So I'm 21 years old, i've been living in germany long enough to be fluent, however i did not start learning actual german until i was about 16.
I went to a DODDS American school, and their method of teaching german in the highest levels were things like "I have the ball"


Even aside from then, i only became proficient in things like getting a taxi, ordering food, and basic directions. And i learned these through immersion, and through trial and error.

Sometimes when german people talk to me, there's always that one (or five) words that fucks me up. I never learned it fluently, just the basics of how to order a sentence, and the basics of everyday shopping. I can get around just fine, but when someone says something to me, sometimes i'm not 100 percent sure as to what they're talking about.

It is conversational german and a lot of verbs/nouns that are bothering me.

Currently i have a huge german Joke Book that i've been looking through. Some of the words i cannot understand, so what i do is, read the sentence, then pick out the words i'm not too sure about, and look them up

I figure if i can understand a full chapter of jokes, then that's one step closer to becoming semi fluent in German.

I also listen to the german radio as much as i can. Although i don't get german televison

I just want to be understood and to understand what people are saying moreso than i do now. I don't expect to be completely fluent.

Is there any other thing i can do to increase my vocabulary?

Are there any ways that i can learn a new word, and REMEMBER it? Sometimes i find myself struggling for the right words but i just can't remember how to say them.

I have some Pimsleur german lessons and an Immersion Plus german lesson. I was told that i could listen to those while i sleep and maybe that would help me?

But i'd like to hear any input.


Thanks

Watching TV and reading will help.

Btw, if you're missing up to 5 words per sentence, you should be careful calling yourself "fluent".

Listening in your sleep doesn't work.

Oh, by the way: Check out FSI. They'd got a very structures, comprehensive course that will help you a lot with grammar and perhaps fill in some vocab blanks.

http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/

in your sleep you better listen to folk songs to get a feeling for the rythm of the language, that´s what pregnant moms do, the baby already listens ..

Watching TV and reading will help.

Btw, if you're missing up to 5 words per sentence, you should be careful calling yourself "fluent".

I never said i was fluent.

I said i lived in germany long enough 'to be' fluent (Implying i've been here a long time)

But i'm not

I also said i wanted to be one step closer to being semi fluent.

But aside from that

I checked out the link, and its brilliant!

Thanks so much for that

I'm not trying to be a dick, but what you originally wrote meant that you were fluent. You should have said "I've lived in Germany long enough that I should be fluent..."

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1071197

I'm not trying to be a dick, but what you originally wrote meant that you were fluent. You should have said "I've lived in Germany long enough that I should be fluent..."

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1071197

No you just suck at context.

No you just suck at context.

And you suck at English, apparently. No matter what the rest of his post is about, "I've lived in Germany long enough to be fluent." means that he is fluent. Period. If he had say "...,but I'm not" it would have been sloppy, but it would have made more sense.

And you suck at English, apparently. No matter what the rest of his post is about, "I've lived in Germany long enough to be fluent." means that he is fluent. Period. If he had say "...,but I'm not" it would have been sloppy, but it would have made more sense.

No bro, I'm not autistic like you. I read the thread title, read the sentence, and understood what he was trying to convey. It would just be redundant if he wrote the sentence the way you wanted it, for the rest of us there is a concept called implication. As far as message boards go, you can often include the thread title as part of the conversation. So my interpretation was : "Methods of learning german vocab? I've lived in germany long enough to be fluent, however" Seriously though, why would you even bitch about something so trivial?

No bro, I'm not autistic like you. I read the thread title, read the sentence, and understood what he was trying to convey. It would just be redundant if he wrote the sentence the way you wanted it, for the rest of us there is a concept called implication. As far as message boards go, you can often include the thread title as part of the conversation. So my interpretation was : "Methods of learning german vocab? I've lived in germany long enough to be fluent, however" Seriously though, why would you even bitch about something so trivial?

I wasn't even bitching about it until you and him started getting ignorant. His sentence caused confusion (because I read it as it was written), he denied it, and so I pointed out his mistake in a pretty neutral/non-insulting manner. The title doesn't imply that he isn't fluent, and "however i did not start learning actual german until i was about 16" doesn't contradict it either. After a few more sentences he started saying "I'm not fluent", so then I didn't know what the hell he was talking about.

So, yeah yeah, I'm a nitpicking asshole now, but whatever.

His sentence caused confusion

you started a thread in another forum to prove a sentence that was written from a normal human being in his common regular life had not the style of a scientific paper that won the nobel prize? take a walk outside before you start another drama here again, maybe you will even find some real persons to talk to ..

you started a thread in another forum to prove a sentence that was written from a normal human being in his common regular life had not the style of a scientific paper that won the nobel prize? take a walk outside before you start another drama here again, maybe you will even find some real persons to talk to ..

Getting attacked in a language forum for (non-aggressively) pointing out a grammar mistake that made the post difficult to understand. Sigh...

If the OP had checked himself before saying "No, I'm right." then we wouldn't even be having this conversation. By the way (before I stop posting in this thread): I posted the thread on WordRef because I was unsure, not because I wanted to prove anyone wrong.

Tschuess.

just chill. you know, I see you and zay quoting the whole text from the post right above everytime, which is in my opinion absolutely useless and without any sense, but do I teach you how to use internet forums? do I tell you to simply write @user or to make sure your reply fits the context? oh wait, maybe that´s why you don´t get ..

and about attacking someone, I didn´t call you autistic, I asked you to relax and chill. you should overthink your prejudices, it seems they are fogging your perception ..

I don't see what is wrong with his grammar. I see how what he said is potentially misleading but not inherently incorrect. For example, if someone were to say, "I've done enough work in my field to win a Nobel Prize!" would you interpret that to mean that they have won a Nobel Prize? I think the more obvious interpretation of that is that the speaker is angry because they haven't won one despite their work. If you feel this is an impossible interpretation, perhaps it is from your own lack of experience with a certain kind of construction.

I don't see what is wrong with his grammar. I see how what he said is potentially misleading but not inherently incorrect. For example, if someone were to say, "I've done enough work in my field to win a Nobel Prize!" would you interpret that to mean that they have won a Nobel Prize? I think the more obvious interpretation of that is that the speaker is angry because they haven't won one despite their work. If you feel this is an impossible interpretation, perhaps it is from your own lack of experience with a certain kind of construction.

There are a few differences between that sentence and the original one.

First: An exclamatory sentence adds a whole new element to how a sentence can be interpeted. "I went to school." just means that the person went to school. "I went to school!" could mean that a person went to school and is proud of his accomplishment, or if said angrily, it could mean the person is defending himself, or complaining or suggesting that going to school was a bad decision. As you can see, changing emotion changes the formula.

Second, "doing enough work in your field" isn't really a significant qualification for winning a Nobel Prize, so it leads to amibiguity. Nobel Prizes are awarded for important accomplishments, not quantity of work. If someone is saying they've "done enough of something", then that automatically taints the meaning of the Nobel Prize sentence. There's also the issue of the Nobel Prize being an award, not something you automatically gain via experience. I think an appropriate analogy would be: "I've done enough work in my field to know all about subatomic particles", or "I've practiced shooting enough to get a bullseye everytime." The original statement was "I've lived in Germany long enough to be fluent...". Living in a foreign country and becoming fluent are generally percieved as going hand-in-hand and being directly related, so it's a very straightforward situation.

I'll agree, I'm not sure if there's a specific grammar rule about how such a clause would have to be phrased, but I think as he wrote it, the meaning was definitely "I'm fluent."

And again: I'm not doing this to be a prick. :cool: Remember that we're on a language forum.

just chill. you know, I see you and zay quoting the whole text from the post right above everytime, which is in my opinion absolutely useless and without any sense, but do I teach you how to use internet forums? do I tell you to simply write @user or to make sure your reply fits the context? oh wait, maybe that´s why you don´t get ..


The quote button is there for a reason. I can't stand blogs like consumerist.com that dont have a quote button. I don't always pay attention to who writes a post, so when I see @someone over and over it just gets messy.

for the first time you used it the right way, you only picked out the relevant sentences you are replying to and there is another post between there, whereas derdrache is quoting the whole post that is right above. don´t tell me that makes any sense, and don´t tell me this is worth to be discussed ..

Are you children still fighting about what was said?

I meant it in a totally different way than what was conveyed. If it was the wrong grammar/context/spelling/nigger, then shut the fuck up and get over it. You've all still got a pulse.

People get off track so easily.

so I guess we close this as answers have been given and there is no need for more discussion ..