Germans of THW, bitte hilfe mich! (please help me)

[knight26]

Hello,
I'm currently undergoing an intensive German course, started about two weeks ago. Still at A1.1 and going strong. I plan to attend the course in Goethe Institute in my country until B2 level. And then I have to learn C1 in Germany.

What I'd like to ask is if there are things to help me quicken my language learning, although I have to say I'm very positive so far and it's going great.
I'd like to fully immerse myself in german daily use:
- Alas so far I've been listening to radio in german (Flux FM and 917xfm)
- I've been watching tv shows in Netflix in german (sub and dub when possible)
- I've made all my gadgets in german
- I also got duolingo and using it everyday thus far

What are some tips you could give me? Websites maybe? I love to read facts!, random facts, news, important things or just trivial. For example I'd like to include myself in german forums, ones that are heavily dialogue oriented.
Right now I'm missing communication, and as I have no clue about german pop culture, what do young people in germany generally do?

If everything goes as it should, vielleicht (perhaps) by next year I'll be in Germany applying for a job and citizenship!
I hope someone finds the time and will to reply

 

[Kyrbi0]

Ich bin ein Berliner.

 

[Zombie]

I'm not German, but have mastered the language in an intense half-year course.

My tricks have been:
- Listen to German music 24/7, understand and memorize the lyrics
- Read German books and texts in a topic that interests you (I've read WW2 history, mostly)
- Talk to German people online
- Ignore proper grammar, no one uses it anyway

Also, I don't know by experience, but I heard this channel is extremely helpful: Easy German

Once you get the feeling of the language, it sticks very easily

 

[knight26]

Ich bin ein Berliner.

Well hallo there!

I'm not German, but have mastered the language in an intense half-year course.

My tricks have been:
- Listen to German music 24/7, understand and memorize the lyrics
- Read German books and texts in a topic that interests you (I've read WW2 history, mostly)
- Talk to German people online
- Ignore proper grammar, no one uses it anyway

Also, I don't know by experience, but I heard this channel is extremely helpful: Easy German

Once you get the feeling of the language, it sticks very easily

- This is exactly what I needed help with!, I already am listening to music, especially rap. Kontra K seems to be good, and meaningful lyrics as well. Would you suggest any other?
- Yeah I just started to understand the language whilst reading, and this is precisely what I need help with, I don't know if I should start with kids books or go straight to heavy books which pique my interest?
- WHERE DO I TALK TO GERMAN PEOPLE ONLINE
- Thankfully this course is very light on grammar and relies heavily on communication and daily use.

Thanks for the nice reply, and it inspires me that you could've done it in less then a year! I'll let you know if I break your record!

 

[Zombie]

Well hallo there!



- This is exactly what I needed help with!, I already am listening to music, especially rap. Kontra K seems to be good, and meaningful lyrics as well. Would you suggest any other?
- Yeah I just started to understand the language whilst reading, and this is precisely what I need help with, I don't know if I should start with kids books or go straight to heavy books which pique my interest?
- WHERE DO I TALK TO GERMAN PEOPLE ONLINE
- Thankfully this course is very light on grammar and relies heavily on communication and daily use.

Thanks for the nice reply, and it inspires me that you could've done it in less then a year! I'll let you know if I break your record!

1) I used to listen to metal. I don't think I should say here which bands exactly and it doesn't matter. Listen to the genre of music you like best.
2) Go with the heavy books on a topic that interests you, so that the story keeps you invested. Keep a dictionary at hand.
3) Roleplaying, strategy and team-based FPS games. I met a lot of German people by playing space MMO, it's already dead though.
4) Yes.

You're welcome. I hope you succeed.

 

[pyf]

[...] and as I have no clue about german pop culture [...]

- This is exactly what I needed help with!, I already am listening to music, especially rap. Kontra K seems to be good, and meaningful lyrics as well. Would you suggest any other? [...]

In case NDW is your thing:

99 Luftballons is possibly the most well-known song from the mid 1980s with German lyrics, in France as well as in other countries.

 

[PROXY]

Well, I'm from Austria, (who needs Germany anyway pfft) but that counts too

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, I'm sure I can help you out with nearly everything.

The trick, as in general when learning any language, is practical usage. Try to use the theoretical stuff you've learned as much as you can in the field --> as already mentioned, talk to people, go on forums, watch german movies, read books, etc. etc.

Regarding grammar: I do not suggest to follow zombie's advice on ignoring grammar. If you do want to succeed in the higher course levels, you will not be able to avoid it. Better try to learn it from the beginning. And correct grammar is important, at least if you do not want to sound like a mongrel ^^.

 

[knight26]

1) I used to listen to metal. I don't think I should say here which bands exactly and it doesn't matter. Listen to the genre of music you like best.
2) Go with the heavy books on a topic that interests you, so that the story keeps you invested. Keep a dictionary at hand.
3) Roleplaying, strategy and team-based FPS games. I met a lot of German people by playing space MMO, it's already dead though.
4) Yes.

You're welcome. I hope you succeed.

1) True
2) Thanks for that suggestion, I was avoiding children's books, phew.
3) Already am! Enderal (mod from Skyrim) seems to make a great teacher indeed!

In case NDW is your thing:


99 Luftballons is possibly the most well-known song from the mid 1980s with German lyrics, in France as well as in other countries.

Dude that song is literally known worldwide, literally everyone in my country knows it. Nice idea tho', to include some retro music in my playlist, thanks!

Well, I'm from Austria, (who needs Germany anyway pfft) but that counts too

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, I'm sure I can help you out with nearly everything.

The trick, as in general when learning any language, is practical usage. Try to use the theoretical stuff you've learned as much as you can in the field --> as already mentioned, talk to people, go on forums, watch german movies, read books, etc. etc.

Regarding grammar: I do not suggest to follow zombie's advice on ignoring grammar. If you do want to succeed in the higher course levels, you will not be able to avoid it. Better try to learn it from the beginning. And correct grammar is important, at least if you do not want to sound like a mongrel ^^.

- Austria is great, went skiing there about 12 years ago.
- Thanks! I will definitely take you on that suggestion, as I might need a great deal of communication.
- I made myself a tiny pocket Germany which I carry around. I even try to think in german lol.
- The teacher keeps telling us that proper grammar learning will come at level B, although I'm taking precautions not to learn something wrong, then I'd have to re-learn it and we all know how much difficult that is. I'm going to need at least C1 level of knowledge to work on my field, and a C2 level if I want to go academic.

And correct grammar is important, at least if you do not want to sound like a mongrel ^^.

I most definitely don't want to / and can't sound like a mongrel in my field, so I'll double my grammar efforts.

 

[Zombie]

The ultimate best way of learning any language is by moving to a country where they speak it as a native tongue.

Also, just noticed, the title should be "hilf mir, bitte."

Now here's a catchy German song for you, it will also help you learn some colors and country names without it being a stupid childen's song: