The Most Important Tips and Methods for Learning German
The German language is one of the most widely spoken languages around the world. It comes third after English and French, and is considered to be the second language in the subjects of scientific research.
It is the mother tongue and the most widely spoken in the countries of the European Union after Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. In addition to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg speak German as an official language, also the French and Italian border regions adjacent to the German border.
The most important tips that will make it easier for you to learn German
1. Stay away from those who put you down
In the beginning, you should stay away from the negative people and everyone who tells you that German is a difficult language. Rather, repeat in your mind the phrase “German is an easy language and I am able to learn it, but it takes some time.”
If someone starts complaining in front of you that it is a difficult language, answer them immediately that it is an easy language. This is because what you say is difficult, your subconscious brain picks it up and considers it to be difficult, so it struggles to learn it in an unconscious way. When you convince yourself that the language is easy, you will find that your brain is more receptive to the new language.
2. Don't set a goal you can't reach
Forget completely that you must master the German language like the Germans or speak like them, and leave the ideal goals,as you will only get frustrated by them.
Being fluent in the German language, like the Germans, requires that you learn German from childhood. Researchers have proven that there are sounds that only the child hears and that the adult cannot hear.
This explains the inability of adults to master the dialect or accent related to a new language, whether it is German or other languages.
3. Watch yourself speaking German
Record a video with the front camera of your phone and speak German within the framework of the words, vocabulary and grammar you have learned.
You strengthen yourself by speaking German in addition to listening to what you say again and noticing the pronunciation errors you made by comparing them with your speaking dictionary.
Recording a video is better than just recording audio because the video enables you to notice facial expressions and body language and make them blend well with speech.
4. Take your headphones wherever you go
In case you choose to study German through free lessons that are widely spread on YouTub and various websites and social networking sites, you can convert these videos into audio formats that you put on your smartphone, and you can listen to them several times.
Make your headphones your friend during travel. This skill is very useful to you because you make use of your free time, which is wasted while traveling, with matters that are very important.
5. Watch German movies and series
It is useful for you to watch cartoons that speak German, and you can start with those directed toward children, as well as children’s stories that contain many useful words and expressions.
Some people may resort to listening to songs and watching German-language films, all of which are useful methods that bring you closer to the German language, and you can choose from it what benefits you and suits you.
6. In Germany, you only speak German
If you travel to Germany, the most important step is not to live with Arabs, because your lazy brain will prefer to speak the easier language, and you will find yourself speaking only Arabic.
Try to live in an apartment with foreigners like you who are learning German, and make sure that all your conversations with them are in German.
It is a good idea to choose German friends with whom you can speak German, and it may be a reasonable option to go to the elderly, as they are already suffering from emptiness and eager to obtain company and spend time.
7. Don't be in a hurry and give each level its due
The advice of most German teachers is not to move on to the next level of grammar until you have mastered the grammar you have learned and done the exercises and examples. This is the best way to ensure that you retain the information you have learned, so give each grammar the time it deserves.
8. Try to talk to yourself in German
Try to talk to yourself in German. For example, when you are sitting down and reminding yourself of an appointment, instead of saying, "We agreed to meet at six," you can say to yourself, "wir haben uns um sechs Uhr verabredet."
Instead of saying, "I am thirsty, I have to buy water at the nearest store," you can use a dictionary and say to yourself, "Ich bin durst, ich muss Wasser im nächsten Laden kaufen."
9. Make everything around you German-speaking
Try to make everything around you German-speaking. You can change the language of your mobile phone to German, and this will help you to memorize a lot of vocabulary and get used to this language, and the same applies to your personal computer.
In addition to training you in the German language, it always puts you in a learning atmosphere and convinces your subconscious mind of the necessity and importance of learning the language, and you will automatically find yourself thinking and speaking in German.
Memorizing the constituent parts of compound words in the German language
In the German language, there are many compound words of more than one word, but they are combined into one word. So, it may be easy for you to understand the meaning of each part of the word, and this also helps you to learn new compound words that include those parts that you have memorized, for example:
- We have the word (Kerzenständer), which means candlestick, and we see that this word is composed of a combination of two words. The first is die Kerze, which means the candle and the second is der Ständer, which means the holder.
- We have the word (Rechtsanwalt) which means lawyer, and we see that this word is also a compound word consisting of two words. The first is das Recht, which means law or legislation, and the second is der Anwalt, which means agent or lawyer.
What is the most important way to memorize German vocabulary?
In the German language, do not memorize a word alone or a verb alone.
Be careful to memorize a complete sentence, and start with simple sentences because memorizing sentences brings you closer to the German language.
It teaches you how to build a sentence and teaches you the new word and how to use it as well as the rule used in that sentence. For example, ( Es ist leicht bewölkt) meaning “It is partly cloudy.” By memorizing this sentence, we will have learned the following:
- A useful sentence that is used extensively in German daily life, as the weather is a daily and major speech.
- The grammar in this sentence is to conjugate the pronoun (Es) with the verb to be (ist).
- New words, such as (bewölkt) which means cloudy.
- The word (leicht) means lightly or partially.
- All these meanings and benefits in one sentence.
How can the strangeness and funniness of a language be a way to learn it?
The German language is characterized as a language dominated by the character of strangeness. It is not devoid of humor and wit that we can exploit by searching for its meanings and the story of the word and its source. Accordingly, we provide the following examples:
- We have the verb (Engländern). Although the verb may seem to be related to England because if we want to translate it into Arabic as a literal translation, the meaning becomes “engels.” But the real meaning is quite far away, and it means “drinking tea,” because England is the most famous European country for drinking tea. The Germans coined the word England, a word that denotes the habit of drinking tea.
- We have the word (streberburg), which is a German word that you may not find in most dictionaries, but it is commonly used by German students. They mean by it the university library, but if we want to translate this word literally, it means "the castle of nerds", as the word Burg means castle and Streber means nerds.
- We have the word (Dutch), which means cannabis, and it is completely different from the word (Deutsch), which means German. The word (Dutch) in the dictionary means the Dutch language, and it differs from the German language. The reason for the Germans attaching cannabis to this word is that the Netherlands is the only country that allows possession of Cannabis legally, as there are about six hundred cannabis shops in Amsterdam. Each person is allowed to carry five grams, and if they have more, they will pay a fine of sixteen thousand euros with imprisonment of up to two years.
In conclusion
It cannot be denied that the German language is an important language.
The importance of learning it comes from several things, perhaps the most prominent of which is the multiplicity of job opportunities available in Germany. This is due to the weak population growth rate, which is close to zero or may drop below zero. This means that the number of births can be less than the number of deaths.
The German government has noticed this population shortage and that most Germans are elderly or over fifty years old. This prompted it to open the door for immigration wide for young people coming from developing countries and third-world countries where conflicts, wars and unrest abound.