German group

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moo
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Re: German group

Postby moo » Tue Jan 24, 2017 2:35 am

Okay then I will think of another tip, mind's blank now.
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WalkingAlone13
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Re: German group

Postby WalkingAlone13 » Tue Jan 24, 2017 11:44 am

moo wrote:Okay then I will think of another tip, mind's blank now.


Hey Moo, it's good to have another learner! I hope to one day attain the same level as you in the not so distant future, so I would be particularly interested in what you used to get there. If you can't think of anything else to recommend at the moment, you could always write what you have used to get to where you are at now. It doesn't matter if it has been said before or not, it will serve as an extra recommendation for whatever sources, if anything.

I do not know if you use Duo or Memrise, but feel free to join if it is of interest to you. :)

How's everyone doing with German at the moment? :) I am struggling a little, unfortunately. I started learning the passive and it just seems to be one of those things that don't stick. It is the first time I have come across something like that as of yet, normally I might find something hard, but feel like I am slowly conquering it. Passive seems to be beating me, but I have been learning it in present, perfect, plusquamp, etc at the same time. I might try and learn each individually and see if it makes any difference, even if only to my confidence.
I have reported speech to look forward to in a couple of weeks, as well. Whoo.

Not all bad news, however, as my vocab is slowly growing and I do seem to be improving overall still. I had another conversation yesterday, and my speaking and comprehension is constantly improving. I do not know if it is weird to have speaking and comprehension much higher than my other skills.
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moo
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Re: German group

Postby moo » Tue Jan 24, 2017 1:22 pm

WalkingAlone13 wrote:
moo wrote:Okay then I will think of another tip, mind's blank now.


Hey Moo, it's good to have another learner! I hope to one day attain the same level as you in the not so distant future, so I would be particularly interested in what you used to get there. If you can't think of anything else to recommend at the moment, you could always write what you have used to get to where you are at now. It doesn't matter if it has been said before or not, it will serve as an extra recommendation for whatever sources, if anything.

I do not know if you use Duo or Memrise, but feel free to join if it is of interest to you. :)

How's everyone doing with German at the moment? :) I am struggling a little, unfortunately. I started learning the passive and it just seems to be one of those things that don't stick. It is the first time I have come across something like that as of yet, normally I might find something hard, but feel like I am slowly conquering it. Passive seems to be beating me, but I have been learning it in present, perfect, plusquamp, etc at the same time. I might try and learn each individually and see if it makes any difference, even if only to my confidence.
I have reported speech to look forward to in a couple of weeks, as well. Whoo.

Not all bad news, however, as my vocab is slowly growing and I do seem to be improving overall still. I had another conversation yesterday, and my speaking and comprehension is constantly improving. I do not know if it is weird to have speaking and comprehension much higher than my other skills.


Hey WalkingAlone :) Sure, good idea. I use very different resources since taking it back up, I will send you a pm of things you could do that you may not have thought of.
Last edited by moo on Wed Jan 25, 2017 11:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: German group

Postby WalkingAlone13 » Tue Jan 24, 2017 1:46 pm

moo wrote:
WalkingAlone13 wrote:
moo wrote:Okay then I will think of another tip, mind's blank now.


Hey Moo, it's good to have another learner! I hope to one day attain the same level as you in the not so distant future, so I would be particularly interested in what you used to get there. If you can't think of anything else to recommend at the moment, you could always write what you have used to get to where you are at now. It doesn't matter if it has been said before or not, it will serve as an extra recommendation for whatever sources, if anything.

I do not know if you use Duo or Memrise, but feel free to join if it is of interest to you. :)

How's everyone doing with German at the moment? :) I am struggling a little, unfortunately. I started learning the passive and it just seems to be one of those things that don't stick. It is the first time I have come across something like that as of yet, normally I might find something hard, but feel like I am slowly conquering it. Passive seems to be beating me, but I have been learning it in present, perfect, plusquamp, etc at the same time. I might try and learn each individually and see if it makes any difference, even if only to my confidence.
I have reported speech to look forward to in a couple of weeks, as well. Whoo.

Not all bad news, however, as my vocab is slowly growing and I do seem to be improving overall still. I had another conversation yesterday, and my speaking and comprehension is constantly improving. I do not know if it is weird to have speaking and comprehension much higher than my other skills.


Hey WalkingAlone :) Sure, good idea. My level is not impressive for the amount of time I've spent with this language. I should be C2 + :lol: I usually just say i've been learning for a while to sound more talented lol and I'm not sure if I told my experience with German when i joined but i will now. I did German in school but didn't really put any effort in; i was obsessed with Irish in school. I got some kind of foundation though. Then I spent a Summer in Germany working as a waitress after school and learned a lot there as it was other foreigners who couldn't speak English so i improved through speaking. The language then came to life. I took languages classes in college and spent my Erasmus in Germany (some lectures of my main subject were actually in German and Sprachkurs the whole lot...) but through all this I was young and stupid , had other things going on so had no real love for learning languages. I didn't have contact with the language after university until again last year or so when i took it back up and really put effort in to get back to the level I was. I forgot so much but had started other languages in the break i took from German. I use very different resources since taking it back up, I will send you a pm of things you could do that you may not have thought of.

Okay what I have decided to share with the group firstt for anyone who doesn't already do this (just saying it's a way to say it not commenting on if it's the best way to say it)
So it's grammar / slang I guess.
You can say " 'nen " instead of "einen" " 'ne " instead of "eine", the list goes on. After writing it it seems like the most obvious thing ever but for some reason it's what my brain wants to share :lol: If there are total beginners I'd tell you to remember the word "Na" it can be used so much" "Na? Wie geht's ?" : p


I had a quick skim read through the thread, but it's possible I missed it if you had already posted your experience with German. If so I apologise for prompting you to write again, if not it's great to read it now regardless as I do not remember any of this. I am actually also doing my Erasmus year this year, and discovered which Uni I will be at unless things change. I am both excited and terrified, but it comes and goes depending on my confidence level at the time delineating German. I would love to know how the options for lessons are decided. I often worry that I will get stuck with subjects that I do not particularly want, mainly lots of politics and history. I would much rather purely language based, as there seems to be much more opportunity to learn languages in Germany that I could only study in Edinburgh or London here, which is not an option for me.
It's interesting to hear about the work as a waitress as well. One of my most memorable phrases, which is pretty odd, happens to be "Zum Mitnehmen" which is purely because when I first visited a mcdonald's in Germany, I kept misunderstanding the question, then once I finally got it, I would use the phrase and feel oddly proud of myself. It's weird how little things like that really cement something in your brain.
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Re: German group

Postby Random Review » Tue Jan 24, 2017 1:58 pm

WalkingAlone13 wrote:
moo wrote:
WalkingAlone13 wrote:
moo wrote:Okay then I will think of another tip, mind's blank now.


Hey Moo, it's good to have another learner! I hope to one day attain the same level as you in the not so distant future, so I would be particularly interested in what you used to get there. If you can't think of anything else to recommend at the moment, you could always write what you have used to get to where you are at now. It doesn't matter if it has been said before or not, it will serve as an extra recommendation for whatever sources, if anything.

I do not know if you use Duo or Memrise, but feel free to join if it is of interest to you. :)

How's everyone doing with German at the moment? :) I am struggling a little, unfortunately. I started learning the passive and it just seems to be one of those things that don't stick. It is the first time I have come across something like that as of yet, normally I might find something hard, but feel like I am slowly conquering it. Passive seems to be beating me, but I have been learning it in present, perfect, plusquamp, etc at the same time. I might try and learn each individually and see if it makes any difference, even if only to my confidence.
I have reported speech to look forward to in a couple of weeks, as well. Whoo.

Not all bad news, however, as my vocab is slowly growing and I do seem to be improving overall still. I had another conversation yesterday, and my speaking and comprehension is constantly improving. I do not know if it is weird to have speaking and comprehension much higher than my other skills.


Hey WalkingAlone :) Sure, good idea. My level is not impressive for the amount of time I've spent with this language. I should be C2 + :lol: I usually just say i've been learning for a while to sound more talented lol and I'm not sure if I told my experience with German when i joined but i will now. I did German in school but didn't really put any effort in; i was obsessed with Irish in school. I got some kind of foundation though. Then I spent a Summer in Germany working as a waitress after school and learned a lot there as it was other foreigners who couldn't speak English so i improved through speaking. The language then came to life. I took languages classes in college and spent my Erasmus in Germany (some lectures of my main subject were actually in German and Sprachkurs the whole lot...) but through all this I was young and stupid , had other things going on so had no real love for learning languages. I didn't have contact with the language after university until again last year or so when i took it back up and really put effort in to get back to the level I was. I forgot so much but had started other languages in the break i took from German. I use very different resources since taking it back up, I will send you a pm of things you could do that you may not have thought of.

Okay what I have decided to share with the group firstt for anyone who doesn't already do this (just saying it's a way to say it not commenting on if it's the best way to say it)
So it's grammar / slang I guess.
You can say " 'nen " instead of "einen" " 'ne " instead of "eine", the list goes on. After writing it it seems like the most obvious thing ever but for some reason it's what my brain wants to share :lol: If there are total beginners I'd tell you to remember the word "Na" it can be used so much" "Na? Wie geht's ?" : p


I had a quick skim read through the thread, but it's possible I missed it if you had already posted your experience with German. If so I apologise for prompting you to write again, if not it's great to read it now regardless as I do not remember any of this. I am actually also doing my Erasmus year this year, and discovered which Uni I will be at unless things change. I am both excited and terrified, but it comes and goes depending on my confidence level at the time delineating German. I would love to know how the options for lessons are decided. I often worry that I will get stuck with subjects that I do not particularly want, mainly lots of politics and history. I would much rather purely language based, as there seems to be much more opportunity to learn languages in Germany that I could only study in Edinburgh or London here, which is not an option for me.
It's interesting to hear about the work as a waitress as well. One of my most memorable phrases, which is pretty odd, happens to be "Zum Mitnehmen" which is purely because when I first visited a mcdonald's in Germany, I kept misunderstanding the question, then once I finally got it, I would use the phrase and feel oddly proud of myself. It's weird how little things like that really cement something in your brain.


What is it that you find difficult about the passive, mate? I find it helps to think of 'werden' as 'get' (IIRC I got this trick from the Michel Thomas course).
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moo
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Re: German group

Postby moo » Tue Jan 24, 2017 2:06 pm

WalkingAlone13 wrote:
moo wrote:
WalkingAlone13 wrote:
moo wrote:Okay then I will think of another tip, mind's blank now.


Hey Moo, it's good to have another learner! I hope to one day attain the same level as you in the not so distant future, so I would be particularly interested in what you used to get there. If you can't think of anything else to recommend at the moment, you could always write what you have used to get to where you are at now. It doesn't matter if it has been said before or not, it will serve as an extra recommendation for whatever sources, if anything.

I do not know if you use Duo or Memrise, but feel free to join if it is of interest to you. :)

How's everyone doing with German at the moment? :) I am struggling a little, unfortunately. I started learning the passive and it just seems to be one of those things that don't stick. It is the first time I have come across something like that as of yet, normally I might find something hard, but feel like I am slowly conquering it. Passive seems to be beating me, but I have been learning it in present, perfect, plusquamp, etc at the same time. I might try and learn each individually and see if it makes any difference, even if only to my confidence.
I have reported speech to look forward to in a couple of weeks, as well. Whoo.

Not all bad news, however, as my vocab is slowly growing and I do seem to be improving overall still. I had another conversation yesterday, and my speaking and comprehension is constantly improving. I do not know if it is weird to have speaking and comprehension much higher than my other skills.


Hey WalkingAlone :) Sure, good idea. My level is not impressive for the amount of time I've spent with this language. I should be C2 + :lol: I usually just say i've been learning for a while to sound more talented lol and I'm not sure if I told my experience with German when i joined but i will now. I did German in school but didn't really put any effort in; i was obsessed with Irish in school. I got some kind of foundation though. Then I spent a Summer in Germany working as a waitress after school and learned a lot there as it was other foreigners who couldn't speak English so i improved through speaking. The language then came to life. I took languages classes in college and spent my Erasmus in Germany (some lectures of my main subject were actually in German and Sprachkurs the whole lot...) but through all this I was young and stupid , had other things going on so had no real love for learning languages. I didn't have contact with the language after university until again last year or so when i took it back up and really put effort in to get back to the level I was. I forgot so much but had started other languages in the break i took from German. I use very different resources since taking it back up, I will send you a pm of things you could do that you may not have thought of.

Okay what I have decided to share with the group firstt for anyone who doesn't already do this (just saying it's a way to say it not commenting on if it's the best way to say it)
So it's grammar / slang I guess.
You can say " 'nen " instead of "einen" " 'ne " instead of "eine", the list goes on. After writing it it seems like the most obvious thing ever but for some reason it's what my brain wants to share :lol: If there are total beginners I'd tell you to remember the word "Na" it can be used so much" "Na? Wie geht's ?" : p


I had a quick skim read through the thread, but it's possible I missed it if you had already posted your experience with German. If so I apologise for prompting you to write again, if not it's great to read it now regardless as I do not remember any of this. I am actually also doing my Erasmus year this year, and discovered which Uni I will be at unless things change. I am both excited and terrified, but it comes and goes depending on my confidence level at the time delineating German. I would love to know how the options for lessons are decided. I often worry that I will get stuck with subjects that I do not particularly want, mainly lots of politics and history. I would much rather purely language based, as there seems to be much more opportunity to learn languages in Germany that I could only study in Edinburgh or London here, which is not an option for me.
It's interesting to hear about the work as a waitress as well. One of my most memorable phrases, which is pretty odd, happens to be "Zum Mitnehmen" which is purely because when I first visited a mcdonald's in Germany, I kept misunderstanding the question, then once I finally got it, I would use the phrase and feel oddly proud of myself. It's weird how little things like that really cement something in your brain.


Omg I am so jealous, you will absolutely love it . Viel Spass! I'm trying to remember options for lessons but that's like 7 years ago or something. I just studied exactly what I was studying in my home university though . That's what we all did anyway in my class. Are you studying Germanistik in your home university?

One thing I'd recommend is getting a few copies of the college newspaper to see what's going on locally / with the university. Expect protests (even taking over the Mensa (canteen) to protest can happen ). You will probably talk a lot about stuff like that when you are there if your experience is anything like mine so just giving you the heads up :)
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Re: German group

Postby Systematiker » Tue Jan 24, 2017 5:42 pm

WalkingAlone, I would definitely learn the passive in each tense separately - the pattern will make a bit more sense that way. And as for reported speech - that's going to be something you use almost never, which doesn't help the motivation to get it down.

For anyone at a German university, find out what your Fachschaft puts on for students who study the same thing as you - and don't rely on them posting it on the webpage or on social media. The groups at the faculties I was at did a good job of getting people together to do stuff.

I don't know how Erasmus stuff works for y'all, but I know my wife's cousin did hers in Spain, realized that, as for many Germans, the grades wouldn't transfer, and spent the entire time partying. I assume that's not quite the case for you? :lol: :lol:
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Re: German group

Postby gsbod » Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:19 pm

Passive is slowly blowing my mind too.

I understand the principles. I know when to use it and why. I can tell you how to form it in any tense.

But when I am actually, you know, using German, for real, I almost always reach for sein instead of werden.

Stupid brain.
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moo
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Re: German group

Postby moo » Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:41 pm

gsbod wrote:Passive is slowly blowing my mind too.

I understand the principles. I know when to use it and why. I can tell you how to form it in any tense.

But when I am actually, you know, using German, for real, I almost always reach for sein instead of werden.

Stupid brain.


The one tense I feel like I'll never ever get comfortable with is the Subjunctive 1, I mean for some reason stuff like "Er hat gesagt, er habe den Kuchen gegessen" is really hard for me to say. Sometimes , you know the rules and everything but putting it into practice is another story.
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Re: German group

Postby Jar-Ptitsa » Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:11 pm

The TV people use the subjunctive in reported speech, but I don't think that people use it normally.

so your example Er hat gesagt, er habe den Kuchen gegessen would be TV German, and

Er hat gesagt, dass er den Kuchen gegessen hatte would be non-TV German

or maybe I'm wrong, I didn't learn these officially.
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