How to learn German on your own: step by step instructions
Do you want to learn a language without spending money?
Are you sleepy just at the thought of having to attend classes and do your homework?
You can not decide where to start and what resources to use?
Our answer is to learn German on your own! And how exactly - you will find out by reading this article. .
Whether you are learning German for a reason, whether you are attracted to German culture or the language itself, whether you are going to Germany to study, work or travel, you have a unique opportunity to take responsibility for your own progress in learning German. By studying the language on your own, you yourself set the "rules of the game": what to learn, in what sequence, how many hours a day, how many times a week.
Perhaps you already have a question: is it possible to learn a language on your own without spending a lot of money?
Our answer: yes, you can!
Become your own personal tutor and teach yourself how to speak German! On the Internet you can find many free sources:
- German films, series, radio, books and newspapers
- web pages dedicated to learning German
- audio courses
- free apps
The internet is full of these treasures just waiting to be found! As you probably noticed, you can create an atmosphere of immersion in the German language right at home without spending a penny.
If your first foreign language is English, then it will be a little easier for you to start learning German on your own. As you know, English and German belong to the same language group - Germanic. However, in addition to similarities, these languages have many differences. For example, German grammar is significantly different from English, but has common features from Russian.
Can't wait to get started? Here are 8 steps to start your exciting German language journey.
1. Master the alphabet
You should start mastering the German language from the very beginning, namely from learning the alphabet. If you are already familiar with English alphabet, then we can safely say that half the work is already done. And yet, take enough time to practice pronunciation. special attention require a combination of vowels and consonants, as well as letters with an umlaut, since depending on whether two dots are above a, u, or o, the grammatical form changes, and often the meaning of the word.
For example, Apfel is an apple, and Äpfel is apples, schon is narrower, and schön is beautiful.
2. Learn simple words
At the very beginning, learn a few simple words and expressions in German, for example, master greetings, pronouns, as well as such elementary words as "yes", "no", "thank you", "please", "excuse me", etc.
3. Enrich your vocabulary
Learn new nouns, verbs and adjectives every day. It is important from the very beginning to get used to memorizing German nouns along with the article. Set small and easy tasks for yourself, for example, learn,. Change the language on your social media pages and on your phone to German, and I guarantee that you will instantly remember words like "Freunde", "Nachrichten" or "Einstellungen".
4. Master the word order of the German sentence
The next important step is . Most likely, your interlocutor will be able to understand what you want to say, even if the word order is wrong. However, you should not be guided by the principle of "just to say" and hope that you will be understood. Try to be strict with yourself and not give yourself concessions so that your interlocutor does not fall into a linguistic stupor.
5. Learn short German sentences
Having mastered the word order, you can safely move on to memorizing small phrases in German, which are often used in everyday speech. For example, "What's your name?", "How are you?", "What time is it?" etc.
6. Watch movies in German
One of the nicest and effective ways learning a language is like watching movies and series. Watch films with Russian voice acting and German subtitles, and after a while you will notice the result. You can also watch your favorite, well-watched and memorized films or series in German voice acting, which will surely give you a lot of impressions and increase your vocabulary. While watching movies, feel free to "parrot" and repeat individual words or whole sentences after the characters, which will favorably affect your pronunciation.
7. Read the news in German
Try it, what if you like it? Unfamiliar words can always be looked up in the dictionary!
8. Chat with Germans and people who study German and are interested in German culture
Even if you are determined to learn German on your own, a little help can still come in handy! Register on forums and portals dedicated to learning German, join
Decided to learn German but don't know where to begin? Or do you want to repeat the material forgotten at school? Do you want to practice on one's own? Specially prepared for you online lessons for the study of the German language.
So what does the site offer you for a successful learning German from scratch?
First of all, especially for the entry level in the form online lessons tutorials have been prepared German language training A. A. Popova for beginners and advanced levels. No prior knowledge is required from you. All elements of the language are issued step by step. The most important thing that is required of you is a wish learn German. At first, you may have a dislike for dull German sounds, with time it will completely or partially disappear. Details about the organization of classes in the study of the German language are written in the first introductory text. Performing the exercises is not at all difficult, because for this there are special forms for entering text, as well as keys with answers. To view the answer, hover your mouse over the key: . You can peep back only after you complete the exercise! If you have any questions, you can ask them under the lesson in the form of a comment.
Go to -› lesson list ‹- (Click)
Reasons for learning German
- German is not difficult.
Words are both heard and written, you just need to know the letter combinations. You probably don't even have to learn the alphabet, because it is of Latin origin, which most people already know. And if you know English, it gives you a big advantage. English and German have common roots, which means that there are a lot of similarities, which will greatly facilitate its study. In addition, the German lessons on the site are very simple, so if you can't learn them, congratulations, you are very lazy. * there should be Flash's sloth emoji here, but there isn't one* - German is the most commonly used language in Europe.
English, French and German are the 3 official languages of the European Union. In absolute terms, German is the second most commonly used. However, if native speakers are taken into account, German comes first. Knowing a language gives you about 100 million more people to communicate with. Of course, this is not a billion, as in Chinese, but still - German is the language of inventors and innovators.
A large percentage of the most outstanding achievements were first invented in Germany. More than 100 Nobel Prizes went to outstanding German scientists for their achievements in physics, medicine, chemistry, literature and other fields. And that's not including Austria and Switzerland, the other 2 main exponents of the German language. So if you are going to add Nobel Prize on your resume, learning German might not be a bad start. Well, at least you can read their scientific papers. - Deutsch - important language in the scientific community.
It is the second most used language in the world of science. One of the reasons for this is that the German book market is the 3rd largest in the world, just after Chinese and English. Only a small number of books have been translated from German into other languages. Therefore, knowledge of German is simply necessary here. - German is the key to world-class higher education.
Universities in Germany have an excellent international reputation. In 2011, the country was the fourth most popular among international students, with over 250,000 of them enrolled in German schools. Moreover, the German system higher education boasts a high number of universities with very low tuition fees and even completely free. Not surprisingly, scientists and researchers gather there in droves. Sounds like a good investment for the future. - Germany is the locomotive of the European economy.
German is an interesting choice not only for researchers, but also for businessmen. Germany is the largest economy in the European Union and 4th worldwide. It is home to numerous international corporations and is always at the forefront of new technologies. Communicating with someone in their native language has always been a sign good manners and using German with business associates can dramatically increase your chances of effective negotiations and successful professional relationships. - German companies are world market leaders.
Do you want to work for a company that is a leader in international market? Knowing the German language can help you open the right door. Germany is home a large number strong economic players such as Siemens, BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche, Adidas, Hugo Boss, Lufthansa... And that's not all. Meanwhile, Berlin is turning into a hub for innovative start-ups. Some even call it the Silicon Valley of Europe. Therefore, knowing German offers a huge potential for improving your career opportunities. - German is also a huge online audience.
You don't even have to meet those 100 million people in real life. You can do this while lying on your favorite couch. German sites make up a huge part of the internet. Technically, the German domain.de is the second most popular after.com. Second place in the entire Internet! Yes, I'm shocked myself. - The Germans are everywhere.
Even if you don't intend to visit a German-speaking country or don't feel like stalking Germans online, don't worry: the Germans will find you. If you have traveled, you must have already noticed this phenomenon. German citizens are among the most insatiable travelers. With six weeks annual leave and lots of money to spend, you can run into these "poor fellows" anywhere in the world. It is only recently that the championship has passed to tourists from China, and before that the Germans were the leaders. Therefore, even a little knowledge of the language can be useful to you on the road. - German culture is part of the world heritage.
Despite the fact that the Germans have a reputation as analysts and lovers of logic, the German-speaking world is also an outstanding mind in the fields of music, literature, art and philosophy. It is the language of Goethe, Kafka, Brecht and Mann. It was the mother tongue of the composers Mozart, Bach, Schubert, Beethoven and Wagner. Revolutionary philosophy was first written in German when Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche and Heidegger were just starting out. Learning German gives you the opportunity to appreciate the masterpieces of these creators in the original. What is Goethe's Faust alone worth! - If none of these reasons are right for you, then this reason is Rammstein.
Learning German is hard to imagine without the use of textbooks. And if you have just started learning, then you can’t do without them at all.
Hello dear friends. My name is Alena Kirpicheva, I have been teaching German for about 12 years. AT recent times Several people have been added to me on Skype, who, in principle, are not going to study with a tutor, they would like to learn German on their own.
They just ask for advice - where to start, what to take on and, in general, where, so to speak, to run, and where not to run.
Where to begin?
So, you have decided to learn German on your own. The first thing I would recommend is to take some TEXTBOOK as a basis. It would seem a simple solution, but, nevertheless, for some reason, not everyone decides to start with the choice of a textbook.
For myself, I have long divided German textbooks into two types: textbooks published in Germany and prepared directly by native speakers, and textbooks published in Russia. And in those, and in others, there are both minuses and pluses.
German textbooks are aimed at developing conversational skills. In them you will find real German speech, conversational phrases. Grammar is taken without fail and it is immediately applied in conversation. I love Themenneu, Delfin, Schritte. But what, in my opinion, is a drawback of German textbooks, the grammar is not always worked out as it should.
Those. exercises for the formation of grammatical skills are not always enough. This shortcoming, however, can be more than made up for by using some Russian textbook. This is where you will find "grammatical paradise". A lot of exercises, translations.
Everything is aimed at the formation and consolidation of grammatical skills. But, unfortunately, this has nothing to do with the speaking skill, and the vocabulary, most often, has long been outdated.
In my opinion, the best thing is to combine German and Russian textbooks. I’m not sure if it will be possible to study on my own “from scratch” using German textbooks - everything there is in German, oddly enough. So if you are completely a "teapot", it makes sense to start using some kind of Russian allowance. Everything is laid out in great detail there. Well, then you still need to combine.
Phonetics
Don't neglect phonetics! Your pronunciation is what the interlocutor hears first of all and from what, in fact, he gets the first impression of how you speak the language.
Tell me whose speech will be easier for you to understand: a person whose good pronunciation and some grammatical errors, or someone who has a terrible pronunciation but excellent grammar? I feel better with the first one. I agree, it's debatable. But nonetheless. I would say “they meet by pronunciation, and see off by grammar” 🙂
Yes, repeating words after the announcer is not the most exciting activity. But, firstly, this will serve you as a wonderful training in the rules of reading on initial stage. And secondly, it will save you from detailed reading"introductory phonetic course", which is available in almost all domestic tutorials.
I love pronunciation tutorials by Middleman Doris „Sprechen Hören Sprechen”, Gerhard G.S. Bunk "Phonetik aktuell", Assimil publishing house "German without labor today" ("Deutsch ohne Mühe heute"). Everything is clear, there are exercises for each sound. So, we chose a textbook, we train pronunciation ...
Grammar
As for grammar, everything is simple: in any tutorial there is a lot of everything for practicing grammatical structures.
But, you can use something extra. I like from domestic Aliyeva S.K. "Grammar of the German language in tables and diagrams", Ovchinnikova A.V., Ovchinnikov A.F. "500 grammar exercises", Tagil I.P. "Deutsche Grammatik in Übungen" and "Deutsche Grammatik". I love the last two books very much - everything is very detailed, there are a lot of exercises for each rule.
The grammar of German publishers is also a lot: Chr. Lemke and L. Rohrmann "Grammatik Intensivtrainer A2", S. Dinsel and S. Geiger "Großes Übungsbuch Grammatik", of course, Dreyer Schmitt "Lehr- und Übungsbuch der deutschen Grammatik" . I would not recommend starting with it: for a beginner there is a lot of unfamiliar vocabulary. But it will definitely come in handy in the future.
Vocabulary
Learning words is perhaps one of the most pressing issues in learning the German language. How to determine the gender of a noun? Are there any rules governing this matter? Dear friends, yes, there are some rules. Also you will meet them in the above mentioned books.
But, I'm afraid that such rules as, for example, "to masculine titles are natural phenomena(winds, precipitation)" or "all nouns ending in "-ung" - female” and two dozen more similar ways of determining the gender of nouns will not always be able to help you. Therefore, the gender of nouns SHOULD be LEARNED. Deal with it.
Der-Die-Das
Every German noun has an article (which depends on its gender). Memorize articles with the help of an exciting game. Can you complete all levels?
But the most important thing is vocabulary training in conversation. Here we smoothly approached the topic of conversational skill.
Speaking skills
Well. It seems that everyone has learned - the first 40 words, a couple of grammatical rules, and have trained pronunciation. In general, armed. So, now the most important thing. We need to start talking. You need an interlocutor to have a conversation. Since you are learning the language on your own, you don't have many options. Your first interlocutor is yourself. Yes, you will have to TALK TO YOURSELF first.
First, you will always listen to yourself (as they say, it's always nice to talk to smart person), you will not be in a hurry and you will be able to complete the phrase without fuss, calmly. Secondly, you simply have no other options to start with. Start simple. Describe everything that is around you, everything that happens.
For example, you have mastered the design "Das ist ein(e)..." have done the exercises. We start training: walk around the apartment and say: "This is a table, this is a chair, this is a cup, this is a spoon". Take a dictionary with you to look up unfamiliar words. 🙂
Learned several verbs and their conjugation - describe what you are doing: “I wash the dishes. The cup is here. Mom is talking on the phone. Everything is simple. Do not build long phrases at once. Operate within the grammar rules that you have already gone through. And gradually, replenishing the vocabulary, studying all the new grammatical rules, complicate the sentences.
Describe everything that happens around you, what you see and hear. In general, gradually build up momentum. So you will understand the memorization of articles (especially when cases come up) and grammar. A monologue will be built.
For dialogical speech, still look for a real interlocutor. The forums are full of people who are looking for someone to talk to in the language they are learning. Go there, find a bunch of friends. Again, Skype opens up many new possibilities. You can find carriers, just pleasant conversationalists.
Note! In principle, I believe that a tutor, by and large, is needed to teach how to speak. This is an interlocutor who will correct mistakes. You can deal with grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation yourself, although it will certainly be easier with a tutor.
I think at this point I would like to put a comma in my reasoning on this topic. There are some other points that I would like to highlight. But I will leave them for the next article. Have questions? Feel free to write in the comments!
To broaden your horizons, you need to learn foreign languages. They will help to better understand a foreign culture, touch the great works of the classics of world literature in the original and learn a lot of new and interesting things. Choosing a language should be based on your preferences.
People interested in Germany ask the question, is it possible to learn German on your own? Those who have achieved success in this responsible business confidently say yes. You just need to try a little and spend some of your free time.
What is needed for this?
For positive result you need to be motivated and set a deadline for achieving the goal. It is equally important to organize the learning process in an interesting way, otherwise the desire to master a rather complex language can quickly evaporate. Decide what you want to start doing. Perhaps you have a trip to Germany, work in a German company or communication with native speakers. There can be many reasons. After all, Germany is the leading country of the European Union, and its language is very common and popular.
To learn German from scratch on your own, it is important to choose the right learning material.
- A good option is audio lessons. It is convenient to listen to them in public transport, making good use of the time needed on the road and at lunchtime.
- Together with an audio course, it is often necessary to use diagrams, special cards, textbooks or other didactic material that helps to quickly master knowledge.
- Along with audio lessons, it is useful to study the German self-instruction manual. Try using "German for Beginners" compiled by V. Bukharova and T. Kessler. With it, you will quickly memorize elementary phrases.
- Be sure to purchase a comprehensive German-Russian and Russian-German dictionary. Set a goal to memorize 10 new words every day, and you will not notice how your vocabulary will be enriched.
- Visual information is perceived by many people faster. Therefore, in order to learn the language and improve pronunciation, video lessons are necessary.
If at home, without outside help, memorize the articles and Irregular Verbs if it doesn’t work, sign up for courses and study as part of a group. There you will receive regular tasks for self-fulfillment, communicate with like-minded people and, perhaps, you will achieve success faster.
Alphabet and umlaut
You need to start learning from the basics. The first thing a language learner has to deal with is the alphabet. For those who attended English classes at school, this will not be difficult. The languages belong to the common group - Germanic, and their alphabet is of Latin origin.
- If you set yourself a serious goal, you can master the language quickly. In it, words are written in the same way as they are pronounced, you just need to know consonants and vowels well and remember when an umlaut is placed above the letters Ä ä, Ö ö and Ü ü - two dots above.
- You need to figure this out and learn how to pronounce the umlaut at the very beginning, otherwise your speech will be difficult to understand correctly.
- Most often, two dots appear in words used in plural, but sometimes they completely change the phrases. It is convenient to learn how to pronounce them by listening to educational audio or video material.
Some people mistakenly compare the umlaut with a feature of the Russian alphabet - the letter Y. In fact, there is absolutely nothing similar between them. These dots have different meanings.
Start of classes
The main difficulty in German is articles. They are used to determine the gender of nouns. German grammar is different from Russian, so students at first have to memorize nouns along with articles in order to speak correctly.
If you do not abandon learning, gradually the articles will no longer be a problem, and mastering the language will begin much faster.
Learn new words systematically. It should be not only nouns, but also other parts of speech. For successful memorization of prepositions and verbs, it is advisable to find educational verses or songs. In this form, they are deposited in memory faster.
Remember learning foreign language at school. At first, the children learned to describe pictures, memorized elementary expressions, the names of the days of the week, months, and kitchen utensils. Do not neglect this moment. Simple words necessary for communication.
A little later, it is important to understand how the Germans build sentences. They do it differently than the Russians, so it's hard for beginners to figure it out.
- The Russian language has its own rules, and it is easy to arrange the words in a sentence in the most diverse order. In German, this is strictly prohibited. There, each word has its place, and their order is rigidly fixed.
- To understand, you need to learn the unions and remember that in German grammar The subject always comes first and the verb comes second.
- In addition, it is important to learn the forms of verbs, which can also be difficult. You need to learn how to manage them, decline in cases, use in the plural and singular.
If you need to know how to learn German on your own and quickly, after mastering the basics, watch films released in Germany. It is useful to include a film that you have seen many times in Russian voice acting, so you are well acquainted with the plot and the dialogues of the main characters. A simple way of learning will bring a lot of impressions and significantly increase vocabulary.
Search the internet for the German-language TV series Extra Deutsch. It is designed specifically for learning. The characters in the film pronounce phrases slowly and clearly, so you can calmly repeat the expressions after them. Each episode comes with German subtitles so you can memorize the pronunciation and spelling of the words at the same time.
What to do next?
To quickly learn a language, it is useful to use it in different areas life. Find a German news site on the Internet and read the notes printed there daily. Right away you will need a dictionary and a lot of time for this, but gradually you will notice that you instantly understand what is written.
Read a fiction book in German. It is advisable to choose a familiar work, then you will have to look less into the dictionary, because you will understand some words intuitively.
Change language in settings mobile phone and try to figure out the controls.
It is useful to study information about the origin of the language. This is an interesting topic that is intertwined with the history of countries such as Sweden and Denmark.
The final stage
When learning a language at home brings positive results, think about communicating with the inhabitants of Germany. Thanks to modern technologies, it is easy to do without leaving the apartment.
- Specially in popular in social networks communities of like-minded people dedicated to the study of German culture, history and language have been created. It is easy to find friends there who are fluent in the foreign language you need, enter into correspondence with them and subsequently start communicating via Skype.
- This practice is incredibly useful, because mastering spoken language is the most important step in learning any language. It will help to perceive words by ear, recognize slang expressions and abbreviations.
There may be some difficulty at first. To minimize them, arm yourself with the necessary notes during the conversation, open the phrase book and be sure to turn on the online translator on your computer. It will help to translate unfamiliar phrases of the interlocutor. By talking regularly, you will no longer need helpers and will understand everything on your own.
According to the observations of people who are interested in how long it takes to learn German colloquial speech, it takes about 2 months. During this period, a huge vocabulary is developed and an understanding comes of how to build sentences correctly.
To learn German from scratch, it is important to immerse yourself in the language environment, read more, listen to songs, study German culture. If possible, it is advisable to visit this country, admire the beautiful castles, museums, nature and communicate with people. Once you set a goal, do whatever it takes to achieve it. Of course, at first it will be difficult, but gradually you will get involved, the process will go easier. The main condition for success is regular classes, perseverance, and then you will quickly be able to speak German and understand native speakers of this beautiful language.
