Mission: Conversational German by October 2012 | My language mission and my log | Forum
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05:48
June 7, 2012
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I have lived in Germany for almost 2 years now and whilst I'm taking evening classes twice a week and have progressed from A1 up to the beginning of B1, my speaking skills are still extremely weak and are probably around a mid-A2 level.
Inspired by Benny's summer challenge, I've decided to challenge myself to becoming conversational in German by October 2012. By conversational I mean being able to hold a conversation about a range of topics and understand the other person's reply. To do this I need to dramatically increase my vocabulary and most importantly, start speaking!
I'm hoping to reach at least an upper B2 level, if not C1.
If anyone has any suggestions, great resources or words of encouragement, I would love to hear them.
Learning:
10:34
June 29, 2011
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Na Raiyn!
My only word of advice is to speak!
Make a goal for yourself. "I will speak to one German at least once every day."
If you're struggling to find natives to talk to, sign up for some classes (cooking, dance, etc.).
If you're speaking too much of your native language and not enough German, then it's probably a good idea to do a "Native Language Blackout". This means, only speaking German for 30 days. It's tough, but at the end of the 30 days, you'll feel good about what you accomplished.
If 30 days is too much, what about not speaking English for 6 out of 7 days of the week. Make Sunday your rest day, where you can catch up with friends and family.
If you're working and you have to speak a language other than German, then make sure that once you're done working it's back to German.
As long as you make an effort to speak to someone in German at least once a day, I'm confident you'll be conversationally fluent by October.
However if you want to get to C1, it will take a lot of hard work and studying. If you're interested in how to study and prepare for the C1 exam, you can read my blog post about how I did it.
Feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions. 
Ich wünsche dir viel glück mit deinem herausforderung!
- Michael
Learning: 
15:17
June 7, 2012
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Thanks for your words of encouragement. I know that aiming for C1 is going to be tough, but it is better to aim too high, then to aim too low. You are definitely right that I need to speak German daily to as many people as possible. That is going to be tough as I have angst about speaking to strangers in a language I'm not comfortable with, but I know I need to get over it in order to improve my German.
I have taken a quick look at your blog and you have lots of great information. I know it is a resource I'm going to keep returning to during this mission.
09:43
June 29, 2011
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Riayn said
Thanks for your words of encouragement. I know that aiming for C1 is going to be tough, but it is better to aim too high, then to aim too low. You are definitely right that I need to speak German daily to as many people as possible. That is going to be tough as I have angst about speaking to strangers in a language I'm not comfortable with, but I know I need to get over it in order to improve my German.I have taken a quick look at your blog and you have lots of great information. I know it is a resource I'm going to keep returning to during this mission.
Talking with strangers can be scary when you aren't confident with German. I suggest asking strangers simple questions at first. Like "What time is it?", "where is the X?", "How much does this cost?", etc. If they keep talking to you and you don't understand what they're saying, just say with a smile, "entschuldigung, Ich spreche nur einbisschen Deutsch."
When I first started learning German, I would try to ask simple questions any chance I got. It can be fun challenge to try to ask strangers 10 questions each day.
- Michael
13:15
June 28, 2011
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Good luck! If you want someone less intimidating than a native to speak with on Skype, I am available I'm not very familiar with the CEFL system, but B2/C1 is actually pretty fluent by most standards, right?
Native: 
Conversational: 
Basic (on hold): 
Currently learning: 
(mission thread) My German Video Blog!
07:56
June 7, 2012
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I've sat down and gotten serious about making up a plan of action. I would welcome any feedback, suggestions, pointing out where I've gone wrong.
Challenge Period: 1st July to 1st October, 2012
Aim
- Go from my current mid-A2 level to a B2 level.
- Be able to understand almost all of what is said to me and be able to respond accordingly.
- To be able to hold a conversation with one or more people for more than 30 minutes.
- To be able to read Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen with limited use of the dictionary.
Plan of Action
Speak
- Speak to at least one person per day for at least 30 seconds.
- Attend the Language Cafe meet-ups and speak in German only.
- Recruit my German speaking friends to converse with me only in German in exchange for coffee, beer, a meal etc.
Read
- Read 5 pages of my graded German children's books at least 5 days a week (currently on Klasse 2)
- Read 2 news articles in German per day at least 5 days a week
Listen
- Listen to German audio books to and from my way to work
- Watch at least 2 hours of German TV a week
- Watch at least 2 movies in German per month
- Listen to Deutsch Welle's langsam gesprochene news every day
- Watch Karambloage every week
Write
- Write in German every single day – this could be something short like a tweet or Facebook status or something longer like a blog post.
Vocab
- Learn five new German words a day using flashcards
Overall
- Do 20 minutes of Duolingo 5 days a week
00:58
June 29, 2011
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Hey Raiyn,
I like your plan of action. It shows you're serious about learning German. My only concern is that you're planning too much. Something Benny talks about in his Language Hacking Guide is that many people who start learning languages like to learn 120% their first week, then they get burnt out after that week and give up. I've done it and I'm sure lots of other people have too. Don't do it!
If I were you, I would start with one or two actions on your list for one week, then add another 1 or 2 actions each week. Slowly build up until you're doing everything on your list. Since you're living in Germany, you'll find yourself already doing the actions on your list, even if you aren't focusing on them in your first couple of weeks of implementing this plan.
Another thing that helps me keep track of language learning, is keeping a post it note by my computer, on the back of phone, or wherever I'll see it throughout the day with the goals I want to achieve that day. I'll cross the off goals as I accomplish them.
Keep up with the blog, it's funny
- Michael
15:46
June 7, 2012
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Hi Michael,
You are right that planning to do too much and burning out is a huge risk. I'm already doing many things on that list but I put them on there so I won't stop doing them, something I am at risk of doing. There are probably a couple of things on my action plan that I won't be straight away but will leave for a month or so until my German has improved some more.
Thanks for reading my blog. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
00:11
June 29, 2011
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Riayn said
Hi Michael,You are right that planning to do too much and burning out is a huge risk. I'm already doing many things on that list but I put them on there so I won't stop doing them, something I am at risk of doing. There are probably a couple of things on my action plan that I won't be straight away but will leave for a month or so until my German has improved some more.
Thanks for reading my blog. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Right on. Nothing like a little social pressure to keep oneself motivated
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