Das Faultier der Deutschen Sprache

[WalkingAlone13]

It's quite scary to see how much has changed since starting this log. I realised my opening page gave almost no useful information on what I use in my journey, so I have now edited it. I'll use it to log which courses I've finished, books/readers read, TV and youtube series finished, audio courses etc. I also have my current goals listed there which at present consist of three reasonably small goals. I want to complete the Memrise A1 course, get as far as possible with the 2011 Assimil course and probably the easiest of the three, complete Pimsleur 4.

[WalkingAlone13]

How embarrassing. I couldn't even find the login box for a fair few minutes then.

I have had an exam piece at uni which required me to work with a partner and produce a four minute video of us conversing, which took up a lot of my time as we could only meet at certain points due to differing timetables, etc. The good news, I handed it in today and no longer have to stress about it. The bad news, I actually quite enjoyed having the opportunity to speak again. I might have to consider skyping again but I am not sure as I usually find a partner and once we've got to know one another, get hit by a load of work and they get bored of me not being able to Skype and eventually lose contact.

I have recently been consistently tackling the Memrise A1 German course. I am currently 62% through and try to finish at least one level per day as well as watering as often as possible. This has meant I haven't been able to comit to some of the courses I have started but I don't mind waiting, especially as I quite enjoy this current course. There's always the A2 to follow on with once I complete the first, so that's always cool.

I don't really know why but I started using Duolingo on my phone recently, it's been such a long time as I mostly used it on my laptop in the past. Again, at the moment, I have to say that I am actually enjoying it. Probably just because I mostly use it to fill empty minutes - during adverts - and other menial tasks. I believe I am currently level 12 or something.

Seeing as Duo does not take much time and I don't like to overload my German, once I have done maybe 30 minutes worth I'll just complete one "level" of Swedish, French and Spanish. Though I recently remembered the Spanish course was not well regarded and if this is the case I'll probably stop it, which is a shame as I'd prefer Spanish to French. I don't remember whether the French course is well regarded or not, but I am a little worried of learning bad habits for French and Spanish if they are not good courses. The Polish course is finally at the 99% completion mark so with any luck I'll be able to start that soon. I'll still dedicate the majority of my time to German, of course, the other languages are mostly a fun break after too much German.

What else is there to say? Monster Rancher is going strong. I think I am on episode 21 now out of a possible 54, but don't hold me to that. I loved this series and it's exactly as I remembered it, just, in German now, obviously. The language used is perfect for me and it's great being able to understand what's going on without too much difficulty. I think I'll finish this series before starting Kirby from the beginning, before going back to Grimm on bluray.

regarding books, I have to say that my kindle has been having a bit of a rest as of late. Though I have been reading Charlie und die Schokoladenfabrik, daily. I like the level so much that I also bought Sophiechen und der Reise. This feels very strange as I am currently reliving my childhood almost exactly as I remember reading Roald Dahl from a very young age.

Something that is a bit new for me, and that's the digging out of my 3DS. I basically started playing Pokémon again when I don't feel like reading or otherwise, the great thing is that it's in German so I am still learning even while chilling. Though, some of the text is incredibly difficult for me, though that's probably because I am still at the start and they like talking about the Pokémon lab and various devices that has been developed, etc. Other than this it's quite comfortable and general language.

[WalkingAlone13]

I discovered recently that I'll be having a listening test that will make up 20% of my final mark, as well as, and this is the scary one, a written exam that will make up 40% of my total mark. I've already had two exams that totalled 20% each, which I believe I'll be able to see my marks for soon. I am hoping they aren't too bad as I always suck at written exams, not usually because of the content, I just seem to panic for no reason and mess up.

I figured I'll get as much listening practise in as possible so this has meant that I now watch at least four episodes of Monster Rancher a night (about 2 hours) and try to listen to German music throughout the day. I mostly listen to Luttenberger klug and Christina Stuermer, in case anyone is interested. I just managed to pick up two Silbermond albums pretty cheap on ebay as well, Daumen drücken morgen werden sie hier sein. I've not actually heard much of them but I could understand a lot of what I heard - she seems to sing quite slow songs.

*Edit. I forgot to mention that I sometimes read the "easy" news, this is rather seldom but I sometimes find some interesting articles. The other day I read this article: http://www.nachrichtenleicht.de/kunst-s ... _id=334703
It was about Tutancharmun and that his death mask needs urgent repair as the beard is damaged and might fall off. The museum in Cairo where it's currently being held agreed to send it over to Germany for repair. The article is from October so it's possible it's already in Germany now undergoing repairs.

Ich bin jetzt sehr erstaunt für meine Reise nach Deutschland zu meine Freundin besuchen. Es ist auch nutzlich weil ich in 2017 Deutschland sein werde. Ich habe immer Weihnachts geliebt, und ich füehle mich dieses Jahr wie habe ich zwei Weihnachten jetzt. Ich habe schon fast alle meine Geschenke gekauft. Ich denke dass habe ich vielleicht zwei oder drei meistens Geschenk muss ich jetzt kaufen. Ich will viele Dinge aus England mit mir bringen denn meine Freundin kann auch probieren. Es ist nicht so einfach für mich zu schreiben auf Deutsch...das ist bestimmt nicht gut für meine Prüfung! Boo

[WalkingAlone13]

Heute war ein sehr interessanter Tag für mich. Ich habe früh aufwachen und der ganzen Tag Deutsch üben, obwohl das nicht sehr Praktisch ist. Von zehn Uhr bis zwölf Uhr hatte ich Charmed anschauen. Jedes Episoden dauert vierzig Minuten und ich schauen mich drei Episoden. Nacher, habe ich drei Assimil (2011) Lektionen gemacht aber dieses war nicht so schwierig weil ich bevor etwas gesehen hatte. Ich war ein bisschen hungrig so ein bisschen später habe ich Frühstück gemacht aber ich hatte Assimil jetzt hören so alles in Deutsch jetzt war. Ich will eine Pause machen nachdem alle schreiben hatte ich gemacht. Fast für zwei Stunden habe ich Musik gehören...und ein bisschen singen. (Shh, das ist mein Geheimnis)
Ich werde viel mehr arbeit machen aber das Tennisspiel war auf Fernseher. Ich schauen mich das Spiel denn ich lieben Tennis. Aber mein Musik war jetzt die ganzen zeit spielen. Ich will später noch drei mehr Charmed Episoden anschauen und vielleicht manchmal mehr schreiben machen.

Mit dem Musik mag ich Lyricstranslate weil kann ich Musik hören auf meinen MP3 spieler und die Lyrics auf meinen Bildschirm gleichzeit gelesen. Es ist wie LR aber mit Liede.

Ich finde schreiben jetzt viel schwierig aber ich werde viel so wie möglich machen versuchen.

[WalkingAlone13]

I am actually a little disappointed in myself as I realised earlier today how much I have been slacking since starting my German adventure. Sure, I had to prioritise certain things ahead of German, but I still could have devoted more time had I really tried.
My main goal for German (I didn't outline this in my opening post) is to get to a strong B2 at least, before my year abroad in Germany. That's so I stand a good chance of fully taking advantage of the year there and hopefully pushing my skills up to around a high C1 level by the end of that year.

When I first started German, I hit Memrise really hard learning between 63 and 120 words per day for the first month. I also listened to a lesson of Pimsleur and Michel Thomas, every day. Actually, come to think of it, I was also listening to FSI fast every day as well.
These days I don't really have any goals outlined ahead of time to strive towards completing like I did at the beginning. I just do a bit of whatever takes my fancy at any given time. This is not good. I could be doing stuff on Memrise for a while. Stop. Duo, why not? Oh, actually let's use Menschen coursebooks for a bit. Etc.

I have decided to set some challenges within a deadline as I did back then and really strive towards completing them within the alloted time period.
I aim to learn at least 60 words a day again on Memrise.
Two Duo levels (only have 15 left)
Use Assimil without massive breaks. I.e every day.
Use coursebooks every day.
I listen to German music every day anyway, same with watching stuff. I'll continue with this.
Try to complete the DW online course. I finished A1.1 and scored 100% on the test for it. Almost finished A1.2 and will then take the test for that as well. This has only taken about 3 hours so far, but I can see the rest taking a lot longer. I still have no idea what level I actually am, I just know it's nowhere near what I had hoped for at this point.

[Elenia]

I know how you feel. I've also been slacking on my Swedish journey too, and I have an extremely ambitious goal, so I really can't afford to do nothing the way I have been. But I think you will definitely be a B2 before your year abroad. Will you go in second or third year? Even if it's in your second year, that still gives you around seven or eight full months. I think your German is definitely above A1 level. Like you said before, you testing through to uni probably puts you nearer a B1. I couldn't say the best way to going forward, but the DW modules that you are doing definitely sound well below your level, if you are passing the test with full marks. I don't know how intensely you are working through each module, or even how the tests are graded, but I think aiming to get 80-90% percent on the tests before moving on will serve you better than getting all of the information perfect on the first try. My logic is that a quantity over quality would help push you up, and that you can fill in the gaps once you've finished the tests.

This is just a suggestion, though, I can't tell you what would work best for you. At any rate, I wish you good luck, although I'm not sure you'll need it. In the end, it's consistency and motivation that will get you there and, at this stage, one can pick up where the other lets off.

[WalkingAlone13]

I know how you feel. I've also been slacking on my Swedish journey too, and I have an extremely ambitious goal, so I really can't afford to do nothing the way I have been. But I think you will definitely be a B2 before your year abroad. Will you go in second or third year? Even if it's in your second year, that still gives you around seven or eight full months. I think your German is definitely above A1 level. Like you said before, you testing through to uni probably puts you nearer a B1. I couldn't say the best way to going forward, but the DW modules that you are doing definitely sound well below your level, if you are passing the test with full marks. I don't know how intensely you are working through each module, or even how the tests are graded, but I think aiming to get 80-90% percent on the tests before moving on will serve you better than getting all of the information perfect on the first try. My logic is that a quantity over quality would help push you up, and that you can fill in the gaps once you've finished the tests.

This is just a suggestion, though, I can't tell you what would work best for you. At any rate, I wish you good luck, although I'm not sure you'll need it. In the end, it's consistency and motivation that will get you there and, at this stage, one can pick up where the other lets off.

I wouldn't say you've been slacking from what I've read in your log and the Swedish/Polish challenge! But yes, it's never a nice feeling when you really feel like you could and should be doing a lot more but just haven't been able to for whatever reason. I finished the A1.2 test yesterday which I scored only 96% on, so I'm really not sure I'd be in the B levels yet, although I'd love to be. I think I probably have a weird spread, as my comprehension, vocab and translation skills are usually pretty good. I can read okay, depending on what it is I am attempting to read. I am currently reading a book by Roald Dahl, for example, and it's very comfortable reading. I even picked up on something I hadn't noticed when I read the same book in English, though that was a very long time ago to be fair. My writing skills are unfortunately very low - wish me luck for my writing exam in 3 hours time : P
I will definitely finish the rest of the DW modules, they are quite nice "goals" as there's a progress bar, and you can stop and continue at will, which is great for me as I often get bored of one activity and switch to something else. I will definitely take your advice on quantity over quality, I just have to work out how best to go about this. Good luck with your goal, Elenia. You are one of my main inspirations for Swedish, so I'm always rooting for you.

I have recently started listening to audiobooks in German. I have a big collection that I have organised as best as possible by level, so I have audiobook folders for A1, A2, B1 and B2. I have mostly been listening to the A2 stories at the moment as this was I can follow more or less everything. Some of these are quite strange stories, varying from a small child discovering his dad has been shot to a king that can turn invisible, possess the strength of four men, and just to top it off, he's also invincible. Y'know, because he bathed in the blood of a dragon. As you often do.

I am getting excited for my trip to Germany on Monday, it's so close now. I can't really decide what to take with me for the travelling aspect of it. I use budget airlines because I don't have much cash, but this also means I usually have to use a coach to get me to the airport as it's really far away from the actual city. So, when my journey begins, it will start off with a 3-4 hour coach journey, then the airport, flight won't take too long, and then a train journey from the airport in Germany to the city I'll be visiting. I am toying with the idea of taking one of my Assimil editions with me, and just read through all of the lessons as I'm listening to them. I will probably also take Charlie und die Chokoladenfabrik with me. I might limit myself to those two so that I have to read them and don't get distracted.

I am also now on lesson 25 of Pimsleur Swedish. I have been quite consistent just not with logging it. Though I have not been consistent in logging in general, even here.

[Elenia]

I am glad that I give the impression of productivity but good luck to both of us (and good luck for the exam!)

While it is scary to know that I am someone's inspiration, it does make me want to work harder, so thank you! My knowledge is patchy and strangely distributed too, which is why I'm working through Rivstart A1-A2 even though I tend to test at a A2-B1 level. But once in the new year, I will start working on the next level of books and might even invest in this terror which Sarnek is currently working through. I'll try to work concurrently through my materials, so that I'm neither blindly pushing ahead or simply filling in gaps.

I hope you have a great time in Germany, by the way

[WalkingAlone13]

I am currently having a little bit of a motivation crisis. I had the best time ever in Germany, which would probably confuse the majority of people as to why I'd be having a bit of a crisis. It has various other factors involved, of course, but basically I can't really wait to go for my year there, which has also got me a little down as although it's in 2017 it seems like it's a millennium away.

I thought I'd have massive motivation coming back from my trip, but due to personal factors, I now have a lot to think about that I wouldn't otherwise be thinking about. I am a massive over thinker, for example, I know a lot of people tend to think ahead, perhaps a month or two? I seem to do that closer to a year or two, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but let's be honest, how many unaccountable variables does that have to include, which cannot possibly be included by their very nature. So yeah, I've been a bit down recently and I'm not sure exactly how I am going to get back on track as I don't see myself trying to account for all variables from now until then, factoring in personal stuff I won't divulge here.

Since returning, I have had three lessons at university and despite being a bit rusty on my grammar, I am speaking well and my comprehension in general is good. I received my marks for two more pieces of coursework and one of my exams and my marks were pretty good. I wanted better, but I can't really beat myself up too much as they were still good.

My motivation really is pretty low at the moment, so I figure it's probably best to start of light again, and gradually pick up when I start feeling a little more alive again. My idea for now is to just binge watch my tv series and movies in German, for now. I might also try to read more often.
If I binge watch and read a lot for a month or so, does anybody know if it will actually help me in any regard? I realise I might be able to read a little faster, or perhaps have a slightly better comprehension, but will it help me in any other aspects? I am a little worried I am simply going to fall behind if I just watch and read for a month. I'll still have my German lessons at university, of course, but these are few in number.

At the moment I've mostly been watching Spooks, which is a BBC production about MI5, from...I can't remember how old it is, pretty old though. I have seen it already so that helps my comprehension as some of it would be way beyond me otherwise. I picked up the remaining seasons of Supernatural I needed, so I'll watch these at some point. I will also finish off Grimm as I am not really sure why I stopped watching this in the first place, as I quite like it. I actually have quite a few tv series I have purchased with a German dub, so I should be easily accommodated for in this upcoming month.
I don't have many books but I find it quite hard to motivate myself to pick up a book at the moment anyway, so I doubt I'll even finish one book in a month. I really admire those of you that eat up books in days/weeks.

[Elenia]

Good to see you back, and I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to Germany.

I know exactly how you feel. 'Motivation crisis' doesn't even begin to cover what I felt for a lot of the last quarter of last year. The Swedish/Polish thread really helped pull me through. Weekly goals help whenever I feel low energy, but sometimes it's difficult to even do that. I think just binge reading and watching for a month will be perfectly fine - much better than burning yourself out. I don't think you'll really 'fall behind' as you put it, but if you're concerned about it, maybe set yourself a low pressure goal relating to your input - maybe write a brief summary or review of something you watched and liked during the week, or chat with a friend about it. The structure that gives, along with university, should help keep you from getting down on yourself about textbook study.

I'm in a similar situation to you, in that I want to get my A2-B1 Swedish university-ready by 2017. Things are a little different for me because I'm doing it on my own, through my own means, but we've got roughly the same task ahead of us. It might sometimes seem like it's way too far away (probably on a personal front), other times like it's way too close (for me this is always on the linguistic and financial fronts). Sometimes, averting your eyes from the prize and just doing what you can do to keep yourself moving in the here and now is the best path to take. Good luck!