BIG MISTAKES I MADE WHEN I STARTED LEARNING GERMAN 🇩🇪 

-Start with short but correct sentences -Work from the beginning on correct pronunciation, especially on the a e i o u e ä ü ö -Learn the words direct with its article - Insist that people are speaking German with you -Go to the people and have no fear, no one will laugh at you -Do not be afraid to make mistakes -Ask, if you dont know the word -Ask to be corrected so that you do not learn it wrong the first way -Watch children's television and read child books -practice with friends -watch tv, even if you dont understand much -practise

Your videos are so helpful! Native English speaker here, currently living in Germany and at the B2 level in German language courses, and I can relate to your video so much. I've also found it extremely difficult to break through the barrier of caring what other people think when I'm speaking. But with time it definitely gets easier.

Haha, Antoinette, right after we came to California from Poland, I was perfecting my English talking to an old lady across the street She had plenty time, and many stories to tell, from the times she worked at the explosives factory during WWII. Not only perfect opportunity to improve my language skills, but also to learn the American history. Old ladies rock 🎸 😎 👌

"An accent is a sign of bravery" That's awesome. We're especially brave because we both tried to learn a 2nd language when we were well into adulthood. I don't consider it brave that my husband speaks English with an accent, cuz he started learning it when he was 10. Yes, I'm bitter about that: )

Antoinette dann mach mal paar Videos auf Deutsch ! Das wäre mal eine interessante Serie wie du dein Alltag in Deutsch bewältigst . Womöglich klingst du in Deutsch noch besser als wie in deiner Muttersprache ?

Currently I'm trying to become better at my new Zealand accent and you really help me doing that, because you also speak about topics that interest me too!

I LOVE how you don't roll your words into the next word. I have been living in NZ for ages but sometimes still can't understand a kiwi as the speech is so fast and seems the words never end. You pronounce each word completely 👍👍👍👍

Hi Antoinette, English speaker with a German wife. We are over in the US & I've studied to achieve B2. But I lose it SO fast. You are immersed, now with kids speaking it. Keep at it. Great video's. My German wife spotted your video with your daughter & we just watched. You are very inspirational & I am glad you have found your husband & have started such a beautiful family. Good luck. ~Mark

I'm learning german now because I am planning on traveling to Germany in the next few years. Watching this really has helped me with learning the language.

und nicht zu vergessen: Satzzeichen können Leben retten! :D Komm, wir essen Opa! Komm, wir essen, Opa!

Good evening Antoinette, a wonderful video, thank you very much, specially for the last point of your video. That's a very important advice. Learning a new language is not so easy, specially the German language, even Germans struggling with all the rules and grammar. The respect goes to anybody who likes to learn a new language and tries to talk, mostly it needs a little bit of self-confidence and random topic talk about. I had the same when i moved to Ireland, i went to a city without any other German, so I was forced to learn the language and i got a lot of help from my company, they organised a course at local college for my a lovely nun did that for free. She was amazing and explained everything so good, i was so glad.

I've been in Germany 14 years and I still can't pronounce many German words the way I know they should be even though I am quite fluent by now...There are some sounds in German that we just don't make in English and it was difficult even to hear the separate words in the language when I first got here...I was surprised that it was so hard because I lived also in Italy for a year and found Italian much much easier to pick up

I am a 55 year old lady and at the end of last year I completed studying 3 years of German at uni. At the beginning of last year I attended a 6 week language school in Stuttgart organised through the uni. I found German really hard to speak. I think my mistake was thinking that I’d be able to speak fluently in German soon after I arrived in Germany, because I told myself that I’d already studied German for a whole 2 years! The lady I stayed with could not or would not speak any English with me and I really struggled to converse with her. Unfortunately she was not that understanding, and also told me that she had thought that if I had learnt German for 2 years,I should be able to speak German better than I did. 😪 I wonder if I put pressure on myself to speak German too. Because I am older, I thought to myself, I haven’t got many years left to learn this, so I’ve got to learn this quickly. 🤔 I wondered if people in the public were judging me about this too.(That is, because I’m older, I should be able to speak it better.)In the end, I had to stop putting so much pressure on myself to speak German, because the harder I tried the worse it seemed to get. 😥 (I was beginning to feel I was going to have a breakdown. 😰) In contrast to my experiences trying to learn German, when I was a teenager I was an exchange student in Norway for a whole year and learnt to speak Norwegian while I was there. I didn’t know any Norwegian before I arrived, but by the time I left, I was fluent in conversational Norwegian. I think the way I learnt Norwegian was better because it was more natural, more organic (?) I was younger, more confident to take risks in speaking the language, enjoyed speaking it, got praised for speaking it and I became good at it. In Germany I thought I would speak better German because I had already learnt some. But it actually worked against me because everyone else thought I should be better at German too. After I got back to Australia, one of my uni teachers spoke to me about how my German improved after being in Stuttgart and I told her how I felt I didn’t improve as much as I hoped. She said that a lot of the other students were saying that too. She had to reassure us that we were at the language school for only 6 weeks, and that you actually have to live in Germany a lot longer than that to become fluent in it! 🤔

Almost all Germans know how difficult German grammar is. All of the tens of years in school we sweated over dictations, essays and interpretations. I admire every foreigner who tries to learn the German language! There is no place for mockery, just for admiration! Your English is very nice and clear, I am currently using your videos to brush up on my old school English. Thank you very much for that!

Thanks for the advice. Here where I live in the US most people don’t speak a second language, and if they do they speak Spanish. I’ve always wanted to learn German and even though it’s a challenge sometimes, I’m the kind of person who likes a challenge so I enjoy it. Being blind adds a little extra challenge to it but I was born blind, and I never let that stop me from doing anything. So one of my goals in the next few years is to speak fluent German.

I love your videos! I have a good opportunity to hear Kiwi English and know a little about Germany. Perfect!

Im Jahre 1964, während des Sommers, wohnten ein Freund und ich in Wuppertal. Wir stammten aus Saint Louis in den USA. Wir haben in einer Fabrik gearbeitet, als sogenannten Werkstudenten. Zum Beginn sprach ich wenig Deutsch. Ich hatte doch eine starke Motivation, die Sprache zu lernen. Von der ersten Minute versuchte ich kein Englisch zu gebrauchen. Wie die Antoinette, hatte ich die Erlebnis, wieder Kind zu sein. Die deutsche Leute waren nett und hilfreich. Das ist meine Erinnerung.

Never give up. I hope that all your efforts in learning German work out. It's a good way not to take your own "mistakes", if you want to call it that way, too serious. "Practice, practice, practice" is exactly what helped me a lot in learning English. What caused the biggest progress for me was talking to native speakers in their home country. After all, you are on the right track, I think. Besides of that, it is great that you chose Germany for living and learning. Thank you! :)

Great advice! I’m hoping to move to Germany after I graduate this year, and I’ll definitely be following a lot of what you suggested

I really like your videos 🤩

Speak speak speak ❤️💜💛 you are welcome

I can appreciate your words very much. It's important to speak, not to remain silent. No matter how weird it may sound. That's the only way to improve your skills. I wish I had a native English speaker in my inner circle.

Hey Antoinette! You`ve got the right point of view in sight of the accent. Congrats! The reason for that complicate of german grammar is perhaps the age of that languge. The first experiments to bring it to a standardlanguage for a big area were around the year 800 a.d. If I know it right. In my opinion the germans learning at least 1 foreign language is where germany is geographic located.

I would learn the words wich have the same Origin. Like fish and Fisch. (That's easy) Now the words that are not the same, but sounds same. Like: Who / wo Where / wer kind / Kind And at last the other ones. The grammar... oh dear, the grammar.

Learning a foreign language isn´t the easiest task to handel. I know that, as well. But, once I got the basics down, I did something that many people don´t do. (Unfortunatly!) I started to try and think in that language, too.Once I got the hang of that, it was so much easier to communicate with others. Sure! I hit a wrong note at times! But, hey! Like you said! It´s okay. Freinds corrected me. Some laughed. And when I figured out why they were laughing, I usually laughed along with them. No big deal. Anyway! I´m glad to see that you and your family and loved ones seem to be doing well! Stay safe! Wear a mask! And I´ll be here for your next video! Greetings from Siegen!

Wonderful advice!😁❤️

Thank you for this great video. The best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in it. Learning languages in school will only get you so far. I know, because I had to learn six, but I only regard myself proficient in two. For example, after finishing school I could read Shakespeare but, working over summer in the US, in the beginning I had to point at basic gardening tools to my American coworkers if I needed them, because I had completely forgotten their names in English. I also didn't understand their jokes. This changed during the summer, to the point that I even started to dream in English. Later, I had the good fortune of being able to study for a month at Cambridge University in the UK, which caused my accent to be all over the place, but I don't mind. German grammar is hard indeed, but so is English grammar, albeit in a different way. For true grammar misery, try Latin or ancient Greek though :D.

your comment on accents is outstanding!! Having an accent, means your trying, and will get less as time goes on. Was it any help to know english, since english is a germanic language? People here in the USA are quite surprised to find they speak a Germanic language and can recognize many words that are Germanic. The largest single ethnic group in the US is German, (not a majority, just the largest ethnic group, compared to English, spanish, etc.) That will change of course with further immigration of non-germanic groups.

I had the reverse problem I came from Germany to the US at almost 9 years old and knew no English! I still have two problems 1 in English you only capitalize proper nouns and in German capitalize all nouns. The other problem I have if you pronounce a would correctly in the High German the letter is there but not necessarily in English!

Great ideas, and I'm wondering if you could add a video to your selection that covers what type of language course you took, which test (provider/level) and why you needed to take the test etc? Thanks for any insights provided and you're welcome to just quickly respond here if you don't feel the answers cover enough ground for a video 😉

I have an issue and maybe you have some experience with this. I live in Germany with my German boyfriend (I am American) and he absolutely hates speaking German. He refuses to watch anythjng in German or speak German with me. I came here end of 2019 and am only at about an A2 level. Because of Covid I only learn German online and I don't have any friends here to speak German with. I try really hard to speak as much as I can when I am out, but I'm really frustrated with my boyfriend for not speaking German with me at home. Was your husband like this? I feel like Germans who speak English like the challenge of speaking a foreign language and that's why many people prefer to speak English with native English speakers. I know if we spoke German at home I would be so much further along. How did you getting your husband to speak German with you while you were learning? I love your videos they're always so interesting! 💕

Big mistake while starting to learning German - i spoke the whole time English :-"

Commenting on this video in English for the sake of your non-German audience, let us know whether or not you prefer us to write in German or not please! I couldn't agree more, overcoming your fear of making mistakes trying to talk in a foreign language is the hardest part and, at the same time, the most important one. I'm currently learning Italian and thanks to the internet there are tons of Italian videos covering a wide range of topics including those that directly address learning Italian, of course. Sifting through the comments section of those YT channels can be quite interesting. For example I frequently see people posting in English there, claiming they could understand every single word but being unable to speak themselves - or write for that matter - in Italian. Blows my mind! There's an Italian speaking audience right there and they skip the opportunity to at least try to write in Italian and whine about not being able to speak it themselves. Of course, if you're too shy to even try to write in Italian, then speaking it must seem like an unsurmountable obstacle. Well guys, newsflash, it's not, as long as you actually TRY to use it every time an opportunity presents itself. That would be a start. Actively seeking people to speak with in that language would be another big step, the internet makes it so easy nowadays - it was much harder some 30 years ago when I went to school. Oh and don't fall for this "I learnt in just 4 weeks!" nonsense. Learning a language takes time, a lot of time. And practice.

Speak, speak, speak, so right

It might be better to phrase the Maori point as the language of the Indigenous population that is spoken by a much smaller population now as there are still Maori speakers, just much fewer and very few non-Indigenous speakers.

Open-mind. :) Absolutely agree with you. I still have lots of stress when I have to present things in German.. Btw, just funny that you said, English is completely different than German. :) I always used my English knowledge to understand German, because my native language is 100% different than European languages 😂😂 So I was always thinking .. Thank God that I knew English before I came to Germany. 😄

Now that your son is older, is he more forgiving of you speaking German around him. I remember the video when you read a German book to him and he did not like it. What language do you and Rob use with each other do you switch back and forth between German and English do you do something special in the children are there and listening to you?

Hi Antoinette,did you take the German class in Volkshochschule or private lessons? I recently began a German language class.

Thank you so much for your words on learning languages, but if you say German is hard, let me tell you, French is harder. I am German, and I had astonishingly few problems with English. Well, I'm making mistakes, but as you said: Who cares? French, however, was a challenge to me. I practiced words in front of the mirror dozens of times until I hit the right pronunciation. But sooner or later, you have a feeling for the language, and suddenly, all comes automatically. Talking about grammar: I would be glad if schools taught less vocabulary and more grammar from the very beginning. Once you know what the structure of a sentence is, you can fit in new words more easily.

Meister Joda von StarWars klingt im deutschen etwa so, wie deutsche Wörter, aber englischer Grammatik! "Nice Video you have make!" "Schönes Video Du hast gemacht!"

New zeeland accents are Valley girl accents on steroids. But still sound nice (:

Another thing people who come here sometimes don't realize in the beginning: Germany is right in the middle of Europe and we are perfectly used to people struggling with the language. I had coworkers from literally all over Europe. It's nothing special for us that people speak with an accent or dont know a word. If you don't have really bad luck and encounter some particularly grumpy person, for the most part I can tell anyone: Just speak. No worries. We'll figure it out.

Moin Antoinette, etwas, dass mit diesem Video nichts zu tun hat ist mir gerade wieder eingefallen.. Ich weiß nicht, ob du dich daran erinnerst: Du hattest auf dem Kanal von MeetTheWengers in einem Kommentar zur Mitteilung, bei ihnen sei das dritte Kind unterwegs gratuliert. Und ich hatte dich dort ironisch gefragt, wie es denn bei dir mit dem Dritten sei! Lach! Du hattest mir damals nicht geantwortet, aber inzwischen wissen wir ja die Antwort! Lach! LG Ben

my German is not the best its the die du das i have problems with loll

Did your husband pick up a Kiwi accent? It's hilarious that people from outside the Commonwealth sometimes think you're not a native speaker of English. Go All-Blacks!

Surprisingly, because English is also a Germanic language, German is one of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers. The only languages that would be considered easier to learn for English speakers would be the Scandinavian languages.

If I may add a little comment - perhaps even a correction - to one statement in this clip... one that I have seen very often in comments by or in conversations with native english speakers: that the "older people" in Germany don't speak English because they didn't learn it in school. Well, they did. English has been an obligatory class in West-Germany since 1955. (Our eastern compatriots had to learn Russian.) So if you are younger than, say, 80... you had to learn English in school. But that was that. You had to learn it in school. The options to _apply_ it in practice were limited. You might have had an english speaking pen-friend. You may have had business contacts that required you to speak English. But for the vast majority of Germans, there simply was no necessity to be _fluent_ in English. Most people forgot what they had learned... as is the case with most of your school learning. Now that's just my personal opinion, but I think that it is only since the Internet, and the widespread availability to directly converse with speakers in the whole world that people have started to retain and cultivate their school-learned basics.

Es wäre sehr schön wenn du ein Video auf Deutsch machen würdest , ich bin mir sicher das du sehr gut sprechen kannst . Mit deine Kinder ist gut das du nur auf Englisch spricht mach weiter so , Deutsch lernen sie vom Kindergarten oder Schule da brauchst du dir keine Probleme machen . Polnisch zu lernen ist auch interessant , ist eine schöne Sprache und hat den Vorteil das du danach mehrere Sprachen verstehen würdest die zu Slawische Sprachen gehören .

I love to listen to your stories Antoinette! Lots of love 🥰

It's true that native speakers would never judge you trying to master their language. Except they're French of course 🤣🤣🤣

Have you heard that when a child learns a second language it is stored on the same side of their brain as their first language but when an adult learns a second language it was stored on the opposite side of the brain?

Very nice video! :) Having a certain sense of humor is almost always a good idea. ^.^

Yes, confidence is key. In reality nobody (unless they are rather toxic and in that case you probably don't want to have a lot of contact with them anyway) will care if you speak perfectly or not. If you draw a lot of attention to your mistakes ("Oh, no! Oh, no! That was wrong! What's the word? I'm so stupid! Sorry, that's so embarrassing!") you'll just stop the flow of the conversation and make it awkward. This reminded me of a tip about presentations I once read, don't apologize if you make a "mistake" eg jumping to the next slide, because of an accidental double click. Just go back one slide and continue. Apologizing for non-issues will make you subconsciously look incompetent. You could say "That was just a little sneak peek." instead and maybe get some chuckles or even laughs.

Excellent advice. After traveling and spending lots of time in Germany I'm still no good. But I continue to strive. You've said many of the things I've said. Have a great week.

What I don't understand: How can English speakers consider words like "water", "fire", "bread", "milk", "do", "make", "go", "sun", "moon", "earth", "have" and so on hard to learn and far away from their own language? I mean the similarity of so many words ("word" is also such a word) is so obvious! It's not like you're learning Chinese or Hungarian with absolute no connection to English. Aren't you just a little bit exaggerating? I'm just curious about that

It is really important to learn the German alphabet (how the letters are pronouncerd). It's a shame that professional musicians don't give courses because they can teach best how letters are formed in your head/body. I learnt English (and American) accent(s) as a hobby musician by listening to the Kinks or ZZ Top and tried to get as close as possible. Performing songs in "English" should sound as "English" as possible. BUT Germans love English speakers when they (try to) speak German. So, have the courage to speak!

there is a simple psychological trick, how to learn a new vocabulary in a way, that you don't forget it later again: you need to learn each new word 5 times within 10 days and between each repetition there shouldn't be more than 2 days. Then the word goes deep down into your brain. Wrong is for example: learning a new vocabulary first time, then the next day another time and then e.g. 1 whole week or 2 weeks not but then continuing learning, that gap of one week or more is not good, our brain doesn't like this. The trick is to repeat 5 times with short time interruptions. Then it's very likely that you never again forget this word, if you really did it like this. (Surely also with positive surrounding and maybe examples that you connect with the word etc.)

Never be afraid to make mistakes when speaking/learning a foreign language, as you said. Perhaps the most important point of this video... 👍👍

Great advice! I also took inspiration from German people on this and followed their excellent example. They always took the opportunity to practise their English on me. Even if they were not making sense in English - they always tried !

As a German teacher I agree with everything you said. I often give the same advice to my learners: Do not be ashamed, talk as much to people as possible, find people to talk to (e.g. other mothers/fathers in school/kindergarten), and don't be afraid to make mistakes. Germans sometimes insist on speaking German ("We are in Germany here!"), but they usually don't fuss about mistakes. It's the effort that counts. And don't be ashamed if they correct you. That is well meaning and you should profit from it.

I also love accents and especially your swert kiwiaccent...I think you have to make another german video here on RU-vid...😃

German and English are like dialects from the same language to me, so much similar, some things are even almost the same. English grammar is a very simplyfied version of german grammar, actually quite similar for me. English pronounciation is if you know some german dialects within the range of german dialects. I met enough english speakers that could make some general sense of german just by hearing it. Children are not learning languages faster, I met a man who learned german in 8 weeks not perfect but enough to comunicate in day to day life. His mothertongue was some kind if Indian language. Show me a child that learned to speak in 8 weeks. Children learn faster but they have to learn everything not just a language, adults can focus on what they want to learn, children have to learn so much at the same time and that is the advantage of adults. I toally agree with the last part to don´t care about how you sound just try.

1st like

I'm a German language teacher and your advice is the best, I tell the same to my students- speak and don't care about what other say. "Don't be afraid and embrace your accent and your individuality". Best advice ever, thank you!

Thanks for your videos. I am a German living in NZ and my experience kinda mirrors yours but the other way,if that makes any sense :)

Great video :) Thanks for helping us

Ich habe großen Respekt vor jedem, der Deutsch lernt - und ich glaube, das sehen die meisten Deutschen ähnlich. Ich weiß auch aus eigener Erfahrung, wie leicht man über die Sprachbarriere stolpert - wenn ich Französisch zu sprechen versuche, passiert mir das auch. Also: einfach weiter versuchen! Wir zählen auf Dich! ;)

As for the correct pronunciation of German words, go to Google Translator, have the word in question translated into German, click on the speaker icon and you'll hear a native German speaker say the word 😎

Nur die Harten kommen in den Garten. ;)

Hey there Antoinette! Question: does the German language share a lot of words with other languages? Like for example: a sentence in German might have the same words as the Finnish language or Danish eg. but it might mean actually something something completely different?

same thing for people come to Canada to learn Eng but watch video in their language dont talk to anyone but from their original language! but yes practice try the language u want to learn

Do i have to make eye contact, before i use italki? Following your advice you should film a german version of your vids.

Loved the point about not being self conscious! Ppl really don't give diddly squat lol

yes it is not the easiest language to learn but its a great one to know

Ich beneide Ihre beiden Kinder, Antoinette. Die haben das große Glück zweisprachig aufzuwachsen. Das schafft beruflich wie auch privat enorme Perspektiven.

❤️

Glad I was born here and picked it up...no way I would want to learn this as a second language!

Speaking strictly only English to your kids wasn't the smartest decision either, imho.