If you’re here and reading this article, chances are that you’re looking to learn some German. Or even better, maybe you’re already in the process of German learning and would need a boost. After reading this post, most of you would be thankful to have stuck around.
For a total beginner, it’s pertinent to learn a bit of basic grammar. No matter how many tips and tricks you follow, a solid base of grammar is important. And a much better way for you to understand that would be to take a look at this blog right here.
So, my fellow German learners, I learned German way back in 2016 all on my own – no class – no course, it was me and just a few books to my aid. The main reason behind this was the unavailability of a language school around my city. But fortunately today, somebody wishing to learn German is not bound by any of such problems.
But we will talk about all that later someday and for now. Here are 5 things that you can do to instantaneously, boost your German learning.
Install a browser extension that helps with German Learning
My friends there at Toucan have come up with a mind-boggling solution to make easy the difficult German vocabulary. I’ll explain what exactly I mean by that step by step.
Step 1: Install Toucan on your browser by clicking on the button below!
Step 2: Select the language that you wish to learn
What Toucan does is convert your normal web text into German. So for example whenever you visit a website now, the extension would pick out certain words and translate them to German. Voila! You are now able to surf around the web and the extension force-feeds your German vocabulary. If you buy the premium version, it has even more features that you can take a look at.
Keeping it on the medium setting will allow you to freely read the text on the web and still learn some German words.
Avoid Comparing German to English to boost your German learning
One of the most common and foolish things that you can end up doing is comparing English to German. Let me tell you, my friend, it is an absolute WASTE of your time and can seriously hamper your German learning.
Do German and English look similar? Yes.
Do they sound similar? No.
Does knowledge of one have any impact on the other? Miniscule.
German and English are both separate languages, pointing out similarities in them would only take you so far. And this is one of the main reasons a lot of time is wasted in language schools as the students keep looping this habit.
Try to learn from a Native Speaker
This used to be a very expensive thing to do, but fortunately, now we’ve come out with our own set of German courses. And at present, you can learn A1 and A2 levels of German with us. I am fluent in German but I am still not a Native speaker. But my wife Alina is a German national, and she grew up in Germany, speaking German as her mother tongue.
Faster German A1 Course
What differentiates us from the rest of the market?
The course is completely self-paced, which means you do not have to sit around in long and boring classes. The biggest complaint that I receive when it comes to language schools is that a lot of time gets wasted in the whole spiel.
If you’re living somewhere and attend in-person classes, you’d have to get ready, travel to the language school, attend the lectures and come back home. And the normal duration for a language class is at least 2 hours and 30 minutes. While you may think that this is the actual time you spend learning German, it cannot be farther from the truth. A lot of time is wasted in such classes just because of the multi-human-error factor.
Try to catch up with Native speakers
Now, this is hard to pull off, but if you go to random chat rooms such as Omegle.com, you will come across people who might be willing to help you out. Exposure is the key here, and you should try to get as much exposure as possible for you. And of course, you cannot trust that you’d 100% come across good strangers on Omegle, but still, it is definitely worth giving a try.
Just go on the platform and try to build up a conversation. Somewhere down the line, you can just ask people if they would like to practice a bit of German with you. Generally, most people would agree to this and there you are, creating opportunities for yourself.
If you’re uncomfortable showing your face, try this
For those of you who are shy and cannot talk to people a lot, you can try to find a pen pal for yourself. And the website that I would recommend for this is studentsoftheworld.info. It is a website that is full of people wishing to learn English and exchange information and culture. Most people here would love to help you with the barter trade. Although, it goes without saying that you’d need some good English skills for you to be able to be selected as a pen pal. I find the idea of having someone write very fascinating because there’s an emotion attached to a well-drafted email or a message.
I still remember the times when I and Alina would write to each other over email. That was our choice for a medium. (Important thing to mention here is that I never wrote to Alina with the purpose of learning German)
You never know how much you improve just by writing alone, and whenever you’re trying to communicate a message to another person – voila! You’ve cracked the matrix of language learning.
Get to know the German culture!
Any language is the way it is because of the people that use it. And these people use the language in a very specific way, that reflects their culture.
Languages rely heavily on context and while two words may have similar meanings, usually their context varies.
Culture doesn’t have math formulas, so you will need to observe, and if possible participate in your capacity to actually get the culture. How to do this? There are a number of ways. The easiest way is to watch movies and series in German. In addition, you could watch vlogs and other content created by native Germans in the German language. This way, you will be able to also get more information about the city and country you are planning to move into. Follow German meme pages and news channels to be updated with current scenarios that could come up in conversations. And if you really are dedicated, try reading books written in the German language.
