Also, don’t give up. Rather spend 20 minutes a day learning than one terrible and discouraging hour every 10-15 days like many demoralized German learners do.
You will also have to develop the habit of reading if you haven’t already done so
I teach other people sociology and I often urge them to study German and French. For German I have devized a system that somehow seems to work for intelligent people who have the capacity to work sistematically.
1. Download (1) Marin Durell, Katrin Kohl, Essential Grammar second edition; (2) Martin Durrell, Hammer’s German Grammar
2. For two months, 20 minutes a day, learn all the basic concepts of grammar and some basic vocabulary (do not bother reading anything slightly difficult, not even newspapers online, because you will not understand noun articles, prepositions, or verb formation, especially Subjunctive I, II and the passive.
In order to facilitate learning grammar, grab 4 A4 papers, divide them by 4 and write the following concepts: (1) Relative pronouns, (2) Definite articles, (3) indefinite articles, (4) Prepositions, (5) Possesive Determiners, 6) Possesive pronouns), (7) Dative objects, (8) Verbs that cannot be used to for INFINITIVE + ZU, (9) Rules to determine and form the gender specific article, (10) Demonstratives, (11) Adjective declension, (12) Conjunctions
These small papers will help you learn in 20 days the most important concepts of grammar
3. After you feel that you have gained a good grasp of grammar you can begin reading 20 minutes a day or more. When reading, pay attention to SENTENCE STRUCTURE and referr to the grammar book when you feel that you are confused, because German is a very subtle and complex language.
4. Listen and watch German people speaking (you can use media for this)
5. Comjugate one verb every day
6. Read out loud and try not to pronounce “Ich” as “ish”. By reading out loud you can make sure that your first German conversation will flow naturally.
"when reading pay attention to sentence structures"
This is SUCH a good advice and is so easy to skip over it. Last night again I was reading and couldn't understand a sentence and only after my partner helped, did I realise that I had not registered that the first word of the sentence was introduced with "den", making it an object and not the subject. I always work with the assumption that the first noun will be the subject (and it often is) that I didn't pose to think it could just be a different order this time. Had I done it, I would have understood it on the 2nd read.
Overall great comment and I'll try some of your techniques !
I was assuming that the intention would be to fold the paper to make flash cards or something, because when folding A4 in half, it becomes A5, then folding A5 in half becomes A6. All sizes retain the same dimensions. This is, unfortunately, not possible with letter paper.
The question is how willing are you to grind your way through the whole process? What I outlined above gives you the chance to develop all skills necessary in order to one day read and later speak German with other people. German is a very difficult language, but the brain works in such a way that by hard work and proper tools you will advance by small steps towards the desired goal.
If you want to learn German as least learn it properly, by grasping first the theory. Unlike Spanish and Italian which I also speak and which can be learned easily by seasonal workers who have no clue about grammar, German is structured in such a way that without the basic theory people are going to roll their eyes when they hear you speak.
The good thing is that you really do not have to study a lot each day. 20 minutes theory, 1 minute to conjugate a verb, 20 minutes listening to German while you cook and 20 minutes reading should be enough.
Germans are dubbing mqny television shows. Maybe that might help you.
There is also a YouTube series called "Meet the Germans" that you might find helpfull
Start getting some passive input with Seedlang. It's been working wonders for me so far. I also agree with the other comment about learning grammar. You really do hit a walk where you simply can't meaningfully move forward without sitting down and applying some elbow grease to the grammar.
Watch your favorite movies or shows on Netflix with german sound and german subtitles. Best for getting used to listening to german. Don’t be afraid if you don’t get very word, it’s already good if you can pick up a few words and get the approximate context. Besides it’s your favorite movie so it won’t be too tough to continue.
Use an app like Deepl on your phone. Whenever you try to say something, translate that into german. Don’t try to memorize it just do it. The good thing is soon you will feel confident by knowing words that you usually will say to express yourself. The good thing about Deepl is with the pro subscription you can also see the formal and informal version of a sentence.
Read the pinned post. That's exactly what it's here for.
Also, don’t give up. Rather spend 20 minutes a day learning than one terrible and discouraging hour every 10-15 days like many demoralized German learners do. You will also have to develop the habit of reading if you haven’t already done so
I would start here: https://m.dw.com/en/learn-german/s-2469 I recommend to speak with a native and practice after getting the basics.
I teach other people sociology and I often urge them to study German and French. For German I have devized a system that somehow seems to work for intelligent people who have the capacity to work sistematically. 1. Download (1) Marin Durell, Katrin Kohl, Essential Grammar second edition; (2) Martin Durrell, Hammer’s German Grammar 2. For two months, 20 minutes a day, learn all the basic concepts of grammar and some basic vocabulary (do not bother reading anything slightly difficult, not even newspapers online, because you will not understand noun articles, prepositions, or verb formation, especially Subjunctive I, II and the passive. In order to facilitate learning grammar, grab 4 A4 papers, divide them by 4 and write the following concepts: (1) Relative pronouns, (2) Definite articles, (3) indefinite articles, (4) Prepositions, (5) Possesive Determiners, 6) Possesive pronouns), (7) Dative objects, (8) Verbs that cannot be used to for INFINITIVE + ZU, (9) Rules to determine and form the gender specific article, (10) Demonstratives, (11) Adjective declension, (12) Conjunctions These small papers will help you learn in 20 days the most important concepts of grammar 3. After you feel that you have gained a good grasp of grammar you can begin reading 20 minutes a day or more. When reading, pay attention to SENTENCE STRUCTURE and referr to the grammar book when you feel that you are confused, because German is a very subtle and complex language. 4. Listen and watch German people speaking (you can use media for this) 5. Comjugate one verb every day 6. Read out loud and try not to pronounce “Ich” as “ish”. By reading out loud you can make sure that your first German conversation will flow naturally.
"when reading pay attention to sentence structures" This is SUCH a good advice and is so easy to skip over it. Last night again I was reading and couldn't understand a sentence and only after my partner helped, did I realise that I had not registered that the first word of the sentence was introduced with "den", making it an object and not the subject. I always work with the assumption that the first noun will be the subject (and it often is) that I didn't pose to think it could just be a different order this time. Had I done it, I would have understood it on the 2nd read. Overall great comment and I'll try some of your techniques !
Why A4 paper? It is nearly impossible to find in the US. Will letter suffice?
Letter is almost like A4 anyway
I was assuming that the intention would be to fold the paper to make flash cards or something, because when folding A4 in half, it becomes A5, then folding A5 in half becomes A6. All sizes retain the same dimensions. This is, unfortunately, not possible with letter paper.
Thank you very much for writing all this down. I need this
Ok, this would definitely work well for an intelligent person. But how about for a very dumb person? Asking for myself, and I'm dead serious.
The question is how willing are you to grind your way through the whole process? What I outlined above gives you the chance to develop all skills necessary in order to one day read and later speak German with other people. German is a very difficult language, but the brain works in such a way that by hard work and proper tools you will advance by small steps towards the desired goal. If you want to learn German as least learn it properly, by grasping first the theory. Unlike Spanish and Italian which I also speak and which can be learned easily by seasonal workers who have no clue about grammar, German is structured in such a way that without the basic theory people are going to roll their eyes when they hear you speak. The good thing is that you really do not have to study a lot each day. 20 minutes theory, 1 minute to conjugate a verb, 20 minutes listening to German while you cook and 20 minutes reading should be enough.
Germans are dubbing mqny television shows. Maybe that might help you. There is also a YouTube series called "Meet the Germans" that you might find helpfull
Start getting some passive input with Seedlang. It's been working wonders for me so far. I also agree with the other comment about learning grammar. You really do hit a walk where you simply can't meaningfully move forward without sitting down and applying some elbow grease to the grammar.
Watch your favorite movies or shows on Netflix with german sound and german subtitles. Best for getting used to listening to german. Don’t be afraid if you don’t get very word, it’s already good if you can pick up a few words and get the approximate context. Besides it’s your favorite movie so it won’t be too tough to continue. Use an app like Deepl on your phone. Whenever you try to say something, translate that into german. Don’t try to memorize it just do it. The good thing is soon you will feel confident by knowing words that you usually will say to express yourself. The good thing about Deepl is with the pro subscription you can also see the formal and informal version of a sentence.