Sprechen Sie Deutsch ? Let's learn some German

[NetBorn]

I've been learning German for some months now and I think with some decent success. I can say I'm B1 level atleast, my Goal is to be fluent till end of the year and I try to include different methods - my girlfriend speaks it , so trying to make some small conversations. Also an app for building vocabulary, "slow german" blog will be next.

Looking for any advice from people who went through the way on their own with the goal to learn it not in a 4-5 years period, but on a more focused approach.

I'll share more on what I went through until now, if there is interest in thread!

 

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[Longinus]

Since my mother tongue is Dutch, learning German was fairly easy for me. Now I'm learning Polish which is pretty challenging. Using the Fluent Forever method,which I would advise to learn any language.

 

[Roli]

I've been learning German for some months now and I think with some decent success. I can say I'm B1 level atleast, my Goal is to be fluent till end of the year and I try to include different methods - my girlfriend speaks it , so trying to make some small conversations. Also an app for building vocabulary, "slow german" blog will be next.

Looking for any advice from people who went through the way on their own with the goal to learn it not in a 4-5 years period, but on a more focused approach.

I'll share more on what I went through until now, if there is interest in thread!

I speak German and Spanish, I'm learning Mandarin and Swedish as well. I find that the only thing that can really catapult you, is speaking it every day with native speakers.

I'd say that my Spanish is a lot better than my German, however I live in the UK so never really speak it. When I go to Spain it takes me about 7-10 days to get back into the flow.

You're lucky, keep chatting with your girlfriend, and watch all your favourite shows dubbed in German.

Lastly, start thinking about the structure of the language. It's easy as an English speaker to try and transpose what you're thinking into your new tongue. Instead, start listening to the way Germans speak English, really try to literally translate, rather than transpose.

For instance:

"Can I speak to Mr Schmidt please?" is transposed to; "Kann ich mit Herr Schmidt spreche bitte?"


Is actually "can I, with Mr Schmidt speak please?" It's a subtle difference, but paying attention to it, will help you.

 

[gryfny]

Since my mother tongue is Dutch, learning German was fairly easy for me. Now I'm learning Polish which is pretty challenging. Using the Fluent Forever method,which I would advise to learn any language.

I actually tried learning Polish with Fluent Forever, but it was so hard. Making the flashcards took me ages and I didn't speak it very well after half a year. I do like the idea of his method though.

The fluent forever app does include german, so that would give you the benefits of the methods without the time spent working on creating flashcards. Definitely check out the book Fluent Forever, it's idea is to make you fluent in a short period of time. It didn't work for me, but I think if you use the app you should be able to get more of the benefits of the method.

 

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[Pard]

Those of you that have learned a language outside of a school setting and got fluent,how good are you at the grammatical side things?
I couldn’t tell a verb from something else and I feel it is a bit of a barrier when I try to learn other languages.
But,it also less interesting to me than watching paint dry,so I can’t be bothered to learn it.Perhaps I should?

There is an app called Tandem,you can hook up with native speakers from all over the world.
I find it rather helpful.

 

[Longinus]

I actually tried learning Polish with Fluent Forever, but it was so hard. Making the flashcards took me ages and I didn't speak it very well after half a year. I do like the idea of his method though.

Also depends what your first language is, but it's definitely hard, especially pronunciation and I would strongly recommend having someone helping you with that.

Pro tip: you can find help on Tinder.

I'm not there yet, but when learning those 625 most used words (I'm only at 400 now), I can already understand a lot of words in daily life and can understand what most conversations are about. With the few words I know, I can already ask for things and people seem to respect me a lot for trying, even while making mistakes.

Those of you that have learned a language outside of a school setting and got fluent,how good are you at the grammatical side things?

Grammar is the next step, but I'm not gonna bury myself with the insane rules. My goal is first to communicate well in Polish, not to speak Polish perfectly. I started in September with a private teacher, and I got lost in the grammar because that was what she so heavily emphasized on. 6 months after private lessons, I was still not able to order a drink in a bar, because I was learning stupid words I will never ever use in my life and fixing grammatical errors not one person in Poland would care about.

 

[surfer92]

Currently living in Germany and learning the language. I am native English speaker. I'm like A2 level in german.
It's gotten worse with been in quarantine and not been able to listen to my co-workers talk German.
I am using babbel.com to help me learn and using "Coffee Break German" podcast and german rap songs to get used to hearing words.

Babbel is quite good because it has more than just repeat these random phrases. It has courses on business german, casual conversation, idioms etc.

 

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[gryfny]

Also depends what your first language is, but it's definitely hard, especially pronunciation and I would strongly recommend having someone helping you with that.

Pro tip: you can find help on Tinder.

I didn't try Tinder, but I used another app to find a language buddy called Tandem. But, it's basically like Tinder. People still try to flirt and hook up a lot. I did meet someone who helped me out a lot and we actually met up when I visited Poland. And yeah talking to someone native really helps a lot.