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German - B2 to C1 | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| rtickner Diglot Groupie AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 3324 days ago 61 posts - 95 votes  Speaks: English*, GermanB2 Studies: French, Spanish | Message 1 of 35 11 April 2015 at 6:01am | IP Logged | ||
Throughout my pursuit of the German language, I have taken exams at the Goethe Institut in Sydney for levels A1, A2, B1 and B2. This log will document steps taken to reach a comfortable C1 level, and to pass the corresponding exam, most likely around the end of the year. These exams are goals along the way, with the ultimate goal being mastery of the language. To me, that means a level of ease in expression and comprehension equal to my native English tongue. I'm fairly sure it's an attainable goal, as I've met foreigners in the past who use English as well (or better) than I do. Objectively speaking, there is no real reason for me to do this, other than the thrill of the challenge. I will never use it for work, and doubt that I will ever live in Germany. It is purely an intellectual goal, for my own selfish enjoyment. I currently have holes in some of my grammar (which I will fix with workbooks and exercises), my vocabulary (which I will fix by reading more broadly) and speaking (which I will fix through finding speaking partners in the area and on the internet). Rather than enumerate a list of goals and timeframes, and document progress on a daily basis, I will post updates whenever I finish reading a book, complete a workbook, finish listening to an audiobook, or have a really good conversation with somebody of a considerable length. I usually keep these logs private, though I post this here in the hope that others wishing to move from B2 to C1 in the future may benefit from seeing how one person has achieved it. Ask questions or make comments if you wish. Enjoy your studies, and have a fine day. Edited by rtickner on 29 July 2015 at 2:32pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| basica Senior Member Australia Joined 3342 days ago 157 posts - 269 votes Studies: Serbian | Message 2 of 35 11 April 2015 at 6:09am | IP Logged | ||
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Good luck with your goal! How long did it take you to go from A1 to B2 and how easily would you say you are
able to express yourself now at your current level? Once again good luck. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| rtickner Diglot Groupie AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 3324 days ago 61 posts - 95 votes Speaks: English*, GermanB2 Studies: French, Spanish | Message 3 of 35 11 April 2015 at 6:28am | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks, good luck with your goals as well. I've been studying on and off for the past 10 years, as I've found the time and the interest to put into it. I would estimate 500 hours of actual study time (courses + vocab), plus reading and listening time. I have been to Germany on holiday a few times in the last decade, which has helped as well.
I can have a decent conversation with somebody at the moment, so long as the topic is not too technical. My accent is good, sentence structure is solid, though I am still dogged at times with adjective and article endings in different cases, especially when I am tired, and there can sometimes be a generous amount of circumlocution to fully express what I wish to say. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| eugen Triglot Newbie Italy Joined 3335 days ago 22 posts - 23 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, GermanB2 Studies: Modern Hebrew | Message 4 of 35 11 April 2015 at 8:14am | IP Logged | ||
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Good luck! I have the same goals with German, I think I'll read often your log :)
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4339 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 5 of 35 11 June 2015 at 11:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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Glad to find your log. Looking forward to seeing your progress. I am originally from Melbourne, though I now live in Berlin.
I'd be interested in seeing how fast you get from B2 to C1. How do you rate your general comprehension? Do you find die Zeit, for instance, fairly straightforward to read? I am curious as I don't really have a good sense of what B2 means. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| rtickner Diglot Groupie AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 3324 days ago 61 posts - 95 votes Speaks: English*, GermanB2 Studies: French, Spanish | Message 6 of 35 12 June 2015 at 3:47am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi Patrick, glad to meet a Melbournite on these forums. I'm from Newcastle myself,
have been to Berlin twice now, loved it both times. Hope you're enjoying your time there. Newspaper comprehension varies with the more high-brow papers (Die Zeit, FAZ) and even papers which seem to have a lot of slang usage (Bild) - some days I can blast through them, other days are a struggle, depending on what's going on. My listening comprehension of the news is fairly rock solid (after watching Tagesschau every morning for a period of ~6 months). General young adult + mainstream adult literature is (for the most part) completely comprehensible, not a problem at all. This comes from L-R'ing Harry Potter books 1 - 5, and reading between 10 - 20 other novels. Movies still elude me, mostly due to dialects and slang usage. The B2 exam at the Goethe Institut involved reading some factual and opinion-based magazine/newspaper articles, listening to a segment of a radio program and answering questions about it, writing an opinion piece of ~300 words to the editor of a newspaper, and a short essay (<500 words) arguing for/against whether TV is good for children. The speaking component was done with two staff and another student, at first we spoke very freely for around 10 minutes about our travels, different things we were doing in our lives, as you would sitting at a cafe with a friend - very comfortable. Then we were given an article about an upcoming event (a maritime festival in one of the north coast towns, Kiel or Lübeck maybe?) and we had to organise how we were going to get there, and what we were going to do there. At each point, we had to disagree with what the other person said and pretty much have an argument about why our own suggestions were better. For the final speaking component, we were given a choice of several flag designs for the festival, and we each chose one design and then had to make a cogent argument as to why our choice was the best. All in all it was an enjoyable experience and I think my score was in the mid 80's. Would you ever consider doing any exams at the Goethe Institut? Not that I have any affiliation with them at all, and I would not do their courses (not that I have an opinion on their quality, I just don't have the time nor the desire), but their exams have been a nice set of milestones and I've appreciated having an external assessment of my skills. Edited by rtickner on 12 June 2015 at 3:52am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4339 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 7 of 35 12 June 2015 at 1:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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It's interesting (and impressive) to see your progress.
From what I have seen online at this point I would have no trouble with either the listening or reading component of the C1 exam, but I need to do a lot of work on the writing/spoken side of things. My main measure for progress (apart from keeping track of books/films) is how well I can access the language. It's obvious to me that my ability to read/listen is improving on almost a monthly basis, which is a strong enough benchmark for me. My long term aim is to get to C2, but I might consider sitting the C1 exam in a year or so depending on where my language skills are. I can recommend Deutschlandradio Funk if you want get your listening up: [url=http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/]http://www.deutschlandfunk.de[url], which is essentially like the ABC. I used to find this quite difficult, but recently it's getting much easier to understand. The advantage of this DRF is that it's mostly all just clearly language. I like reading die Zeit, but we get the weekly paper version, which has a lot of interesting stories that aren't available online. My comprehension varies a lot. Some parts (like the magazine section) I find pretty easy, other parts (like economics) are quite difficult. When you say you have trouble listening to films, does that include dubbed films? I find German dubbing quite good, and the sound quality is usually a bit easier to deal with. Most US shows are available dubbed, but I am not sure how easy they are to access in Australia. Edited by patrickwilken on 12 June 2015 at 1:08pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4815 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 8 of 35 12 June 2015 at 3:27pm | IP Logged | ||
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Great log, thanks for all the info. I am considering the Goethe exams as future milestones as well. I seriously consider one (not sure about the level now) in November. Have you been using any preparation coursebooks? Any tips on preparation?Any specifics one should be aware of that aren't covered that much in normal courses, grammars and media?
I wish you lots of success and fun and I'm really looking forward to reading more from you. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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