I am trying to learn German using free internet sources.

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Good ideal or not?
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Total votes : 3

khnk222
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10 Dec 2012, 6:07 am

I recently decided to try and learn how to speak German using free internet sources like Google Translate. I use Facebook often, and I try to post in German on there frequently to get to know the language. So far I know some basic words and phrases like; Ich(I), teilen(share), mein(my) and other short words like that, a few sentences like Du haben ein guten punkt (You have a good point), and I also know the German words for numbers as well. I started trying to learn German with the aformentioned method on the 9th of December, 2012. I figure I'll get better the more I use German words to post on Facebook and other sites over time (I'm not in a rush). My interest in German comes from the fact that my late grandfather(on my mother's side of the family) was German (last name Hager). Other than that I also just find Germans interesting for other reasons like the two World Wars and the way the language sounds, and the country of Germany sounds like it would be pretty cool to visit as well. I started trying to learn German with the aformentioned method on the 9th of December, 2012. What are you thoughts on this concept/ideal?



CyborgUprising
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10 Dec 2012, 1:19 pm

Google Translate isn't very good at structure, so I would avoid it (it makes a good Engrish generator). The best thing to do for free would be to watch YouTube lessons and listen to music with German lyrics to gain an understanding of the mechanics of the language. Sometimes you can find free lesson plans from various Universities on their pages. In the end, it is still best to drop a few bucks on a good grammar guide and a dictionary (you don't need to shell out hundreds for Rosetta Stone if you don't have that kind of money). Two good and cheap dictionaries I recommend are the Oxford German Dictionary and the Bantam New College Dictionary. These two serve as an excellent complement to each other (when one doesn't have a word, the other does and one has more archaic terms often utilized in poetry, while the other one has more technical terms used in various occupations).

"Du haben" is supposed to be "Du hast." Remember with "Du" the word should end in "st," thus "Du hast," "Du isst," "Du machst," und so weiter...
"ich" works as follows: "ich teile," "ich habe," "ich nehme," "ich spreche" usw.
"haben" is for "Sie," thus "Sie haben," "Sie sagen," "Sie fallen" usw.



Last edited by CyborgUprising on 10 Dec 2012, 1:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

MakaylaTheAspie
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10 Dec 2012, 1:23 pm

I wouldn't use Google Translate. There are plenty of websites out there that are ten times better. (Try quia.com)

I took German classes for a couple of years, and it's enjoyable, to say the least. The main thing is getting the grammar down and using the right prefixes. Especially since there are several ways to say the word "The." (Der Rock, das Bett, die Sonne, den USA, etc.)


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CyborgUprising
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10 Dec 2012, 1:54 pm

And for "wir" it is "en" as in: "wir teilen," "wir haben," "wir bekennen," "wir waren."
Google Translate and most other online translators do not compute this very well (they also don't do so well on irregular words).



MisterSpock
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10 Dec 2012, 3:55 pm

Have you tried dict.tu-chemnitz.de? I was advised to use this website during my studies and it was very useful. It also has a vocabulary trainer.



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10 Dec 2012, 5:46 pm

If you like fiction. you should rather read some books (preferably those that originally appeared in German).



khnk222
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15 Dec 2012, 4:22 am

Thanks for the advice, I will check out and try the different sites and ideals you guys recommended.



rabbittss
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16 Dec 2012, 2:07 am

Duolingo
www.dw.de/germancourses

Both are pretty good but Duo Lingo is more "Fun".. it's kind of a cheap version of Rosetta stone.. and I've used Rosetta Stone.. They all suffer from the same thing that all Online Classes do, you can't really converse in the language.. which I mean, for me that's not an issue as I mainly just want to be able to read it..



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16 Dec 2012, 2:53 am

Check your local library. Some of them have language programs either on site or online.