I'm taking Spanish this year but I need to learn German for a trip to there. How should I schedule my learning
May 24th, 2010 | 
Author: Basically, my class-transfer deadline was Friday, and my parents surprised me with a Germany Saturday. I’m taking Spanish and after extensive negotiations with my guidance counselor my family and I have come to the conclusion that I’m S-C-R-E-W-E-D. In the end, I have a few options:
-Take a Summer Course.
-Learn via tape or CD.
-Anything else you guys could think of.
Taking a summer course seems like the best way to learn it, but it will be summer, and in my experience, learning and summer don’t mix.
I could learn with an audio-typed thing, but I’m afraid it will not be nearly as affective as the summer course.
Are there any other good methods?
Also, when should I start learning? I aim at being able to accurately know what almost everyone is saying in Germany. Should I start now or after my Spanish semester ends at Christmas.
Just please give me any advice you can give
Posted in Uncategorized | 
Tags: christmas, conclusion, germany, guidance counselor, negotiations, parents, semester ends, transfer deadline
I have been learning with Rosetta Stone which is a software tutorial program right here at my home. It is not cheap to buy, but I have it for free through my public library, all I have to do is log on through my library’s web site.
Rosetta Stone is concept based (no translation to first language) which is the natural way to learn language. There are pictures presented one by one and you learn the words for them, then phrases and sentences.
I don’t know if you have the time to learn and practice both languages, but they say that the more languages you learn the easier it becomes. German is not related to Spanish, so you won’t be getting much vocab confusion like you might with French.
BTW depending on where you are going you might find a lot of Germans speak English that is way better than your German, but it’s still fun to know as much language as possible.
Auf wiedersehen!
(see ya)
It honestly depends on how you learn a language. Some people are fine learning by using a computer program or online course, others need hands on type things, like me for example. If you’re like me, you’ll want to take the summer course to absorb as much of the language as possible. If you do well with programs, you could take the person above’s me advice and fork out a pretty penny for the Rosetta Stone products. Other programs I’ve seen are hardly worth it, even though I’ve never used RS.
Even though I’m pretty far along in my German-knowledge, I use this site to keep refreshing my memory: http://www.deutschseite.de/index.html
It could help you to get started on your quest.
Viel Glück! (Good luck!)