If you want to break into the bastion of learning a foreign language such as German, you need to keep pursuing it relentlessly. Most learners learn differently with varying degrees of success and acumen. Nevertheless, it is of paramount importance that you learn the language in a proper way. Just like learning English, which may come easy to some, German too can be a whole lot of fun, provided you put in the commitment, passion and hard work.
Here are the strategies that work best for you in the long run.
- If you are already in a German language course, it makes sense to read as much possible in German. Even a perfunctory knowledge of words and phrases will help you stay focused and will be able to make you identify the gaps in learning. Having a German textbook always enables you to imagine the way you would like to speak in hypothetical situations.
- Listening to German music and watching a lot of German language television will help you understand the patterns of speaking, with the linguistic similarities between German and English. If you want to learn German in an organic way, you need to make intuitive leaps and learn repetitively and slowly.
- Getting a German speaking partner or a Sprachpartner is a must. You could start out conversing with a partner a little higher up in the learning curve and learn about the basic conventions of grammar. The best way you can learn German is by using a frame of idioms, expressions and daily slang. A native speaker will help you learn in a better way by surprising you with sentences and words that are not printed in any German textbook.
- Just like Private English tutors help students learn English is a better way, it makes sense that you also find a group of German speakers who are from various backgrounds and scholarship. You can help organize a daily Stammtisch event that comprises professors and students along with older speakers. This mix of speakers will help you learn in the language in myriad ways. Another good way to enhance the experience of learning German is to attend offline classes, or hire a tutor. There are several online marketplaces and now even a first-of-its-kind mobile App, WONK, which list hundreds of profiles of experienced German tutors, from which you can choose the one most suited to your needs near your location.
- You can also learn to watch German music videos on FluentU. This is a social interactive site that helps you start off is by looking up the words and watch it in images that help retention. You can also learn through definitions in English and watch videos describing it. At FluentU, you can watch native language speakers in videos that have an interactive transcript and enables you to learn on the go.
- If you want to learn German in a cultural set up, you need to understand the way the children understand it! This means a regular reading of the books available in children’s book stores. A lot of the cultural nuances are best learnt when you understand the way children learn and speak. And yes! It’s not silly as a child!
Eventually, learning German may be all too easy. It is a language that is similar to English and has words borrowed heavily from the Queen’s language. If you adequately immerse yourself in these learnings strategies, you will reap results all too soon for sure!
