The first question that comes to mind of everyone planning to learn German is “What is German language, is it difficult to learn and how long does it take?”. Although our answer is unfortunately “Yes, it is difficult”, it is also “No, it is not impossible”. That’s why, in this article, we aim to guide you through learning German with methods that I and my wife have used and tested and verified to work.. Before moving on to the tips on How to learn German, those who are wondering How long does it take to learn German can take a look at our HOW LONG TIME TO LEARN GERMAN article.
You can find our video on advice for learning German below, we have enriched our recommendations with examples that we think you will like very much.. Also, if you’re wondering how we speak German, we also spoke German during the breaks to satisfy your curiosity.. Don’t forget to watch and subscribe to our channel!
Now let’s start our advice for learning German.
1. Don’t Be Afraid of Beginners in German
First let me talk about both of our German backgrounds so you can get an idea of how our methods have worked for us. I studied German preparatory school in high school and our foreign language was German (Cağaloğlu Anatolian High School). After graduating from high school, I went to study in Vienna 4 years later, although I completely broke away from German.. I studied many engineering courses in German, so I did not forget German after 4 years.. 7 years after I came back from Vienna (again, nothing German in these 7 years), I moved to Munich and work in a German-speaking job in Munich, although I have never repeated German.
My wife didn’t speak German at all. He went to language courses first in Turkey and after moving to Munich.. At the end of a total of 1.5 years, he advanced enough German to C1.2 level, that is, to be able to conduct job interviews in German, to understand all the conversations in daily or business life and to speak himself.
So me Although I started learning at an early age, my wife met German long after she completed her school life.. But he was never afraid of “How will I learn after this age?”. So don’t be fooled, there is no age limit to learn, and anyone who can speak German as a foreign language now was a ‘newbie’ like you one day.
We’ve rounded up the books that will help you to start German at home on your own, or if you’ve already started, to progress quickly, be sure to check it out: https://t.co/4sxyRTQFTQ
— Life and Travel (@hayatveseyahat) November 14, 2020
2. Be Prepared to be Hard to Learn German
How to learn German, the best answer to the question will actually be by working, studying and studying.. When taking the first step towards learning German, accept that German is a difficult language and make sure you are willing to put in the effort to learn it.
Add 50 letter words or words to your German learning adventure. You’ll come across grammatically super-complex sentences like “I wish you’d told me that” and “German is such a language, are you sure you want to learn it?” Start by staying away from your annoying friends who say Because not all words are that long. And in all sentences, “three verbs such as saying, being, wanting, the subjunctive and the past tense with -di” are not used together.. We say it in Turkish, but when we think about it, Turkish is also difficult for a foreigner.
But still, German is a difficult language, it has very complicated rules compared to English.. Know this, accept it and make sure you are ready to start your German learning adventure ‘even though’.
After starting German lessons in Istanbul then my wife’s after-work evenings started to pass like this.
3. Love German
Don’t get discouraged by watching Hitler’s speeches or Nazi movies and saying “German is a very rude language, I don’t like it at all” and don’t want to learn German .
If you want to learn German, you must first love it If you are going to learn German, the worst thing you can do to yourself is to think that it is ‘an unpleasant language’, don’t do it.. For example, the most important factor in my wife’s ability to learn German, which can be considered quite fast and at an intense pace, was that she loved German very much.. In addition, not all Germans speak like in Nazi movies, and we are not talking about a language with these characteristics, spoken by strict and rude people.
If there is a German celebrity you like, listening to his speech is effective in breaking your negative prejudices. maybe, for example I like Heidi Klum. Listening to German fairy tales can also give you a soft start, as the target audience is children and there will be no shouting.
4. Don’t get hung up on which language you are
Focus on “how much you can speak and how much you can understand”, not “what currency” you are.
If you don’t learn German to get a language certificate anywhere, there is no point in saying “I’m going to B2 level”, A-B-C is just one letter each.. There are people who think it’s cool to spend money on language courses one after the other and say “I got a C1 in one year”, and when they go to the C1 level, they are the people who can’t put two words together and make a correct sentence or understand nothing from their terrible pronunciation, even though it’s ‘advanced level’.
Foreign language is something you need to take time out of the course to repeat and digest, so don’t try to ‘run’ to the next level without making sure you understand it well, I don’t think you can spend money on language courses. you stay with what you give. When you say “I’m C level” to any German, it doesn’t make any sense anyway, it will look at how much you can talk to him.
This is how we can summarize the German learning curve according to the level of difficulty and time required.
5. Strive to Learn German by Typing
Keep a Vocabulary
Get a vocabulary book. Let your vocabulary notebook be a neat place to not only jot down the meanings of words, but also show you “everything you need to use the word correctly in a sentence.”
High school prep The first day I started learning German, I took a notebook and drew a line in the middle with a ruler, the left side was German, the right side was Turkish.. As I came across new words, I started to take notes in this notebook and I got better results than those who only wrote down the words they saw on the book.
Then I used the same method while learning English at university and now I can learn Turkish. I prefer to create a German – English vocabulary book by leaving it completely out.
Just note the words you just encountered on the book. If you buy it, you will not be able to go back to that page of the book and look at the meaning of those words, so you forget the word before you learn it.. Whereas, when you jot it down in your vocabulary notebook, it’s all in a tidy list so you can go over it again and again quickly, and the only way to really learn new words and use them in your own sentences is to repeat and learn them.
So why did I choose to work in German – English instead of German – Turkish after a while and I recommend it to you as well? The first reason is very simple; you are repeating two languages at the same time because. Of course, if your English is not good enough, you can get confused, so use this only for words you trust in your English knowledge.
The second reason is that English and German are similar languages; this way, you can learn the new German word that is similar with the help of the English word you already know, and you have the chance not to confuse the dissimilar parts when the two stand side by side.
For example, the English word “last” You can learn the German word “Sohn” (Turkish for boy) more easily because you know that it is ”. Since you will repeat your vocabulary book often, it will be easier to distinguish which language had an extra letter h in its writing, which did not.
I was keeping such a vocabulary notebook in order to pass my engineering courses during my one year at Vienna Technical University.
Keep a Grammar (grammar) Notebook
We have a vocabulary notebook, but why not a grammar notebook? In such a notebook, it is very important to write down the things you want to remember in addition to the sentences you have learned and used in the exercises; Just as foreign language books have additional tables on the back of them explaining certain rules, you can create your own tables behind your own grammar book.
Of course, if you are already behind the books or the instructor in the language course/class It may not be necessary for you to write down the things that are explained very well on the papers he will give, instead you can hang a sample of them in front of your eyes.. But it will be very useful to note some confusing things right next to each other so that you don’t get confused later, and a table that presents them that way may not be ready for you.
I reserved a page for the verbs that I mixed up past inflections in my grammar book and added new ones below as they came up, so I created my own table.
Use Color Codings
Obtaining colored pencils while learning a new language will help you a lot, because when you color the parts of your notebooks that are important to you, it will make it easier for you to focus your attention and learn.
Especially at this point, men ask, “Does a boy do something like that, like a girl starting primary school?” I guess they can resist this item like, don’t resist. I’m not talking about your best handwriting and using tinsel colors like in art class.. You have learned the meaning of the word, but are you confusing the article, go over it with a red pen.. Are you forgetting that the letter u in the plural is ü, paint the dots with the yellow marker. Is it an exceptional situation where the place or conjugation of the verb in a sentence is different from what you expect, does it have different suffixes due to its use in that sentence, underline the part you want to learn with a green pen.
I gave examples of three different pens, namely red pen, green pen and yellow marker, and three different situations in which you use them.. Speeding up your learning with color coding, ideally using similar colors for similar situations; i.e. using a yellow marker for every word you forget to have a dot in its plural.. Thus, while thinking about those words in your notebook, you will remember the yellow next to it and you will be able to say “most of them had dots.” , different markings can be added with different colors.
Don’t Exaggerate the Color Event
Although some women like to use a lot of color and create what men refer to as ‘I can NEVER keep a notebook like this’ with colorful pages, I find it more beneficial to use colors as little as possible and only where they are mixed, so that the concise places with color are the purpose ‘ they are able to fulfill their duty of ‘attention’. I find it distracting and just visual to have another color everywhere, it’s not necessary for me.
Of course everyone’s method will be different, it’s important to find what suits you.. After all, I think you should not have notebooks consisting of only pitch black or only deep blue ink, and make use of the colorings that will attract your attention where necessary.
By the way, I do not recommend using the “teacher reading the written paper” method for coloring, so don’t do it by first writing the wrong thing that you think of and then writing the correct one in red by crossing it out with red.. Because every time you look, you will see the underlined error and your brain will keep it in memory.. Since he is prone to say the first ten, you will say that he keeps it in memory, and in the end you will have made a mistake.. That’s why I recommend that you write only the correct usages in color without any mistakes.
Leave this teacher method, which corrects with a red pencil, to the teachers and you only I suggest you take note of the correct usages.
6. Use Resources such as TV Series, Movies, Podcasts
I guess you know that you need to spend time on “listening” to learn any foreign language, that’s why In this article, I did not give cliché advice such as “If you want to learn German, watch German TV series and movies”
My advice is a little different; o Listen to German TV series and movies as if you were really listening to a lecture, not before going to bed, and take notes when something you don’t know happens.
Of course, this advice is for those who are just starting out. it will be a little early. You will need to have completed at least B1 level in order to keep up with the pace of TV shows or movies and to start understanding what is spoken.
Beginners can try very simple YouTube videos for kids.
7. Take Constant Notes
Take notes, both frequently used and ‘unofficial’ words you hear in TV shows, movies and in daily life.. Don’t just note it, use it when the time comes.
Of course, you can only do this after you reach a certain level.. And if you try to take notes on EVERYTHING you don’t know, you’ll never be able to finish that TV show or movie, and it’ll get very boring for you.
Instead of that, it’s a good idea to take note of the frequent usages you hear all the time. and helps you learn self-knowledge. It improves your speech as you will most likely use it in daily life.. In other words, as soon as you are watching TV series/movies, “They are constantly making a sentence like this” or “This word is constantly occurring”, you stop what you are watching, learn what the usage is, and take notes on the relevant one from your vocabulary or grammar book.
In addition to learning common usages, ‘unofficial’ usages that are not taught to you in lessons or courses will also be your biggest gain from TV series and movies.. This is very important, don’t skip this part.. For example, “I don’t want” you will be taught “Ich habe keine Lust” in class, but the Germans say “Ich habe kein Bock” for it.. The only way to find out is if you hear it from a German or go through what you’re watching.. Or “airplane” you are taught “Flugzeug” but Germans say “Maschine (machine)”. Here’s what you hear when you hear things like this. The words you learn in the lesson are correct and everyone will understand when you use them, but on the contrary, you will not understand what is not taught in the lesson when they use it, the problem is there
Munich On the first day I came to settle in Turkey, I did not understand when my German friend said machine instead of airplane, because such usage is not taught in the lessons.. (I have an article error because I’ve been away from German for a long time)
8. Don’t Stop Repeating to Learn German
We created our own methods to learn German, we worked hard to keep it organized, we made lists. Well, if we don’t go over them, do we only learn while writing?
Unfortunately, we only learn a little bit, so it is very important to repeat it regularly.. I would like to emphasize again the importance of the word ‘regular’ in the sentence, you can use various methods such as finishing your study session half an hour early, reserving the last half hour for the previous ones, making every Saturday just a repeat day, that’s up to you.
If you don’t repeat, you won’t learn and you become the hero of a sad story like “I’ve been studying German for a year and still can’t form a sentence”. Since you have been learning for a year, you will have certain information in mind, but since you are constantly trying to put new ones on top of the old ones, you will “wobble” like a building with a rotten foundation.
I can add many more similar recommendations, but with these I think you can do the rest yourself after you start and set your order.. If you need additional advice, you can write it as a comment.. Now here are a few more specific suggestions my wife uses that I think are worth trying.
9. Imagine Yourself in Primary School
The first sentences you will make while learning a foreign language will not be different from those of a primary school child who is just learning to read and write.. For this reason, don’t try to get up and help what God has given you by thinking in Turkish so that you don’t feel sorry for not being able to speak afterwards.. Think simple and start with simple sentences like “I want this, I did that”.
10. Watch Cartoons Not Movies, Read Tales Not Books
If you’re just starting out, watch whatever content is available between 0-6 years old. Don’t get too excited and watch TV series, you won’t understand anything and you will get upset.. So go slow. Likewise, children’s books will be of great benefit to you, as they will have plenty of pictures and simple explanations.
For German book and especially children’s book options, click here: BOOK OPTIONS
If you have just started learning German, books, songs and cartoons for children will be your most important resource.
11. Read Aloud
Read aloud the sentences you wrote in your notebook or the content in your book. This will improve your pronunciation and get used to hearing yourself speaking German.. This will give you both motivation and self-confidence.
12. Write Something About Yourself
Whether you’re just getting started or advanced, write something about your day in a line or two every day. Start simple like I went to this, move on to more complex sentences as you progress. You will see where you are not sure while writing (for example, you will notice that you have forgotten the article of a word you want to use and look in the dictionary), and when you go back a few months later, you will see how far you have progressed and you will find morale.
13. Make Use of Repeating the Same Thing
Whatever a book, a paragraph of text, a song, or a movie/series, you have a single source you love the most read/listen to or watch over and over. After a while you will memorize everything that happened there and you will learn a lot.. For example, I have watched the movie Matrix (1) countless times in Turkish and English.. That’s why I know every frame of the movie in Turkish/English.. I watched the same movie almost every day for a year with German dubbing and German subtitles.. Since I have a good command of the subject of the film and the Turkish language of everything said, after a while, what I heard was etched in my memory with its German equivalents.. So I got the movie in three languages. I don’t think even Keanu Reeves has that much control over the movie
The benefit of this was that I was able to construct similar sentences correctly thanks to the words and sentence structures in there.. In other words, instead of memorizing the grammar rule, I memorized the sentences from a movie I liked and thus learned the rules in sentences.. The possibility of confusion and making mistakes has also disappeared.
I can say that the famous blue-red pill scene in the movie Matrix is one of the scenes that I remember by heart
14. Practice
Easy to say, where will you do it, who will you do it with? A new application is invented every day, it’s up to you to find the most suitable part for you.. I was using an application called Tandem in 2016-17.. We were chatting with an old aunt. He was writing in English I was in German. We were both correcting each other’s mistakes. The biggest problem of this type of applications is that users are looking for lovers rather than learning languages.. You’re lucky if you find someone who is genuinely willing to learn, so it might take some effort.
My hosts at Workaway have been very helpful in improving my German.
15. Get a Workaway Experience
Actually, I could have written “spend time with native German speakers”, but “How will that work?” I gave my own Workaway experience as a recommendation so that it does not stay in the air.. After all, the Germans will not be waiting for you to improve your German, you have to find a way and create the chance to be in the same environment with them.. I created mine with Workaway.
Workaway was one of the breaking points for me and one of the most important factors that allowed me to improve my German quickly.. You can take a look at my articles, WHAT IS WORKAWAY and WORKAWAY EXPERIENCE IN GERMANY, where I tell about this interesting and beautiful experience.
Bonus: German Curses
Start the difficult path of learning German and learn German. We have prepared a video of swearing in German for employees and those who want to have some fun.. On top of that, we had a swearing fight in German to reinforce what we said.. We guarantee that what is explained here is not explained in any course The video content is not suitable for children, nor is it prepared to encourage swearing, fighting or insults.. Let’s not make unnecessary noise, please don’t watch if you don’t like it.
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Advice for learning German
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