[Closed] Learning German

To be honest I'd say you really need a tutor in some capacity, either to talk to you or listen to you speak. I'd say look at your local options or Goethe Institut, they do online but also have classes in London and Glasgow (if you are close). OU appear to be prohibitively expensive.

Have you tried any apps as a starter? Duolingo isn't perfect but it's a decent place to start

To be honest I’d say you really need a tutor in some capacity, either to talk to you or listen to you speak

I have a French Tutor and have a 1-2-1 lesson for 1 hour a week via Skype (even though she lives just round the corner). Going rate is £20/£25 / hour. Highly recommended as she sets all my work based on my strengths / weaknesses, so my learning is totally bespoke.

I found her via https://www.firsttutors.com/uk/

Duolingo isn’t perfect but it’s a decent place to start

Good for vocab but totally useless for Grammer (my experience of their French course).

I am currently using Lingoda. They do group online interactive classes (I think with a max of 6 participants) or 1-1 classes if you need a bit of extra help. It isn't just tourist German, it is the proper syllabus going from a1 to c1 and teaches the correct grammar (which is what I have found hardest as I realised I didn't really know English grammar).

You can buy a big block of lessons, or a smaller monthly subscription that you can cancel any month so you don't have to commit too much if you find it isn't for you.

This is my referral link, so I get an some bonus lessons if you use it, and you get a good deal as well.

https://learn.lingoda.com/en/referral/ncayme

You could also look at the open university offerings, I think they are a bit expensive now, but perhaps a good option if it is something you fancy sticking on your CV.

as I realised I didn’t really know English grammar

Snap, my French teacher (who is French) has a far better understanding of English Grammer than I (and I didn't think mine was too bad, but apparently it is). Her English and accent is flawless, can't tell she's French at all - but she has lived here for decades....

I've not used it but maybe italki for 1-1 access?

You could also look at the open university offerings, I think they are a bit expensive now, but perhaps a good option if it is something you fancy sticking on your CV.

£1600 for the beginners module, over 3 grand for the next.

ou could also look at the open university offerings, I think they are a bit expensive now, but perhaps a good option if it is something you fancy sticking on your CV.

Just had a look:

Our fee for a 60-credit module is £3,228.

Wow - huge change, was about £220 for a 30 point course when I last did them (90s IIRC).

Ditched German back at grammar school after one year in late 80s, couldn't get my head around the sentence structure for a start. French was fine, got my GCSE A in that, in fact my only top grade!

Our fee for a 60-credit module is £3,228.

Wow – huge change, was about £220 for a 30 point course when I last did them (90s IIRC).

Yeah that's mind blowing, bit of thread derailment but that is ****ing insane, shows the lack of political support for lifelong learning and the social mobility it creates.

I'm finding German horrific but thats me, not you.

There is a Language Tandem group on FB where people swap time and languages. You offer x and they offer y and off you go. It may support your self study but the use and talking bit is important and it's expensive too. Online offers lots of options for some 1:1 time.

German is a complete mystery... good luck

I have a Rosetta Stone course for German you can have for postage (if you have a CD player?)

Wo ist mein handy?

Yeah that’s mind blowing, bit of thread derailment but that is **** insane, shows the lack of political support for lifelong learning and the social mobility it creates.

I assume that back then it was effectively subsided by HMRC and you only paid a token fee, whereas now I suspect you pay the real cost and are expected to finance it via loans etc.

But I have also wondered if studying in the local uni’s Continuing Education for Adults programme would be of much use,

I did a couple of years German evening classes at our local Uni. 1st year was very good but 2nd year things got more complicated and I found it impossible to internalise what I learned one week before getting more new material the following week so I just fell behind. I'd have done a lot better moving at a slower pace and having more time to practise with a German speaker. I'd recommend doing a course where you can learn at your own speed but its crucial to have regular conversational practise

I'd agree with getting a tutor to actually converse and pick out weak spots. I did German at university (waste of time btw) and spending time immersed in it is transformational. I worked in Austria for the summer after year 2 and in year 3 I was different student altogether.

I'd recommend a tutor, been using Duolingo for ages and while it's really helped with my reading and writing (Spanish), the speaking isn't nearly as good.

Hmm. I'd say that if you already understand it, you have the ear for it, and you have a fixed sum of cash it may not be worthwhile getting a tutor or paying for lessons. You will burn through that amount of cash very quickly before you are barely into it. The idea of a downloadable course you can keep sounds better to me, because you will have the reference material and you can spend as long as you like on it. I mean if you were learning Mandarin or something you'd need tuition to learn the sounds and intonation, but you already have exposure to German, you already speak some and your native language is a close cousin so I doubt it's necessary. You could get plenty of language practice for free by reading and listening, there's plenty of media around. I mean sure, 1:1 tuition is ideal but not if you're on a budget.

@LeeW I might be interested if the OP isn't.

I'd recommend Language Transfer for starters.
https://www.languagetransfer.org/german

It's a free course, lots of different 5-10 minute lessons that you pause, have a go yourself and then listen to the answers that a student gives. Purely conversational rather than reading/writing. you can either listen online or download and listen offline.

It's what I use in my quest to learn Greek (not this German course before anyone says it 😁), I've given up my 'professional' course and just restart this when I get memory fade cos i prefer it's method of learning.

Nowt to lose by trying it.

Depends what you want to get out of it - is it conversational (make yourself understood / understand others - where a tutor is probably best, my lad is an english online tutor where he just chats to students, but it allows him to work all over the world where he has an internet connection) or do you want some formal understanding of the language (more like English Lit) I know french A-level is like this.

If you have a satellite dish then get a motor installed so you can watch all the German TV. Or do what I did and marry a German. On second thoughts, scrap that one. big mistake lol. Am I right in thinking you are in Cardiff? Feel free to pop up here to the Welsh hills and chat with my wife if you fancy some conversation. Apparently I never talk about anything!

I’d recommend a tutor, been using Duolingo for ages and while it’s really helped with my reading and writing (Spanish), the speaking isn’t nearly as good.

I think it’s a good intro, speaking it is always going to be tricksy unless your really immersed in it,living in Spain where everyone is a helpful grammar nazi also helps.

Servus, grias di und hallo.....

Are there not any German expats locally? Nothing beats actually listening and talking.

Otherwise I would suggest go and watch some German films.

Preferably films to which you know the plot. Watch with English subtitles and German language, you'll pick up some bits. Rewatch with German subtitles and language.

Helped me lots when first learning the language ~15-17 years ago. With the likes of Netflix etc it's much easier now.

There's all of Deutschland 83-9 to watch.
Dad Leben der Anderen.
Goodbye Lenin.
Revanche (good Film, btw, albeit Austrian dialect)
Lola Rennt (Run Lola Run)
Nirgendwo in Afrika.

Do that and spend the 500£ on a trip to Germany. Supposedly they speak most proper in Hannover. Best beers in Munich.

TBH if you don't speak German already, when your Dad is/was a German then you're in the same place as anyone...

How good are you at learning/understanding languages at all?

Only ask as I spent a lot of time working in Germany for UK-based companies with German subs, I even had staff out there and lived in Dusseldorf for a year in the early 2000's. I did a couple of weeks' crammer with a UK-based German before I moved out, and tried various (cassette based) courses.

Even then my German at the end was crap to say the least, but Germans could understand me. An English colleague of mine though picked it up in a few weeks - he did though have an 'ear' for languages (living in France and he had learned Dutch in a matter of weeks too).

One thing to be aware of with German, it's only useful in Germany & Austria... And even then if you're on holiday or business, more than likely that the German you're speaking to has a better grasp of English than you do of German.

more than likely that the German you’re speaking to has a better grasp of English than you do of German.

Very much this.

On the way to Venice, I found a camp site, about 50km north of Austria, in the middle of a forest.

I'd been practising my 30-odd year old O Level German for a few months, and confidently asked the reception guy "Ich möchte für eine nacht bleiben bitte"

"Certainly sir" he replied, "There's a lot of English people here today, would you like some bread ordered for the morning" with only a very faint hint of a German accent

I felt a little deflated, and carried on the conversation in English. But, at least I knew he understood me.

The French on the other hand.............🤐

“Certainly sir” he replied, “There’s a lot of English people here today, would you like some bread ordered for the morning” with only a very faint hint of a German accent

I have this in French ski resorts every year - I just continue speaking French and they just continue replying in English.....

I felt a little deflated, and carried on the conversation in English. But, at least I knew he understood me.

We stopped at a hotel in France on the way back from Germany. It was such a relief to be able to speak the local language, in a basic fashion, that we chatted to the waiter/receptionist for ages in French feeling pretty pleased with ourselves. We even translated the orders and questions for the people we were with. Heard her later talking to some other guests in perfect English. Nice of her to flatter us I thought 🙂

I’d been practising my 30-odd year old O Level German for a few months, and confidently asked the reception guy “Ich möchte für eine nacht bleiben bitte”

“Certainly sir” he replied, “There’s a lot of English people here today, would you like some bread ordered for the morning” with only a very faint hint of a German accent

That's standard for Austria as well, persist with the German and ask for corrections and offer some for the English usage if required.

Funny that a nation of achievers like the Germans use a language where you have to wait to the end of the sentence to find out what happened, with a proper language like Gaelic you start the sentence with the verb 🙂

TBH if you don’t speak German already, when your Dad is/was a German then you’re in the same place as anyone…

How good are you at learning/understanding languages at all?

There was a fair bit of family politics at play in suppressing German in my home as a child, so what I heard was ‘on the sly’ from my dad.

I am fairly good at languages, having grown up in French school, and having studied both Latin and Greek for academic purposes. I also speak some Ukrainian.

But I want to learn German primarily because I feel like part of me is missing without it. I love the language anyway, but really feel like I should learn it because it’s mine. I spend quite a bit of time in Germany anyway, but regardless, want the satisfaction of know more about my own paternal language.

If you are of a certain age and went to a comprehensive school (late 70s early 80s) in the UK, grammar wasn't really taught as we weren't really expected to do more than to work in a factory or similar.
I struggled through French at school because of this, other than learning by rote phrases I was totally useless. It took me a year in Italy (in my early 20s) to discover that there a rules that need to be applied, I had that light bulb moment.

Now I'm married to a French teacher (French native), and I should really be better than I am but at least I can conjugate a sentence in the past, present and future tenses. Only the vocab lets me down or in my case the ability to recall it.

My point is, the grammar rules are key and any good teacher should be embedding this and reinforcing it during their lessons.

Just remember learning a language is difficult so don't beat yourself up if it takes some time to master.
To put it into perspective my wife teaches A level and post A level (sandwich degree courses). At A level she manages on average to get one A* pass each. When the school she works in as a whole gets around 40% at A*

Best of luck!