Advice for self-taught German improvement.

[elsmandino]

Hello,

I would be really grateful for some advice/inspiration for improving my German.

I first learnt German for my GCSEs but didn't (much to my regret) didn't carry it on for my A-Levels.

I studied Law at University but managed to add a few German language modules along the way to keep my German ticking over.

Ever since having left University when I was 22 (I am 37 now), I have tried to improve my German but I remain (by my own admission) really quiet poor at it - I struggle to read newspapers, follow the news etc and even some children's books/programmes leave me reaching for a dictionary.

I have never had the opportunity/time to spend any prolonged time in a German-speaking country or arrange any further classes, which I know would be the obvious thing to do.

I was wondering whether a fresh approach should be taken - e.g. stick with a particular course/website.

There is so much on the internet now that it is overwhelming to know what to do and where to start.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

[DaveBee]

I was wondering whether a fresh approach should be taken - e.g. stick with a particular course/website.

There is so much on the internet now that it is overwhelming to know what to do and where to start.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

The German study group thread is probably going to be your most useful resource, but I've been thinking about starting german, so I'll just mention some of the options that have attracted me.

1. On YouTube, a german soap called Lindenstrasse(a licenced version of Corrie!) have put several years of episodes, all with german language subtitles. Target language video, with target language subtitles is helpful.

2. Duolingo, is free to use and easy to do at odd moments throughout the day. This would probably be a good way to refresh your german skills memory.

[Elenia]

Clozemaster would probably be good at helping target gaps in addition to regular exposure to native German media. For many of us here, taking a class isn't the obvious thing to do, but if you do want instruction then I would suggest italki.

I suggest reading Iguanmon's post on the multi-track approach for a balanced way of learning a language.

[WalkingAlone13]

It would really depend on how much you remember from those classes. I would assume you that you are already within the B2 level range, providing you have not forgotten too much of what you previously learnt. In which case, and without knowing your current routine, I would suggest subscribing to German with Jenny, as well as Deutsch mit Marija, as they both post frequently and have very good content. There's also an accompanying website for German with Jenny with an ever updated pdf worksheet collection delineating the videos.

On top of that, just try to read more often and watch as much as possible in German. The only thing you would be missing then would be the actual conversation practice. If you can find someone willing to partake in a tandem with you, and speak once a week or fortnightly if weekly proves too difficult to organise.

Viel Erfolg!

[mcthulhu]

If you're still struggling with some children's books, as you've said, some of the suggestions given already might be a bit beyond you for now. Teaching yourself is certainly doable (BTW, 37 is young - you have plenty of time), though it might help to articulate some specific goals and make a plan.

A few relevant questions come to mind, e.g., what do you want to do with German, and why are you learning it? People's needs and interests vary enormously. You've mentioned reading news. Is that your primary interest? Do you also read for pleasure? If you're a reader, are you interested in reading German literature, or are you more interested in popular culture? Do you have any hobbies or personal interests that would be furthered by reading German books in that field? (I once studied a language mainly so I could read books on chess, and there have been people with even more specific uses for a language.) Associating language study with a specific personal passion can help with motivation and focus. Would German be just for personal enjoyment or for professional use (German legal documents, maybe)? Having a use for it at work would certainly help with motivation.

Are you interested mainly in the written word, or do you also want to develop your listening comprehension? Is it important to you to be able to watch German movies and TV without subtitles, or listen to German audiobooks?

Do you want to work on active use of German (interacting with natives) from the start, or later on, or is active use not really a priority for your situation, compared to passive use? Do you hope to travel at some point and be able to get around on your own? Talk to people at parties, or attend professional conferences and have work-related discussions with German counterparts?

I know that ideally it would be "all of the above"; but prioritizing one's goals does help, and some language skills are easier to develop than others. They do support each other, e.g. knowing words from reading makes it a heck of a lot easier to hear them when they're spoken.

You probably have a pretty good idea of your gaps. Do you have a reasonable feel for the grammar, or do you need to work on that? If you see a conjugated verb, can you usually get back to the infinitive to look it up? Or is it mainly vocabulary that's the current problem? Vocabulary tends to evaporate when it's not used.

How would you describe your learning style? What is your tolerance for tools and apps, e.g. flashcard apps? Are you OK with spending time on intensive memorization, or does that seem too much like drudgery? Some people enjoy flashcards, and some people can't stand doing much of them. Are you OK with ebooks, or is it paper only for you? Ebooks have the advantage of letting you apply tools directly to the text. Even with online dictionaries, retyping queries can become a chore.

Do you prefer just learning through exposure, presumably through reading? There are a number of tools to make it easier to read material with unknown words (highlight words and look them up online). You'll see quite a few references to ReadLang and LWT if you search this site; try both of them and see what you think. The built-in Kindle dictionary would help with that too - popup definitions. These tools are crutches, but the aim is that over time you will need less and less help. Parallel texts are another approach to making it easier to get through text in a foreign language; we could point you to a couple of resources for these. If you like reading news, globalvoices.org would be a good option for you; you should be able to find German and English versions of the same materials. Parallel text is an approach I enjoy myself. You might also look at some of the discussions on this site about intensive vs. extensive reading. You might have your own preferences on how to balance those.

I like making tools, so I'm also working on my own desktop tool to help with reading; it's still under development but it's working fairly well with German now, as a matter of fact, and I've been doing a fair amount of German reading with it lately. Search on "Jorkens."

[Cainntear]

I'd go straight to the library and take out Michel Thomas German on loan. Starting from scratch with most courses would be pretty boring: even though you've forgotten most of the course, your brain tends to recognise things, say "I know that" and pay no attention -- or at least mind does. The MT courses don't have long periods where your brain really can switch off in this way, as you're thinking from the start.

You'll quickly get through a lot of revision, but unfortunately he doesn't teach the case system for nouns (only pronouns).

The alternative of not using a course, but using web resources like Clozemaster, is that you might end up quite confused by lots of examples and no understanding of the patterns.

[smallwhite]

Have you looked at the German resources thread?