How to Learn German from a Native Speaker Who's Never Taught?

October 20, 2005 1:26 PM

I've decided that I would like to learn German from my best friend, who is Austrian. We have no idea how to go about doing this. We're thinking that I need to learn basic grammar and syntax first, but I'm not terribly concerned with reading or writing German. I'd like to get some textbook and curriculum recommendations and hear from anyone who has taught their native language to a friend.
posted by lunalaguna to writing & language (10 comments total)

German is tricky, and a foundation in grammar will help a lot. The vocab is easy, because a lot of the words are cognates: shoe and Schuh, hand and Hand. Some that aren't direct cognates are cognates of synonyms, like chair and Stuhl.

The grammar, especially conjugating verbs, it tough to learn by listening and speaking. You really have to drill with it. Word order, which is the other tough nut to crack with German, is easier to pick up in conversation, in my experience.
posted by nyterrant at 2:03 PM on October 20, 2005

Not a specific book recommendation, but when my wife learned German, she got a thin book (from B&N, I think) that had 100 or so stickers in the back with common German words on them:
Chair,Table,Window, etc.
We had those little yellow stickers plastered everywhere and you'd often hear her mumbling them to herself.

Second, make all your written communication to your friend (email/IM) in German. I know you say you don't want to learn to read/write, but writing it down is the best way to get the conjugations right in your head.

Third, and this is really important, your friend needs to correct you when you make a mistake. When you first start, you'll sound like a kid (using "seen" all the time, rather than "saw"", etc). Your friend will be able to make out what you're saying, of course, but it's important that they don't ignore your mistakes because they get the gist of it.

A final quick note, if you don't understand a word they use, have them try to explain it to you in German, rather than just using the English equivalent. It may take longer, but it'll expand your vocabulary quicker.

Good luck, it sounds fun.
posted by madajb at 2:14 PM on October 20, 2005

I would definitely recommend 501 German Verbs for the most common verbs and their conjugations. Practice, practice, practice those irregular verbs.

Association is a good memory technique. You'll need it to learn the gender of various nouns. Further, depending on the gender you use (say, Schild) the noun can take on different meaning (say, a license plate versus a medieval shield).

Grammatical usage of German can change depending on whether you are writing a sentence or speaking it in conversation. Textbook work won't help you here as much as practicing with your friend.

Using conjunctions can be mostly idiomatic, and unusual conjunctions can be tied to certain verbs to impart a specific meaning. Learning these will come down to practice.

Good luck! German's a beautiful tongue.
posted by Rothko at 3:07 PM on October 20, 2005

How about trying to get some german movies on DVD?

You can watch them with the Subtitles on. I found that was a good way of learning. When I was studing French.

It would probably help to watch them with your freind though.
posted by gergtreble at 3:49 PM on October 20, 2005

Association and context make it much easier to learn a language. You have the perfect opportunity to go walking/window shopping with your friend, speaking only German, so you can learn the names of everything in context. Grammar will flow from that.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 3:52 PM on October 20, 2005

Keep in mind that Austrian-German is a different dialect than standard German. Germans sometimes have trouble understanding Austrians because of this. Can't imagine it'd be a big problem though.
posted by hellbient at 4:13 PM on October 20, 2005

I'm in the process of learning American Sign Language (a very neat language) the same way. I've found that having some of our daily conversations in ASL is very helpful (my friend is not deaf, and we would normally converse in English). It can be painful at times (for both of us), but we force ourselves to complete the conversation in sign. Of course when I get stuck, I can always resort to finger spelling, but I am then given the appropriate signs, and immediately use them.

The biggest limitation to this technique is that I am comfortable conversing about a very narrow range of topics, and am ignorant of many signs that someone learning ASL from a book or class would know early on. On the other hand, I think I have a better grasp on the grammar of the language (and how it differs from signed English) than most beginners.
posted by i love cheese at 5:11 PM on October 20, 2005

Actually I think reading is pretty important, even if you're going after conversation skills. Unlike English, German has strict pronunciation rules. With a good textbook, you can learn these rules in an afternoon, and after that you can pronouce anything you read (tho it takes some practice, and the "ch" sounds are especially tricky).

Reading will immensely help your grammar, which isn't really all that different from English. (But what's different is really different--some verb tenses, word order).

I'm trying to learn Japanese, and because I can't read kanji, it makes learning whole orders of magnitude more difficult than a European language. I wish I had the luxury of reading, even if I didn't understand the meaning.
posted by zardoz at 5:31 PM on October 20, 2005

I don't know about learning from a friend, but I am currently taking a class at a local language school with an instructor. The textbook they have us using is Ultimate German: Basic-Intermediate Coursebook by Living Language. There is also an edition that comes with a follow-along CD. The book focuses equally on grammar and vocabulary, which I like. It's been pretty helpful for me as I am good with the vocab but get stuck on the proper grammar.

I second the notion of watching lots and lots of German films (oh, there are so many good ones!) as this is where I've learned most of my vocabulary from and is an excellent next-best option when you don't have any German friends to talk to. It's so important to hear the language spoken in a natural context, outside of learning tapes and CDs which are geared towards beginners and therefore speak uber-slow and clearly, unlike real life.
posted by RoseovSharon at 6:42 PM on October 20, 2005

Was ist daß? Und was ist daß?
Wo ist daß?
Wer ist daß?

Another great way is finding German/English primers. My dad has a great one on Dürer that basicly is just a biography. They only translate every fifth word or so, and only the ones that are complicated or rare. You'll pick up the basics of German really fast (basic grammar, etc.) and then be able to improve your vocabulary steadily.
Oh, and Austrians don't speak German. Neither do Baverians. They're all like "Erdapfel" for "Kartoflen" and junk. (Though keep in mind that I've forgotten nearly all of the German that I worked so hard to learn because there's no one to practice it with.)
posted by klangklangston at 6:30 AM on October 21, 2005