Learning German

MungBean

Wanna learn German and I was wondering if anyone could recommend and online stuff or books that are held in high regard. Not against paying for stuff online as long as its reasonable.

First place I looked was rosetta stone but the cost is borderline extortion so thats that out the window. Is there a decent alternative that wont cost a fortune ?

number10a

http://www.livemocha.com/ is a really decent (and IMO better) alternative to Rosetta Stone. For main languages like German there are in-depth options available that you can pay for (much cheaper too), but the free course is even very good in itself. I don't think you could use the website on its own, might needs books or classes too, but I don't think you could use Rosetta Stone on its own either.

MungBean

number10a wrote: »

http://www.livemocha.com/ is a really decent (and IMO better) alternative to Rosetta Stone. For main languages like German there are in-depth options available that you can pay for (much cheaper too), but the free course is even very good in itself. I don't think you could use the website on its own, might needs books or classes too, but I don't think you could use Rosetta Stone on its own either.

Just signed up to that and I'm on a 6 day trial. After the trial will the course be still available or will I be only be able to access parts of the site?

number10a

Not really sure to be honest. I assume that because its a free trial, you're trying out the course that you pay for. That probably won't be accessible after the six days are up, but the Basic German course is free so that will always be accessible to you regardless of trial periods.

Poltergeist

I am not a fan of live mocha or rosette stone methods. It always comes down to personal preference though.

I would recommend a more substantive course like Assimil German with Ease. This has a course book with a lot of audio spoken by German native actors so you can tune your ear to German. It really is a super course. I hear Teach Yourself German is also good but I never used it. I would recommend also starting out to get you hands on Michael Thomas Beginner German Course.

You can get any of these on-line on Amazon or EBay for example. But don't forget to check your local library first - it could be free waiting for you there on the shelf!

In terms of websites you can bookmark www.dict.cc for a dictionary. Also there is deutsche welle (http://www.dw-world.com/dw/0,,2547,00.html). It has a learn German section with tons and tons of learning materials for all levels. Bookmark that also. I have being using it continuously throughout my study. It's gold.

All that's left is a bit of motivation and you will definitely be speaking German in no time.

I made the choose to learn German and it has been so fulfilling. Be the turtle not the hare. And enjoy the journey. If any method is tiring you drop it for a while and pick up some new material. Keep it fun.

Good Luck or Viel Glück!

MungBean

Poltergeist wrote: »

I am not a fan of live mocha or rosette stone methods. It always comes down to personal preference though.

I would recommend a more substantive course like Assimil German with Ease. This has a course book with a lot of audio spoken by German native actors so you can tune your ear to German. It really is a super course. I hear Teach Yourself German is also good but I never used it. I would recommend also starting out to get you hands on Michael Thomas Beginner German Course.

You can get any of these on-line on Amazon or EBay for example. But don't forget to check your local library first - it could be free waiting for you there on the shelf!

In terms of websites you can bookmark www.dict.cc for a dictionary. Also there is deutsche welle (http://www.dw-world.com/dw/0,,2547,00.html). It has a learn German section with tons and tons of learning materials for all levels. Bookmark that also. I have being using it continuously throughout my study. It's gold.

All that's left is a bit of motivation and you will definitely be speaking German in no time.

I made the choose to learn German and it has been so fulfilling. Be the turtle not the hare. And enjoy the journey. If any method is tiring you drop it for a while and pick up some new material. Keep it fun.

Good Luck or Viel Glück!

Thanks for the help, I'm gonna try livemocha and see how it goes, worst case scenario I'm come away with a bit more understanding that I already had. I'll keep and eye out for those books and bookmarks those pages. The motivation might be the troublesome bit :pac:

Poltergeist

Ich wünche dir viel Erfolg!

MungBean

Poltergeist wrote: »

Ich wünche dir viel Erfolg!

Danke, Ich würdigen es.

gigawatt

why dont you go to your local library and borrow a language course?!

MungBean

Is there much that I could get from the library course that I wouldnt be able to get online ?

Poltergeist

You have to go in and find out! Us old fogies have been doing it for years. :cool:

And don't forget that there is inter-library lending also. So if the book/course that you are looking for is not in the library you can order it from another library. Just ask at the desk.

Port Royale

hi, here's two alternative online dictionaries

http://dict.leo.org/ende?lang=en&lp=ende&search=
http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/

the leo website has native speakers (both english and german) in the Forum discussions section who help out with translations of terms in a specific context.

dict.cc actually makes use of dict.tu-chemnitz.de (among others)
dict.tu-chemnitz.de provides audio samples

netten abend noch

Little Alex

I think different things work for different people, MungBean.

I taught myself German without any learning books as such. I started off with a cheap tourist phrase book and a pocket dictionary and bought the Bild newspaper to translate articles out of it. Bild is written in simple enough German and I found it to be a good starting point. I also found listening to the radio very helpful. At first I couldn't understand a word, but it got better and better with time. I would say that after about nine months I could start to hold a reasonable conversation.

Rubecula

Not sure if this site can help you. But it may be of some use.

http://sharedtalk.com/

Poltergeist

^^ Ich würde auch sharedtalk.com empfehlen.

Guter Vorschlag Rubecula. Ich hatte nicht dieser Webseite erinnert.

Frisian

Posted this link several times before.
Take a look @: Deutsche Welle
or in english: Learning german

Rubecula

Poltergeist wrote: »

^^ Ich würde auch sharedtalk.com empfehlen.

Guter Vorschlag Rubecula. Ich hatte nicht dieser Webseite erinnert.

Sie sind herzlich eingeladen. Hoffentlich wird es hilfreich sein.

Poltergeist

Ich hatte es vorher verwendet und es ist sehr empfehlenswert. Ich selbst verwende es momentan nicht.

innad

€20,000 for a tutor?! You could get a degree in German for that price :eek:

innad

smartergerman wrote: »

] If you think you can do it going to a school, find someone who has been there and speaks proper German.
<snip>
... you might also be more gifted than most learners than you might end up with 200 lessons for 20€ each aka 4,000€. That'd be an ideal case scenario though.

Considering I do speak German, I'm not sure why you are addressing me as if I need to learn it? And I do know plenty of people who learned German in school and/or university and who are fluent.

However, in my opinion no amount of tutoring can compare to spending time in a country and immersing oneself in the language and culture, and that is why a lot of schools and universities offer exchange programmes and scholarships.

innad

smartergerman wrote: »

How could I have noticed that you speak German?

<snip>
Most of them barely make it through their exams or simply fail. Of those who make it and end up in a university I would say at least a third fail mainly due to lack of proper language.

<snip>
What I want to say is that you might be right but also be simply under the sole impression that there are many who learn German without a teacher without hitting the facts. And I might be very strict with the definition of 'proper German' as I can hear many people speaking fluent broken German. If that suffices the learner, I have nothing to object here.

Why would you automatically assume I don't speak it? This is a German forum.

I'm not really sure what your point is here, my issue was with the fact that you suggested that learning "proper German" would cost €20,000.

I never said anything about learning a language without a teacher.