Know your motivation
Knowing why you are learning a foreign language is the key to mastering it. However, there are students who learn a language without knowing why they need it and what they can do with their knowledge. And of course, some then fail....
You can know all the tips and tricks there are for learning a language, but if you don't know why you are learning a language and how it will enrich your life, you are likely to lose motivation and learning will fizzle out like an engine running out of gas.
Do you want to start a new life in Germany? Are you learning a language because you are fascinated by German culture and want to dive in deep? Are you planning a trip to Germany and just want to be able to order a coffee or a German beer and tell the cab driver where you want to go in German? These are all good reasons to learn a language.
Motivation is a difficult thing.
You can push yourself to learn something difficult for a short time. But in the long run, you need to be able to get some practical benefit from your efforts. Without that benefit, you will eventually burn out.
Your learning goals
Language learning goals need to be short, simple, and easy to measure. Many of us start learning a language by saying, "I want to be fluent in German in six months!" When we hear that at GermanMind, we set ourselves up for intensive instruction. 6 hours of German lessons, then 6 hours of repetition, German people around, German thoughts, German dreams....
Instead, it's better to have defined goals. Start with something like, "This week I'm going to learn to introduce myself in German without mistakes, 3 new verbs, and the vocabulary of the vegetables I eat regularly.
And to get you started, I'll give you the goal of all goals, the milestone that will take you the farthest on the road to fluency: "Master the 100 most common words in X weeks/months."
Start with the 100 most common words
Not all vocabulary is equally important. There are important words and very important words for students of German.
Some students spend years learning grammar rules and vocabulary and can, then they meet us and start at GermanMind and they realize they have never really spoken German.
Start with the 100 most common words and then keep making sentences with those words and keep practicing in your head. We all have monologues in our heads, usually in our native language. You can keep practicing and constructing sentences and mock conversations in your head in a new language. In fact, this kind of visualization leads to much easier conversations when you actually have them.
We have something for you HERE!
We have put together a comprehensive vocabulary list to reduce the need for you to flick through your workbook. You can find all the words you need to work through the chapters. They are arranged by topic and gender.
The formation of the plural in German is only complicated at first glance; there are clear rules for it. As there are even exceptions to the rules, we have decided to give the plural for every word you need to work within the chapters. Viel Erfolg!
For example, you can imagine and practice a conversation about a topic you are likely to have before you actually have it. You can think about how you would describe your work and explain in the new language why you are in the foreign country. These questions will inevitably come up, and you will be ready to answer them.
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