There are any number of ways to pick up a smattering of a foreign language, but I assume here that you wish to acquire more facility with German than that afforded by constant flicking through a phrasebook.
The student of German should be aware that there exists a Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. (As the name implies, it doesn’t just apply to German.) Essentially, this Framework defines a set of proficiency levels (A1, A2, B1, B2, etc — in order of increasing sophistication) without prescribing in too fine a level of detail the precise content of each level. The proficiency levels provide a graded structure to language learning, while the lack of precise details of the curriculum allows for flexibility in teaching. Rather than requiring knowledge of specific vocabulary or grammar, the levels focus on your ability to communicate in society. Just to give you an idea, you should aim to get to at least B1 level.
The importance of the Framework is that it forms the basis for an officially recognized system of exams. Each exam tests listening comprehension, reading comprehension, writing ability and speaking facility. Successful completion of an exam at a particular level entitles the candidate to a certificate which can be of enormous practical utility, such as when applying for a residency permit or a job in Germany. Apart from that, gaining such a certificate can be a source of immense personal satisfaction in the achievement.
Already I hear you protesting you have no intention of sitting for an exam in German. To this I reply: You just never know! I myself had no intention of sitting for any exams in German but found myself doing exactly that — in Germany. If your study plan aligns with the Framework, you leave your options open for whatever adventures life offers you. To my mind, then, if you’re going to put serious time and effort into learning German, I think it’s worth your while adopting a plan that allows you to get official recognition should the opportunity or desire arise. Given that such a plan incurs no additional painful overhead, why not?!
This is not to say that you can’t study in whatever way you wish and then sit for an exam and still pass, but life is much easier if you avail yourself of the excellent learning materials especially designed to help you progress through the prescribed levels in an orderly manner. I therefore recommend your choosing as your core learning materials those which specifically state the Common European Framework level they are aiming for. Furthermore, I think it’s worth considering courses that traverse as many of the proficiency levels as possible. This allows you to remain in a familiar and congenial learning environment throughout your studies.
These comments apply both to organized courses (whether classroom or Internet-based) and to self-study materials. If at all possible, a classroom approach is to be preferred, as it provides a ready source of expertise, essential practice in conversation and a degree of camaraderie conducive to the learning process. The plan that follows is mainly meant for those without the opportunity to engage in a classroom-based course, but elements should prove useful even for those fortunate enough to have access to a teacher and fellow students.
An important question is whether to use English-based materials or to opt for a German-only approach. It will come as no surprise that teaching German to non-German-speaking people is a thriving industry in Germany. Given the diverse backgrounds of the students, most courses are conducted exclusively in German, with course materials to match. This approach is commonly designated Deutsch als Fremdsprache (DaF). It accords, too, with the philosophy that espouses “total immersion” in a foreign language. However, this places the onus squarely on the shoulders of the instructors (authors and classroom teachers) to ensure that students are not left floundering on the way. You can imagine the ingenuity and skill involved in imparting grammatical concepts entirely in a language foreign to the students. One of the arguments advanced by proponents of “total immersion” is that this is how one learnt one’s mother tongue. To my mind, this is naïve. German will not be your first language, and you are already equipped with a vast array of concepts and grammatic elements for expressing them. You will naturally want to make enquiry about puzzling aspects of German expression or to frame certain English-language thoughts in German. This is not easy for a beginner in an exclusively German environment. The plan that follows attempts to steer a path through this tricky situation.
To begin, forget about books! Do yourself a great favor and furnish yourself with audio materials from the Michel Thomas range of German courses. The teaching method is inspired and inspiring. It really makes learning effortless. You hear Thomas instructing two students (in English), getting them to repeat increasingly complicated German expressions after him, inviting them to venture guesses on how to say things, and correcting their pronunciation and grammar. You are meant to pause the audio while you frame your own responses, but in practice the gaps are long enough to spare you this inconvenience. In no time at all you will often find yourself beating the recorded students’ response times and picking up on their incorrect pronunciations or sentence constructions before they are corrected by Thomas.
With the Michel Thomas method, you dive straight into speaking the language. Rather than being a phrasebook-style approach, though, this method sees you acquiring a facility with the language that only comes from a concomitant understanding of how the language works. Essential grammar is imparted naturally and painlessly. Your progress is rapid and meaningful, which provides its own encouragement.
The discipline afforded by the audio gaps is enormously useful in another important respect. Only in the very early stages is the student expected to repeat verbatim what the teacher has uttered. Mostly there is a question: “How would you say (whatever)?” You have already been given the tools you need to frame a response. Avoiding the temptation to pause the recording, and attempting to deliver your response (aloud) within the predetermined interval, provides great practice in “thinking on your feet”. It is absolutely crucial to possess oneself of a sense of confidence when learning a language: there is no point in being so trepidatious about making mistakes that one hesitates to communicate at all. The Michel Thomas courses give you this confidence. Wherever your further journeys with the language may take you, these materials equip you with a sound foundation.
Over the years, the product range has changed somewhat, with respect to product names and mode of delivery, so it is not easy to determine the equivalences. I will give my understanding of the current situation, but you may need to make enquiry of the vendor or publisher yourself. (Please don’t be deterred by this!) The products were originally packaged in boxes, each containing a set of CDs and a small booklet containing a partial transcript of the lessons and a small dictionary. The names of the courses changed slightly over the years. If you are buying the boxes, I suggest you do the Total German and Perfect German courses to start with, but stop short of doing the Insider’s German course for now. This last course really ramps up the pace, particularly as far as the pace of speech is concerned, as these are not students but native speakers conversing on serious subjects. In my opinion, it is perhaps a touch too abrupt a transition, and there is scope for a more graduated course to be inserted here. But by all means remember to return to the Insider’s German course when you are more advanced in your B1-level studies.
As far as I can determine, the equivalent courses marketed as digital downloads are Foundation German, Intermediate German and Insider’s German.
When you have completed the first two recommended audio courses, my next suggestion is to work your way through Der Grosse Sprachkurs: Deutsch als Fremdsprache (ISBN 978-3-12-562853-3) from PONS. This ridiculously inexpensive book with accompanying CDs represents incredible value in itself, taking you rapidly and entertainingly through the A1, A2, B1 and B2 levels. It would be a mistake to dismiss it on the basis of its unassuming appearance — it’s not a glossy full-color affair — as it is a little pedagogical masterpiece in itself. The reason I include it here is because it has a unique feature that distinguishes it from all other DaF materials I have come across.
You see, the usual approach is to have everything in German, including the instructions. The same is true in the official exams where the exam supervisors speak at an everyday German pace and expect you to understand what they want you to do. In some ways, it’s like being required to function at B2 level when all you’re trying to do is pass an A1 exam. (All right, I might be exaggerating somewhat here, but you get the idea.)
The beauty of this particular offering from PONS is that the first half of the book is bilingual while the second half is German-only. By the time you get to the second half, you know how everything works and what you are expected to do, and you have no difficulty in pursuing the rest of your studies entirely in German. A further enhancement sees definitions in the margins eventually given only in German, but in terms of German you have already met; one has to admire the creativity involved. So this course, like the Michel Thomas ones, incorporates splendid examples of simple, intelligent and effective teaching technique.
A companion volume, PONS 600 Übungen Deutsch als Fremdsprache (ISBN 978-3-12-562858-8), offers lots of exercises in diverse entertaining formats.
Now that you have a good feel for the language and could actually get by in a variety of common situations, it’s time to join the throng and do what foreign students in Germany are doing. You choose a recognized DaF course, start all the way back at A1 level, and work your way up. Leading publishers in the field include Klett, Hueber, Cornelsen, telc and Goethe-Institut.
Typically, you get a book and accompanying CDs for each level (A1, A2, etc). The CDs contain audio files and perhaps also transcripts of them and solutions to the exercises in the book. Sometimes you can order separate DVDs with supplemental video material. The books are usually colorful affairs illustrated with photographs, newspaper advertisements, bureaucratic forms and the like. The audio tracks include conversations, weather forecasts, railway station announcements and so on. Often the recordings are made “on location” (eg, at actual railway stations). Even in conversation pieces, many different speakers are presented, each with their own individual way of speaking. You learn to use the language just as you would need to in everyday life in Germany. The multicultural nature of the target audience is often reflected in the content, in itself making for an interesting and welcoming learning environment.
It is as well to be clear that one of the main reasons for using these course materials is the graded approach they offer to audio comprehension; otherwise, you could just use any number of other textbooks. Even so, it can be useful from time to time to pause the recordings and replay certain bits. Elsewhere on this site I describe some Macintosh software that facilitates this process.
A useful feature of these Framework-oriented courses is the inclusion of sample exam exercises, so you know exactly what to expect in a real official exam situation (apart from the speaking component!). It’s perhaps worth pointing out here that they deliberately try to trick you in the exams — or rather, that they seek to confirm that you do in fact have a proper understanding of the language and are not simply making glib assumptions. For example, you may have to match up a set of people seeking accommodation with a set of newspaper advertisements; if you are not careful, you may have someone buying a property instead of renting it. Or you hear mention of a city in an audio recording and automatically — but erroneously — choose an answer that also mentions that city. The courses we are considering here give you plenty of practice in preparing for such situations which, of course, occur in real life as much as they do in real exams.
These course materials are often aimed at a classroom situation where a teacher is available to guide students; some exercises are specifically designed for group participation. This is not to say that the books can’t be used for private learning — quite the contrary — but it’s perhaps worth checking before purchase that, even with your very limited vocabulary, you can at least discern how the course works. One (French-language) series I have seen was, to me at any rate, such a confusing mish-mash of overly busy graphic design that I could not recommend it to a young friend wishing to improve her knowledge of French. Personal taste is also important, as you will be embedded in your chosen environment for many months (or years!) to come. I have personally used the Berliner Platz NEU series from Klett and found it most congenial.
You will need to consult a dictionary much more often with a DaF course than with an English-based course, so you may care to look at my dictionary recommendations. My recommended grammar resources are English-based, so you can always refer to them if you don’t quite understand a particular grammatical concept as it is presented in a German-only course.