[amazon10x]

So I'm looking at learning German. English is my first language, and apart from a couple of semesters of Spanish at community college, I haven't studied any foreign languages.

Does anyone who has experience with learning foreign languages (especially German) have a recommendation for what books and other resources I should start with?

I was thinking about purchasing Rosetta Stone for German, but if a $10 book from the library works the same, I'd be just as well with that.

[Bobnova]

Silly as it sounds, i found listening to rammstein to be helpful.

[Wicked Klown]

Myself I was using Rosetta Stone as it helps to pronounce the words right. With a book you learn the langauge but not how to pronounce the words the right way.

[Dolk]

6 years after taking german (off and on) 3 years in highschool (soph - senior year) 3 semesters in college, I still can't speak it perfectly nor can I write in the language. However I can read it pretty well.

Its a great language to learn and comes in handy when you work a lot with computers. At least in my field, Computer Engineer, I've run into many occasions where I had to read German or listen to someone in German.

Suggestions on learning it: Use it everyday, which isn't to hard. I like to stick to cursing at someone or talking to myself in German. This will help you remember what you have learned. Also take a class. Find a good teacher and learn from that person. A language can be ruined greatly from whom you are learning from if it is not taught well. I had a great teacher in Highschool, and thought, he was truly the best. When I got to college, I learned that there was another level of teacher awsomeness. I was lucky to have two great teachers, but still if you don't use it everyday you will never get good at something.

PS: when it comes to swearing, mix it up. The one thing that is great about german is you can create words on a whim. Its easy to combine words and create a super-word. For example: Monkeygehim

[Headstand]

From someone who is in Germany and barely gets by, Rosetta Stone is the way to go. I know it is ridiculously expensive, but I have talked to people who use it and they love it. I know some basic words so I can go shopping or out to eat, but even then I find myself pronouncing the words wrong cause I get them out of a book.

[amazon10x]

Originally Posted by Dolk

At least in my field, Computer Engineer, I've run into many occasions where I had to read German or listen to someone in German.

Excellent, I study Computer Science, so I'm very glad to see that.

[Headstand]

Bitte ein Bit. That's all you need to know over here.

[Evilsizer]

just my thought but learning german shouldnt be that hard... i have a few words stuck in my head from hs. just say in hs i never did any work period.... since english came from german, for me any way. i didnt find it that hard to catch on to but remember the proper male/female, how to use them a bit tricky.

[Quigsby]

I learned some German prior to going over to Germany for a week. I have a fair handle on languages because I studied Spanish for a number of years. Repetition is the key to any language. Immersion can be used to rapidly accelerate your learning or master it. I have a netvibes page I used and I shared it publicly so you can see some RSS feeds that are out there. There are a lot of feeds online or through iTunes for learning language.

Since you're coming from a Spanish background, the first thing you should get an idea of is basic words. Then sentence structure, conjugations, and male/female tense.

[TempliNocturnus]

Originally Posted by Bobnova

Silly as it sounds, i found listening to rammstein to be helpful.

I agree. I find listening to German music very helpful improving both vocabulary and pronunciation. Rammstein's lyrics seem to be very difficult to understand/translate, but there are many other German bands. I'd recommend Lacrimosa, and Das Ich.

[WonderingSoul]

I took three years in highschool and one intro course in college. I found the biggest learning tool that helped me was knowing the der/die/das for all the words. Knowing those makes or breaks the sentence I believe.

[kevlar93]

I agree with wondering. LEARN the Der/die/das once you start doing German grammar you are screwed if you don't know them.
I have taken 3 years of German and 3 of Spanish and German grammar is crazy compared to Spanish. Definitely try to get children's books and read them. It is really helpful.

[Headstand]

x3, I mess up the der/die/das everyday, but the locals know that I am trying and they appreciate that. Wife and I took the kids to the local grocery store over the weekend and my kid started eating his candy before we checked out. I told the cashier in German to charge me for two because my son ate one. It was butchered pretty bad, but she just chuckled and nicely corrected me. I corrected it, she said it was good, then in English she told us to have a good weekend.

[curtis1552]

If you want to add music L'ame Immortel is interesting (kinda gothic).
Also pull up stuff in german instead of english like http://www.google.de/
I'll admit my knowledge of the language is not nearly as good as it was when i took a semester in college (the D was because i skipped a lot of class when my daughter was born, she was in the NICU for about three weeks and i didn't really care about school then). I'll also say that i like knowing it some.
Let's see how well i can remember any of it.

Einer verruckten mench meine zimmer gekampt, und er schlagt mir mit sehr gross hande.

Now, babelfish thinks this should be:

Ein verrückter Mann erbte meinen Raum und schlug mich mit seinen großen Händen.

I got some past tense off, i apparently forgot what kamp meant, misuse of tense on shlagen, and i know i didn't write it word-for-word what i wrote in babel fish.

A crazy man came into my room and hit me with his large hands.

Oh babel fish linky:
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/?fr=bf-home

[amazon10x]

Hey guys, I totally forgot about this thread. I ended up registering for Intro German (GERM103) next semester at my University. If I decide that I like it, I have room in my schedule to take the next class (GERM203) the semester after that.

http://www.languages.umd.edu/German/...ew_103_203.pdf

I'm hoping I will get some motivation this summer, put some of the tips in this thread to use, and get a head start on learning a bit.

[BenF]

I understand a good bit of german but I have quite a lot of trouble speaking it. I really didn't practice speaking much so my pronunciation is really bad. If I were to pick up german again I'd definitely make sure to focus on my pronunciation and I'd recommend practicing some of the tricker sounds, such as the throaty sound in Ich.

[Bobnova]

I also agree on the der/die/das (and of course, all the rest of that nonsense), it's brutal to learn, but once you do it makes the rest of it all far, far easier.

[curtis1552]

Only issue i see on that is you signed up for 103, which is usually the 3rd level german class.

[BoT]

german is a bit more difficult to learn.
i think rosetta could be very helpful. obviously any way being involved with the language helps. music, tv, friends, websites, etc
since music is already mentioned, here is a german news channel which streams online called N-TV. news from all around germany and they speak good (correct) german. you don't want to learn the wrong stuff and then have to correct it.
http://www.n-tv.de/mediathek/livestream/

there is also a few good computer forums in germany. assuming since you are here in OCF you are into puter.
http://www.computerbase.de/
is a good and pretty big forum, you know the subject matter so you should find your way around.

i am fluent in german. if you need any help or have questions let me know .. here or shoot me a pm. if you need anything translated or find out what certain words mean etc

..and btw, it's affenhirn
danke schoen und auf wiedersehen...=)

[Super Nade]

I took 3 semesters of basic German, but the thing that helped me the most was getting hold of a native speaker/expat. Currently, I am part of a large scale online gaming tourney (Joint Ops, International Conflict). My "army" has a a 20+ man German division and I serve as the translator (all comms are via Teamspeak). It is difficult to catch onto the nuances, but I sure am learning quite a bit.