I want to learn German!

[lisako]

Hallo !
I am not sure if I write this here in German BBS,
but I was wondering if you could help me to advise in learning
German conversation.
I have travelled German speaking countries 5 times, and
I would like to stay Austria for several months next time,
and would like to improve until then.
I am fluent in English, but I speak only basic German phrases.
I want to learn conversational German to speak with friends,
do not want learn from complicated grammer.
Do you think how should I start to learn German in Japan?
Your advice is appreciated!

[NANGI]

Konnichiwa Lisako-san!

Do you think how should I start to learn German in Japan?
Your advice is appreciated!

Do you have watched "NHKテレビドイツ語講座"? I watch it sometimes and I like this program. Very fan!

NANGI

[blessed]

hey.

umm, im learning German miself now, and... sadly, you wont excape without grammar in this language as it has oh so much of it... its pretty easy to get the jist of, though and shouldn't take too long. my advise, if you have time, find intensive courses (3-6 hours a day) where you get taught in German, and (even better if you can find it) are forbidden to speak any other language during that period. (this is the way I'm doing it now, and I've only done 6 weeks over a threee year period and I've covered quite a substancial ammount ). my opinion is that if you learn slower, you don't get much done and the process takes ages.

(for anyone interested in learning foreign languages FAST, THE BEST option is Middlebury in Vermont, USA, summer courses (now only available in 2005). They cost a lot ($5000-7000 depending on language), but you are there for 7 weeks, with hours of study. You are also forbidden to speak other languages (and get chucked out if you do) so vocab comes pretty easily. I met a person who went there to learn German, she said that people who can pick up languages easlily get fluent in around 7 weeks (she did so), while the others get fluent in less than 14. Pretty good if you ask me. And although it seems like a large price to pay, thats roughly how much you will end up paying for courses anyway. ) Just thought I should post this for keen "languageeneers".
http://cat.middlebury.edu/ls/academic_policies.html

[bossel]

Hallo !
I am not sure if I write this here in German BBS,
but I was wondering if you could help me to advise in learning
German conversation.[...]
Do you think how should I start to learn German in Japan?
Your advice is appreciated!

Lina Inverse has started a thread German for Starters. There you will find more info.

Don't know, if there is anything in there regarding German for Japanese though, just have a look! The German Japan Forum is supposed to be for Japanese topics discussed in German only. Therefore it's better to pose any questions or suggestions there.

If you have any particular questions regarding German language you can also PM me, if you want.

[Lina Inverse]

As Bossel already said, take a look at my German for Starters thread, and also have a look at my German pronunciation thread
It's more accurate than the pronunciation mentioned in the former.

Other than that, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. You can PM me as well if you want.

[Miss_apollo7]

@lisako
Yes, Bossel and Lina's links are very good for starters....however, the best way to learn the language is by staying in the country!!
You say that you are going to stay in Austria for a couple of months...I am sure that you are a very good German-speaker after your trip to Austria. (although Austrian is very different from Hochdeutsch.

I agree with you that German grammar is difficult.....many rules e.g. ending of adjectives, casus etc....phew!!!

When I go to Germany (which I do often), I just speak the language not thinking about what casus and if my ending of my adjectives are right, if I say "Der" if it is really "Die" etc....the Germans are friendly and understand, and mostly they are happy and impressed that you want to speak the German language!

GO FOR IT!!

[thomas]

I am sure that you are a very good German-speaker after your trip to Austria. (although Austrian is very different from Hochdeutsch.

I have to underscore that we also speak Hochdeutsch in Austria, although the Austrian pronunciation of German is slightly different from German pronunciation. Whenever I talk to Germans they are amused to find out that Austrians still use vocabulary that's considered "antiquated", but charming to them.

[Miss_apollo7]

I have to underscore that we also speak Hochdeutsch in Austria, although the Austrian pronunciation of German is slightly different from German pronunciation. Whenever I talk to Germans they are amused to find out that Austrians still use vocabulary that's considered "antiquated", but charming to them.

Okay, maybe it is the Austrian pronounciation which made me think that it wasn't Hochdeutsch.....gomen....Sorry....
I stayed at a dorm during university with three Austrian exchange students from Graz and they spoke different....

[Lina Inverse]

I have to underscore that we also speak Hochdeutsch in Austria, although the Austrian pronunciation of German is slightly different from German pronunciation. Whenever I talk to Germans they are amused to find out that Austrians still use vocabulary that's considered "antiquated", but charming to them.

Indeed - some of the words used by Austrians never cease to amuse me (no offense intended)
Like e.g. "Erdapfel" (earth apple) for "Kartoffel" (potato)
But apart from that, there are no problems in understanding.

I think what you meant, Miss Apollo 7, is the German spoken in Switzerland - there, they often speak "Schwyzertütsch" which is indeed quite different from Hochdeutsch

[Miss_apollo7]

Indeed - some of the words used by Austrians never cease to amuse me (no offense intended)
Like e.g. "Erdapfel" (earth apple) for "Kartoffel" (potato)
But apart from that, there are no problems in understanding.

I think what you meant, Miss Apollo 7, is the German spoken in Switzerland - there, they often speak "Schwyzertütsch" which is indeed quite different from Hochdeutsch

yes, the German spoken in Switzerland is VERY VERY different!!
Grözi mit einander = Guten Tag

[thomas]

Indeed - some of the words used by Austrians never cease to amuse me (no offense intended)
Like e.g. "Erdapfel" (earth apple) for "Kartoffel" (potato)
But apart from that, there are no problems in understanding.

"Erdaepfel" = "pomme de terre" in French

Another word making my German friends crack with laughter is "Gewand" for "clothes". Or "Kuess die Hand" (kissing your hand) when we greet a lady, lolol.

I stayed at a dorm during university with three Austrian exchange students from Graz and they spoke different....

Believe me, I sometimes have difficulty in understanding their bumpkin-speak, too.

[Lina Inverse]

"Erdaepfel" = "pomme de terre" in French

So they can't tell apples from potatoes either?

Another word making my German friends crack with laughter is "Gewand" for "clothes". Or "Kuess die Hand" (kissing your hand) when we greet a lady, lolol.

You mean, you really actually say these things? Esp. the "Küss die Hand" bit!?

[thomas]

You mean, you really actually say these things? Esp. the "Küss die Hand" bit!?

Occasionally, we also do these things, lolol.

[Lina Inverse]

Occasionally, we also do these things, lolol.

Over here, hand kissing is outdated since the middle ages or something... but whatever makes you happy

[Okami]

Here is an other tip^^:
When I was learning english I startet to read english internet sites about things I like. So I wanted to understand what they say and I learnd the vocabulary by myself because I needed it and I learnd them in context.
If you want to find anything in german you can go to the german google (google.de) and choose "Seiten auf Deutsch".
I think in german massege boards you can also learn how the younger people speak..well, not how they pronounce it, but which words they use.^^ then perhaps things like "Küss die Hand" won't happen *giggles*doesn't mean this in a bad way, just thinks that it's funny*
And when you know the basics you can watch films in english. I don't know if you can get german dubbed films in Japan, but to whatch it in the foreign language with subtitels also helps you to learn how to pronounce or helps you to understand the spoken language, not only written texts.

[Glenn]

Here is an other tip^^:
When I was learning english I startet to read english internet sites about things I like. So I wanted to understand what they say and I learnd the vocabulary by myself because I needed it and I learnd them in context.

In theory this is a good idea. But you have to be careful what sites you visit, or else u mite end up saundin like this.

[Thor]

I'm learning german at my school and I would reccomend going to a community college of some sort and sign up for a foreign language. Don't worry they have summer courses in most community colleges.

[rakuten]

For any Japanese learning German (or vice-versa), this popular dictionary might be helpful:
www.wadoku.de

Japanese terms have to be entered in either hiragana, katakana or kanji.
Romaji input for Japanese terms is not supported at the moment.

[thomas]

That's a very useful page, rakuten, thanks for posting.

Und herzlich willkommen an Bord!

[rakuten]

Note: Although this is the German Forum, I post in English for all the Japanese who want to learn German, OK? And sorry for the size of this post m(-_-)m

There are so many doitsugo links for Japanese learning German, I can't believe learning German is that popular.

Here are just a "few"
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German for beginners - a sneak peek

The famous German language course on NHK TV:
http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/german/index.html

Quick introduction:
http://www.econ.keio.ac.jp/staff/sakai/hu/

Much quicker introduction:
http://www.ns.kogakuin.ac.jp/~d101563/de.html

For first time learners:
http://www.human.niigata-u.ac.jp/~la.../allemand.html

The Merry Project (multimedia site):
http://www.21merry.net
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Information about Germany, German and much more

Lessons, audio examples, grammar etc.:
http://www.euroassist.de/germany3.htm

doitsugo FAQ:
http://sendai.cool.ne.jp/mirkka/institut/germanfaq.html

Lots of helpful information about Europe and Germany:
http://de-jp.blume4.net/index.html

German kitchen:
http://www.pluto.dti.ne.jp/~mikado/
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Studying German

Interesting page, covering doitsugo and everything related:
http://www.doitsugo.com/

Another page here:
http://homepage1.nifty.com/yuki_k/deutsch/deutsch.html

Tipps on how to study German:
http://www.kamogamo.com/jp/deutsch/howtostudy.html

How's your German? Take the test here:
http://www.transparent.com/tlquiz/pr.../tlgertest.htm
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Blogs about doitsugo

The famous "Haa tschi!" blog:
http://himawari.blogtribe.org/

Another blog:
http://germany.exblog.jp/

And some kind of diary:
http://www003.upp.so-net.ne.jp/freiburg/

Another diary:
http://www.tiara.cc/~germany/topics/vhs/vhs.html

...and again a diary:
http://www.monkeymagic.com/index.html

German Garden, some kind of diary(?):
http://germanml.fc2web.com/index.html
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For the "serious" student

Community site for the serious doitsugo student:
http://www.doitsu.co.jp/index.php

And don't be surprised to find Meggle Butter in Japan

Supporting links and tipps for learning German:
http://gaikoku.info/german/index.htm

A student's personal selection - learning material (at Amazon Japan) :
http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/...879297-9971520

For people already studying German:
http://www.euroassist.de/language/learners.htm
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German movies

A recommendation:
http://www.kamogamo.com/jp/deutsch/film/filmTR.html

More German movie tipps:
http://ho47.jugem.cc/

More movies at Amazon Japan:
http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/...879297-9971520
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If the above links were not helpful enough, explore the links on the following pages.

Dozens of links about doitsugo, doitsu, benkyou and ryuugaku on these pages:
http://www.tufs.ac.jp/ts/personal/narita/n_link.htm
http://www.ohnichi.de/Link/link7.htm

http://www.alles.or.jp/~heidel/index.html
http://www.languagecourse.net/discou...-business.php3
http://www.languagecourse.net/discount-ryugaku/
http://www.learn-in-germany.com/jp/

http://www.geocities.jp/asasuke2003/index_japanisch.htm
http://dir.goo.ne.jp/education/02826/02831/
http://de-jp.blume4.net/link/de_4.html

http://home.q05.itscom.net/joe/index.html
http://joe.ciao.jp/lernen/lernen.html
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Wordprocessors: Japanese/English/German

Casio XD-L7150 with audio output (speaks German!) :
http://www.casio.co.jp/exword/product/product/xd_l7150/
http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/...879297-9971520

Casio XD-H7100 -> NO audio output! :
http://www.casio.co.jp/exword/product/product/xd_h7100/
http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/...879297-9971520

Seiko SR-T7010:
http://speed.sii.co.jp/pub/cp/cp/Pro...250&subCAT=101
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As I said, there were much more pages about learning German for Japanese.
How I found these pages? I found 90% in one go, only by asking Google for "doitsugo benkyou" (written in Japanese)! That's all, so simple.

Feel free to send me an e-mail if there are any questions regarding this post.

rakuten

[Camui]

I'm taking German I in my high school..I have to take it for 4 years because of this program I'm in..I already learned some of the basics...but I'm not really good with grammar yet...

[sgt. Pepper]

German is really boring to learn, i didn't learn much from the 4 years i studied it (and german and swedish are pretty similar). :/ But it's a pretty cool language, so creds to you if you have the patience.

So 4 years of studying german only gave me the skills to grasp the main things that a text in german is about, but then i wasn't all that interested in learning either.

[kawaiisan]

Wow.. danke for the links rakuten. Who would have thought joining a japanese forum is the best way to learn german.. all these useful resources (im reading through Lina's thread atm ;) )

and I think the hardest part of german for me is discipline in learning :/

[Lina Inverse]

Wow.. danke for the links rakuten. Who would have thought joining a japanese forum is the best way to learn german.. all these useful resources (im reading through Lina's thread atm ;) )

and I think the hardest part of german for me is discipline in learning :/

‚ª‚ñ‚΂Á‚Ä‚Ë�I
Don't hesitate to ask if you have any problems.

[kawaiisan]

danke!

Well, I guess the hardest problem is motivation.. bleh :/ /me tries to set off 1 hour a day for german...