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Learning a New Language

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Oreos
Posts: 1207 - Karma: 38
i've been offered a job where i spend a year in Munich so since i'm working for a German company i should probably learn German.

so yea can anyone recommend any language learning software etc..? any personal experiences would be well received.

many thanks
Aug 1 2010 3:26PM
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0ptions
Posts: 2198 - Karma: 60
I've heard good things about rosetta stone.
Aug 1 2010 3:27PM
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whegrodamus.
Posts: 933 - Karma: 12
get a german person to teach u
Aug 1 2010 3:28PM
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Schlop
Posts: 3640 - Karma: 24
http://www.rosettastone.com/

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tv tells me it works
Aug 1 2010 3:30PM
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Oreos
Posts: 1207 - Karma: 38
i know germans but to ask someone to sit you down and teach you a whole language in their free time without pay is above and beyond. obviously i can ask to be spoken to in german.

since i drive a total of three hours a day to get to work currently tapes seem a good option...
Aug 1 2010 3:31PM
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Blake.P
Posts: 9894 - Karma: 3,585
It might be a little more expensive, but try to find a German language school that does cultural imersions. I did one for Spanish. 7 hours of Spanish lessons a day, and you live with a family that will only speak Spanish. In one week I learned more than I had in 8 years of school classes. So something like that for German would be the best
Aug 1 2010 3:33PM
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caitie_baby
Posts: 180 - Karma: 41
Tapes would be great for you with how much you drive, and it's a cheap way to build a vocabulary and become familiar with pronunciations. The only way to really pick up a language is to speak it though, so do your best to interact in German as much as you possibly can. If you can watch the news in German, that will help you out as well.
Aug 1 2010 3:56PM
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Jwalk
Posts: 4647 - Karma: 134
if you know basics like enough to get by, you will pick up a lot while you are there.
Aug 1 2010 4:02PM
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mozzy
Posts: 1034 - Karma: 60
Noch ein Bier, bitte.

You're going to Munich, after all.
Aug 1 2010 4:07PM
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molsongolden
Posts: 1649 - Karma: 162
The real answer is that everyone in Germany speaks english so you will be able to get by fine no matter what.

I've heard criticisms of Rosetta Stone because it teaches you how to say things but not why. It is also crazy expensive. Once you get up and going with whatever method you choose you should google around for people to practice with or look for a penpal website.
Aug 1 2010 4:08PM
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Oreos
Posts: 1207 - Karma: 38
that's not really the point. the guys who go to the munich office at the moment get by fine but i've been given the perfect opportunity to learn another language so why not boost my cv (resume) and learn a life skill.
Aug 1 2010 4:10PM
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mozzy
Posts: 1034 - Karma: 60
Not so easy, actually.

The main issue is that you're spending 8 hours at work likely speaking mostly English (I'm guessing), so that leaves the rest of the day to really practice your German language skills. Then add perhaps a couple hours of television in the evening (BBC?), and your progress in communicating in German is going to be slower.

Exactly what happened to me when I moved there.

I really have trouble language-wise visiting the various bureaucratic authorities and Amts, and so on, when the German really goes to jargon.

If you're really serious about learning the language, go to the Goethe Institutes, they apparently do an excellent job, for a high price.




Aug 1 2010 4:18PM
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molsongolden
Posts: 1649 - Karma: 162
then the real answer is hook me up with a job doing whatever you do because I want to go to Germany for a year and we can practice together. I spent about 45 minutes the other night just reading the "Über-" section of my german-english dictionary.
Aug 1 2010 4:24PM
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Oreos
Posts: 1207 - Karma: 38
oktoberfest!!

all the clients we meet with recently have been saying to us, you're siemens, gets us a table! can't wait 'til i get to go.

but i have quite a while to learn the language, i have a season lined up in whistler then work, year in london then the munich year.
Aug 1 2010 4:35PM
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Nathn
Posts: 2408 - Karma: 63
almost all germans know very fluent english
Aug 1 2010 5:00PM
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HIT
Posts: 3524 - Karma: 4,996
this is the best way, i learned like half of the dutch language in 2 weeks
Aug 1 2010 5:17PM
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