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Absolute Beginner!!

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  • 02-12-2010 7:28pm
    #1
    Einhard
    Registered Users Posts: 6,920 ✭✭✭


    Hey all,
    I'm hoping to start a course on Charlemegne next September, and while the source material is in Latin, much of the secondary material is in French and German. I've been making good progress on the Latin front over the past year or so, and I studied French in school, so while it's dormant at the moment, it won't take much to re-activate (I hope!). I'm contemplating having a crack at German, but I have absolutely no idea what to expect. I spent three weeks as an 11 yea old doing an introductory course, and out of that I know "Ich heisse Einhard" and, for some strange reason, "Is Klingelt" which I've probably spelled wrong. And that is the sum total of my German. So, I was wondering if people here could fill me in on what it's like to learn; how difficult it is; and crucially, is it a language that lends itself to home learning? I have approx 9 months to work with, and I can devote about 10 hours a week to study. Unfortunately, I doubt I'd be able to afford a trip to Germany in that time. Bearing in mind that I'll also be working on my Latin and my French, is it do-able? Can I teach myself German from scratch to a reasonably proficent level in 9 months?


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    #2
    Carry
    Registered Users Posts: 1,024 ✭✭✭Carry


    Your German seems to be quite literate:
    Einhard enter stage left, knees in front of Charlemagne: Ich heisse Einhard.
    Karl der Große smiles, Einhard smiles back, then: Es klingelt.
    Karl is surprised, Einhard hurries away, leaves stage right.

    Seriously, though, it is doable to learn German at home in 9 months, especially if you only need it for reading.
    You start with the basics how German works (grammar etc.), then learn the vocabulary, and start to read a lot. Start with news (print or online), go on to more complicated feature articles, get a feeling for the rhythm of the language. Read your books.
    While reading you can always look up missing words.
    Try to get a good CD for learning German, or books.

    Depending where you live you might try and meet some Germans who might give you some support.

    If you don't understand something, you can always ask here.

    But it's quite a project learning three languages at the same time. Good luck with that!


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    #3
    Einhard
    Registered Users Posts: 6,920 ✭✭✭Einhard


    Carry wrote: »
    Your German seems to be quite literate:
    Einhard enter stage left, knees in front of Charlemagne: Ich heisse Einhard.
    Karl der Große smiles, Einhard smiles back, then: Es klingelt.
    Karl is surprised, Einhard hurries away, leaves stage right.

    Who is this Karl der Große you speak of? Do you mean to tell me that my nickname isn't entirely unique and original?!:eek::D

    Nothing like a bit of Carolingian theatre!!
    Seriously, though, it is doable to learn German at home in 9 months, especially if you only need it for reading.
    You start with the basics how German works (grammar etc.), then learn the vocabulary, and start to read a lot. Start with news (print or online), go on to more complicated feature articles, get a feeling for the rhythm of the language. Read your books.
    While reading you can always look up missing words.
    Try to get a good CD for learning German, or books.

    Depending where you live you might try and meet some Germans who might give you some support.

    If you don't understand something, you can always ask here.

    But it's quite a project learning three languages at the same time. Good luck with that!

    I think I'll need more than luck!! Thanks for the reply though? Would you have any suggestions on basic grammar books? I don't want anything too heavy in case it scares me away!


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    #4
    liah
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,750 ✭✭✭liah


    There's a website called Livemocha that does Rosetta Stone-like language courses for free online. I've signed up to a few of them, mostly for the craic-- it's pretty handy, especially if you practice every day.

    It brings you from the very basics to general conversational German, it'd be a decent base imo.


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    #5
    Carry
    Registered Users Posts: 1,024 ✭✭✭Carry


    Einhard wrote: »
    Who is this Karl der Große you speak of?

    First lesson:

    Karl der Große is the German name of Charlemagne, which means the same: Carolus Magnus. You do know Latin, you said?
    He was King of an empire where neither a German nor a French state as such existed. He just ruled a territory which encompassed the lands which is today France and Germany. Hence his name in both languages.

    I'm surprised that you don't even know the German name of your subject.
    You really start from scratch, don't you?

    Watch this: http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/beitrag/video/1184758/Folge-1-Karl-der-Grosse-und-die-Sachsen#/beitrag/video/1184758/Folge-1-Karl-der-Grosse-und-die-Sachsen


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    #6
    Einhard
    Registered Users Posts: 6,920 ✭✭✭Einhard


    Carry wrote: »
    First lesson:

    Karl der Große is the German name of Charlemagne, which means the same: Carolus Magnus. You do know Latin, you said?
    He was King of an empire where neither a German nor a French state as such existed. He just ruled a territory which encompassed the lands which is today France and Germany. Hence his name in both languages.

    I'm surprised that you don't even know the German name of your subject.
    You really start from scratch, don't you?

    Watch this: http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/beitrag/video/1184758/Folge-1-Karl-der-Grosse-und-die-Sachsen#/beitrag/video/1184758/Folge-1-Karl-der-Grosse-und-die-Sachsen

    Sometimes humour doesn't carry well in the written word, and this is one of those moments!! Of course I know who Karl der Große is...he's Charlemagne's brother!;)

    Joking aside, thanks for the link.


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