Flip the page, flip another and another. Where is the letter “S”? Now find the consonant ‘c’ and then ‘h’. God this language, it makes me crazy! I can’t find nothing about this word:
“Streichholzschächtelchen”
I was standing with my German books opened in front of me and a thick Duden dictionary. 1047 pages of a dictionary and I couldn’t find the word. How is that possible?
German, a language that for most people is a tough one. Well, for me as a foreign, I learned the language in two years but with lots of up and downs. Every time I came across someone, they would just ask me: “I want to learn German but in only 4 weeks, should I take a tutor or go to a course or buy a book?” that’s why I made a post for those of you who want things fast and easy in life! As true as it is, a language can’t be learned in only a month, but if you dedicate time and work, lots of work you can achieve your goal easily.
I learned a lot through the years dealing with German and guess what, I reached the point of knowing this language at a level with natives. So, before we reach those long never ending words, I will start from the beginner’s guide:
The Three Golden Rules
Rule 1: Don’t freak out when translating a sentence or the question of the exercise
As much as you love doing an audio course, I would suggest you taking a serious practice book and learn from it. Translate the sentences one by one. In the beginning want make sense some of the words, because of the separable verbs (trennbare Verben) but with a tutor or an online course you will understand it much easier.
Rule 2: Learn the Alphabet
Yes, you read it right. Don’t just think that you possess a Latin alphabet you can learn this language easy, too. There are lots of rules on the reading part so don’t neglect it. Especially the combination with ä, ü, ö and ß (Eszett). Eszett never stands at the beginning of the word and takes the form of a double ‘s’ if it follows a long vowel or a diphthong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpBPaDI5IgI
Rule 3: Study the Grammar
Boring, I know, because I too made it skip in the begging and it caused me a bunch of money to learn it back. So instead of just focusing on the new words take a tour into the grammar bank too. Open those perfect colored tables with der, die, das and try to explain why the ‘girl’ is neutral (Das Mädchen).
And the last but not least, for those of you who are in the process of learning and don’t know how to deal anymore with this language, because ones you enter this game, there is no turning back. I would suggest you to read the following Rules:
Rule 4: Watch lots of German movies
Cinema (Kino) or Netflix are your very best friend till the end of your C1 course. If it is an action, adventure or romance movie never mind. Just hear German words and phrases. Don’t think that “Omg, I don’t understand anything, because they are talking so fast!” I know, I know but don’t back up just, try. Maybe you can, maybe you can understand 20% or maybe 45%, Congratulations! It’s still a great job and plus you did two jobs simultaneously. Relaxed and learned German!
Rule 5: Read German books
If you are at B2 level and don’t know how to move forward just pick up a book and start reading it. So let’s be honest, I read Harry Potter in 4 languages. I will spare you the time which languages, but the point is, reading the same book in different languages can help you remember words more easily. So if you love a series of books just go and buy that one in German too. It will be pretty tough to read all those words that are a mile long but don’t and I mean it, don’t translate each word! Understand the context of the text.
So, I guess I helped you a little bit with your studying and remember one last thing:
Don’t just burry your nose in those books make some practice too, like go play Scrabble! You will be surprised of how many words you could form alone. I once got a single cool word which made me win the game:
German: Legion
English: Legion
#Clementine 