Learning the German language

Since the start of the month, I have been dedicating more than my time share to improve my German – so my writing has been kind of few in between.

Although I need to be fluent in it because of my career, the more I understand and use it, the more I appreciate it – it is amazing how many interesting things are published in German – lots of books and media that I had no idea about, before I bothered in actually using this language.

Each foreign language that you learn will open up a whole new horizon in front of your eyes – I cringe when I remember my sources of information before I was fluent in English….

Although I have been learning on and off other languages as well, I learnt my lesson to first become fluent in the language you are learning before you tackle a new one, so I will give you some ideas on what has worked for me until now.

Start with the vocabulary – expose yourself to the language and don’t bother so much about grammar; children first understand their mother language, and only after that, will they speak it.

A great resource for acquiring lots of useful vocabulary was the Babbel Smartphone Android App.

While living in Germany, I subscribed to the local public library – which caters to all ages and language levels, so I could start with really easy children books and gradually advance to practical non-fiction books later on. I also got familiar with German lyrics and borrowed lots of good movies and operas with subtitles and voices in German.

I also listened to slowly spoken news.

Once you have a basic vocabulary that you understand, focus on improving and understanding grammar.

I borrowed some specific grammar books from the local Goethe library and I practiced specific problems by using Quizlet cards.

Once you master some basic vocabulary and grammar, freely explore the language by exposing yourself to it and especially by speaking and writing it.

In order to improve my audio recognition of German words, I listen to podcasts on different themes of interest.

There is nothing like talking the real language in places where it is routinely spoken, but you can also practice with language exchange websites. Actually, any social media website would do.

A website that I used quite often is Livemocha – as it combines online language classes with local natives that you can chat with and who can correct your writing and talking mistakes.

Check the places in which the language is spoken and browse forums and tutorials on your favorite topics written by and for locals.

Don’t forget that each language has lots of dialects – once you can easily understand all of them, you can safely say you’re proficient in that language!

One last suggestion I would add: languages are forgotten almost as easily as they are acquired, so try to use the new language almost every day and don’t hurry with getting a certificate unless you really need it for a specific scholarship or job. It is much more important to use it spontaneously than to display a diploma in your CV.