Learning German: Week 2 Update
By: Keith
I‘ve been studying diligently for one week. When I started last Monday, I told you that stage one of my learning was going to be the level 1 German V.4 Rosetta Stone program. That’s what I’ve done; in 7 days I’ve done 8 lessons, and that means I’m halfway through level one. I feel like I’m making good progress, but I have to say, I either know more than I thought I knew or Rosetta Stone is patronizing me. I wasn’t sure which was the case so I went to the mall and talked to the guy selling Rosetta Stone at the little kiosk outside Nordstrom. I said, “I have Version 3, levels 1, 2, and 3 in English, Japanese and Spanish. I have Version 4 German, and it’s a huge improvement as it adds an online element whereby we can interact with other learners and play games and such. But, I have to ask. I feel like the level 1 programs in all these languages are a bit patronizing. Even the first level of Japanese seemed easier than I expected. What gives?” And that’s when I heard an admission that I never thought I’d hear. He said, “Rosetta Stone wants people to feel comfortable and confident in a language. Level 1 is easy relative to the other levels because people would quit if too much was thrown at them at once. Around the middle of level 2 is when you’ll start growing quickly in the language.”
I’m impressed that the guy told the truth. In fact, just because of that, I’m likely to go buy level 2 from him rather than getting it online. He’s right. I made it all the way through 2 levels of Japanese, and I could tell that it started to pick up the pace about the midway point of that second level. I thought it was just me, but apparently the dramatic change in pace is by design. He didn’t say it outright, but it’s obvious that a large part of Rosetta Stone’s success has come from allowing people to see dynamic immersion for themselves through hands on experience and demonstrations at the retail kiosks. Rosetta Stone wants people to say to themselves, “Hey! I can do that!” The cynic in me says it’s just dirty marketing hype to sell product to people who will probably quit the program anyway after they realize it’s not all sunshine and roses. But, the realist in me says that Rosetta Stone is giving people what they want because those who stick with it will still learn the language, but what would be the point of a language learning company if the company goes out of business because people get scared off? In other words, Rosetta Stone has to achieve both profit and real results. It’s a reasonable balancing act I think. Besides, the more people who are being exposed to languages the better, even if they eventually quit.
And That’s Why I’m Supplementing my Education:
I’m one of those strange people who always has to know why I’m doing something. Thus, when I started reciting pronouns that all seemed to have confusing variations, I was compelled to make a trip to the book store. I picked up a beginning German grammar workbook. I’ve been using it to supplement the Rosetta Stone for this first weeks so I can understand more of the language from the start instead of simply clicking mindlessly in the hope that it’ll all become clear in another month or two. Next week I hope to be able to record myself speaking. Maybe real Germans ridiculing my accent will be motivational! Here are some scans of my thus far meager attempt to understand noun genders (pronouns start next week): I made a few mistakes so don’t hold it against me.
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Very nice! I am in the process of making my Children Brasilian citizens. You have motivated me to buy the Rosetta Portuguese for the Boys to learn the language better. I hope you get a commission for the tip!
You’d get full marks on your worksheets
Learning all those articles and verb/noun inflections is no fun but it could be worse. Finish and Basque, those are real crackers.
Some unsolicited advice: Don’t waste your time on archaic or unusual vocabulary unless you wanna read Grimm’s fairy tales.
Bursche, Röslein, Königtum: That’s fairytale vocabulary
Fräulein: Most Germans wouldn’t address a young woman with “Fräulein”; it sounds somewhat antiquated.
I fell into similar traps, like using the phrase ‘hither and yonder’ in a business meeting only to be told by my British boss: ‘ you are running around like a blue arsed fly, that’s what you do all day long’.
Happy learning
Jörg
Jorg: Thanks for the tips! I suspect I’ll be making a lot of those sorts of mistakes without realizing how silly it sounds
I know the feeling. It wasn’t to bad for me when I learned English but I became extremely self-concious in Japan, always worrying that I’d come across like a jerk. That’s one of those ‘pleasures’ when learning languages. You gotta be willing to make a fool out of yourself. Mind you, most people are very sympathetic and listen patiently. (If not I’ll curse them in German :p)
I still struggle with English grammar. I usually realise my mistakes when I read my stuff again a couple of days later with a different perspective. What made sense at the time of writing sounds suddenly awkward and sometimes downright wrong.
Hi Keith,
Interesting post. We are heading to Poland this summer and I was thinking it might be a good idea if I knew how to say more than just “thank you” in Polish. I have heard good things about Rosetta Stone, but wanted to hear more before I plunk down my cash. I’ll keep up with your German experiment, I know you will give us the real deal on how it works!
Thanks,
Dan
You seem to be making some quite good progress there Keith
Let me know if you need some more exercises to go through, some friend hooked me up with the exercises he used to take at the German University in Cairo, they really cover a lot of grammar topics.
Good luck
Very nice. I may need to pick up Rosetta Stone for myself. Little man started his German pre-school type program and they primarily speak German. After nearly 7 years of being with a woman who speaks German I think its time I started doing it too.