Learning German
Discussion
Not sure which forum to post this in but this seemed like the closest!
I'm thinking of learning German and was wondering whether anyone thinks its possible to pick it up sufficiently to be able to speak it relatively fluently after 3 years of 2 hour night school classes a week?
Ideally I'm hoping to move out there to work once I've finished my PhD.
I'm thinking of learning German and was wondering whether anyone thinks its possible to pick it up sufficiently to be able to speak it relatively fluently after 3 years of 2 hour night school classes a week?
Ideally I'm hoping to move out there to work once I've finished my PhD.
yeah, I reckon
I think that it's a lot easier to understand hearing it than some other languages, like French, which seem to 'blur together' all the words
in German each syllable is pronounced and words are always spelled the way they are written
if you don't get too bogged down in the die/der/das/dem/den/denen/etc you can get along easily enough
I think that it's a lot easier to understand hearing it than some other languages, like French, which seem to 'blur together' all the words
in German each syllable is pronounced and words are always spelled the way they are written
if you don't get too bogged down in the die/der/das/dem/den/denen/etc you can get along easily enough
German is very grammar heavy - like Latin - and suffers somewhat from a propensity to bolt three, four or five words together to make one larger word.
I'd say that three years should have you reasonably proficient but it does depend on the course and tutor. If all you're going to do is a GCSE course followed by an 'A' Level course you won't be nearly as proficient as if you took a course aimed directly at people wanting to learn German 'to live there' and 'business German'.
Also check the tutor - many English German teachers (teachers of German who are of English origin) have appalling accents and if you emulate their pronunciation (and get used to hearing their style) you will find yourself relearning once you get there.
Finally, take some holidays there; nothing like learning a language through immersion!
I'd say that three years should have you reasonably proficient but it does depend on the course and tutor. If all you're going to do is a GCSE course followed by an 'A' Level course you won't be nearly as proficient as if you took a course aimed directly at people wanting to learn German 'to live there' and 'business German'.
Also check the tutor - many English German teachers (teachers of German who are of English origin) have appalling accents and if you emulate their pronunciation (and get used to hearing their style) you will find yourself relearning once you get there.
Finally, take some holidays there; nothing like learning a language through immersion!
Depends entirely on the course, the tutor and the other students! Don't underestimate the abilities of "less able" students to slow up progress...
You could certainly learn enough to get by in Germany in that time, but you almost certainly won't be fluent. But it will stand you in good stead for a major improvement in your language as soon as you go over to Germany - you'll manage to make yourself understood and understand how the language works, then it's "just" a matter of getting used to using the language and adding to your vocabulary.
Good luck.
You could certainly learn enough to get by in Germany in that time, but you almost certainly won't be fluent. But it will stand you in good stead for a major improvement in your language as soon as you go over to Germany - you'll manage to make yourself understood and understand how the language works, then it's "just" a matter of getting used to using the language and adding to your vocabulary.
Good luck.
SGirl said:
hugo a gogo said:
I think that it's a lot easier to understand hearing it than some other languages, like French, which seem to 'blur together' all the words
Depends on which area you're in, to an extent. Some of the German accents can be pretty impenetrable...we all speak Hochdeutsch up here
Thanks for the advice guys!
Its a course run by the university so not GCSE or A-level standard as such, it just keeps on getting more complex as you go on so its based on your ability!
Hopefully 3 years should allow me to live over there and get by for a while before I start picking it up off the locals! The business area I'm interested in speak English primarily anyway but obviously I'd need to survive out of work, and knowing some of the language when you go for the interviews looks good to!
Its a course run by the university so not GCSE or A-level standard as such, it just keeps on getting more complex as you go on so its based on your ability!
Hopefully 3 years should allow me to live over there and get by for a while before I start picking it up off the locals! The business area I'm interested in speak English primarily anyway but obviously I'd need to survive out of work, and knowing some of the language when you go for the interviews looks good to!
SGirl said:
hugo a gogo said:
I think that it's a lot easier to understand hearing it than some other languages, like French, which seem to 'blur together' all the words
Depends on which area you're in, to an extent. Some of the German accents can be pretty impenetrable...I found German a logical language and the way they put words together to make a new one also makes sense to me - e.g. Kuhlschrank literally translated means cool cupboard i.e. a fridge! Krankenwagen = sick lorry = ambulance. The list goes on.
As someone said, the whole gender (der, die, das, sie, Sie etc) thing often comes naturally and it's not worth worrying too much about initially.
I think generally when you're learning it's automatically Hochdeutsch as it were as it's like learning English you learn it properly and when confident with it then bring in the slang.
Tschusi!
(apologies all for the lack of umlauts where required)
As someone said, the whole gender (der, die, das, sie, Sie etc) thing often comes naturally and it's not worth worrying too much about initially.
I think generally when you're learning it's automatically Hochdeutsch as it were as it's like learning English you learn it properly and when confident with it then bring in the slang.
Tschusi!
(apologies all for the lack of umlauts where required)
If you do some lessons to get a decent base understanding of the grammar, then you will pick it up over a couple of months when you live there. I speak French and German and I have to say that French is a much easier language, so long as you can pronounce it. In meetings, even Germans sometimes forget what their verb is going to be at the end of a long sentence.
Zod said:
If you do some lessons to get a decent base understanding of the grammar, then you will pick it up over a couple of months when you live there. I speak French and German and I have to say that French is a much easier language, so long as you can pronounce it. In meetings, even Germans sometimes forget what their verb is going to be at the end of a long sentence.
But German is facilitated to an extent now by the fact that things have been simplified in recent years, deliberately so. And spoken German isn't as rigid grammatically as written German anyway.Both French and German are greatly complicated by the use of the subjunctive, which English doesn't really use very much these days and so English speakers tend not to understand how it's used...
French is probably an easier language to learn in grammar terms (only masculine/feminine, as opposed to masculine/feminine/neuter), but German is easier in terms of vocabulary - it's more closely related to English and so a lot more words "make sense" (cf. the "Kühlschrank" example above).
For a Brit with a decent understanding of English grammar as a foundation, I'd say German is the easier.
SGirl said:
For a Brit with a decent understanding of English grammar as a foundation, I'd say German is the easier.
I'd agree with that, although I'm Danish, but have lived here in the UK many years. German I find logical and straightforward, whereas French, beyond a few phrases and quite a lot of standalone words, just seems impenetrable to me, despite really trying in school, and always giving it a go when there on holiday. I've stopped since I managed to call a waitress a dog once though 
Apart from that, Germans are also happy to speak to you in English, which you may or may not think is an advantage of course, but they're certainly more generally up for it than the French.
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