HOW I Became FLUENT in German - 5 Ways to Learn German

In this video, I wanted to discuss my own personal journey towards fluency in German. I have been "learning" German (formally and informally) since I was 13 (I am 24 now) and I have used many different methods and resources for learning the language.

I discuss 5 different methods of language learning in this video:
1. Language Classes - 4:17
2. Media - 8:59
3. Tandem Partner - 11:19
4. Apps - 13:03
5. Visit Germany - 14:50

If you have learned a language, what methods did you use and find the most helpful? Comment below!

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[Dahrenhorst]

I learned to become more or less fluent in English without ever staying in an English speaking country for any extended time. This is how I did it:
8 years of English in school, approx 2 to 4 hours a week.
I really learned English when I was accepted for pilot training at the German Air Force. This training more or less began with a sixth month assignment to a military English language school, where we had 6 hours of English training every day 5 day a week for half a year. The goal of the training was to achieve English at least on what on your list would be B2 level, but aiming for C1 (what I managed to achieve). A year later I had another full time English language class for six weeks for aviation and meteorological English.
Unfortunately I couldn't finish my pilot training because of health issues. But I was assigned to a multinational NATO installation in Germany for four years where I had to work in a mainly English speaking environment. After those years I regarded myself as nearly fluent in English.
I think, for normal human beings it is truly crucial for to become fluent in a different language, to have to use it everyday at work as your main language (or to live in a community where you are forced to speak that language all the time to get along) for at least a year or two.
Over the years, I tried to learn some French and Italian as well, but I failed. I still can't even read a menu without a dictionary in those countries.

[rolandbeckert]

Hello Taylor, maybe you will laugh about this method, but to look for channels or videos made for children can be helpful. The sentences are short and it's not a difficult grammar. Things like "Sendung mit der Maus" can be helpful and speaks about normal things in live (little bit different than walking dead) I wish you a nice and healthy week.

[hilmargerold]

Hey Taylor, there is also a concept of "Städtepartnerschaften" for many german citys.
For example the city of Paderborn cultivates friendships and cultural exchange programs with the citys Le Mans (France), Bolton (Uk), Belleville (Illinois(USA)), Pamplona (Spain), Przemysl (Poland), Debrecen (Hungary) and Qingdao (China). Each of this friendships has generated a club which organizes events ... it might be possible to find friends there to get better at the languages/cultures you are interested in :)

Those language levels are a european standard, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (short: CEFR). Used throughout Europe, and for all language learning, not just in a university context.

[theEquinoxk]

I rarely speak english to other persons. But I consume nearly everything in english, including tv shows, movies, and reading news. When I learned english at school I wasn't very motivated, so I had poor grades. My understanding english improved when I started watching tv shows in english. In germany foreign tv shows and movies are dubbed before shown, so for tv shows it takes some time to be shown on tv in germany after it was shown in the US. I didn't want to wait, so I started watching shows in english. In the beginning I watched it in german too, after it was released on german tv, because there were still things I wouldn't understand. But now my english is good enough to not rely on watching it in german any more. I also watch youtube videos in english and started watching movies in english early on (there are movie theaters that show movies in the original language while most of them show only the dubbed versions).

[PianistStefanBoetel]

My Dad used to visit an English class in Volkshochschule since his retirement, but it was so slow that he now sticks to British conversational radio channels 😂🇬🇧

[tamikaze]

I want to become fluent in german so badly but I don't know if I have the courage to travel to germany. I have so many commitments with relationships and such to travel all the way to Germany. I'd love to do that though.

[flybywire]

When i left school in 1981, my english skills were as good as non existent. My english teacher always said, your grammar is bad. Well, bad, i concluded must mean my grades. My grades could improve, but not getting any worse. But about that grammar-thing, no idea what it meant. She spoke only english, i none. Communication proved to be impossible. 24 years later, i found myself a single dad with an eleven month old baby girl. Also a fulltime job. At that time the internet became more and more interesting, but english language was the key. My abysmal language skills needed to be improved. Also i needed some stress relief. At that time, Yahoo was still the search engine. They advertised for Harry Potter. I read some excerpts in english. So i ordered the first book in german & english. It got me hooked within the first page. However, i noticed that the german translation too often had a different meaning than the english original. So my idea to read the english book and use the german as a translation helper did not work. I started to read the english book only. It was quite tedious having to use the dictionary for most of the words. After some time that changed, it got easier. For the third book i barely needed the dictionary anymore. After all the books came youtube. Videos in english are the vast majority on youtube. But reading or listening or speaking are another level each. It needed quite some time to be able to follow a native english speaker. After doing this for now 17 years i guess my language skills are useful enough. I still dont know any grammar rules.

[ikw]

must say by the way, I love to see that little agenda you show up in the beginning (of each video), but do you think I would forward? No, I won´t, will listen to every single word anyway :-) Good job Taylor!

[Balligat]

My wife got better speaking English by watching the *soaps* whenever she visited during the time when I was working in the USA - they speak slower than normal on TV and they pronounce the words distinctly.

[TheManWithTheHatKiel]

For your information: I have shared some of your videos in my blog:

[ikw]

But why of all things "the walking dead"???, Can´t imagine you´re a fan, -curious! Did you try "game of thrones"? Best vehicle for me to practice my english-listening. After seeing the german version of course ;-))

[Henning_Rech]

I hope that community college level is a bit higher than VHS. Many of the VHS courses are made for leisure activities. The teachers do not need any fomal qualification. That said it is a good way to have a first look into a foreign language up to A1/A2 level. But for more serious interest you should go somewhere else.

[Tom-hzkz]

An welcher Universität kann man mit B1 studieren? Ich habe bisher nur welche gefunden, die C1 verlangen

[DerParsifal]

Most provincial Germans don't have a mastery of "German" language per se.

[lafoole]

Ich kenne dir glaube ich du bist cristina tôchter

[MegaChaosGelee]

Can't blame you for losing interest in German pop culture. Sadly, we don't have that much of our own and just import most of the stuff from elsewhere. That's actually something I admire countries like the US or Japan for. In Germany, there's especially a lack of genre movies, shows, and comics. Everyone (at least in the older generation) seems to be crazy about police crime drama procedurals like Tatort, which in my opinion are boring beyond belief. I love adventure, sci-fi and fantasy. But partly because we don't have a studio system in Europe, creative people will have a hard time acquiring big budgets and talent for anything. Virtually all the good German movies deal with historical topics. We produce tons of stupid "comedies" which aren't funny at all, just embarrassing and cringeworthy. Also, I couldn't care less about the local music scene, there are a couple of decent bands though.

That being said, there are some noteworthy authors who have written fun German fantasy literature. If you haven't heard about them yet, I recommend checking out the children's books tackling philosophical adult topics and allegories written by Michael Ende (Momo, The Neverending Story) as well as the Zamonien cycle by Walter Moers, containing crazy imaginative creatures and locations as well as countless clever wordplays. May be a nice challenge for people with good but not perfect German language skills.

[lalala]

I personally think it's an useless language. Spanish is better.

[helfgott]

are u fluent NO u are not dont be so arrogant 300 euros for three month is expencive??? LOL