What are some great strategies to learn a new language (German)?

1. 61

   arthsabiposted 12 years ago

   What are some great strategies to learn a new language (German)?
   
   How do you memorize vocabulary? Do you prefer speaking right away or learning some grammar first?

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2. 70

   kids-toy-boxposted 12 years ago

   Personally I think the best way to learn a language is to take a course so that you have a good foundation grasping the basics (e.g grammar rules etc) but the best teacher is practice...by speaking with native language speakers of the language you wish to learn. I learnt German through a 6 month language course. This was good for grasping the basics but the best teacher was reading Children's books, newspapers , listening to the radio and talking to my neighbour . Unfortunately German has alot of grammar rules so it is best to learn some of the basics 'off by heart' One off the most effective ways to learn German grammar is to tabulate the masculine, feminine and neutral articles-then learn them off by heart--it gets easier with practice!...hope this helps.

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3. 61

   Jesus was a hippyposted 12 years ago

   Neccessity will speed up the process dramatically. Go to germany with someone who speaks both languages and only speak german.
   
   Anytime you need to ask for something, find out how to say it in german.
   
   I did that in Bangladesh and learnt quite a lot in 3 weeks.

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4. 61

   whizcreedposted 12 years ago

   1. Watch movies
   2. Listen to their music
   3. Talk to a native
   4. Join a German language group
   5. Chat online in German
   6. Practice online
   
   I would suggest livemocha.com which I use to practice my spanish.
   
   I am doing spanish course from Instituto Cervantes in my city and it helps but I am not doing as well as I should because I am not practicing. I have started understanding a good deal but I feel that I am a bit shy when it comes to talking in spanish. But right from the first class everything was in Spanish and we had to speak in Spanish and so on, sounds difficult but I think it is a better approach to sink in the language.
   
   All the best

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5. 61

   Madeposted 12 years ago

   I would say it's good to know the basics in German. Learn the most common words and some grammar. I always write down the words I want to learn and try to associate them to different things. The nouns that end with "-ung" are feminine and many nouns that end with an "e" are feminine, for example: die Sprache. If you speak German, the grammar isn't that important and you will proabably get a bigger vocabulary faster if you speak.

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6. 64

   Dorothee-Gyposted 12 years ago

   It depends a bit on where you stand at the moment, if you already have some knowledge or start from scratch. I started to read simple books after 1 or 2 years of English in school and stuck to that ever since. Helped me tremendously, as I am not a learner and not a theoretical grammar person.
   
   Read simple books (builds up your vocaluary and feeling for the language), watch movies you already know (with subtitles first in your language, then in German), listen to speakers.
   
   Check out  my hub about learning language the easy way.

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7. 76

   bongawongaposted 10 years ago

   I would say: Do 3 things at the same time for at least 1 year regularly:
   1. learn the basics (vocabulary + grammar)
   2. talk to a native (via a language community, eg. busuu.com)
   3. read books and watch movies/TV in the target language
   
   Start watching cartoons for small children. Thats easier and you are more likely to feel you are being successful. The same with books: Check out preschool books to see if you can already understand the basics. Another advantage: You will learn the every day language which you need when you actually talk to the natives!

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