7
votes
When studying German, how much time should be spent on learning grammar rules vs. vocabulary?
German vocabulary and grammar are tightly related, which makes it quite impossible to learn a basic German vocabulary without at the same time also learning and understanding the basic rules of German ...
- 416
6
votes
Relearning/refreshing language skills
In my opinion, start reading books and watching videos (all in German of course).
Start with difficult stuff, stuff that only fluent German speakers could easily understand. If the material is too ...
- 5,318
6
votes
Accepted
Swiss German Learning
A quick Google search brings up quite a few results. Pimsleur, the language learning program, has a Swiss German course available for $42 USD, which includes ten thirty-minute mp3 lessons that will ...
- 9,107
6
votes
Relearning/refreshing language skills
I was in a similar situation with Korean, and I found that when I started re-learning it, beginner material was too easy, but I had large holes in my knowledge in intermediate and advanced materials; ...
- 201
6
votes
Graded readers for German?
There are Eli Graded Readers for several languages, including German. The books come with a CD containing narrated excerpts from the book. They also contain other content, such as a glossary at the ...
- 19.7k
5
votes
German grammar books with exercises and answer key for self study
The most famous book in this area is "the yellow one": Lehr- und Übungsbuch der deutschen Grammatik – aktuell by Hilke Dreyer and Eberhard Schmitt, published by Hueber. This book was first published ...
- 19.7k
5
votes
What resources do we have to learn German using our phone?
There are so many apps available on Play Store to learn the different languages but, the most rated app i have found on Play Store is DuoLingo which is useful for learning the basic things in any ...
- 51
5
votes
How should an Indian whose primary language is not English start learning German?
Your knowledge of English is very helpful in this regard. In your shoes, I would rather learn German using English as a base rather than Hindi.
Find a book or an online resource in English that will ...
- 1,869
5
votes
What resources can I use to master German word order?
There are a lot of resources on German word order out there, usually giving a set of standard rules to go by.
Dartmouth College has two good pages, one that "emphasizes formal structures and ...
- 787
5
votes
Accepted
Language learning seems tough and a long process
Think in terms of a process rather than results
You are continuously using your native language (I guess) and learning new words, since the language has to talk about new concepts, so new words are ...
- 3,425
5
votes
Accepted
How to understand prepositions in German properly?
That translations given to prepositions is very misleading. Unlike such parts of speech as nouns, verbs, and adjectives, the prepositions do not have unambiguous translations. Rather they function as ...
- 446
4
votes
Accepted
Has a corpus-based unprofessional bilingual dictionary ever been written - how was it received?
Dictionary creators who are not trained in linguistics or lexicography are in good company.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) created his A Dictionary of the English Language between the years 1746 and 1755 ...
- 19.7k
4
votes
How to say "Alexander I" in German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish?
In Romance languages, adjectives and nouns agree in number and gender, so there are different versions for kings and queens:
Catalan: Alexandre primer, Elisabet primera.
Spanish: Alejandro primero, ...
- 229
4
votes
Relearning/refreshing language skills
I believe that by "going 21st Century" and using the Internet, and then doing the following will help you quite a bit to re-learn much of the German you apparently believe that you have ...
- 416
4
votes
Accepted
Path for German A1 to B2 certificate in one year
The Centrum voor Levende Talen (CLT) in Leuven, Belgium offers two types of German language courses: (1) for native speakers of Dutch, Afrikaans, Danish, Norwegian or Swedish and (2) for native ...
- 19.7k
4
votes
How to know the frequency of usage of a German word in speaking?
The type of resource you are looking for would be a frequency list or a frequency dictionary for German (in German: Frequenzwörterbuch). This type of dictionaries is created on the basis of a (text) ...
- 19.7k
4
votes
Where to find didactic video stories in simple German
I have some recommendations for you.
Here you can find videos about everyday life in Germany. I think, this is a quite nice channel, representing German by authentic language examples. The playlists ...
- 191
3
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to learn B1-level German in 3 months?
In order to study at a German university, you need level C1, not B1 or B2. Students need to prove their proficiency by taking tests such as TestDaf, the Telc C1 test or the Goethe-Zertifikat C2: ...
- 19.7k
3
votes
Accepted
Resources for learning Texas German
Since the dialect is more or less dying and the available resources and descriptions are aimed at linguists rather than language learners.
The linguist Hans C. Boas (University of Texas at Austin) ...
- 19.7k
3
votes
German grammar books with exercises and answer key for self study
The book Übungsgrammatik für die Grundstufe by Friedrich Clamer and Erhard G. Heilmann, published by Liebaug-Dartmann, fulfills your criteria. You can see it on the publisher's website here. The ...
- 31
3
votes
Is there a website to practice grammatical gender of nouns in German?
There are a few German websites that each provide a small set of exercises. For example:
Lingolia: Genus - Übungen.
Levrai: Nomen: Übungen zum grammatischen Geschlecht.
Donnerwetter: Der, die oder ...
- 19.7k
3
votes
Accepted
How to study to reach level B2 in German on my own?
It may not be tough for you. Because one who has German B2 level can easily pass TestDaf. But, you need to prepare with a plan of actions and practice more.
There are four sections: 1. Reading, 2. ...
- 62
3
votes
Relearning/refreshing language skills
I'm thinking about the same problem with refreshing my Italian. My approach is to use Duolingo - you can quickly go through the things that you already know and focus on topics that are weaker. Plus, ...
- 131
3
votes
When studying German, how much time should be spent on learning grammar rules vs. vocabulary?
Note: this is just my personal opinion and may not apply to everyone.
I found that prioritizing grammar works quite well. If you know the grammar, you can construct any sentence (even if your ...
- 131
3
votes
When studying German, how much time should be spent on learning grammar rules vs. vocabulary?
There is no recommended ratio for the time you should spend on vocabulary versus the time you should spend on grammar. You need both. And you need some vocabulary to start with, since you need ...
- 19.7k
3
votes
How should an Indian whose primary language is not English start learning German?
I am also a Indian. It is not hard to learn German.
Contrary to what many people believe, this language is easy to learn, especially if you are well-versed with English. English and German are similar ...
- 53
3
votes
Language learning seems tough and a long process
A lot of language learners think it is difficult for anyone to acquire languages but it is just a social and cultural process and we are naturally predisposed to achieve it anyway. I've known a lot of ...
- 51
2
votes
How can an advanced learner in an FL context get rid of grammatical errors?
One can take several approaches, which can also be combined.
A haphazard approach: Always carry a notebook (or a digital equivalent) with you in which you can make notes about things that create ...
- 19.7k
2
votes
Recent German novels (and other literature) for level B2
The page Deutsche Lektüre für unterschiedliche Niveaustufen by did deutsch-institut lists several books for level B2 that have been recommended by teachers.
Almost half of them were published before ...
- 19.7k
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