How to start learning German?

The German language seems so difficult! Grammar, articles, pronunciation… And yet, you decided to do it and start learning it. Today I will tell you where to start learning a language and give a couple of useful tips for a quick and effective start.  First of all, decide on a goal – why do you need German? Want to add a line to your resume and impress the employer?

Are you planning to travel to Germany on vacation and strive to master the minimum vocabulary enough to shop in malls, order dinner at a restaurant, etc.? In this case, an elementary level of knowledge will be quite enough and striving to comprehend all the subtleties of grammar and pronunciation is not your primary goal.

It’s another matter if you need German for work to communicate with clients or partners from Germany. Solid knowledge with an emphasis on business vocabulary, business letter writing and negotiation skills in German will come in handy here. Do you want to study higher education in Germany? You cannot do without an advanced level: you will have to listen and understand lectures in German, make presentations and write research papers, communicate with classmates and professors. Depending on your ultimate goal, a lesson plan will be built. 

The next important point along with the goal is your motivation. 

Interest is the engine of progress. It doesn’t matter what your interest in the German language will be based on – whether it is an economic interest (a new position or a new place of work) or a purely personal interest. Perhaps your whole life you have dreamed of reading Goethe and Schiller in the original? Do you want to understand what the cute German boy from the new video is singing about in that song? Chatting? Go to live in Germany? The main thing is your interest and desire! You should have a desire to study the language, learn new things, strive to comprehend a new level and move on. This requires a third condition – regularity of classes. 

Set aside at least 1 hour each day to study the language. 

New words that we memorize first enter our memory and replenish our vocabulary. If you have read / heard a new word, but a stable connection with the context or emotions has not formed in your memory, very soon this word will be regarded as redundant or unnecessary information and will go to the “storage shelves”. After two weeks without being used, the word falls from the active stock to the passive one. Therefore, you need to study the language regularly and constantly. 

The next rule is to practice a little every day . Do not immediately try to memorize “1000 most common words” or understand all tenses and case forms. A more effective technique would be to try to master new material gradually, but – as already mentioned above – regularly. Make a simple rule for yourself: learn 10 new words a day . In a month you will already know 300 words, in a year 3600, and in three years your vocabulary will already be about 11000 words, which is close to the vocabulary of a native speaker sufficient for communication in everyday life.

Try to talk and write as much as possible! 

Active speech actively contributes to effective language learning. It is no coincidence that the most effective technique in the world today is considered to be a communicative technique. Communication- this is what, according to teachers and methodologists, should form the basis of any foreign language lesson. Think about the question: do you speak German? We ask if a person speaks this language, and if he knows how to translate or read.

Study both independently and with a teacher. 

There are many cases when individuals have studied a foreign language on their own, from textbooks or self-instruction manuals and achieved some success in this. But do not underestimate the role of the teacher – this is your ideal companion in a foreign language lesson, a partner for composing dialogues and a person who will help you correct mistakes and answer questions. Which is better – to study individually with a tutor or to take courses ? Everyone should answer this question for himself. Someone is more inclined to work in a group, someone, on the contrary, feels less confident in the group and will be ashamed of their mistakes. And for someone additional motivation in learning a language can be the opportunity to communicate with group mates, discuss news, exchange opinions, etc. It is worth paying attention to the size of the group – 8-10 people are considered ideal, a maximum of 12, otherwise the lesson will be ineffective. 

In addition, the answer to this question will also depend on the financial capabilities of each – individual lessons with a tutor can be more expensive than group lessons. Learning a language in a prestigious language center is also unlikely to be cheaper than on courses offered at universities for students. Fortunately, nowadays there are many online resources that provide access to language courses and training programs, online dictionaries and language tandem sites where you can register and share knowledge. A huge number of videos and podcasts on YouTube make it possible not only to train your listening comprehension, but also to get acquainted with the nuances of pronunciation, expand your cultural fund and learn a lot about another country whose language you are studying. 

Many who want to learn a language go to university to study as translators or teachers, but this is not the best option if you want to learn how to speak the language. It so happens that the first year of study in foreign language is a solid linguistic theory and no practice, you discuss why some prefixes in German are detachable, and others are not – well, how will this actually help you at Oktoberfest? Another thing is language courses in the country of the target language: here you immediately immerse yourself in the language environment, situations of real communication and have the opportunity to “play” and apply in practice everything that was studied in the lesson at school before – here are the topics of “food” and “acquaintance”, “at the station”, “at the bank“, “shopping“, “travel“, etc. It is best to do such a course when you have already reached a certain level of knowledge and you want to move to a new, qualitatively different level. 

Start small – try to surround yourself with German in your everyday life. 

Listen to radio and music in German, try to understand the movies in German or you can even set your Facebook interface to German. Chat with someone, ask friends who know German what this or that word means or how to say this or that phrase.  Start small – decide why you want to learn this language, what is your ultimate goal and during which time you want to achieve it, also decide on the means and possibilities and take the first step towards your goal!