Learning German

[bort]

I took one 4-credit German 101 course in college and knew enough to "get by" when I have been to Germany and Austria. The grammar is a little tricky, but the words are pretty easy.

[Donn]

I should add that speaking the language isn't the most important, as on the candidacy exam will be reading/writing

Your own intrinsic language-learning faculty is however tied to hearing, at a much more basic level than reading. So, sure, for the exam it may make sense to work on reading, but if the initial head start prep course you're asking about here starts with hearing, it's because that's what works.

[PMeuph]

FWIW, there is not method that I know of that will teach you what you need just about music terms. My suggestion is to either take an intro class or work up the first 2 levels of Rosetta stone. After, get a decent German-English dictionary, go to library and pull up articles from the MGG and start translating. Keep a list of all terms you looked up. Do the same thing with any periodical articles that you might need.

[PMeuph]

....It just isn't musical terms.....

Ich weiß....My point was more that the musical terms you will need to know to pass a proficiency exam* are usually found in articles and encyclopedias. These terms would almost never come up in any other German learning resource. Just think of the word Satz with its multiple musical definitions and it's other definition. No resource that I know of will translate these musical terms into English while explaining the corresponding differences.



*Mine consisted of a short translation into English and several explanations of terms.

[Chuck Jackson]

Want to learn the language? If your goal is to SPEAK the language,find a Native German and have them talk to you in nothing but German for an hour a day. Seriously, this type of immersion is the only way to pick up on the nuances of the language. If your goal is to read and write, take every German class you can, in succession from 101-401. There is no substitution for practice. Sound fimiliar.

Chuck "learning to speak Chinese-Mandarin by following step one, and who is totally overwhelmed by the written language in step two and is VERY glad that most major cities in China have English signage"Jackson

[Dutchtown Sousa]

I'm surprised no one has said to drink beer yet. Not that it would help, but certain forum members might say it is important to become acquainted with the culture to be able to learn the language faster

[bort]

When I was in Germany, it was amazing how much you can pick up in just a few days. Plus, when you try to speak German with the locals, they WILL correct toy if you butcher the pronunciation. Even a German restaurant is a good (and delicious) refresher course.

As a musician, for me at least, pronunciation is an awful lot like playing the tuba. I know what a tuba is supposed to sound like, so its my job to make it sound like that. Same with pronunciation... if I know how its supposed to be pronounced, then its my job to pronounce it like that.

I mean its still not "easy," but the same idea I'm already used to.

[Rochester2013]

After you get some of the basics down, this book will be invaluable: http://www.amazon.com/Graded-German-Rea ... 466&sr=1-1" target="_blank" target="_blank

It is the greatest German resource I've ever used.

Also, this very good (and completely free). http://www.dw.de/dw/0,,2547,00.html" target="_blank" target="_blank Deutsche Welle has daily podcasts which I love to listen to. One (Called langsam gesprochene Nachrichten) is my favorite with News being read (slowly) in German by different people every day.

Viel Glueck! Es ist nicht leicht, aber sehr sehr spass.

[cjk]

My local public library system has a number of "learn to speak German" CDs. Maybe yours does too. The price can't be beat.