Monday 4 May 2015

Started From the Bottom, Now We're Here!

Pardon my brief descent into craziness, but I am feeling very proud of myself at the moment. Why you ask? Yours truly after only 4,5months has tested as an intermediate German speaker. Oya, everybody clap for me. Thank you, thank you! ;)
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When I decided to start learning German in the second week of December, I set myself some goals and panicked when I realised the magnitude of the task before me. Then in February or March, I booked a ticket to go see T's family in May, and promised myself that I would be done with all the lessons/exercises on Duolingo by the 7th, the day before I was supposed to travel. At one point a few weeks ago though, I started to panic because I realised that I was so behind that it was unlikely I'd achieve my goal, but for some weird reason I became motivated again and due to some intense work, managed to finish the whole thing one week before my deadline. During this time, I noticed that the more German I did (on Duolingo/by watching TV or through reading), the more I became used to the language, and the easier it was for me to learn further. It was a virtuous circle, and so efficient that it almost turned me into a German freak. I have had(and still have) so many ups and downs with this crazy language, and have often felt like abandoning it(even taking a few breaks when life got too overwhelming), but I am so glad I never completely gave up. Of course I am still far from fluent, but I thought I'd share how I did it anyway, because it might help someone else.


So a few takeaway ideas from my experience of learning French, Italian and now German:
  1. Set goals and try to be accountable! Even if your boyfriend and friends  side-eye you for your obsessive behaviour.
  2. Speak, speak, speak. People (again my boyfriend and even my conversation partner were guilty of this) will laugh at your pronunciation and/or just not understand your babbling, but don't let that discourage you. Practice makes perfect, and your efforts will eventually bear fruit. Oh and the same people who laughed at me now compliment me on the progress I've made.
  3. Living in the country and immersing oneself in the language and culture while important, is not essential. I learnt French a bit quicker than I am learning German now, because I was immersed in the language 24hrs a day, but I've realised that these days there are so many ways of surrounding oneself with the target language. Books, the internet, radio, watching TV are all ways of bring the proverbial mountain to Mohammed.
  4. Ups and downs are normal and to be expected in language learning (and with everything in life I suppose). Embrace them. Celebrate every high, mourn every low but never stay static. This is also one very good reason for evaluating and re-evaluating your progress regularly; sometimes we don't notice the progress we've made until we take an objective test or someone else compliments us or points something out.
  5. Surround yourself with "encouragers". Blog readers, my conversation partner/friend, my boyfriend's mum and T have all been very helpful, especially whenever the going became difficult. So yeah a big THANK YOU to everyone that encouraged(s) me, you guys have been absolute darlings. DANKE SCHÖN!!!
  6. No dream ever materialises without some effort, elbow grease and a good dollop of sweat. So to everyone that has some goal they want to achieve, my advice in the great words of Nike, would be to "just do it!"
Addendum:  After putting up this post, I suddenly realised that it might mislead people, causing them to think I speak German perfectly. Well I don't. I can communicate verbally and read without too much difficulty, and I understand a huge percentage of what I see/hear on TV/radio. However (due to insufficient interaction), my speaking language skills still need a lot of work, mostly with pronunciation and acquiring more advanced vocabulary. So yeah I'm definitely still a long way away from fluency!

10 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Clara—I admire your efforts to reach this goal, yes, even though you acknowledge you're not perfectly fluent yet. All the tips you shared are vital for the accomplishment of any goal, especially not giving up when you "fall off the wagon" a bit.

    Kudos!

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    1. Dear Jummy,
      Thank you so much for the encouragement. It was you that initially gave me the idea of setting weekly language goals, and I am pleased to say it worked very well. Now it's your turn to take up French! ;)

      Gros Bisous

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  2. WELLDONE!
    I do admire your determination.
    Learning new languages is not my tuft.
    You really tried o.
    Congratulations.

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    1. Thank you jare Nitty! Long time no talk, how are you?. I'm so sorry, life has been dealing with me...

      It was all of you guys spurring me on week in and week out. And honestly I used to say I couldn't learn languages too, until I started French and then I realised it's possible, it just takes A LOT of motivation and determination. So yeah, find the right motivation and you'll learn a language...

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  3. WELLDONE!
    I do admire your determination.
    Learning new languages is not my tuft.
    You really tried o.
    Congratulations.

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  4. Kein Problem liebe. Solange als du viele Wörter wießt und wann du hier wohnst, wirst du in eine Sprachschule gehen. Es hilft sehr sehr viel. Jetzt lerne ich b1 aber ich mache noch viel fehlen und das ist ganz normal. Wir sprechen englisch zu Hause weil ich mich besser erzählen auf englisch kann. Aber gestern haben wir nur deutsch gesprochen und ich muss sagen, es gefällt mir gut! Ich finde es toll dass ich deutsch kann. Who would have thought! You did good gun! Gut gemacht! Ich freue mich auf dich zu sehen! Erinnerst du dich an girly anziehen!

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    1. Ich habe alles verstehen! Ich glaube nicht dass wir uns Morgen sehen. Ich freue mich sehr!

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  5. Hian!!! Egbon! Long way from fluency ke?! After all these oppression you and the ghen ghen Ausserehl are oppressing Omololmo lori Instagram. :(.. Issorait.. You know ehn.. I think my brain e haf been padlocked to learn any other language biko.. I mean nada can enter.. not even Igbo.. I haf try sotttteeeeeyyyy.. But the thing e no just agree to enter.. **Crying in French... Oh well in time i guess.. Oya lemme gist you tintinli.. I was once trying to woo one french graduate in 2013, so i enrolled at a french teaching institute in Festac... mehn Bubba once the geh that I was trying to learn it to use and Toast did not come and go and have my time anymore ehn.. i just jejely used my 2 tintinli legs and church mind to stop going for the classes biko! What is the idea of Learning French teh almighty language of LOVE without having someboRRy to use it and toast?! **Wears Mischievous smile

    hehehe All in all.. Hearty congratulations on yet another Milestone Clara.. So Yoruba, English, French, Italian, and now German yeah?! Chisos be a language teacher.. I am so stale **Crying in German hehehehe Cheers Bubba.. This was a ghen ghen read as usual... and i smiled as usual all through till now :) and the crowd goes.. Oooosssshhheeey Turn uP!

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  6. Ich liebe den Post. Ich bin so stolz auf dich ich ich wusste genau, dass du das schaffst!

    Ich spreche auch kein feines Deutsch. Hauptsache können wir und verständigen.

    I feel like this advice applies to any goals that you're working towards. I have so many and get discouraged. German is sometimes one of them. I think American English as a native language is a huge disadvantage when it comes to foreign language learning.

    Congrats again my dear.

    Xoxo,


    La Deutsche Diva — The Denglisch Blog
    German on top | English on the bottom

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