Wie soll ich weitermachen? Forging ahead with German

Normally people wait until the New Year to make resolutions, but not me. Any time is a good time for a new plan.

Since I successfully completed the Goethe Zertifikat B2, I've been essentially cruising with my German. I did a few parallel translations to help tune my ear more for movie dialogues and although I had fun with those sections of dialogue (from Der Untergang and Mädchen Mädchen 2 in particular), I haven't done much focused work in this area. I've read several books since passing: Das Todeskreuz and Das Parfüm. I've watched some German movies, listened to and watched the German news, and very, very recently discovered that you can get high-quality video from ZDF TV in Germany! Haven't had much of a chance to watch this yet, but I've seen a cop show and Abernteur Forschung already and I'm really glad this is out there and available to watch from outside Germany. The last time I revealed such a source of German TV on this blog the station quickly disabled traffic from outside Germany so I'm really hoping they don't do that again this time!

And of course, I've chatted with my German-speaking friends about once a week which is as fun as ever.

This level of study was really on purpose. For starters, I passed my B2 exam just before learning that my mother had incurable lung cancer. Over the next year from that devastating news there was a lot of stress and personal stuff to deal with. My second daughter was born in that same year, just a few short months before my mother finally passed. That was almost a year ago now and, to be honest, I don't think I've even recovered from the shock of first hearing the news of the illness, let alone everything since.

For this year I initially decided to try something new - learning Chinese (but mainly as a spoken language) and Latin (but mainly as a written language). I thought that because of their different focuses I would be able to work on both just fine, but I actually found it reasonably hard to feel like I was making progress. I got halfway through both books in about 4 months which is actually quite a good effort, but I didn't keep up with making an anki deck like I had wanted to with both. It was just too time consuming, especially for Latin because I had to look up the conjugations. During this time I took on a spare-time programming project and, with 2 small children and a full-time job, this was just all too much. I hadn't planned on the programming project when I started the two languages, so who knows how the year would have turned out without this change of plans.

On the topic of Chinese, I recently borrowed a very old book from a library which shows in pictures along with descriptions the actual physical mechanics of tongue positions, breath force, etc, for every single Chinese sound. Although it may seem strange, there were a few Chinese sounds that I just wasn't able to really distinguish. I couldn't make the sounds distinct, and I couldn't hear the difference consistently. This was most clearly shown to me by the fact that pretty much every Chinese person I tried some phrases out on would look perplexed. I realise now that I was actually pronouncing a bunch of the sounds in the in-between position of English where I actually need to move my tongue to two different extremes to produce them. Since this has been a significant weakness whenever I've tried to speak Chinese, it feels good to finally be able to say something (though I've forgotten much of what I learnt!) and see that Chinese people are now able to understand me. Although I don't plan on actively taking up Chinese again at this stage, I will try to keep working on my pronunciation so that whenever I come back to it more intensively, I can at least start with being able to say the words somewhat properly!

So, with all that other stuff happening, I haven't really thought much again about the future, but recently I came to an important decision - to push on with German and to really try hard to get to a much more comfortable level. I'm currently holding steady at B2, and "advanced" starts at the next CEFR level in theory, so C1, but I've decided to just go the whole hog and aim for the C2 exam. This is to force me to over-prepare but when I get closer to the exam date (sometime in early 2015), I can decide whether I'm risking my money for nothing and choose the C1 exam. Of course, exams are all well and good, but the exam is just a goal to push me to work harder. What I would really like is that German becomes a part of my psyche and that I understand almost everything I hear of movies and the TV and, especially, that I speak German much better and much more frequently. I want to speak it comfortably.

How will I do that? Well, I'm open to suggestions! I'll go over my own ideas in future posts, but for now I want to end with a quick discussion on some possible materials to help me prepare. I would really like some help to pick good stuff because, as a solo learner, I will be relying on the materials I use to help cover those gaps of knowledge that a teacher in a class would probably focus on like crazy.

My first idea is to subscribe to the magazine "Deutsch Perfekt"(electronic version). At the moment the 12 month subscription comes with 6 1-hr audio downloads + workbooks. I have a sample of each (the magazine and the audio) and they seem pretty good. I like reading about Mitteleuropa and the articles come with glossaries which are very helpful. The audio seems reasonable too. Neither is "real" content, but they're both something which I feel helps cover the gaps in my book knowledge. They cover a lot of grammatical concepts entirely in German which is something I've been looking for (surprising though that may sound :-) ).

Speaking of which, there are lots of gaps, I'm sure! That's why I've been looking at a few books, but I'm not yet certain which to get (if any). The two main ones I'm considering are "Mit Erfolg Zum Goethe-Zertifikat C2" and "Fit Furs Goethe Zertifikat C2". I find it hard to pick between them, but I only want to choose one. If I collect too many, I'll start to feel like I'll never get through them all! If you've had any experience of either of these books (or ones in the same series) then please let us all know in the comments below! I'm also considering an extra grammar book because I feel that getting confident in this area will not only score me some easy points in any exam, but bring up my level of grammatical correctness in general conversations as I practice what I learn. That's the theory at least! I've found one call "C-Grammatik" that seems to have some positive reviews, but I'd like to know what the other options are.

Of course, I'll need to have fun too. Youtube and ZDF are great sources of German-language entertainment. I'll read the news on the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung more often because it definitely requires a high level of German knowledge, as well as easier German news sites. But some of this isn't all that relaxing. Just recently I read the first Harry Potter book in English. I know, I'm a bit late to the party! I actually really enjoyed it, so I'll read some of the others too, but in order to expose myself to more German for the next year it will obviously have to be in German! So, I'll order "Harry Potter und die Kammer des Schreckens" (the German title for the second book in the series: "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets") sometime soon.

However, after picking a few of these purchases, I probably won't be buying anything else for the rest of the year. I'll have enough to focus on with these materials. And besides, I'm a cheapskate who hates spending money :-) In particular, I want to avoid getting a professional German teacher at any stage because, whether here in Australia, or online, German teachers are very expensive. I may break this rule later on next year as I near the target date and I think I could push on to C2 with just a bit of professional help, but I would want to have put in a very big effort myself first before even considering that.

The thing is, I'm entering uncharted territory here a bit. I mean, how many people living outside the country try to learn a language to C2 from B2 in their "spare" time? There's lots of information to get started in any language but I guess that once you get to B2 level you should know how to proceed from there, or you have some sort of teacher helping you. I have some ideas of how to proceed, but they are as yet untested. If you follow along for the next year or so you'll get to see the result at the other end and the process of getting there!

Lernen to Talk's Mickey Mangan blogging about German learning

Just a quick one - in a previous post I pointed out the Lernen to Talk show as a source of inspiration. Mickey from the show has started blogging about learning German and where you can find some good German media (which, for a language learner, equals input). Check it out and read his advice as he rolls it out. He's only just started and I really hope he finds the time to continue it:

http://blogs.transparent.com/german/

The Seven Keys to Language Learning

Recently I've had/made a few opportunities to use my rusty French abilities. I toyed with the idea of setting a goal to get my French up to C1 in a year (from probably a high B1 to a low B2). I like the French language, I really do, and I already have French-speaking friends. I know my weaknesses already, and getting it to a good level might give me more ammunition to say to my wife that we should move to France for a few years (a nice spot somewhere in the south would do me for a while :-) ). But for some reason which I don't fully understand, I just don't want to. I can't get motivated by the idea just now. Perhaps it's because I did a lot of study in it at Alliance Francaise (not the best use of my time or money however!) and didn't find it as enjoyable as I have with German. If I were to improve my French vocabulary I could make better use of the Assimil courses that have no English equivalent. All very sensible stuff.

Who knows. Maybe I'll get the idea into my head :-)

One of the opportunities I've made to use it recently was to answer an ad looking for a French/English exchange partner in my local area. I met up with a nice bloke called Jerome who really needs some help with his English in order to be able to improve his job chances in Australia. However, currently his English level needs a fair bit of work and so the vast bulk of the conversation, especially when it was important to be understood, was in French. Good for me though! I found that I could handle this kind of one-on-one conversation fairly easily and wasn't too tied for words, although I kept it simple. It felt really positive to be speaking it again after all this time. I really wish I had more time to meet more French speakers. Unfortunately, I am very time poor (which is why I spend time writing this blog!) so it's hard to imagine how to fit it in. I think Skype conversations would work out the best for me. We'll see.

Anyway, another opportunity I made was to read this article on Le Point, where the author opines vigorously about the outrage of a new law in France that allows French universities to offer courses in languages other than French, ostensibly to attract more foreign students. The author goes on to say that learning a new language isn't that hard and that people wanting to study in France should just get on with it and learn the language of Hugo now! Maybe I exaggerate, but the author does describe "Seven Keys to Learning". However, if your French isn't quite good enough yet, don't worry, below you'll find my (heavily abbreviated) summary of the points:

Francois Kersaudy's Seven Keys to Language Learning

Remember that the following points are taking from the article I mentioned above. I have roughly summarised them as closely as possible without interjecting my own thoughts. I add my own comments further down.

1. Mastering a language is easier than mastering Bridge or Chess because rather than relying as heavily on the intellect you get to rely on passive memory and the unconscious reflex of imitation (more on this below).
2. Motivation is THE key element to success.
3. Language learning is a personal process. It can't really be "taught" to you, you can only really be guided in how to learn it yourself. This has to be done outside the hustle and bustle of the classes themselves. Naturally, there's nothing like perfecting it in a country where it's a native language.
4. Regular, focused study for at least 20 minutes per day, every single day.
5. Repetition, repetition, repetition. But not just any old rote learning repetition - meeting the same words or phrases in different contexts within a short space of time (over a matter of a few weeks at most) will engrave those words or phrases into your memory.
6. Quoting Ferdinand de Saussaure: "You have to learn the grammar through the language, not the language through its grammar." In other words, don't start with a grammar book, start with the above techniques of listening, repeating and trying to use it yourself. Grammar books can come later when/if you really need to refine your abilities.
7. Choice of method is important. Here Kersaudy declares (perhaps unsurprisingly given the above points) that the best method is Assimil. It will come as no surprise to regular readers that I largely agree with this :-)

I have to say that I largely agree with all his points, although perhaps I think it takes a little more than just passive memory and unconscious reflex to get to a really good level (especially if you have exams to pass!) but definitely what he describes are the foundations of good language learning. There are surely other methods, but the key tenets of frequent exposure, focused attention and practice are absolutely fundamental. 

The great thing about language learning is that if you are motivated (point 2 :-) ) then these fundamentals are easy to achieve. All of them can come about by practicing speaking whatever you know with new friends, or old friends in a new language.

The Lernen to Talk Show: Wie es aussieht, wenn man innerhalb eines Jahres Deutsch lernt

I seriously can't believe that I had never seen this before, but just a few days ago I learnt about the "Lernen to Talk" show. It's a Youtube video project where a young guy documents his quest to learn German in Germany within a year (plus a couple of months of preparation with an audio course in the US). The guy does a great job of explaining what he's done himself, so I'll let him do exactly that:

The Lernen to Talk show

Seriously, check it out. I've watched a few of the episodes (he's completed the year) and he's pretty good at making conversation of some description with people regardless of his level. I think this might be one of his most important skills. Also notice that he tries hard to not make mistakes, but he doesn't let the fear of mistakes inhibit him. Well, that's my opinion as an observer. His own internal experience may have been different. He doesn't talk too much about his "method", but I'll distill the basics here:

1) Studied an audio course for a few months. Got up to an A1+ or A2 sort of level I think.
2) Went to Germany.
3) 8-10 weeks (I think?) doing frequent German classes and group excursions.
4) Filmed himself once per week for a 5 minute conversation.
5) Lived with a German family for much of the rest of the time.
6) Immersed himself and got involved.

He doesn't waste time talking about his method or whatever, although perhaps an overview post will pop up in the future. He's a multi-talented guy with a bunch of interests that go beyond the usual limited "polyglot" vocabulary of talking about language-learning techniques, so it's fun to watch his videos beyond just the entertainment value of watching his struggles.

He seems to be looking for other people who want to do something similar - learning a language for a year in-country and filming it - via the website Lernen to Talk, but I'm not sure how active that project is.

The longest example of his level is from almost a year after he returned from Germany, and it makes a very interesting podcast to boot, can be found in the interview DRadio's Wissen program did with him. You can see that he still makes mistakes, but he is very comfortable speaking in German and does a very entertaining job as a guest! There's also an appearance by an expert in the field who basically says you'll always be crap at another language unless you learn it definitely before the age of 30 and possibly while you're still a small child. I basically got the sense from her that being anything other than an accent-free, native level speaker is a failure. That may not have been her intention, but she seemed quite disparaging in general, including to Mickey's own level. I wish they provided a transcript because then I might have put together a parallel translation for some sections of it, I'll probably never do any of it because I doubt I'll be transcribing it anytime soon :-) But the abbreviated version is: if you're over 30, you're over the language learning hill. Stupid me for starting German when I was already mid-30s :-)

Anyway, check out his videos and share them. I think they're very inspirational for language learners, even if you can't visit the country yourself. Watch someone else's mistakes, have a laugh, see that it's not the end of the world and that they make you better with each attempt, and then go out and make your own mistakes!

A1 level German: Passing the Goethe Zertifikat A1 quickly and cheaply!

When I did my Goethe Zertifikat B2 exam, most of the people in the room were there for the A1 exam. The next biggest group was the A2-ers. There was one girl for the B1 exam and then little old me. No higher exams that day. The reason is that many/most language learners learn it out of necessity or for the opportunities it might bring them and not just for fun. They might even downright hate learning a language. If you are the spouse or partner of someone who is moving to Germany on a work visa, then you will most likely need to pass the A1 exam to be able to join them. So, although you might not like language learning, or not particularly the German language, culture, or country, you have to learn it to join your loved one. So, it might be a pretty mixed bag in terms of motivation!

First of all, let me say that A1 is not a doddle. For me, it seems pretty easy, but I can recognise where they try to trip up beginners and I also remember what it is like to listen to a language in the early stages without the right type of practice. This will require some work. However, it is not a particularly high hurdle and I believe that if you start off in the right direction you'll be able to prepare in quite a short period of time.

Now, it is certainly possible to do it for free because the internet is an amazing resource. A great place to get started is on the BBC's website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/, which also links through to Deutsche Welle's German learning site, amongst others. In particular, the A1 level material can be found here: http://www.dw.de/learn-german/level-a1/s-13227. However, as helpful as some of this can be, I personally found many of the beginner's programs somewhat, ahhh... twee, at best.

But don't just take my word for it - have a listen to some of "Radio D"!

It's really great that this stuff's out there for free, but I think it's just too slow and contains way too much English. The pace is also treacle slow compared to what you can achieve. It seems to be mainly for school teachers. If you're a solo learner, you can do much better.

I personally don't have a lot of experience with a wide variety of packages, but I personally credit Assimil's New German with Ease with much of my success in passing the Goethe Zertifikat B2 exam. I don't think it takes you all the way to the B2 level as claimed, but if you're looking to pass the A1, all the grammar and listening comprehension you need can be found in this book. Even better, you definitely won't need to do 100 lessons to cover all you need. If I were starting from scratch, I would definitely just get this book + audio and get cracking. I haven't done a scientific experiment or anything, but since the difference in difficulty between each level of the CEFR is not constant (in other words, it takes longer to progress between levels the more advanced you are), I would guess that the second half of the book takes you from low A2-ish to B1-B2. B1 in terms of vocabulary and real world listening practice, but B2 in terms of familiarity with the grammar and probably not far off the level required in terms of listening ability for actually passing the exam (with extra exam-specific practice, of course).

VERY IMPORTANT! Don't forget to SHADOW! If you don't know what shadowing is, this will change your world :-) You can skip the bit about walking briskly (I certainly never did, since I mostly did this in the car on the way to work) - just read the section entitled "Using shadowing to master your coursebook, accompanied by other techniques". I never considered that I had finished a lesson until I could "blind shadow" it without any noticeable errors (in my own opinion, of course!) which was sometimes frustrating, and definitely tiring exercise for the mouth, but important all the same. It will help you become comfortable with making the new sounds at a decent speed. The essence of shadowing is simple, really - first, know the meaning of the dialogue. This usually means you've read through the translation and notes at least once. Then just listen to the audio for that day's lesson pretty much continuously until you can repeat the audio just after the speaker has spoken for the whole dialogue. I set myself a benchmark of being error free because it's a specific and measurable goal, but I suspect that doing a 100% perfect run on the whole dialogue from start to finish is not really necessary!

Given all that, you probably don't need to go past lesson 50 to be able to start confidently studying directly for the exam. Even better, the first 50 lessons are a bit shorter and easier than the last 50, so you should be able to manage one per day for at least 5 days per week over a total of 10 weeks, right? If not, you might ask yourself how committed you are the passing the test, because this isn't much to ask, really! If you find yourself struggling to continue, re-check your motivation. That's actually the most fundamental part of the problem for most people.

This will fill up your listening needs for those 10 weeks. What else should you do? You'll want to start practicing speaking as soon as possible, but before doing that I would suggest getting a basic vocabulary list into an SRS based learning system right from the start. If you've read anything else on this site, you'll realise that I highly recommend Anki. Make your own word list (here is a good tip for building one up from your basic course), or download one. The biggest hurdle to passing that A1 exam after using a good quality basic course for a few months is going to be vocabulary. Anki can help a lot with this, but it's not everything. For example, I personally have found that after leaving my Anki list for a long time and then coming back to it that I'm quite rusty on that particular list of words. If you're not doing it every day, your command of your lists of words will definitely diminish.

Some possible ways to avoid this loss is through making up little stories, or using analogies (See some examples at Memrise to get an idea, and also possibly just use it :-) ), breaking long words into component parts and adding those to your Anki list, visualising actions, etc. Also, of course, if you're using and hearing/reading the words as often as possible, they will become firmly implanted in your memory.

This brings me to another point - if you don't want to spend the money on the Assimil course, you can always try Duolingo. I haven't really gone through all the course material for German but I think it might be able to get you to an A1-ish level eventually. You will need to supplement this with a good grammar book/website (after a month or so of the Duolingo course, probably) and the aforementioned vocab training.

Following the Assimil course plan, after about 10 weeks of regular (but not super-stressful) work, you should be able to get into practicing the exam format. You might easily be ready earlier than after 10 weeks, but I think you should be fairly certain before doing the practice exams because there aren't that many available. You can find the Goethe Institute's own practice exams here.

I recommend trying the first one when you think you are ready and then assessing your results. What was your weak spot? For me, the first time I did a practice exam I found that my vocabulary for the required reading was really lacking and I worked hard on improving this. I personally used Lesetraining B2 but there doesn't seem to be an equivalent for A1. I suspect that's because the required vocabulary is so much smaller. I suspect that if you've done 50 lessons of Assimil then you will just need to get used to the sorts of audio content in the exams to improve your results in this area. Also, practicing speaking will be important. Find someone to chat to! The cheapest way to do this is a language exchange, so give it a go! Or even just make new friends who will be kind enough to help you with their language like I did. I found a German-speaker at my work who was willing to help, and made two very good friends through Couch Surfing. Or find a Meetup group. I've yet to go to one, but I know that the group in Sydney is quite active and regular, so I suspect they are in any major city around the world.

Phew! That's all I can think of for now, so off you go and get cracking. Report back in 3 or 4 months when you've sat and passed the A1 exam! Viel Spaß!


(NOTE: Most book links in the blog are now affiliate links with BookDepository to help me continue providing resources for language learners on this site. I chose Book Depository because they're quick and cheap, but you can also check other sites for cheap deals. For Australians, I recommend checking out booko.com.au which compares prices including delivery from a number of suppliers.)