So, you want to learn German fast? There’s no hiding it, getting really good at German is a big undertaking that takes a lot of time: maybe 350 hours study for a basic, functional “working knowledge” at the “lower intermediate” level (sometimes called “B1”) and at least 600 hours to get even more fluent across a wider range as an “upper intermediate” speaker (B2). It also … [Read more...]
The 50 most common German verbs
Learning the most frequent German words is makes tactical sense when you're starting to learn the language. The most common German verbs - words expressing an action like “to eat” or a state like “to be” - should be at the top of your list. After all, beyond pointing at objects and naming them, you won’t get far in German without some "action"! :) There’s good … [Read more...]
German cases made simple (goodbye to endless tables)
You won’t get far into your German learning journey without noticing some words change their form in ways that seem strange for an English native. Meet the four German cases! There’s no denying that the extra “moving parts” complicate German for learners but, if you take time to understand how the system works, you’ll see that the cases can be conquered :) Hold on, though! … [Read more...]
Six German vocabulary keys to unlock your word power
At first sight, you’ll probably recognise a lot fewer words in a German text than a Spanish or French one. Add to that those super-long words the language seems to love and you could be forgiven for thinking that German vocabulary is just impossible. Not so! If you discover just a little about where German gets its words from (and how longer words are formed) you'll see that … [Read more...]
Goodbye 2020, hello 2021!
Happy New Year 2021. What a year 2020 was! Despite all the upset, though, we kept learning languages together. As we make a fresh start, it’s time to look back on the last twelve months of language learning and talking about language learning and even to look ahead a bit. My language learning and yours In 2020 I didn’t start a new language but I very much … [Read more...]