It may come as no surprise that Mark Twain titled an 1880 essay “The Awful German Language” based on years of experience wrestling with it. Then, you can practice using those rules for yourself with these free online exercises—just click a series of words in the correct order to build German sentences. (Deutschlernenmüdigkeit maybe?) Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. Click here to get a copy. FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive transcripts. Come on! Das Resteessen = meal made from leftovers. When reading, this means focusing on the words you do recognize to try to figure out the meaning of any new words rather than immediately reaching for the dictionary. If you’re an Englisch speaker and wish Deutsch zu sprechen, there are a few things to keep in mind to aid you on your journey to master the German language by yourself. Either highlight unfamiliar words, or jot them down as you go. Don’t let the honeymoon period slip away. You might also like to read up on the key to unpacking some of the more dastardly compound nouns. That’s why you need a reliable source of engaging native German material that’s perfect for your level. After the eight steps, we also have several other fun German practice techniques that you can use at any stage of your German language learning. Just like with single words, begin practicing simple phrases that you might say on an average day. Remember, notes? This went on for a year. FluentU brings German to life with real-world videos. You could even move or travel to Germany if you make it a priority! Finally, we know this is a guide on how to learn German by yourself, but it’s super helpful to connect with native German speakers, or even fellow German learners! Be creative with the ideas above—don’t just learn it simply from a book. Keep things interesting by learning slang, funny words, and idioms.. We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe, Get regular language learning tips, resources and updates, starting with the "Complete Guide to Foreign Language Immersion" e-book, Sign up for our weekly blog newsletter for a chance to win a free FluentU Plus subscription (value $240). This guide will show you the best way to learn German alone in eight practical steps, packed with resources and valuable tips. What I mean is that the best way to learn German is to really get involved in the language. When the experiment was repeated 3 years later, the conclusion was the same: by correctly spacing practice sessions, learning—and retention—is dramatically improved. Of course, language-learning fatigue is not particular to German. Once you’ve done that, don’t miss our post on tricky German pronunciations. So what does your study plan look like? Come on! Listen to how each letter sounds on... 2. If you see an interesting word you don’t know, you can add it to a vocab list. The same words, reversed, but this time with the emphasis on the “meal” part. The BEST book to learn German vocab. Regardless of your reasons to learn German, you can actually immerse yourself in German from anywhere, letters with an umlaut (two little dots above the letter). Ebbinghaus, doing his very best to live up to national stereotypes, devised a fiendishly tedious experiment. This can be viewed as a real head start over somebody from another language group. If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn German with real-world videos. But when bombarded relentlessly with new and ever more confounding grammatical rules—and worse, their exceptions—it can feel very much like you’re the one under assault. I’ll tell you more about learning German with FluentU later! As your level improves, or to give it a boost now, try watching some German films with German subtitles. Highlight any words that don’t make sense and then look them up later in a German dictionary. This is one of those “language hacks” that can get you on the road to real German communication faster. How to Learn German by Yourself: 8 Simple Solo Steps to Speak German 1. The Berlitz Self-Teacher -- German: A Unique Home-Study Method Developed by the Famous Berlitz Schools of Language ... German: A Self … This is all about learning German sentence structure and word order. FluentU is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Don’t really have one? All Rights Reserved. A routine is important: repetition and consistency are known essentials to an effective learning strategy. Here’s a sneak peek at all of the treasures waiting to be uncovered: You could even use websites to find a German friend wishing to practice English! If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn German with real-world videos. Yes, that’s right—guessing, or if you want to get technical “inductive learning,” has a legitimate place among the good habits of successful language learners, particular in an immersive environment where you’re repeatedly encountering new vocabulary much faster than it’s sinking in. I’d get it just for the extra German practice. So as you can see, the grammatical side of German can be tricky to learn at the beginning. 4.5 out of 5 stars 134. Good for casual self learners or as a supplement; not for classes. You want to dive into all the at-home German resources out there, but there are so many… which ones are worth your time? Some intensive language courses in fact promote this ineffective practice by serving up new grammatical concepts to students day after day and churning through textbooks at breakneck speed, without allowing time to reflect and absorb. Or given up on a newspaper article because of the frustration of reaching for the dictionary every 30 seconds? In my case, both the screened-out Post-It notes and the pages full of forgotten vocabulary stem, The solution was relatively simple: introducing a weekly review period to go over what was learned the week before (it helps to do this at the same time every week, after a certain activity, so that the habit sticks) and transferring new vocab that I wanted to remember to flashcards, Incidental learning might include watching. So you’ve been learning German for a while now and the Flitterwochen (honeymoon) is well and truly over. Now you have many tips and tools to succeed!