DAX, what a nice reminder.

Most of us have struggled to learn a new language. It is a great gift when others have told me that my German or Spanish is very good. I suspect that I only end up talking to really gracious people, but that's okay it still gives me a lift.

I wouldn’t say that the German language isn't challenging to learn in the beginning. It is quite difficult when you start and it’s really not such an attractive language. But as you deepen in this language more and more you are getting more interested in it. I guess that’s happening with most foreign languages. But let’s say Spanish is really easy to learn and it sounds more beautiful than German..
I think it is even better if you learn the language in the country where it is spoken. My experience in learning German started at school nearly 12 years ago.. I never got fascinated then with this language and never took it seriously. But recently I moved to Berlin and started some intensive classes in a German language school (Deutschakademie- http://www.deutschakademie.de/berlin/) Learning a language in a place where you can directly practice it is really challenging.. The first month of course was really difficult and not so interesting as you still cannot make sentences, but my teachers were so motivated to teach me German and made it so fun that I wanted to go on and be able to speak. In the middle of the second month I was able to make real sentences and could have conversation with people..
That was so nice. I couldn’t believe it. Then I started liking the language and didn’t find it so difficult or ugly sounding language. If it wasn’t for my teachers I don’t know if I would like to learn it so quickly.
Recently I got a job opportunity in Manchester and I had to leave Germany. I can’t believe that I miss the language so much. I have communication with the school and send e-mails with my teachers so I don’t forget the language...
I just want to say that a language becomes challenging for different reasons. Sometimes it needs more time to learn a language and there should be always a good motive for that.

mm - a funny first post, karina, especially as the page you link to comes up with an error message.

actually i disagree with you about the first steps of learning german, particularly for a native english speaker- the early stages are pretty easy as the vocabulary is pretty familiar. it's as you progress that it get's harder because of the grammar - but even that can be conquered with a good teacher.

<<The first month of course was really difficult and not so interesting as you still cannot make sentences>>

yes, of course you can. they may not be very complicated, but you can certainly create sentences in german from the start. eg Ich habe ein Buch.

i bet you can even translate that without a dictionary even if you've never heard or seen a word of german before.

which makes me wonder if you have ever tried to learn german and if this is just an advert.

I am sorry, perhaps I haven’t made myself clear.. When I say that you cannot make sentences, I am referring to compound-complex sentences.
Because most of the sentences we use in continuous speech are complex, and you can’t only use a simple sentence to communicate with other people. You need a main clause and a subordinate clause to make a complex sentence.
You may say: Ich bin müde. But in real life you have to make your sentence more clear like:
[hauptsatz] [nebensatz]
Ich bin müde, weil ich nicht geschlafen habe. or
Ich möchte keine Buch kaufen, weil ich nicht lesen mag.
I don’t know what you mean when you say that my post is funny. I have just shared my experience. It doesn't mean that it is the same for everyone. This is my point of view. It might not be the same for everyone here.
You are right about the error on the link, here is the right one: http://www.deutschakademie.de/berlin/
I just like recommending anything I feel that may help other people in their attempt of learning a new language.

You have to understand there are a couple of posters here who have decided that all first posts are automatically suspect no matter what is said in them.

We have seen too many first-time posters who registered only to advertise their own company's services, often by pretending to be their own clients. That's why we are always suspicious about this kind of contribution, please understand.

And, by the way, it's "kein Buch" not "keine". Das Buch, Neutrum. This error makes me believe that you are indeed a language student and your review is genuine.

And, by the way, it's "kein Buch" not "keine". Das Buch, Neutrum. This error makes me believe that you are indeed a language student and your review is genuine.

quokka - having read Karina's 2nd post, i am inclined to agree.

<<You have to understand there are a couple of posters here who have decided that all first posts are automatically suspect no matter what is said in them.>>

Dukey - do you mean me? surely not!

<<I don’t know what you mean when you say that my post is funny. I have just shared my experience. It doesn't mean that it is the same for everyone. This is my point of view. It might not be the same for everyone here>>

Karina - there are two meanings in english of the word "funny" as I'm sure you know. your posting of a false link plus its being your first post made me somewhat suspicious, for which i apologise. you obviously love speaking german, as i do, so i hope that you have some more chances to practice it soon.

I trust that by this time, Daniel Williams, who posted the original inquiry on September 17, 2012, speaks fluent German. Ich gratuliere.

Haha. Nein. :) I actually haven't even started yet; German is a summer project for when I'll have more time. In the little free time I've had lately, I've been focusing on my Dutch skills instead, further building up my vocabulary in that language by taking 10-20 minutes each day listening to newcasts and songs.

oh wow! I wish there was a similar post on simple books, newscasts and songs to listen to for French!

In so far as German is concerned, I found it rather easy in the beginning but harder as I express complex ideas. I too trip over the Dutch I know (from a year in NL) whilst speaking German, as Dutch was my 2nd language and has "held" better than my other languages. However, I will add that I am not truly *fluent* in anything other than English.

You could do as I did and really branch out, with Japanese. German seems quite tame after that. :)

In so far as German is concerned, I found it rather easy in the beginning but harder as I express complex ideas.>>

my experience too, HunyBadger.

but like every other language, practice makes if not perfect, certainly more fluent.

good luck with the japanese.

HunyBadger, what materials are you using for the Japanese?

My German teacher in high school (too many years ago to write down!) did a wonderful job teaching grammar and I was able to understand English grammar so much better in the process. Two years of high school Spanish were made easier too. French, on the other hand, is a big enigma for me! Maybe one of the others was right when they said some people's brains might be geared more to the germanic languages than the romantic ones.

hunybadger, there have been numerous posts on here about such things for French, also, you could find them if you did a good search. I know some people aren't used to searching very well, it is a skill.

My father taught both German and Spanish and also said French was his first love (he just had to change due to the job market, but I think French was his main major). So that is interesting as they are different types of languages, but he just loved languages.

It doesn't make sense to me that German would make Spanish easier somehow, but not French. I have studied French a lot and Spanish second most, and they are similar languages in many ways (some of the verbs are even identical), so I don't understand that. I never studied German much at all, I think I did a bit when I was very little but that all disappeared by high school, and then I've brushed up for short vacations with phrases, that's all. But I think understanding grammar just helps you learn languages in general, and I always knew grammar very well in English just from school, so of course that helped me learn French and then Spanish. I went to Catholic school many years ago, we learned grammar, you don't need German to learn English grammar. But I did find it odd that so many people in my language classes when older had no idea what a relative pronoun was, for example, or a conjunction for that matter, or the difference in an adverb and adjective.

HUnnyBadger, do a google search for News in Slow French. It's free and it's great, assuming you already have some command of the language. It's available in myriad other languages as well. There are plenty of other resources as well, but since you mentioned newscasts....

I went to Catholic school many years ago, we learned grammar, you don't need German to learn English grammar.>>

i went to a girl's grammar school in the english midlands and we learnt english grammar too, but I can confirm that learning German certainly helps in that regard because it is impossible to learn it without having a VERY good grasp of grammar, whereas IME of learning french, [in the same school] it was possible to do quite well with far more hazy grammatical knowledge.

now i am learning Italian, knowing grammar quite well is definitely paying dividends.

St Cirq - thanks for that idea about the News for slow ..... website. I've found the italian one and will give it a go soon.

annhig: The biggest boost for me is recording TV talk shows from RAI onto CD's and playing them during my daily commute. If you could do the same, you'd be amazed how fast you would learn to comprehend Italian at full speed and at the same time improve your ability to speak more naturally using proper idioms and expressions. It just helps me speak a lot more fluently without constantly searching for the correct words & tenses. I did the same with German a long time ago and it worked very well in increasing fluency and natural flow in talking.

Dax - that's a great tip, thanks.

only problem is, not sure how I can get RAI in the UK.

I'll have to get my tekkie DD onto it.

I think German is easier than French. For some reason, I remember German words more easily and the grammar seems more instinctive to me.

Ich auch.