German B2 next for s_allard

[s_allard]

I've never studied German formally but I have an interest in it for reasons of history and music. So, I thought I'd experiment with some ideas about quick language learning with a specific goal in mind, the B2 exam at the local Goethe Institut on March 29 this year. To be clear, the goal is to pass the exam and nothing more. So all the strategy is based on learning what is necessary for the exam and my experience with the Spanish DELE C2 exam.

The approach that I'm taking revolves around the following elements:

1. Concentrate on developing good phonetics as quickly as possible
2. Concentrate on the key grammatical structures with emphasis on the known difficulties such as case endings
3. Concentrate on depth rather than breadth of vocabulary with considerable emphasis on the first 600 (approx) words
4. Speak with fluency and grammatical accuracy at around 2 syllables per second (normal rate is around 4 per second)
5. Use only materials relevant for the test (i.e. no or very little fiction or literature)
6. Concentrate on formulaic expressions including collocations and idioms
7. Develop listening skills using a bank of 15 recordings of 5 - 10 minutes each with my own transcriptions for repetitive listening
8. Budget for 10 - 15 hours of one on one tutoring.
9. Some SRS with Anki
10. Use visual aids such as wall charts and flashcards around the house.

I am marshalling the learning materials right now. Actually I have all the printed material, some websites and a few of the recordings. I intend to spend not more than 60 minutes a day on this. Who knows if this will work.

Edit: added some missing words

[Henkkles]

I think the case ending thing is overblown simply because German is a common "first second language" and case syntax is a relatively complex topic for a person with no exposure to foreign languages whatsoever.

For German specifically I've been thinking of compiling a little list of all of the possible permutations with one word of each gender and an adjective, and repeating them like a mantra. Something like:

ein schwarzes Buch
eines schwarzen Buchs
einem schwarzen Buche
das schwarze Buch
des schwarzen Buchs
dem schwarzen Buche
etc.

in order to develop an intuitive understanding of which endings co-occur. I'm a staunch believer that building intuitive understanding is much better than expending actual conscious processing in trying to come up with coherent noun phrases.

[zenmonkey]

Very interesting experiment - good luck. Can you please post notes here as you advance? It will make for an interesting read.

[smallwhite]

7. Develop listening skills using a bank of 15 recordings of 5 - 10 minutes each with my own transcriptions for repetitive listening

Excellent! I love both experiements and efficient learning.

What does "my own transcriptions" mean? You will transcribe them yourself?

8. Budget for 10 - 15 hours of one on one tutoring.

Will this be online or face-to-face?

10. Use visual aids such as wall charts and flashcards around the house.
I intend to spend not more than 60 minutes a day on this.

I understand 60 minutes x ~90 days is an important part of your experiment. Are these charts and cards placed around the house only looked at within the daily 60 minutes and, say, covered up other times?

Thanks.

[iguanamon]

I've never studied German formally but I have an interest in it for reasons of history and music. So, I thought I'd experiment with some ideas about quick language learning with a specific goal in mind, the B2 exam at the local Goethe Institut on March 29 this year. To be clear, the goal is to pass the exam and nothing more. So all strategy is based on learning what is necessary for the exam and my experience with the Spanish DELE C2 exam. ... I intend to spend not more than 60 minutes a day on this. Who knows if this will work.

Wow, "Fluent in Three Months"! I've followed your posts over the years with interest. Your "mastering core vocabulary and structures" theme has been a mantra for a long time, and one with which I don't disagree, even if I don't emphasize this in practice.

Assimil claims its courses can lead to B2. In theory, their course could be worked through in three months. There was an even an experiment (that jeff_lindqvist linked to) where someone worked through it in Hebrew in two weeks. Benny has done this kind of thing in the past, but I'm sure he had spent more than an hour a day on it. Perhaps your "core-mastering strategy" will be the secret sauce, the missing link in what's gone before. We'll see, My guess is that your strategy will take you a long way, but all the way to B2 certified with those limitations? You do start with some advantages having language-learning experience to a high level already, teaching language, and taking a CEFR level test at C2. German is also, indeed, a related language to English, so there is that too. Will it take you to B2 in just three months with only an hour a day, in an FSI Category 2 language? That remains to be seen and I will be eagerly following your progress. One thing for sure is, besides learning a lot of German, you will learn a lot about the pluses and minuses of using a "core-mastering" strategy. Cheers to you for having the guts to try! I'm sure I'm not the only one who will be interested in your conclusions at the end of March. Bòn chans !

[s_allard]

7. Develop listening skills using a bank of 15 recordings of 5 - 10 minutes each with my own transcriptions for repetitive listening

Excellent! I love both experiements and efficient learning.

What does "my own transcriptions" mean? You will transcribe them yourself?

8. Budget for 10 - 15 hours of one on one tutoring.

Will this be online or face-to-face?

10. Use visual aids such as wall charts and flashcards around the house.
I intend to spend not more than 60 minutes a day on this.

I understand 60 minutes x ~90 days is an important part of your experiment. Are these charts and cards placed around the house only looked at within the daily 60 minutes and, say, covered up other times?

Thanks.

Yes, I intend to do the transcriptions myself using Audacity because I believe all the repetition involved in making the transcriptions will be useful.

The tutoring will be online. At some point I may want to join a local German language meetup group (if they let me in at my level!)

No, the cards and the visual aids are to be used at all times. For example, I'll be putting stuff on my refrigerator door. I might post some pictures.

[tastyonions]

Good luck. I have been studying German for about two years and doubt that I could pass a B2 exam. I put my slow progress down to laziness more than anything else, but who knows, maybe I just suck.

[smallwhite]

Reminds me of youtuber smarterGerman who teaches German in X days:

Greek in 30 Days...
Smarter German learns Greek

S_allard, you wrote in the first thread. Are you using him as your tutor?

(I also wrote in that thread, saying "I downloaded the placement test he wrote but I couldn't open it. I don't understand Greek anyway". But hey, I can both open it and read it now )

[gsbod]

This sounds like an interesting challenge. I understand why the focus is on which activities will be the most efficient for passing the exam, however I hope you find a good use for your German afterwards.

ein schwarzes Buch
eines schwarzen Buchs
einem schwarzen Buche
das schwarze Buch
des schwarzen Buchs
dem schwarzen Buche
etc.

Before anybody starts trying to commit the above list to memory, just a note that the singular Dativ -e ending has all but disappeared apart from certain fixed expressions, for example "zu Hause".

[Henkkles]

This sounds like an interesting challenge. I understand why the focus is on which activities will be the most efficient for passing the exam, however I hope you find a good use for your German afterwards.

ein schwarzes Buch
eines schwarzen Buchs
einem schwarzen Buche
das schwarze Buch
des schwarzen Buchs
dem schwarzen Buche
etc.

Before anybody starts trying to commit the above list to memory, just a note that the singular Dativ -e ending has all but disappeared apart from certain fixed expressions, for example "zu Hause".

It's there only to make it more salient or memorable.