|
 |
Gemüse auf einem Spaziergang | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4322 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes  Studies: German | Message 169 of 180 23 February 2015 at 5:34pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Oh. I thought that was what the classes were focussing on. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 3871 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 170 of 180 23 February 2015 at 5:54pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
The classes are indeed structured around certain grammar patterns, but the text also throws in lots of words, and hopes the students will magically absorb these and increase their vocab. It doesn't quite work that way in reality, but if one were diligent, and noted down the meanings of unknown words, and reviewed periodically, then he/she would develop vokab. The problem is that there are just too many unknown words in the textbook, and the aforementioned approach would entail a massive time commitment. But the classes are now over for a few weeks. Edited by Gemuse on 23 February 2015 at 11:07pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4798 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 171 of 180 24 February 2015 at 2:15am | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
Hmm, what are the classes good at then? Are you at least getting the speaking practice
you wanted? How many students are there? And what textbook is being used? I am curious as this seems to be quite a highlight of your German now, due to the English cocoon. It is weird, however, that while living in Germany, you lack some real practice. I wish you lots of success in the end as you totally deserve it with the amount of efforts. And sorry for late coming to your log, the beginning of the year has been quite hectic, teammate. P.S. I've noticed you mentioned the Assimil getting much harder around lesson 59. Don't scare me! I am at 54 now and it looks already more difficult :-D 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 3871 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 172 of 180 24 February 2015 at 6:51am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Thats an excellent question. And I don't have an answer apart from that they give me speaking practice. It is the only place where I speak German :P
Thanks! Unfortunately, life has painfully taught me that effort, while being a prereq for success, does not entitle one to anything.
I don't even remember making that comment. But you get used to increased difficulty. And then a few lessons later another bump. And you get used to that. Um so weiter. PS: You gave up any and all rights to being scared once you became C2 French while living outside France, during a grueling medicine program. I dunno how you cram all that data into your head. Edited by Gemuse on 05 March 2015 at 6:45am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4322 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 173 of 180 24 February 2015 at 11:44am | IP Logged | ||||||||
But isn't it time then to rethink your German learning strategy? If I were you (which I am not) I would stop all further classes (both language school and assimil etc). I am confident you have learnt enough from them for the moment. If you start reading you'll gain enormously both in vocabulary and a sense of grammar. Speaking will come later. Frankly if you don't have the vocabulary to manage a graded-reader, I can't imagine you'll be able to talk to anyone anyway. You need the vocabulary first, both so you can express yourself, but also so you can understand what the other person is saying. If you don't want to read, at least start watching TV shows. There are lots and lots of very cheap options in Germany for both books and videos. Not least your local library. I think one reason you need to stop classes is that this is giving you a false sense that you learning German. It can become just a convenient excuse. Once you give up on classes you'll either have to accept that you aren't going to learn German or do something about it to learn it. I am sorry if this post comes across as bossy/negative, but as a fellow German learner who also lives in Germany, it's a bit painful that you aren't making faster progress than you are. Edited by patrickwilken on 24 February 2015 at 11:46am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 3871 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 174 of 180 24 February 2015 at 12:08pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
The language school classes are not fooling me. I know they are of limited use. Assimil on the other hand, *is* helping me. Also, Assimil is a mountain which must be climbed. And by Jove I will do it. 1 month. I need one month.
Not at all, I welcome criticism. The bottleneck for the past 6 months has been my work, which requires hard cerebral effort. I just haven't had the stamina to put in even more stuff into the noggin. On the plus side, the work effort is paying off -- I received some unexpected positive feedback about it last week. Edited by Gemuse on 24 February 2015 at 8:08pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4322 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 175 of 180 24 February 2015 at 12:28pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
I am now giving a monthly workshop on how to self learn German here in Berlin.
At first I thought there would be more interest, there are after all about 25000 expats in the city. However, what has become really obvious to me is that although lots of people do classes, most people don't actually want to do the work required to learn the language. One of the big questions I get asked is "how can I learn German with less than a hour a day of work?", which is pretty shocking when you realize these people live in Germany 24 hours per day. The same people complain that people in shops always switch to English rather than speaking German with them, even though they have so little vocabulary they can't hold any sort of conversation. They also complain bitterly about the poor quality of language classes which they go to for months and never end up learning the language. When I point out the amazing progress I have made reading books and watching TV, they look at me and say that sounds great, but I have no time to read or watch TV. I guess it just comes down to priorities. I don't think people should have to learn German if they live though I know plenty of Germans would who disagree. I do think a lot of people simply don't have the time/stamina to do it which is a shame as it's not really as hard a language as many people think. Edited by patrickwilken on 24 February 2015 at 12:41pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 3871 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 176 of 180 05 March 2015 at 6:47am | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
(reposting entry which was deleted)
This Week: 9h 15mins Assimil: 74-77 Aktiv: 17,18 Was feeling assimil burnout towards the end of the week. Had hoped to do more assimil, and Linguaphone, but it did not happen. Instead, taking Patrick's Vorschlag, I started on a Reader: Timo darf nicht sterben. It's a 29 page A2 reader about a boy who competes unsuccessfully for the Darwin awards. I have done 40% of it. There were a whole bunch of words I had encountered before, but for which I could not remember the meanings of. Slow going at first. I am noting the meanings of words I do not know in a notebook. Words of the post: an|nehmen -to accept. Kreditkarten annehmen. -assume. Ich habe angenommen, dass er noch hier wohnt. Ist anzunehmen, dass es Ärger gibt. indem: by; indicating the way in which something is done (Assimil 75) Er beruhigte das Baby, indem er es auf den Arm nahm. Edited by Gemuse on 05 March 2015 at 6:48am 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
