You must have experienced it before - you hear someone speaking in German and you immediately get a chill down your spine. Whether it's because it's a language that twists the tongue and breaks the teeth, or whether it has to do with the history of Germany or you're someone who really loves the German language, we can all agree on one thing: German is a challenging language.
For someone like me, who has learned the language before and after moving to Germany and who likes to learn new things constantly, the process will always look something like this:
Yes, learning a new language is something that can push you to the edge; but you will see that, step by step, the content comes in and in a reasonably short time, you will start speaking German!
So let's start with the question -
Why should I learn a new language? Doesn't everyone speak English there?
So... no. But it would be easier, wouldn't it?
What's more, learning a new language (especially that of a place you are moving to or spending a lot of time in) helps with many things! Including
- brain improvement and that of other abilities;
- comfort in trips, getting to know new people and cultures;
- expanding career options.
This is surely enough to make you want to begin, isn't it?
How long does it take to feel comfortable talking?
This is a somewhat complex question and it depends on the nature of your learning and the amount of practice. There are "easies" languages such as English and Spanish, whose learning time is shorter, about 650 hours in the classroom. German is a little more complex and can take about 900 hours in a class, but don't let it frighten you, since there are many similarities to English, and the number of grammar rules can actually help with the structure.
So I gathered some tips for you to try to get below the aforementioned 900 hours, and even have fun along the way:
1. Determine your goals
Want to learn just to learn? For work? To talk to cashiers in the supermarket? Being prepared in advance will help set your goal, give you a clear direction, and boost your motivation, confidence, and self-esteem, With the help of a clear goal, you can reach other aims on the way to it. Start with short, medium, and long-term aims so you can track your steps. A long-term goal would be to have an actual conversation with a German speaker. For this, you need medium-term targets like passing a test or understanding a few episodes in a series. To get there, you need short-term targets like understanding words related to certain topics.
2. Learn as many useful words as possible
The rules of the German language are not easy at all. There are "trennbare" words, the accusative and dative, words that change the structure of a sentence, and lots of other strange rules, but learning how they work will come with time. They say that 1,000 words are enough to know how to communicate comfortably in a foreign language - and from personal experience, this is true. You have tons of great apps for learning words, like Duolingo, Rosetta Stone, Fluent Forever, Memrise, Babble, and the list goes on. I recommend using one program (personally I liked Memrise and Babble) and downloading something called Flashcards, which allows you to write the word on a card and its meaning on the other side. It is recommended to add a sentence to the interpretation of the word that will help you remember the meaning more easily. For example, der Tisch - "table" - My husband (der) placed the fish (similar-sounding word) on the table.
Sounds funny and convoluted but really works!
3. Watch as much German content as possible
As a non-native English speaker, how did I learn and improve my English? By watching series and movies, playing computer games, talking with people, and watching social media posts. That's an easy way of learning new words and phrases, and we also had a hard time with it at first, until we start getting it. It's a process that can take years, but the more you get used to hearing the language (Playing games and watching videos all day ain't that bad all of a sudden, huh?) the more your brain will know how to connect the dots. I also learned Spanish from telenovelas by just watching them as a child. I don't recommend German telenovelas that much, but they have series and movies that aren't bad at all! In general, there is a really excellent dubbing culture in Germany, and every movie released in the cinema is also dubbed into German, so take some movies you know well and watch them in German without subtitles! It will be very difficult, but you will start to understand the discourse more and more.
4. Don't try to find the logic too much
This is something my husband experienced with maximum intensity. He likes to study topics related to psychology, science, and physics, behind which there is usually a logical explanation as to "why" something happens. In language studies, it is the complete opposite!
Languages were invented by people and their rules were rooted in dialects for thousands of years while taking inspiration from other languages. So trying to find the logic behind something like,
"Why, when you use the word weil, does the verb move to the end of the sentence?!"
...won't really help you too much and will create frustration. The best method is to understand that this is how it works, internalize it, and move on. You can try asking the same questions about the English language, and there the answer will usually be, "that's the way it is".