/lit/ - Literature

Why do you want to learn German? What do you plan to do with it?

I'd personally advise to learn a language that exerts less strain on the throat.

>too old sub 30

Bollocks. Start getting your hands on lots of films (fortunate for you there's an assfuck-ton of great Deutschfag films), watch them; get old Berlitz language books from the amazon.

>>2441622
Oh please, German does not strain the throat.

Also, good luck OP. I know some German and the good news is that a lot of words are similar to modern English ones. The bad news is that sentence structure is a nightmare.

Anyway, I checked amazon and apparently this book has gotten a good amount of positive reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/German-Speak-Write-Beginners-Guides/dp/9650060359/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UT
F8&qid=1330395756&sr=1-1

>>2441632
Oh, and if you really want, you could hang out on http://krautchan.net/..

Rosetta Stone is a scam. Paying for a professional course is the best way, hands down. Learning a language has a lot of pitfalls and annoyances that will take you months to figure out, or to realize they've been dogging you in the first place, that a teacher would have noticed right away, or which you could have asked about in five seconds.

Typically you'll use a textbook (usually with a modified/supplementary curriculum) as the meat of the course, which means the next best method is just to get a textbook and do it. Get a prestigious one from a real course, like a Cambridge text or whatever, don't get some "German For Dummies" shit or random book of German language exercises. You need a structured course.

You might look into FSI, and also:
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/languages/german/index.html
http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html

>>2441632
I love how I always get taken completely seriously on /lit/. I'd almost call it passive trolling.

>>2441612
Honestly it doesn't matter how old you are. I am aware that what I am saying obviously is not true, because it's a scientific fact that you are able to pick languages up faster when you're a child. But seriously, I was forced to start learning Spanish in third grade and I hated it, I didn't have enough understanding of language and linguistics at the time to really connect the lines. I am now 19 and learning Mandarin and Russian and have an easier time than I did back then. Granted, I have to put in a lot more effort but I feel like I'm learning a hell of a lot more because my desire to learn it is far greater.

Best ways to learn independently vary from person to person, there are plenty of hyper-polyglots on youtube who give advise on second/foreign language acquisition. Rosetta Stone is an okay tool in addition to books/websites and whatever else you plan on using, but I would never just use Rosetta Stone, it's pretty fucking bad imho. If I were you I would search the web for some useful websites and pick up a handful of German books. Grammar is not as important as building a strong vocabulary in my opinion, but everyone is different.

Hope that's a little helpful.

>>2441637
Literature board looked pretty good, then I saw this:
http://krautchan.net/l/thread-16671.html#16680

>Go to fucking germany
>learn german
>???
>profit, maybe

There is no way to learn another language unless you live in a country where the language is spoken.

>>2441622
Pleasure, mostly. But I do have family in Germany that it'd be nice to get in touch with. Plus, there are some books/poetry I'd like to read in their native language.

I don't intend for it to be the last language I learn, either, but I suppose I shouldn't get ahead of myself.

All of the replies have been helpful, though. Thanks /lit/.

>>2441657
Then how the fuck am I able to speak English?

>>2441662

I'm not 100% that you can, but assuming that your first language is not Inglit, then the fact that you speak English is probably die to the fact that it's the FUCKING WORLD LANGUAGE YOU CUNT. Therefore, you grew up watching TV in English, listening to pop music in English and realising that to exist in the international cimmunity you would have to speak the infernal tongue.

None of these things apply with German: you will not learn it at school from age 8, you will not be constantly exposed to it no matter what you do, and you have no motivation to learn beyond some pathetic hipster urge to "learn another language".

Live in another country - you'll learn 20,195% more than you will by looking at rosetta stone inbetween fapping.

>>2441667

>>There is no way to learn another language unless you live in a country where the language is spoken.


Please don't contradict yourself and then act as if it's my responsibility. My point was that there are plenty of good ways to learn a language without actually moving to the country.

By the way, in Holland you get taught in French, English and German from a young age. I understand that that's different in Anglophone countries since it's a fucking world language, as you rightly pointed out. Somehow you seem to consider the teaching of a second language to children to not only be silly but completely impossible too.

>>2441676

>By the way, in Holland you get taught in French, English and German from a young age.

ben nederfag, kankâhlul.

>>2441676
Good preperation for selling Tulips on the international market.

>>2441682
Een Hagenees zo te horen, da's wat anders.

>>2441684

Oost west betar gepijpt dan geflest

>>2441685
That's the most adorable attempt at an insult I've ever had directed towards me.

>>2441691
Sorry, didn't mean to insult. Clog manufacture is a fine and honest trade too, if a dying one.

No hard feelings.

>>2441694
You are insanely knowledgeable, you know that?

>>2441691

II thought it sweet too, especially since the engelsfag has mis-spelled "preparation".

spreke is zilvâh zwège is gâhd

>>2441697
Ik denk dat ik zeuw effe lekkah een stukkie Harrie Jekkahs ga kijkuh.

>>2441700

Nah, he's a dullard. Fuck him.. Sjaak Bral is the Haagse Man.

>>2441702
Sjaak Bral? Hmm, I'll have a look.

>>2441697
>I thought it sweet too
>mis-spelled "preparation"
Totally my intention...

>>2441707
Fascinitittillating! What did you hope to achiventilieve by that?

>>2441707

>made a schoolboy error.
>gets called on it
>lolololololololol I trol u on purpuss.

>>2441705

Sjaak's seminal work is ut groene-geile boekie: de offesjeile s[elling vannut haags.

It's already a modern classic. Available for 2,99 in any second hand book-sjop
(
als je kan ut originele vindâh, kreg je een gratis bumpâh stikkâh).

>>2441716
Dolletjes, heb ik weer een excuus om dagenlang door tweedehands boekwinkels te dwalen.

>>2441710
A state of Joy-seeing bliss.

>>2441716
>made a schoolboy error.
Ironic. Doesn't mean what you think it means.

>>2441721
OH NO, WE WOULDN'T HAVE A CLUE WHAT IRONY IS, HERE ON /lit/

This is just getting more pathetic with each post you make. I'm enjoying it immensely.

>>2441719

graag gedaan, acnèharsus-etterkop. Geniet ervan

>>2441724
Post short sentence, get long reply.

>>2441727
Dankjewel he, teringtyfustakkelijer. <3

>>2441721

Wut? I know exactly what a schoolboy error implies, and you made one.

>>2441724

Who the fuck are you, cunt? When I need a white knight, I'll send a mail to whiteknightfaggots.com. Until then, keep your whore mouth shut, men are talking here.

>>2441729
That's just because I am oh so literate and eloquent and loquacious

>>2441737

OR IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE A CUNT.

>>2441735
Someone who likes making e/lit/es cry

>>2441735
Schoolboy error isn't an error schoolboys make, it's where you think about complicated shit, but fuck up on the basics. Like in chess, you carefully begin some complex moves, and plan the long game, but 5 moves in allow yourself to be checkmated.

>>2441739
I share your love in that word. Can you do it in a Scottish accent? It's especially good.

The "ideal range" thing is bullshit when it comes to "can I learn or not." Anyone can learn a language at any age if they have immersion and consistent use, ideally out of necessity.

You need someone to speak German with and you need them to force you to speak in only German, and they need to give you a reason to need to speak German. Google "german skype lessons" and find someone. Rosetta Stone can be used as a supplement but nothing can hold a candle to daily use of the language.

>>2441743
Oh dear, I seem to have used a word in a place where it shouldn't have been used. Time to brace myself. :)

>>2441742

No it isn't, you fucking flaw - it's a basic error, often made by someone who should know much better, like a football player who pulls another player's shirt in the penalty box an loses the game for his team.

>Oh my word, Terry. Looks like Keown has given away a penalty in the last minutes of extra time.

>Schoolboy error, Motty, schoolboy error.

>You need someone to speak German with and you need them to force you to speak in only German, and they need to give you a reason to need to speak German.

i.e. you need to move to Germany.

/thread.

>>2441752
Wow, that example is totally counter to what I just said. Not.

Good try, I guess.

>>2441756

Go fuck your mum.

>>2441754

Ideally, but he can get a leg-up beforehand. Or maybe he needs to save up the money. Or maybe he's very poor. If learning languages necessitated a whole move to a country there'd be far fewer multilingual people abroad. One can become functional without a move although fluency is a different matter.

>>2441756
'90s catchphrases! I just love where this is going!

>>2441759
Don't get your jimmies rustled. Easy mistake.

>>2441761
>'90s catchphrases
"Not" originated in the 19th C AFAIK. Wayne's World was like a mad vehicle for repopularising shit.

>>2441767
Michael Jackson didn't invent the moonwalk, but at the end of the day, do people care? He's still what people remember the phenomenon for.

>>2441779
I guess. Still, I lie awake at night asking myself the same question: If a frog had wings, would it still bump its ass when it hopped?

>>2441792
If it had wings.. we'd still be screwed, but wouldn't it be awesome?

>>2441765
seriously, go fuck your mum.

>>2441819
>using schoolboy insults
>pretending jimmies aren't rustled

Listen to Rammstein...lots and lots of Rammstein...