I haven't formally learnt German since my school days . I still have my old phrasebook & German/English dictionary. Rather than waste my time on stupid websites I thought I try & improve my grasp of the German language instead. Anyone done that at home & can recommend what they used ? I can't go to evening classes because something called work gets in the way. I'll pop over my local library when it's open & see what they have there. I don't want to rely on just Google translate either.
Owen, there´s no way of learning the correct German language on your own, without the help of someone who was born there... I know, Iwas born there, and I´m living here in Germany now. The german which is taught in "schools" is atrocious, to say the least!... Alles gute für Dich mein Freund, und viel Glück in Deinem Vorhaben! Es wird ein langer steiniger Weg, aber mit Ausdauer wirst Du das schon schaffen...
Why should you learn German? Use one or two good dictionaries and when in doubt ask the members of the forum. I think there are a lot of members around who could help you out. ... and not to forget Google translation. ein bisschen Dumm
stolpi. I loved learning German at school. I've had a few holidays over there & got by OK with my little bit of German. The other day I thought rather than endless hours wasted on the internet looking at rubbish I ought to do something useful. I've decided I want to improve my German. For instance back in 2008 I went into the campsite booking office in Remegan & said in German , that I had arrived & had a reservation etc etc. Then chap thought I was fluent & carried on in German & I got confused & had to apologise that I wasn't that good. Also years ago when staying with some German friends in Hannover they thought it really funny when I said ''fernsehen sturm'' instead of ''Fernsehturm''. TV storm not TV tower. I really should be better at it.
Foreign languages are very topical at the moment. Was on the news this morning with UK businesses bemoaning the lack of skills... but the fact remains that English is spoken so very well by foreigners, sometimes better even than by the native speakers. I'd have to agree about how badly they are taught here. It shouldn't all be about grammar and being correct, but about being confident and willing to try. I'd love to see foreign languages introduced at junior school level. Having said that my grammar school only taught German O level in sixth form - a 2 yr course and I took the exam after a year just to see. In fact I had enough time to rewrite my answer sheet out again neatly and leave just after an hour had expired. When I showed my first sheet to her, I remember my mother being less than impressed by my standard of written German. I passed with an A grade. I think half the battle is trying to think in another language, rather than trying to translate mentally - master that and it'll all come naturally. Haven't checked it out but here's a link for you Owen BBC - Languages - German: All you need to start learning German
Here in Holland Dutch and English are mandatory at school, together with a third foreign language either French, German or sometimes Spanish - English is already tought at basic school. In my schooltime most of us were glad that we could drop the German. Though Dutch and German are very similar - if I speak Dutch to a German he can understand most of it and vice versa - the grammar isn't. The German grammar is rather complicated.
I think half the battle is trying to think in another language, rather than trying to translate mentally - master that and it'll all come naturally. Yeah our teachers used to say that too. Easier said than done. I was rather good at German, top boy in the class in all the tests, then got to a certain age & started messing about in lessons rather than get really stuck into it. Ending up with a crap CSE grade rather than the O level I should've got.
Danke fur deine hilfe. Jetzt Ich habe ein kopfschmerzen . Ist das richtig ? Not quite Owen, but with a bit of persistance... Jetzt habe ich einen Kopfschmerz. Jetzt habe ich Kopfschmerzen. by the way, being the son of an ex soldier, my schooling wasn´t the best. I went to school in (B.F.P.O) Germany Cyprus, Aden, England (Bicester) Wales (Cardiff), and now live in Hannover, would you believe!
Owen: you should also bear in mind that if you take a formal course of any sort in current German, you'll be learning the latest spelling reforms, which date back to only 1996. German orthography reform of 1996 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A lot of my research into motor sport history involves using 1930s and 1940s German, Austrian and German/Swiss sources - even older native German-speakers tell me that they have trouble with these due to the sentence structure, convoluted grammar and odd (at times) spelling. And that's after we've transcribed it out of Fraktur into something legible So, if you're planning on working with contemporaneous German documents I'd recommend obtaining not a new German dictionary but an old one: I have a 1960s Cassell's and a 1950s Langenscheidt's, in addition to a Collins for the post-1996 stuff!
Owen If it makes you feel any better ... My husband announced to my German grandparents that he could speak some German ... When asked what, he said: Achtung Spitfeuer! Ach, mein glorious Panzerdivision. Hände hoch Britischer pigdog Comics had a lot to answer for!
Mein Freunde wohnen in Isernhagener Strasse im 1992 , wisst du das strasse? Blimey!!! Your German certainly is rusty!!!
Mein Freunde wohnen in Isernhagener Strasse im 1992 , wisst du das strasse? 1992 wohnte mein Freund in der Isernhagener Strasse, kennst Du die Strasse? Ja, ich kenne die Strasse sehr gut, ich fahre jeden Tag dran vorbei!
Here in Holland Dutch and English are mandatory at school, together with a third foreign language either French, German or sometimes Spanish - English is already tought at basic school. Same in Denmark. English and german are mandatory, and when you reach a certain grade you're free to choose either spanish or french. The newest thing government-wise, is to implement chinese, due to more and more danish companies are selling and trading in China.
This all depends really on whether you want to be correct all the time or whether you want to get something across without too much embarrassment. I can't be bothered most of the time trying to work out all genders and Nom. Acc. Dative cases for articles: so long as the noun is right, and the sense conveyed, it'll do. We all make errors even in English, so if you remember that, then building up confidence should not be a problem. Any embarrassing ones can always be laughed off ... I loved hearing a story from one of my Dad's ex comrades who insisted on speaking in the German he had learnt as a POW, when taking about distributing propaganda leaflets over Germany - he meant to say he had thrown (using verb: schmeissen, geschmissen) out of a bomb bay hatch ... guess what he verb he did use !
Owen If it makes you feel any better ... My husband announced to my German grandparents that he could speak some German ... When asked what, he said: Achtung Spitfeuer! Ach, mein glorious Panzerdivision. Hände hoch Britischer pigdog Comics had a lot to answer for! Diane, I nearly fell off my chair, that´s hilarious, I would have loved to have been there at the time stolpi Ja, ik ken deze straat zeer goed. Ik rijd er iedere dag voorbij yes, and you can also see the similarity of single words with the English language...rijd (ride)
