Learning German: Exploring Different Paths and Methods

[@Carla369]

I studied also before moving to Germany (in Argentina), also in Goethe online, also at VHS in classroom as intensive manner + also the option de 1 or 2 per week. I learnt that the best way is learning alone with the Hueber book (online version) that cost just 20€ or less and you have the management of your improvements. Classrooms in VHS is very very bad.

[@laxmanadhikari3989]

hay i was born on 2000 and you have been learning since 2003 almost my whole life time 😮😮😮 .What but you guys look so young.

[@neilfazackerley7758]

I learned German before I came to Germany as well. I went to the Goethe Prüfungszentrum in Manchester University UK for about 7 years and went from B1 to C1/C2. The thing to remember is that you have to put in the work in between the formal lessons. So at the Goethe Institut, for every 3 hours of teaching you had at least another 3 hours of homework for most levels. At Level C1 it was more like 6 hours of work on top per week. We also had the Goethe exams at the end of each course. I did all these up to C1. The teachers were generally very good and were either Germans or Austrians. I am currently working with a private teacher once a week online. I found the teacher via Italki and he is very good. He studied German at Heidelberg Uni and understands the language in depth. I also do some Tandems each week just to practice speaking.

[@simplegermany]

Wow, it’s amazing that you have C1 level! Yeah, it makes sense the the homework is a lot.

[@AhmetMurati]

Ich habe begonnen Deutsche Spraceh zu lernen seit 01. September 1994, nach zirka 2 Wochen ich habe den Satellitische Antenna gekauft und selber gebaut. Ich habe Deutsche TV geschaut von September 1994 bis 1998, Das hat an mich den Vokabular verberssert. Jetzt bin ich in B2 Berufsprachkurs und am 28. September ist mein B2 Prüfung

[@michEjo-j4l]

Music and movies help tremendously

[@Mandarin_Masala]

"You're such an inspiration! Your passion for Germany is infectious. Keep doing what you're doing. 💖"

[@maryw1924]

Great points! I am currently using Lingoda, and doing well.

[@cjiscurrentlyonline]

Thank you, Jen and Yvonne! I love Easy German, and to that I'll just add the different learning materials provided by Deutsche Welle (DW) (KZbin channels, app, etc.)

[@Calmasastone]

Moin schöne Frauen :) Ich bedanke mich bei ihnen für ihre nützliche Videos auf diesem KZbin-Kanal. Ich werde dieses Video auf jeden Fall heute später anschauen, sobald ich meine Arbeit beende :D Ehlich gesagt, lerne ich Deutsh seit 17. April 2023 und ca. B2-Niveau erreicht habe, aber vielleicht kann ich über etwas Neues erfahren :) Fahrt bitte fort ihre Arbeit. Habt schönen Abend! Grüße aus Russland!

[@rsorin]

The Gramatik Aktiv is the best rated or by Thalia. A teacher from a Deutsckurs also mentioned the same. There is a second book that goes to C1 grammar. The Aspekte series from Klett are also very great to learn German in context.

[@Deviouscoffee]

I wish I'd known about your other channel sooner, I would have been watching that one too! Great video as always, I hope you're both doing well 😁

[@turjo119]

Very insightful video...as someone who basically had to learn on their own I needed something where I can dictate the pace based on weekly schedule. Nowadays not learning as much coz of my master's thesis but i hope to pick things up again soon ❤

[@joannunemaker6332]

Good advice for finding a language course. I enjoyed this video. 😊❤

[@Hoxgene]

Great stuff, Will def. tune in to the other channel

[@saeethegreat1672]

You guys are awesome. Thank you for all your help!

[@nurimustafa3817]

Me and my wife tried different kind of german courses in my town, except we did not try private Tutor and Goethe because it is expensine and also Goethe is not available in my town. In my town all german courses (including VHS) use books that are intented for Telc test. From my understanding there is no a language skill difference between people who finish Telc or Goethe courses. Telc and Goethe just have different question types and different tricks. Kind a TOEFL vs IELTS. Briefly about my experience: - One of the Sprachchule in my town is twice expensive than others, but the same lesson hours. The difference is, as I heard, this one organizes activities outside of the language courses. But my language teachers told me that this course pays less than others. So expensive courses does not necesseraly mean teachers are better because they are paid better. - VHS has both evening courses (1.5 hours a day, 4 times a week) and day courses which are (3.5 hours a day, 5 days a week). As I remember VHS evening courses are until B1 or B2 level. VHS teachers are mostly old, retired teachers, but out of 5 teachers me and my wife had 1 one was bad, another was ok, the rest 3 are good ones. Bad one even had a PhD degree, but was really really boring. From my experience, you can find good and bad teachers both in VHS and private schools. VHS is a I remember around twice cheaper than private language courses. There is just higher demand for VHS so you may not find a place when you want to register. Another thing is, VHS building was better equipped and had more beautiful classes. It had a smart board, but as teachers are mostly old, a few of them used smart boards. VHS was bad in terms of teaching to speak. In private courses they encourage to answer questions instantly by speaking, but in VHS you usually write down, then you read it. One of the teachers at VHS, from her initiative, also created a speaking lesson. it was only 60 euros, once a week. Teacher gives you subject, next week you come and speak with others in group about this subject. I suggest you to check that out if it is available. VHS does not give you a certificate with your performance after you finish the course, they give attendance certificate. - Neither VHS nor Private schools actually prepares are to the Telc exam! They just have books which have similar questions like in Telc but they don't do any model exams. I highly suggest you to buy model exam books and try them before you take actual exam. Knowing a language and passing an exam are completely different things. To evalulate your writing you may use ChatGpt I guess. One of the private schools I attended conducts exam after each level and gives you a certificate which includes your points, but that is not as difficult as Telc itself. Also, you get points for speaking only from your performance at lesson, no additional exam. Good thing, one of the students used that certificate at either Auslanderbehorde or University (I don't remember exactly which one), they accepted it temporarily, until she passes actual Telc exam. - One of the private schools provided both online and on site lessons. Part of the students attended online only, but if you can't come to school you could also attend to lesson from home. - Presently I attend to online courses which are provided by my company, it is 90 minutes a week. The only thing about online courses is you don't meet new people in person, you can't make friends there.

[@simplegermany]

Wow, thank you so much for sharing your experience and insights! So valuable! 😊 And yes, we fully agree: knowing a language and passing an official language test are very different to each other!

[@ssabinaa]

You´ve presented a lot of good ideas to learn German language. I´ve used some of them. I like also "zweisprachige Bücher". And there is this "SmarterGerman" course but it´s not free.

[@n1vca]

That must have been pre recoded a long time ago because you already ended your daily routine on the other channel 😢 But thank you - perfectly summarized per usual.👍

[@marcio6945]

Very helpful! Thank you!

[@andreea.andreea]

Lovely ladies so nice to see & listen to you again🎉

[@simplegermany]

Oh so nice to read your comment again :)

[@nickquejada]

Patience can also be important. I remember getting frustrated with Deutschkurs because, while I was learning the grammar (which really isn't that hard since the language is remarkably consistent. It's not absolutely consistent, mind, but don't think any organically constructed language is.), I could understand things better, but didn't seem to make any headway into speaking the language with any fluidity. Didn't really click for me until around two years after I finished the language course. Of course, I've since forgotten most of what I've learned (Ich meine, wirklich, wie oft verwendet man Nebensätze, ohne darüber nachzudenken?), but that's a different story.

[@simplegermany]

Hehe thanks for sharing your experience ☺️

[@Danny30011980]

Will you ever do a video in German? Would looove to hear Jen speak German :-) The words she spoke in this video were pronounced very well! And yes I know the drill doing language classes after work. I am learning Hungarian for 13 years now. Initially in a language school when I still lived in Dublin, but as the courses went on there were less and less people interested to go on, so in the end there was only me left. So my teacher offered me 1-2-1 classes and we met either in Starbucks (V noisy tho') or a hotel bar where it was quiet at that time. That was prior to Covid. During Covid we did it online and even after that hardly ever found the change to meet live as she had also moved to another part of Dublin and coming to town after work was a bit of a detour for her. And now that I am back in Germany we can only do classes online. And we are usually flexible, we text Monday or Tuesday when to have class, usually Tuesday, but if something comes across we can also postpone or choose any time that suits both sides. When I still had live class in Dublin I sometimes ate something in town before class, so once I got back home I didn't have to bother with cooking anymore, could chill out a bit and then head to bed when it was time for it

[@simplegermany]

Wow, and what inspired you to learn Hungarian? You can watch till the end of the video, we name and link to a side project we started where Yvonne and I speak German 😊

[@olliecooper4232]

Great content as always thank you. I have been reading about German attitudes towards saunas recently and learned that Germans do things differently to other countries, they wear no clothes in the sauna. Is this mandatory in German saunas?

[@simplegermany]

Yes, it is in 99% of the saunas. We have a detailed video on the sauna culture in Germany with do's and don'ts 😊 kzbin.info/www/bejne/hp-ZXpRnrbqYrNE

[@olliecooper4232]

@@simplegermany Thank you will take a look

[@arsalansiddiqui4222]

Unrelated to this video, but do you guys have any idea about the Expatrio bank? As a new International (non EU) student, I was thinking of opening my account through Expatrio bank as it doesn't require city registration initially.

[@simplegermany]

The bank account from Expatrio is only available if you also open a blocked account with them. Not sure at what stage you are at. If you need a blocked account, it is a great solution - we talk about it in detail in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIeZqWZ3dpt5i5I. If you don't need a blocked account, you need to open an independent German bank account. You can use our tool Banky to find out which bank suits your situation: www.simplegermany.com/banky/ 😊

[@arsalansiddiqui4222]

@@simplegermany Thanks a lot for the reply. I already have a blocked account with Expatrio.

[@confusedcommenter5899]

If I can pronounce and spell the name of the language school that Jen went to, I’ll believe I’ve reached German A1 level

[@shaamadam7893]

Last year, I was in Düsseldorf and I used to go to IIK for German course and it was not effective!

[@andykan9281]

It is on my list because it is cheap. However a full on-site mode would be better if I go to Germany for learning. How is IIK? Can you say more?

[@albobbydusty]

Great tips, I am also from Guatemala City, I am intrested in applying work as a Doctor in Germany and also want to learn the German Language, is their any way that I can contact you Jen.

[@simplegermany]

Hola! You can always send us a message through simplegermany.com/contact. Keep in mind that we don't provide personal consultations through this form.

[@MrTuxracer]

I guess, falling in love with a native speaker would be a good way, too.

[@new_skyspirit]

no link for the other channel in description 😥

[@simplegermany]

Here it is: youtube.com/@germanuncut 😊

[@new_skyspirit]

@@simplegermany Thank you. Greetings from Nigeria 🇳🇬

[@weezhaut]

What German songs helped you learn? I like that way best

[@simplegermany]

We talk about it in this video 😊: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6q9nKGrltWfb80si=9BxVVyyigBRx_Jvx

[@EdgarHeissenkruz]

learning a second language is like getting a tattoo because once you have learned It stays with you for the rest of your life and no one can take it away from you 🌊

[@simplegermany]

unless you don't use it .... then you lose it or at least get rusty 😇

[@Carla369]

In the case of Deustch is it good or bad? 😄

[@new_skyspirit]

I've never clicked a thumbnaik so fast 😅

[@joetan2653]

I learned German language in VHS (Volkshochschule). I payed 1,559 Euro from ( A1.2 - B1(integrationkurs),Orientierungskurs, and Payment for B1 test. If you pass the exam you can get 50% of what you paid. But if you're REFUGEES or asylum seekers - it is FREE.

[@jejejesooo]

Hello! May I know how long your course was? I read somewhere that VHS is not accessible for foreigners unless you have a residence permit.

[@joetan2653]

I finished my course for 8months. A1.2-B1. My school scheduled 3hrs (4 mal Pro Woche. So schlecht right? 😥) Im a foreigner and I have resident permit.

[@jejejesooo]

@@joetan2653 wow that seems ok actually! Congratulations on finishing B1

[@HussainKhan-mr3rj]

Can you read this book now ?

[@cevheryusufinan2053]

Since 2003 ?????? What you mean? You were supposed to be max 10 years old. (o.O)

[@miem9775]

Einschlafen mit Wikipedia ist mein go to Einschlafpodcast, wenn ich nachts wachliege. Kann dein Augenrollen gaaar nicht verstehen :))

[@simplegermany]

😅

[@rapramix]

Where do refugees and Eu internationals go? I am a dual citizen, Israeli and German but since I grew up in Israel, my German is basically non existent but I believe that I have the right to learn the language via the job center lol

[@ReinholdOtto]

There is also Nachrichten in einfacher Sprache, e.g. on YT: kzbin.info?search_query=nachrichten+in+einfacher+sprache