Self-teaching a language (German)

[happysmileman]

I've been wanting to learn German for a while now but not really sure how to go about really learning it, I don't have the time or money to do a proper course in it so would really be relying mostly on internet and library books to learn it.

Has anyone here learned a language like this? If so, how exactly did you go about it? Every website I go to seems to take a completely different approach.
I've signed up to livemocha.com and did the first 3 lessons for German, but they seem more for revision than actually learning the language (They show you sentences and translations but don't teach the grammar behind it.)

If anyone has learned German would they be able to give me links or advice?

[Faolan84]

I pretty much taught myself Latin and I can say people think it's a difficult language but really it all depends on how you think. I do hear that the Rosetta Stone software works pretty good for living languages but if your determined all you need is a book on grammar and a translation dictionary.

[Frak]

Use the Rosetta Stone. It won't help you much for spelling, but you'll have the language down within a couple of weeks.

[cookieofdoom]

Use the Rosetta Stone. It won't help you much for spelling, but you'll have the language down within a couple of weeks.

Two weeks? Seriously? It took me 19 years to learn what I know of English.

[Frak]

Two weeks? Seriously? It took me 19 years to learn what I know of English.
The basics, anyways. Not enough to enter a university within Germany. You can talk to somebody and be coherent, which is pretty good for two weeks.

[MikeTheC]

I can't speak to having actually learned a secondary language, but I have a somewhat thought-out process on how I feel languages should be taught.

The concept is that the teacher should start with the language the student already knows, and more-or-less reverse-engineer it to teach the other language. For example:

Ich canst nicht Deutsch sprechen would be taught as "I can not German speak". The reason for teaching literal word order is that you can see precisely what is going on in the other language, using the other language's grammar, but using vocabulary you already know.

What's the point in making grammar education dependent on what is still a great weakness for the learner? This would ultimately extend out, in the case of German, to using "cold closet" instead of "refrigerator", writing machine instead of typewriter, and so on. Again, it aids the learner greatly if they already know what's going on in the language they're learning (and in the collective linguistic thought process of it's users) if they are allowed to easily observe "what's going on".

It's a widely-accepted and understood concept that you should not try to overload the learner by making them try to absorb and master more than they need to at any one given time, and I've yet to find a reason why language education should in any way be exempted from this concept.

Lastly, since I'm still on my "language education soapbox", the thing I have come to dislike the most is this stupid "total immersion" philosophy. What the heck is the point of listening to people nattering on in a foreign language without first obtaining a formal education in it? How can someone who is completely new to the language distinguish, amongst other things, where one word leaves off and another word begins?

Anyhow...

[blueshiftoverwatch]

Use the Rosetta Stone. It won't help you much for spelling, but you'll have the language down within a couple of weeks.
According to the WINE website (http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?appId=1867) various versions of Rosetta Stone can be run Linux with various rates of success.

[happysmileman]

Looking at the Rosetta Stone site it appears to cost like €169 just for the first part of the German course, I really can't afford to spend that kind of money, and my Windows XP doesn't recognise my sound card so if it didn't work in Wine it'd all be a waste anyway.

[uberdonkey5]

I learnt Italian self taught, and learnt portuguese (a bit!) but living in the country.

Top tips:

1. computer software is pretty rubbish and detracts from actual learning.

2. BOOK A HOLIDAY TO GERMANY. This will give you focus and a goal, and speaking with natives is essential.

3. Buy a good course book with CDs (but only one, work through it spending regular periods of time (e.g. 1 hour) every day, setting yourself realistic targets. If you buy more than one course book at first you can get snowed under and confused.

4. If there are local Germans in your area, befriend them and tell them you are trying to learn German.No matter how embarrassed you are at first, try some phrases out on them.

5. To learn vocabulary quickly, get small file cards. On one side write the German, on the other english. Write out all the words required for a certain subject area. Go through the german, guessing the english on the other side, and remove the card if you guess correctly. Then go through the english and guess the german. KEEP the cards and refresh regularly. Take them with you on train journeys etc.

6. Evenutally... save up to buy a satellite receiver and dish. You can get many FREE foreign channels with subtitles. Watch adverts and simple programs at first.

7. Hire english films that have German subtitles, then later on German films with german subtitles.

8.Try to buy German music with clear vocals on the internet or in shops, and that has words! Music is repetitive and has a melody and meaning that can help you remember the words.

9. Buy simple crossword or other puzzle books, or childrens stories.

In most languages there is a 'turning point' where you struggle (maybe for a year) then everything starts to make sense. Have perseverene and realise that the more you expose yourself to the language the better you will get.

[uberdonkey5]

I bought the equivalent in Italian and it was EXCELLENT (this is not a course book, but a good way to learn verbs)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/German-Verb-Drills-Language/dp/0071420886/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232996370&sr=8-1

Also you can buy many bilingual books (one page english, the opposite the same thing in german) that can help, or simple books like:
'easy german reader'

hope these help!

P.S. if you can't buy these books, try and get them through the library system. Now most library systems are connected so you should be able to order a book from any library in Ireland (and many libraries have the CDs)

[Frak]

8.Try to buy German music with clear vocals on the internet or in shops, and that has words! Music is repetitive and has a melody and meaning that can help you remember the words.

+1

This helped me a lot compared to everything else. It reinforced what I had learned before.

[billgoldberg]

A tip that helped me a lot when learning other languages (English and French).

Watch German movies and tv-shows with subtitles, a lot.

I think that everywhere in Europe you can watch German tv (I can) and most of them will have subtitles on teletext (usually on channel 888 if I remember correctly).

Don't watch with English subtitles, watch with German subtitles (not that they'll have English subtitles on teletext).

--

Also all my dvd's have German audio tracks and German subtitles, I don't know if that's the case in Ireland, but that could also help.

[heinig]

Have a look at the Deutsche Welle website (http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,,2548,00.html and http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,,9572,00.html). They have a free german course and some other tools that may help you...

[happysmileman]

I found http://www.german-grammar.de and it seems fairly good, I've taken down most of the info from chapters 4 and 5 (very short) into an A4 hardback copy so I can go back over it when not at a computer.

I can't organise a trip to Germany but I know a few native speakers (exchange students until June) so when I can start forming sentences I could start talking to them (although I imagine it'd be kinda awkward :P)

I think some nearby schools teach German so I could probably find someone who has an old textbook and CD I can use (and with a basic grasp of the language, which would be helpful too).

And I think most DVDs here have German subtitles (the occassional one has german sound too, but not much.)

Thank you guys very much for the suggestions (has the "Thank post" button been removed?)

[thisllub]

+1

This helped me a lot compared to everything else. It reinforced what I had learned before.

Freude schone Gotterfunken ....

It looks all wrong without an umlaut.

[MikeTheC]

Freude schone Gotterfunken ....

It looks all wrong without an umlaut.

Then why not use them?

[UniverseA7X]

Ich lerne Deutsch auch. Ich sprache ein bißchen.

I'm hoping to recieve a scholarship to spend an exchange year there next year, which should leave me with quite a bit of knowledge.

Honestly, I quite like livemocha, The exercizes in it are pretty similar to Rosetta Stone, while allowing you to communicate and contact native speakers as well.

I would take a look at www.dw-world.de as well, watch the video on demand episodes in english then in German, see how much you comprehend.

Good luck on your quest. :) Hopefully we're both successful.