How long will it take to learn German?

Question

I'm a grad student in history and decided to start learning the German language on my own. How long will it take (educated guess), and how much time should I dedicate a week, to learn the language fluently? What kind of study tips and resources would you recommend (audiotapes, books, etc) This question is for everyone, but especially for those who have learned German.

Answer 1

I think that it depends on your definition of "fluently". In fact, a person will never know everything about a certain language, not even about his own mothertongue - you never stop learning (e.g. not even Goethe knew all the words of the German language). But I think you can get to a level that would permit you to communicate with others in just a few weeks - if you practice a lot (which means: not just learning, but also applying what you have learned by trying to communicate with others).

Some study tips:

The most important seems to me practicing, hearing and reading as much as you can:

Hearing: Right from the start, I would listen to German radio stations (and television, if possible) -of course, you won't understand a word, but you can learn the German pronounciation by doing that. It is very important to do that at the beginning of your studies -it prevents you from getting a strong accent. Or you could see films on DVD in German language subtitled in English and then vice-versa. If you hear a sentence in German, try to repeat it to practice the pronounciation.

Practicing: On the internet, you could practice German by using the German version of Yahoo! Questions or by visiting German chatrooms. As soon as you understand a simple question try to give an answer.
Or you could try to find Germans living in your town and give them lessons in German conversation in exchange for lessons in English.

Reading: You could visit the websites of German newspapers (Frankfurter Allgemeine, TAZ, etc.) or you could do some internet research on topics (history, etc.) that interest you in German (as you certainly know already a lot about these topics this will help you to understand the websites and some of them will also be available in English, so can compare what you understood with what was meant).

I hope that this will help, that you will enjoy learning German and I wish you all the best for your studies!

Answer 2

How To Learn German Fast

Answer 3

My mom was raised in Frankfurt for long bit and my Aunt her sister was born there) and she was pretty fluent years ago. And my grandfather spoke it all my life fluently. It's the closest in sentence/grammar structure to English, more than any other language.

It would be Great, if not being able to live withing a German household or in Germany or Austria or somewhere in Europe where you could use it, you can find a German speaker to practice it with regularly, then you'd learn very fast and it would retain well. (I tried Vietnamese and was doing well because that language has a LOT of cognate words and is the only Asian languages that uses an alphabet and not character but it's hard to remember anything I learned now because I did not use it regularly when I was beginning to learn it)

But it's not that hard if you love American English Grammar, in fact, if you've tried to learn other languages and succeeded, this one might be the easiest, next to Spanish.

Answer 4

YEARS. Many German Universities have a 1-year program that foreign students must take before they are allowed to enroll in classes.
An immersion course for 3 months or so will help a lot.
It is not an easy language, but if you have ever studied any foreign languages it will be beneficial as you will know about grammar, verb conjugation, tenses, etc.

I stepped off a plane in Dresden with a dictionary and a phrase book and 3 months later I spoke German almost as well as French, which I studied for 5 years. I can read French better, but I can think better in German, which I think is when you know you've begun to really get a language, you don't translate "food" you think "essen".

Answer 5

Learn German Fast ans Easy!

Answer 6

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RE:
How long will it take to learn German?
I'm a grad student in history and decided to start learning the German language on my own. How long will it take (educated guess), and how much time should I dedicate a week, to learn the language fluently? What kind of study tips and resources would you recommend (audiotapes, books, etc) This...

Answer 7

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it took me about 6 months to learn the basics and be able to hold a decent conversation in German - I've been speaking it for about 10 years now and I'm pretty much fluent now (the odd word still gets me sometimes but nothing serious as you can work out what is being said from the context)

Answer 8

The best way is to actually go to Germany & study full time at a language school, and live with a German family.
As German is quite 'closely related' to English, I think after 12 months you should be fluent, maybe less if you are linguistically talented or already multi-lingual.

Answer 9

You might look for a German / American Society in your City. It would expose you to alot of native speakers you could learn from. That would probably help to speed up the process.

Answer 10

I have been trying to learn German my whole life (40 yrs.) My parents are both German immigrants, so you might say that I have no excuse. Right? My parents say that they were discouraged by teachers from speaking in German to me, claiming that it would ruin my ability to learn English well. (or is it good?) Why do you need fluency? Some things, like regional slang, are learned as you go. Most of them know English anyway. ( Better than most people here, to boot!) And when I went there they all wished to practice their English on me!