Six Month German Learning Post

Hallo Freunde!  


Well, the 6 Month mark has come and gone.  Am I where I had hoped?  Not really.  Am I proud of what I have accomplished?  Yes.  Very proud.  What have I been up to for the last Month?


1.  Continuing with sentences.  Yes, I feel like I finally hit pay dirt with this method.  I am really getting a grasp on grammar this way without studying the boring textbook stuff.  I have found that once I get the layout of a sentence, I can mix and match verbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs to come up with dozens of variations for each sentence.  This is VERY motivating as it feels like I am learning things at a quick pace.


2.  Vocabulary.  I have been slacking on new vocab words this last Month and concentrating on solidifying the vocab I already have.  I try to use a lot of "self talk" to force this vocab into my active use but it is tough without easy and consistent access to native speakers.


3.  Verbs.  I have been pushing the verbs hard this Month and I am having mixed results.  It seems like every time I learn 10 new verbs, I find a need for 20 more that I don't know yet.  Language really IS all about verbs.


4.  I signed up for Lang-8.com and have been submitting material for correction as well as correcting other people's submissions in English.  If you have not checked this out, do so.

5.  MUSIC!  I know, every post I'm sure I've found the ultimate learning tool and this one is no different.  I found some German songs on Youtube that I liked and I imported them to my iPod.  I have been listening to this pretty consistently.  What I do is: listen to a song all the way through about 3 or 4 times.  I pick up a few words here and there and try to figure out what it is about.  Next, I pull the German lyrics of the internet and follow through with the song a few more times.  I pick up a lot more this way.  Finally I pull the English translation off of the internet and go through the song a few more times.  After this, I find that I really understand the songs and can stop focusing on translation and just enjoy the songs.I have learned a lot of good stuff this way.  Here are a few bands to check out:  Rammstein (heavy), Bosse (light rock), Tokio Hotel (Pop-punk), and Azad (rap).  Much more enjoyable than studying grammar!


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