A False Beginner's German Journey (With Some Dabbling...)

[Peej]

Hi all,

First post here from a long time lurker!

Feels very strange to be making my first post, as none of you know me but feel like I know most of you here from my lurking around.

I've finally joined this forum as I think it's about time I finally create my own language log, rather than just enjoying reading other people's...

So a bit about me and my language plans...

... the main focus of my language studies will be on German (though there will be some dabbling elsewhere and probably a few side projects.) I'll be using this log to keep track of my progress and so I'm also able to hold myself to account, while I'm also hoping that it'll help me add some structure and consistency to my learning.

I studied German for 5 years at school and achieved an A* GCSE in 2010. At the height of my German learning, I would have been at a solid CEFR B1 level, possibly pushing the boundaries of B2 with a clear pathway to reaching those C levels. Unfortunately though I let "life" get in the way and my knowledge of the language has regressed dramatically as a consequence. I've tried numerous times to get back into the language (self study, evening classes) but due to a mixture of reasons (not properly devoting my time to it, not having a proper plan, not building up the best of resources and just generally being frustrated by how far I've fallen) I've never stuck to it. I've finally hit a point in my life, where I've realised that there's no time for self pity anymore and that I need to actually take some responsibility for my own learning. So recently I've been building up a plan and a lovely collection of resources, by doing a lot of research online and through some fantastic information on this forum. The time has come now though, where I need to actually put the plan into action and start making use of the resources I have.

I'll be very much starting as a false beginner. I'm confident with my abilities in the very basics (numbers, very simple conversations, pronunciation to an extent, etc) and I know there's some grammar and vocabulary floating around my brain and some waiting to be unlocked again, however I'll be starting completely from scratch to completely refresh the basics and to ensure I don't miss anything out.

With regards to the dabbling and side projects I mentioned, this will come once I'm really into the flow of my German learning. I studied Spanish at school and have dabbled in a number of different languages over the years since. My experience with other languages has been pretty terrible, for similar reasons as to why I've never been able to get back in to German properly.

I'm really looking forward to this journey and becoming a part of this amazing community.

Over my next few posts, I'll go into more detail on my plan and provide information on the resources I am using. For now though, I just want to thank you all on this forum for helping to inspire me. If my log and contribution on here can be half as much help to others as a lot of yours have been to me then I'll be very happy.

[Peej]

Reserved

I'll probably use this space to log and review the resources I am using/ have used.

[Peej]

That's day one done... though I started after 12am, so when I wake up is it still technically day one..?

I made a good start with Duolingo. I'm planning on using it to supplement my studying. I'm well aware of it's limitations but I do feel it has it's use in terms of introducing concepts and vocabulary in a "fun" way. And of course you don't want them emailing you a hundred times a day with pictures of a sad owl, so it's good at keeping you on track

I decided against using the placement test, instead choosing to start from scratch so I didn't miss out of anything. I don't enjoy the very basic stuff, as I've been through it so many different times with different resources when trying to get back into German in the past, so I planned on putting an hour into it tonight to get a decent chunk of it out of the way. I got a little carried a way though and managed to keep going for 2 hours 11 minutes, while earning 852 XP It works out that I did 55 lessons in total plus 4 practice sessions (1 at the end of each full section I completed. I wasn't expecting to gain much from it to be honest, as I felt it was all going to be very basic stuff that I already knew, however I was pleasantly surprised to find that I actually learnt a fair bit...

For example, I never knew "Ihr" is used for the plural of you. I've always just used "Sie" as the formal you and the plural you. I learnt that when conjugating a regular verb when using "Ihr" it's just a matter of taking the stem and adding a "-t" while for the irregular verb "sein" it turns into "seid." I genuinely can not remember having came across this before. Maybe I did and have just forgot, but either way it was nice to come across something that genuinely got me thinking this early in the Duolingo course.

Duolingo also reminded me that it's "Gute Nacht" and not "Guten Nacht," which has got me panicking about having to learn the German cases again Many years ago I had the cases pretty much nailed down, but I've never been able to get my head around them whenever I've tried to get back into German since. I'm not looking forward to having to deal with them again

Also picked up a little bit of vocabulary and the odd new saying, which was nice.

I then decided to give the Coffee Break podcasts a shot. I'd never used them before but I'd heard a lot of good things about them, so thought they'd be worth trying as another supplement to my studying. I listened to the introductory episode (6 minutes,) which was just a simple explanation of what to expect from the series, and then I listened to "Season 1- Lesson 1- Saying how you are feeling" (21 minutes.) It complimented some of what I'd just done on Duolingo quite nicely and I picked up a little bit of vocabulary too. The podcast feels a little forced and scripted, but it's still easy listening and I think it will do the job I want it to do so I'll keep at it.

Anyway, I think that was a relatively productive night with a total of 2 hours 38 minutes spent with resources but times getting on and I've got work in the morning. Though I'm still working from home at the moment due to the coronavirus situation, so I guess I can stay in bed while I'm working but I best still get some sleep, so "Gute Nacht!"

[mattf789]

That's day one done... though I started after 12am, so when I wake up is it still technically day one..?

Ah yes, the "two day ones" language hack

[tastyonions]

The case is always accusative when you wish someone “good (insert noun here),” so it’s really just a matter of remembering that die Nacht is feminine.

ich wünsche (dir / Ihnen)...
...einen guten Tag
...einen guten Abend
...einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr
...eine gute Nacht
...eine gute Reise

[Peej]

That's day one done... though I started after 12am, so when I wake up is it still technically day one..?

Ah yes, the "two day ones" language hack

Not the ideal way to start my log off!

[Peej]

The case is always accusative when you wish someone “good (insert noun here),” so it’s really just a matter of remembering that die Nacht is feminine.

ich wünsche (dir / Ihnen)...
...einen guten Tag
...einen guten Abend
...einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr
...eine gute Nacht
...eine gute Reise

Thanks for this. Coincidentally the accusative case is my next lesson on Duolingo, so I'll be taking a look at that shortly.

I really am dreading having to get my head around all the cases again and having to remember the genders of each noun. It's giving me a headache even just thinking about it now!

[golyplot]

For example, I never knew "Ihr" is used for the plural of you. I've always just used "Sie" as the formal you and the plural you. I learnt that when conjugating a regular verb when using "Ihr" it's just a matter of taking the stem and adding a "-t" while for the irregular verb "sein" it turns into "seid." I genuinely can not remember having came across this before. Maybe I did and have just forgot, but either way it was nice to come across something that genuinely got me thinking this early in the Duolingo course.

If you've taken formal German classes before, you've almost certainly been exposed to it. At least at my school, ihr was included in all the conjugations we learned, even in the introductory class. It's a relatively unimportant case though, so it's easy to forget.

[Peej]

For example, I never knew "Ihr" is used for the plural of you. I've always just used "Sie" as the formal you and the plural you. I learnt that when conjugating a regular verb when using "Ihr" it's just a matter of taking the stem and adding a "-t" while for the irregular verb "sein" it turns into "seid." I genuinely can not remember having came across this before. Maybe I did and have just forgot, but either way it was nice to come across something that genuinely got me thinking this early in the Duolingo course.

If you've taken formal German classes before, you've almost certainly been exposed to it. At least at my school, ihr was included in all the conjugations we learned, even in the introductory class. It's a relatively unimportant case though, so it's easy to forget.

I've had 5 years of studying German at school and I completed a 10 weeks (20 hours I think) of evening classes as an adult. I can't remember it ever being discussed. On Duolingo I've came across a few verb conjugation tables for some basic verbs and I recognise all the conjugations apart from the ones relating to "Ihr." It's very strange. I'm sure I must have been exposed to it at some point when reading or consuming media in the past and it surely was touched on at some point in formal classes, but either way my brain never took in or held onto that information.

[Peej]

So today, I started by listening to the next episode of Coffee Break- "Saying your name" (22 minutes.) It started off with a quick review of the last episode before discussing different greetings for different times of the day, and then moving on to the main subject of the lesson. It followed on quite nicely from not only the previous episode but coincidentally my Duolingo lessons, as it touched on why it is "Gute Nacht" and not "Guten Nacht"

I also spent 47 minutes with Duolingo, where the lessons I was completing were focused around the accusative case. I spent a bit of time really reading through the tips section, as it had some really good information regarding the accusative and nominative cases as well as some nice verb conjugation tables. I then completed all the lessons from level 0 and level 1. I will look to do the remaining lessons (levels 2,3,4 and 5 tomorrow.) I also read through the first 5 stories from set 1 on Duolingo. I really enjoyed them. They're very short and silly, but they do the job.

Overall I spent 1 hour and 9 minutes studying today (while collecting another 291 XP on Duolingo ) I feel I gained quite a lot from today.