Learning German
Discussion
looking for a bit of advice on this one.
over the last couple of months ive had an urge to learn a new language. i dont know why, maybe im looking for a new hobby or my start to expanding from my boring self.
i was born in germany (RAF) and moved to scotland shortly after i was born, with a brief tour to ireland which i also cant remember. wether its the origins or other ive kind of set my heart on learning german, plus it is a nice sounding language.
i had no interest in learning any language when i was at school. mainly because they only did french, i couldnt get my head around LE and LA, what country on earth has a feminine bus.
im 20 now, so hopefully not to old and feel i would like to brodan my horizons.
so im looking for some advice from those who either speak german, be it from birth or later on, both opinions would be helpfull in a way.
my queeries are the standard: Where to start, best way to learn, tutor/online?,
I imagine starting from scratch its going to take a while, im not to naive about it, im presuming years to get to an accomplished level as opposed months.
from basic research, ive amounted the langauge is somewhat simliar to english but the grammar can be very difficult?
der, die, das, den, dem, des i believe all mean "the"
any help would be appreciated. hopefully this is the right section.
P.S Wie schmutzig sind deutsche Mädchen?
over the last couple of months ive had an urge to learn a new language. i dont know why, maybe im looking for a new hobby or my start to expanding from my boring self.
i was born in germany (RAF) and moved to scotland shortly after i was born, with a brief tour to ireland which i also cant remember. wether its the origins or other ive kind of set my heart on learning german, plus it is a nice sounding language.
i had no interest in learning any language when i was at school. mainly because they only did french, i couldnt get my head around LE and LA, what country on earth has a feminine bus.
im 20 now, so hopefully not to old and feel i would like to brodan my horizons.
so im looking for some advice from those who either speak german, be it from birth or later on, both opinions would be helpfull in a way.
my queeries are the standard: Where to start, best way to learn, tutor/online?,
I imagine starting from scratch its going to take a while, im not to naive about it, im presuming years to get to an accomplished level as opposed months.
from basic research, ive amounted the langauge is somewhat simliar to english but the grammar can be very difficult?
der, die, das, den, dem, des i believe all mean "the"
any help would be appreciated. hopefully this is the right section.
P.S Wie schmutzig sind deutsche Mädchen?
I'm native German; and I've only started learning English properly after school on PH.
The basics, as taught in school, are a good start; however you really start to enjoy a language when you can practice it. From the convenience of your home, you could listen to German radio, watch movies in German with English subtitles, read German news www.faz.net or www.spiegel.de or for very basic language www.bild.de
Use forums about topics that interest you www.motor-talk.de and start contributing. For reading and translation, you can use http://dict.leo.org - an online dictionary with more than 780,000 words. Install their 'bookmarklet' and then just select the word in question on a website and hit the bookmark in your browser's linkbar.
The biggest benefit a second language gives has to be that you are more conscious about your mother tongue as well; in that you put more effort into expressing yourself along the way. You'll also be able to notice the smaller differences in cultures. And yes: you'll understand German humour
The basics, as taught in school, are a good start; however you really start to enjoy a language when you can practice it. From the convenience of your home, you could listen to German radio, watch movies in German with English subtitles, read German news www.faz.net or www.spiegel.de or for very basic language www.bild.de
Use forums about topics that interest you www.motor-talk.de and start contributing. For reading and translation, you can use http://dict.leo.org - an online dictionary with more than 780,000 words. Install their 'bookmarklet' and then just select the word in question on a website and hit the bookmark in your browser's linkbar.
The biggest benefit a second language gives has to be that you are more conscious about your mother tongue as well; in that you put more effort into expressing yourself along the way. You'll also be able to notice the smaller differences in cultures. And yes: you'll understand German humour
I tried, in fact I still am, and you're not wrong, the grammar is insanely hard to get ye olde 'kopf' around! For instance 'the angel' is 'der' so if you were to say 'my angel' you would say 'mein engel' whereas cat is 'die katze' so 'my cat' become 'meine katze' and you don't half get looked at funny if you get it wrong! Don't get nein and keine mixed up, I can't get that right half the time so I won't give an example haha and also 'ohne' is 'without' so...'eine tasse kaffee bitte, ohne milch/zucker' means 'a cup of coffe please, without milk/sugar'.
I really dislike the formal/non-formal thing, 'Wie Heisst du'/'Wie heißen Sie?' - what is your name?
So with the male/female/formal/non-formal/der/die/das it becomes difficult to get right. I found that people tend to really have no idea what you're saying unless it is perfect too which is annoying. Not their fault at all but when you know what you mean and you know you're saying something 99% correct and they don't understand...it becomes frustrating after a few weeks.
Everyone laughed at me because of how I pronounced 'ö' - they said I sounded like a bavarian, and I was in sachsen-anhalt. Weird sense of humour, they laugh at that, like me laughing at a scouser to his face because he doesn't sound like me, very strange, one guy told me a joke (I can't remember the whole thing) that was basically - A kid on a train hears a bavarian speaking and he asks his dad "why does that guy sound funny", the dad says "he's bavarian". That was the joke and the guy was laughing his head off after telling me.
Good luck
I really dislike the formal/non-formal thing, 'Wie Heisst du'/'Wie heißen Sie?' - what is your name?
So with the male/female/formal/non-formal/der/die/das it becomes difficult to get right. I found that people tend to really have no idea what you're saying unless it is perfect too which is annoying. Not their fault at all but when you know what you mean and you know you're saying something 99% correct and they don't understand...it becomes frustrating after a few weeks.
Everyone laughed at me because of how I pronounced 'ö' - they said I sounded like a bavarian, and I was in sachsen-anhalt. Weird sense of humour, they laugh at that, like me laughing at a scouser to his face because he doesn't sound like me, very strange, one guy told me a joke (I can't remember the whole thing) that was basically - A kid on a train hears a bavarian speaking and he asks his dad "why does that guy sound funny", the dad says "he's bavarian". That was the joke and the guy was laughing his head off after telling me.
Good luck
Bodo said:
I'm native German; and I've only started learning English properly after school on PH.
The basics, as taught in school, are a good start; however you really start to enjoy a language when you can practice it. From the convenience of your home, you could listen to German radio, watch movies in German with English subtitles, read German news www.faz.net or www.spiegel.de or for very basic language www.bild.de
Use forums about topics that interest you www.motor-talk.de and start contributing. For reading and translation, you can use http://dict.leo.org - an online dictionary with more than 780,000 words. Install their 'bookmarklet' and then just select the word in question on a website and hit the bookmark in your browser's linkbar.
The biggest benefit a second language gives has to be that you are more conscious about your mother tongue as well; in that you put more effort into expressing yourself along the way. You'll also be able to notice the smaller differences in cultures. And yes: you'll understand German humour
Please correct anything that I got wrong The basics, as taught in school, are a good start; however you really start to enjoy a language when you can practice it. From the convenience of your home, you could listen to German radio, watch movies in German with English subtitles, read German news www.faz.net or www.spiegel.de or for very basic language www.bild.de
Use forums about topics that interest you www.motor-talk.de and start contributing. For reading and translation, you can use http://dict.leo.org - an online dictionary with more than 780,000 words. Install their 'bookmarklet' and then just select the word in question on a website and hit the bookmark in your browser's linkbar.
The biggest benefit a second language gives has to be that you are more conscious about your mother tongue as well; in that you put more effort into expressing yourself along the way. You'll also be able to notice the smaller differences in cultures. And yes: you'll understand German humour
Asgardian said:
Please correct anything that I got wrong
All right However, it's not that harsh in practice. I've had a colleague who came from Ireland. Within four years, he learnt German by listening and speaking (no theory). He mixed up words, called everyone 'Du', even customers and superiors, and generally was comfortable with speaking and reading German. He speaks fluently with the occasional error, but understandable for everyone. For German native speakers, this definitely has a winning element. Not many native English speakers learn German, and it's certainly appreciated! Unlike foreigners trying to conversate in French in France
Asgardian said:
Everyone laughed at me because of how I pronounced 'ö' - they said I sounded like a bavarian, and I was in sachsen-anhalt. Weird sense of humour, they laugh at that, like me laughing at a scouser to his face because he doesn't sound like me, very strange, one guy told me a joke (I can't remember the whole thing) that was basically - A kid on a train hears a bavarian speaking and he asks his dad "why does that guy sound funny", the dad says "he's bavarian". That was the joke and the guy was laughing his head off after telling me.
I guess you've never heard the joke that begins "What is brown and sticky?"Bodo said:
All right However, it's not that harsh in practice. I've had a colleague who came from Ireland. Within four years, he learnt German by listening and speaking (no theory). He mixed up words, called everyone 'Du', even customers and superiors, and generally was comfortable with speaking and reading German. He speaks fluently with the occasional error, but understandable for everyone.
For German native speakers, this definitely has a winning element. Not many native English speakers learn German, and it's certainly appreciated! Unlike foreigners trying to conversate in French in France
I'll second that, the phrase "Ich lerne noch deutsch" had the natives of the town I was in like puty However, it's not that harsh in practice. I've had a colleague who came from Ireland. Within four years, he learnt German by listening and speaking (no theory). He mixed up words, called everyone 'Du', even customers and superiors, and generally was comfortable with speaking and reading German. He speaks fluently with the occasional error, but understandable for everyone. For German native speakers, this definitely has a winning element. Not many native English speakers learn German, and it's certainly appreciated! Unlike foreigners trying to conversate in French in France
everyone loved me just for saying that. EDLT said:
I guess you've never heard the joke that begins "What is brown and sticky?"
Oh come on that's barely a joke, the guy nearly wet himself when I told him the "whats green and goes up and down? A gooseberry in a lift" - I think I was told that when I was 4 haha The only reason this came up is because I asked what was in a cake I was eating and he didn't know the word gooseberry, he tried to explain by saying it is sharp like an Igel, which is said Eagle, so I was thinking a beak...thinking what sort of food is sharp like the beak of an eagle? No, Igel is hedgehog, anyway he didn't think I knew what a gooseberry was
I thought it was cool how he exaggerated the e in hedgehog <- wow what a crap anecdote.Is gooseberry - stackelbeer? Am I close with that? I'm basing this only on his pronunciation
This has been on my to do list for some years now.
When last there, and trying to 'fit in', I asked a waitress "wo ist der schnell strasse bitte" based on the XB70 School of Add Words Together method.
In perfect English I get "You want the derestricted autobahns?"
Cue much grinning and nodding like loons from me and my co-pilot!
When last there, and trying to 'fit in', I asked a waitress "wo ist der schnell strasse bitte" based on the XB70 School of Add Words Together method.
In perfect English I get "You want the derestricted autobahns?"
Cue much grinning and nodding like loons from me and my co-pilot!
If you're motivated to learn, it will be far easier. If you're learning just for a hobby, that's fine, but often a little bit of a motivating factor helps too (German girlfriend, need it for business or just to understand the odd education film...). If however its just a hobby, have you considered a language that may add deeper value and possibly present opportunities? Most Germans speak English so whilst you may start off speaking in German to them, they'll more often than not reply in English, thinking it's polite (and to stop any further embarrassment as you get things muddled!). German dictionary is fairly easy, using descriptors you'll begin to recognise over time (e.g. Handschuh is glove; a shoe for the hand), leaving just the grammar to get a handle on.
If however you want to gain a competitive advantage for the future, then any BRIC language or Arabic would differentiate you and present employment opportunities for the future, both at home or abroad. Viel Glück!
If however you want to gain a competitive advantage for the future, then any BRIC language or Arabic would differentiate you and present employment opportunities for the future, both at home or abroad. Viel Glück!
i live in germany and am struggling a bit with their b
d hard language
just started using this and I rather like it
http://duolingo.com/
(completely free)
d hard languagejust started using this and I rather like it
http://duolingo.com/
(completely free)
and yes, people respond well to me totally mangling their language, at least I try. One thing I do notice is that far more people correct me (at work) than I would expect in the UK, and people don't understand so well when I talk really badly. I have a theory that british people are very used to hearing foreigners speak english, and are good at understanding what they mean when the grammar is not perfect, and furthermore are relaxed about the language being used incorrectly. maybe in other countries, where they are less used to hearing foreigners speak their language, this is not so much the case.
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