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Advice on self-teaching German

After months of dithering, I am going to take the plunge to learn German. The only other 'language' I know is braille (although technically this is just a different alphabet, contractions and syntax).

Does anyone have any recommendations for books to start with? What should I focus on? My plan is to learn basic German and then to work through children's books with a German dictionary and to watch some German TV/movies. I would love to talk to a native speaker but I don't know anyone; I can't afford classes either just yet as much as I would love to.

Reply 1

uncommonsensing

Hi, I'm also starting to learn German this summer! I did my GCSE back in year 9 but I've finished sixth form now and have done none since then, so I'm basically starting from scratch.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend starting with books, especially as this is your first language - you will look a word up, forget it, not follow the storyline because you were too focused on looking words up, become disheartened/bored and give up with the language all together. Save them for until you have the basics, and save TV/movies for when you are at a decent level. If you want to learn in a more authentic way, I recommend songs and possibly even children's poetry (not that I've ever tried the latter!). It's far easier to remember song lyrics than it is to remember individual words from a story. It also gives you an idea of pronunciation. I'm going through Rammstein songs and learning the lyrics - their songs have very clear, repetitive lyrics so it makes thing easy, plus I like their music.

In addition, I'm using duolingo and memrise, which are both free, very useful and perfectly suited to beginners. They are mostly vocab-based but include grammar notes which is great. If you're feeling brave and want to practice your speaking, italki is the best website I've found to connect with natives - you can pay for a language teacher or exchange knowledge with a German that wants to learn English.

Good luck!

Reply 2

PLJohn

Hello! I'm an A-Level German student at the moment and I have just taken my AS exam and I have been learning German since year 7, so if you ever need any help, or someone to practise your German with. I am happy to help!
If you want to learn the vocab quite quickly, you could use a website called "Quizlet" and make your own online flashcard tests which you can access on your phone too! I used it for my AS vocab and it made it every easy to learn, but I only learned it in the short term.
I'd say definitely find a German partner who can correct your German and test you since I always found that putting my vocab and grammar skills into practise made them stick, because you always have to think about using them right.
One thing which I find very useful too is playing video games in German; especially ones you know very and can remember the text for very well. For example, I play Pokemon in German as I basically know the games word for word (Since I am a giant nerd! :wink: