Strictly German

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renaissancemedici
Orange Belt
Posts: 198
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2018 6:41 am
Location: Athens, Greece
Languages: Greek (N), English (C2), French (B2), Italian (A2), German (beginner)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 25#p100832
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Re: Strictly German

Postby renaissancemedici » Tue Mar 20, 2018 6:05 am

Thank you both for your welcome and your advice! :)
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I use Assimil right now as a starting point, but at the same time I am building the foundation for further studies of German.

Assimil German with ease: 8 / 100

renaissancemedici
Orange Belt
Posts: 198
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2018 6:41 am
Location: Athens, Greece
Languages: Greek (N), English (C2), French (B2), Italian (A2), German (beginner)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 25#p100832
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Re: Strictly German

Postby renaissancemedici » Wed Mar 21, 2018 6:27 am

Fourth chapters, done. Now we start to mean business! Two different lessons, the oldest is more formal, the newest more colloquial and informal. Both are very useful, of course. So far so good!

Ich lerne Deutsch und Ich bin nicht allein! Ich trinke gerne eine tasse Kaffee, oder zwei. Ich lerne gerne Deutsch mit eine tasse Kaffee!

I probably missed an accusative or something else somewhere, but I'm not there yet...

Image
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I use Assimil right now as a starting point, but at the same time I am building the foundation for further studies of German.

Assimil German with ease: 8 / 100

renaissancemedici
Orange Belt
Posts: 198
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2018 6:41 am
Location: Athens, Greece
Languages: Greek (N), English (C2), French (B2), Italian (A2), German (beginner)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 25#p100832
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Re: Strictly German

Postby renaissancemedici » Wed Mar 21, 2018 7:13 am

A wanderlust post (note: I am not adding another language any time soon!), and a bit of a rant.

I have some open accounts with Hebrew. So I thought that as soon as German takes off I'll learn the alef bet, slowly and steadily. Last time I didn't really try, which sabotaged my efforts of learning the language. It is something that has been bothering me ever since.

This time I find myself more wise, having learned from my past mistakes. I'll embrace the (stereotype alert!) spirit of German discipline and not miss my target again.

To be honest I am a bit scared of German. It feels like a long journey, but that's not what scares me. It's the fear that even if I try I will never get it exactly right. I know it's just a language and not the end of the world, it's still a bit frightening. Generally I don't care if I make some mistakes, as long as I communicate, learn and get better. For example in Italy I kept on speaking despite my very obvious inadequacy to express everything I wanted exactly. You should have seen me in France and how I loooved pissing the Parisians off with my little (or not so little) mistakes. :lol: It is something that pays off in more than one ways, but it doesn't apply in German. That's why I push myself to write a few words right from the start, even if I don't know the cases yet, to get over all that!

So, I'll shamelessly keep writing, keep making mistakes and offend the German speaking people until I get it right. Yes, you've been warned. I should put a disclaimer on the log title. Enter at your own risk, or something.

As for wanderlust, it's under control for now.
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I use Assimil right now as a starting point, but at the same time I am building the foundation for further studies of German.

Assimil German with ease: 8 / 100

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Ogrim
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Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?t=873
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Re: Strictly German

Postby Ogrim » Wed Mar 21, 2018 9:20 am

renaissancemedici wrote:Ich lerne Deutsch und Ich bin nicht allein! Ich trinke gerne eine tasse Kaffee, oder zwei. Ich lerne gerne Deutsch mit eine tasse Kaffee!

I probably missed an accusative or something else somewhere, but I'm not there yet...


If you don't mind me telling, you actually missed a Dativ - the preposition mit always takes dative. You'll see once you learn the declension of articles, adjectives and nouns.

renaissancemedici wrote:To be honest I am a bit scared of German. It feels like a long journey, but that's not what scares me. It's the fear that even if I try I will never get it exactly right.


You shouldn't be. Scared, that is. Grammarwise German should not be that alien to you as a native Greek speaker: Three gendres, four cases, a verb system with subjunctive (but no aorist) etc. And as for mistakes, I have studied Russian for years and I still make lots of mistakes every time I speak. I've stopped worrying about getting it exactly right, I am just happy if I can produce some coherent sentences and make myself understood.
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Ich grolle nicht

renaissancemedici
Orange Belt
Posts: 198
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2018 6:41 am
Location: Athens, Greece
Languages: Greek (N), English (C2), French (B2), Italian (A2), German (beginner)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 25#p100832
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Re: Strictly German

Postby renaissancemedici » Wed Mar 21, 2018 9:48 am

Thank you, I want to be corrected. Danke for that. :)

You are right, in theory the grammar shouldn't scare me, but it does :lol: I'll get over it. The connection and similarities between the two languages is always in the back of my mind. Not only in terms of grammar, or how words are formed, but also how you find so much inspiration in texts, from Greek to German and vice versa. It's motivating as I feel the urge to explore all that, and I plan to write about language similarities or cultural connections where I see them. Somehow I have a sense this is going to be a big thing in my learning process.

Thank you so much for your encouragement!
0 x
I use Assimil right now as a starting point, but at the same time I am building the foundation for further studies of German.

Assimil German with ease: 8 / 100

renaissancemedici
Orange Belt
Posts: 198
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2018 6:41 am
Location: Athens, Greece
Languages: Greek (N), English (C2), French (B2), Italian (A2), German (beginner)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 25#p100832
x 381

Re: Strictly German

Postby renaissancemedici » Fri Mar 23, 2018 7:15 am

Fünfte Lektionen fertig. Gut, Ich bin zufrieden.

Ich möchte sofort Deutsch lernen, aber ich muss warten. Ich bin geduldig. Ich studiere mit vergnügen.

So far Assimil works pretty well, and isn't boring at all. I highly recommend the study of two very different generations, as you get the best of both worlds, and maybe you overlearn, which helps.

Old Assimil (old textbooks in general) are like time capsules and it's a pleasure to get an idea of how things used to be, how people related to each other in previous times etc. It's also telling how modern Assimil introduces the du immediately, when the old one focuses more on the Sie.

I find that I respond so much better to this slow pace when dealing with a difficult language like German. I had to discipline myself in oder not to fall into the same trap of starting very strongly and then eventually giving up. This time I do things by following the advice of Assimil, giving each lesson its day (in this case two lessons but it's ok). I can feel that, once I get used to the language a bit, everything will go faster anyway.

A path is clearing ahead: after a while I will introduce the vocabulary lists I have already talked about. I will still keep Assimil as the main course, but there will be many more appetizers on the side which will help get a more rounded taste of German.

Assimil is fast! Fifth lessons and one is already able to form sentences. Nice...
3 x
I use Assimil right now as a starting point, but at the same time I am building the foundation for further studies of German.

Assimil German with ease: 8 / 100

renaissancemedici
Orange Belt
Posts: 198
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2018 6:41 am
Location: Athens, Greece
Languages: Greek (N), English (C2), French (B2), Italian (A2), German (beginner)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 25#p100832
x 381

Re: Strictly German

Postby renaissancemedici » Sat Mar 31, 2018 2:54 pm

I haven't been doing anything at all lately because of illness in the family, and the situation is still going on. I just wanted to say I haven't given up or anything like that.

The unpredictability of life.
0 x
I use Assimil right now as a starting point, but at the same time I am building the foundation for further studies of German.

Assimil German with ease: 8 / 100

renaissancemedici
Orange Belt
Posts: 198
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2018 6:41 am
Location: Athens, Greece
Languages: Greek (N), English (C2), French (B2), Italian (A2), German (beginner)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 25#p100832
x 381

Re: Strictly German

Postby renaissancemedici » Tue Apr 17, 2018 8:01 am

The crisis is over (for now...) so we are trying to get back into a normal rhythm of life. (My dad spent almost a month in a hospital).

Of course I have to revise everything, but it isn't much, fortunately. I never thought about languages once during the entire thing, I admit.

So, here we go again.
4 x
I use Assimil right now as a starting point, but at the same time I am building the foundation for further studies of German.

Assimil German with ease: 8 / 100

renaissancemedici
Orange Belt
Posts: 198
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2018 6:41 am
Location: Athens, Greece
Languages: Greek (N), English (C2), French (B2), Italian (A2), German (beginner)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 25#p100832
x 381

Re: Strictly German

Postby renaissancemedici » Thu Apr 19, 2018 5:16 am

I've revised half of what I was supposed to. Still, it's moving, slowly, at a glacial pace...
0 x
I use Assimil right now as a starting point, but at the same time I am building the foundation for further studies of German.

Assimil German with ease: 8 / 100

renaissancemedici
Orange Belt
Posts: 198
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2018 6:41 am
Location: Athens, Greece
Languages: Greek (N), English (C2), French (B2), Italian (A2), German (beginner)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 25#p100832
x 381

Re: Strictly German

Postby renaissancemedici » Sat Apr 21, 2018 5:58 am

Revision done. Not much to report otherwise. The sirens of many enchanting languages keep singing their sweet song, but I'm still tied to the mast. Strictly German, strictly German!
0 x
I use Assimil right now as a starting point, but at the same time I am building the foundation for further studies of German.

Assimil German with ease: 8 / 100


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