They air it on BBC 2 late at night sometimes but because you are in Austrailian that makes no use for you! :-\ Could try the BBC website though, you might be able to stream it from there. When I was in the navy I bought myself the book and audio cd "teach yourself German" I'm sure you've seen the ones around, they do them for lots of languages. That book seemed pretty good actually, but I never got my head into it properly as I was always preocuppied with other things. It looked like it covered quite a lot though and it was reletivaly cheap. I found it in waterstones. You could also try out the BYKI flashcard software. Again totally free and will give you some good vocab and it actually works. You won't forget what you have learnt for ages! Dead handy to have that in your locker. If you get bored of German you can always load it up with words from other languages that are available to download off of their website for free also :-) So after that rant, what I suggest you do is:- Pimsleur / Rosetta Stone together BYKI Flashcards on weekends Onto the FSI Series and maybe the teach yourself German to supplement the grammar. After this, start watching German online tv and listening to German radio << This can replace immersion in the country I believe if you soley listen to your target language in everything you do. Mix that together with listening to German music. Get translations of the songs in English and learn the songs that you like. This will also help with the vocab aspect of things. Hope this helps 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| zekecoma Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5141 days ago 561 posts - 655 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish | Message 3 of 8 06 February 2012 at 1:58am | IP Logged | ||
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I wouldn't never recommend Rosetta Stone. Don't even bother with it.
I would suggest you do Michel Thomas Foundation + Advanced + Vocabulary + Builder. Then move onto Pimsleur German I, II, III, then get Assimil and Teach Yourself German. That is how I'm doing Russian also, but I don't have Teach Yourself Russian, but only Colloquial Russian. I'm happy with the route I am going so far. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| speightashley Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4475 days ago 17 posts - 19 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Italian | Message 4 of 8 06 February 2012 at 2:13am | IP Logged | ||
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I personally found Rosetta Stone useful for vocab. Didn't find it that bad at all. It was provided through the military and a lot of guys use the program at work. Must be good for something if the military incorperate it :-)
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| zekecoma Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5141 days ago 561 posts - 655 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish | Message 5 of 8 06 February 2012 at 2:25am | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah it's good, if you want to guess at a picture to figure out it's meaning, and to
learn like a 2 year old would. How long did that take for us to be conversational in? 18+ years? Not everything is expressable in pictures, unless you want to be able to say "the ball is blue", or "the elephant is under the table." Vocabulary like that is useless, let alone it teaches you no grammar, no spelling rules, no usage of the prepositional. If anything, I would recommend Fluenz German over Rosetta Stone German. If I'm going to spend over $1,000 on Rosetta Stone. I might as well go to a uni, or small college and take a course in the language. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| speightashley Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4475 days ago 17 posts - 19 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Italian | Message 6 of 8 06 February 2012 at 2:43am | IP Logged | ||
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Fair point. The fact is that we got the program for free in the military. I wouldn't pay that much for it. I had no idea it cost that much! haha
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| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4806 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 7 of 8 06 February 2012 at 3:01am | IP Logged | ||
I believe Rosetta can do that but it is an awful lot of money for just some pieces of vocabulary. But other parts of the advice are surely an option. I am still a beginner in German so my decision upon the same question is not that far in past but I have already tasted a few things. What am I using: FSI- it is a great resource, even though dry. You can start with their introductory chapter on German pronunciation (I think that part is really worth it) and leave it aside until a bit later if you don't like it now. And it is free. Memrise for vocabulary. Any other SRS will do, such as Anki. Both are free, BYKY is not if I am not wrong. Assimil- I use the French based version but there is an English one too if your French is not at sufficient level yet. I think it is a great course. People have had amazing success with using it the way it was designed, I am taking too many breaks but it is still more than useful. Basic German: grammar and workbook-for clarifying structures of the language, the exercises are quite good for start too. Deutsche Welle- a wonderful and free internet resource. There are courses both for beginners and intermediates, with a lot of audio. I don't think it can stand alone but it is a perfect supplement to any course you choose. I've heard a lot of good about Pimsleur in general, so it may be a nice place to start as others have already said, I just don't have personal experience with it. Just a few ideas Edited by Cavesa on 06 February 2012 at 3:04am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| speightashley Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4475 days ago 17 posts - 19 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Italian | Message 8 of 8 06 February 2012 at 3:10am | IP Logged | ||
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There is a free and a paid version of BYKI. The free version is ample enough though to get the vocab crammed.
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