My German mission - conversational in 2013 | My language mission and my log | Forum
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13:52
August 2, 2012
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Hello! I am John, and I began learning German about one month ago. My inspiration to learn came from a very good German friend of mine who spent 10 months as an exchange student here in America. She is extremely fluent in English, but learning her native language is a great way to grow our friendship even more! I plan on traveling to Germany sometime in the next few years, but I don't know exactly when. Until then, I would like to learn in order to converse with native Germans and learn about their culture, and teach them about mine.
My main goal is to be at a decent conversational level at the beginning of 2013. This will be tough considering I am entering my first year of college, and will have my mind on other areas of study (I'm majoring in Biblical & Religious Studies). Of course, I will set mini-goals. My first mini-goal is to be able to introduce myself to a native and talk about my hobbies and interests. I am giving myself three days to accomplish this. I'll learn the new vocabulary I need and practice by using various online language conversation tools. I should pick up new vocab by asking people about their interests.
I'm very new to this forum, language learning and the idea of setting goals and mini-goals, so I'd appreciate any help! Please be brutally honest with any constructive criticism (if necessary)! Thanks.
-John
15:27
July 5, 2011
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Hey John,
Conversational by 2013 is definitely within your grasp. You have a very sweet story and great motivation for learning German, hopefully you'll be able to make a lot out of it. 
In terms of mini-goals – your first one sounds great. I like to set myself mini-goals for every month (like, every day for thirty days I'll write 100 words in Dutch, or every day for thirty days I'll read 2 pages), but at your stage restrategizing and re-setting goals every week might be more effective. Let us know how it goes!
Basic Fluency: 
Dutch -
09:27
August 2, 2012
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I like your motivation, and it inpires me to start studies in german! I know just a few word, but nothing that could garantee aconversation, for example! I'm a little sad just because I study english since a good time and I'm still not fluent , but I never stop studing !! GO AHEAD JOHN
09:59
June 29, 2011
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Hi John, I learned German a couple of years ago (in the most backwards way possible because I didn't know what I was doing, but I got there in the end). But it's fun, and sometimes frustrating, but mostly fun My suggestions for you would be:
- Even on days when you're really busy, try to do at least a few minutes of German stuff. Even if you only manage 5 or 10 minutes, it's still good, because a) it helps you form/keep the habit of working on it every day, and b) 5-10 minutes is still better than 0 minutes a day, especially if you have a bunch of those way-busy days in a row--at least you'll be making some progress.
- Considering your field of study, you might enjoy getting a German bible. You will be able to recognize a lot of the passages and learn some words from context. (Although the grammar and phrasing is certainly more awkward/fancy/not-modern than, say, novels… in the same way the English bible compares to English novels.)
Maybe in 3 days you can write a couple sentences in here German, telling us your hobbies & interests
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Learning:
13:35
August 3, 2011
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Best of luck to you, John! I was similarly inspired by a German fellow that I met two years ago when he was doing a 6 month internship with my company here in the US. I studied the language many years ago in high school and college, and I've been over there several times, so I'm not exactly starting from scratch. I spent a lot of time during my most recent visit with native speakers and did my best to keep up, and it's inspired me to go further. Even though many Germans are quite proficient in English, being able to speak in the prevailing tongue is so much more gratifying!
22:43
August 2, 2012
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Thanks, everyone! I started a Wordpress blog, I'll link to it. I especially like the idea of obtaining a German Bible. I'll do that for sure! I appreciate all of the tips and encouraging words. You guys are great!
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