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In the eighth full week of learning German, I focused again on technical aspects which I found hardest when they were explained in the lecture. One of these areas was the distinction between the nominative and the accusative. I went through this slowly as it was explained on Bitesize and it helped to clarify my understanding: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z87vrdm/revision/3. Particularly useful on this website: https://german.net/exercises/cases/accusative-case/ were these exercises which allowed me to see again (and apply) how the accusative and nominative can be distinguished in English and then practicing this in German. The English uses in particular helped me break through what I had previously failed to understand.

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In the seventh full week of learning German, we did an exercise in the lecture practicing being a “waiter” and the person eating at a restaurant. Although my knowledge of food vocabulary was very strong, my knowledge of numbers was very weak, as well as my knowledge of time. This was something which I resolved to improve during my independent study. One way in which I improved my knowledge in this area was to use Duolingo, which has a very good range of “modules” on both numbers and time. I find Duolingo to be effective because it feels almost intuitive when learning vocabulary and in this way is much less arduous and feels much less manufactured than learning from a list. I also used these two youtube videos for reinforcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IjIYFeAzV0 (Numbers 1-20) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AavJmaAqIyU (20-100)

With regard to learning the time, I reminded myself of the various terms using this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi3irLjbu7A. This website was also extremely instructive and literally offers a step by step guide to learning the time: https://www.fluentu.com/blog/german/how-to-tell-time-in-german/ I followed this and then for the next week, every time, I had somewhere to go, or had to meet someone, made the effort to work out in my head what the time was in German, as a way of reinforcing what I had been learning.

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In the sixth full week of learning German, I decided to make flash cards of the areas of vocabulary I was weakest, which in this case was hobbies and words connected to doing hobbies. This site helped me also with my pronunciation of these: https://www.rocketlanguages.com/german/lessons/hobbies-in-german. I also learnt a new word, which was not mentioned in the lectures: Lieblingsbeschäftigung. However, pronouncing this word correctly is a different matter altogether! I also tested myself on getting the correct articles to items of food and landmarks or places to visit. This worked out, as we then did a test in the lab and my teacher complimented me on how well I knew the articles!

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In the fifth full week of learning German, I worked on the grammar structures for four prominent verbs with no pattern: sein, haben, werden and wollen. I then practiced these using this specific online exercise for applying irregular verbs: https://mein-deutschbuch.de/grammatikuebungen-unregelmaessige-verben.html With my friend who speaks German, we took turns to describe in German which buildings we had visited on our respective summer holidays, as well as the buildings in our respective cities (Sheffield and Newcastle); this helped me both reinforce the vocabulary learnt in the lecture, as well as contextualising this in a conversational format. I also learnt some new places from the conversation in German such as Bundestag (the German parliament), Themenpark, Statue, Bowlingbahn, Schlachtfeld.

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In the fourth full week of learning German, today in the lab, my teacher asked me how my weekend was and I was unable to answer! This was helpful in identifying a new area of weakness which had not been identified in my original study plan, my speaking skills. Although I am relatively good at vocabulary recall, reading and writing, when I then come to speak my mind goes blank. Speaking is also the hardest to revise and practice weekly, unless you are in close contact with a fellow German speaker or learner. As a result, I resolve to have weekly conversations on the phone with a friend who is slightly more advanced in German (he is doing it as part of his full degree) and speak to a native German friend in German also.  This week I have framed the discussion around the topic of hobbies and what I did at the weekend, as this was what I could not do in the lab. My German friend pointed out that I often forget to include the pronunciations in the umlaut and pronounce them as though they were normal O’s in German. I also watched this video, repeating the pronunciations as they appeared, which reminded me of the distinctions in letters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fIhlM_OD6A

I then watched this second video, which was instructive in the specific context of pronouncing the umlaut when it is in words: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3SWdwOXxsE   I made a note of any new vocabulary appearing in the video, such as öffnen – to open (something).

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In the second full week of learning German, I have applied my study plan successfully, although I suspect as different commitments arise it will be more difficult to maintain; identifying points of weakness will be critical and honing in on them if I can’t do anything. In terms of my learning, as previously identified I struggle with the whole concept of grammar structure and word order. In fact, I find it difficult to even identify certain structures in English! As a result I’ve been using this site (http://www.deutschseite.de/grammatik/konjugation/konjugation.html), which explains the idea of verb structures in English first and then their equivalent in German, to help with terms like “conjugation”, “infinitive”, accusative etc.

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During the first week of studying German, I find that from preparation using Duolingo, my grasp of vocabulary is decent and enables me to read long pieces of text and pick out words, allowing me to piece together some meanings. As such, my study plan going forward will be to identify those areas of vocabulary in which I am weakest and consolidate my learning on Duolingo and using other resources. Similarly, I will need to focus especially on grammar, which Duolingo does not teach very well and which I have found difficult to get my head round when learning languages previously.

From this information, I draw up this week by week study plan.

1.     Re-read any slides after each weekly lecture and lab, making sure I understand and clarify any areas of weakness.

2.     Following this, make sure that I learn areas of vocabulary in which I am weakest.

3.     Learn and apply any grammar structures using fill in the gap quizzes, so I not only know the grammar structures but can apply them.

4.     Speak and write to my friend who is learning German for his degree at least once a week.

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In the third full week of learning German, I took a break from formal study to practice listening and reading through watching and listening German films and songs. First, in the evening I watched the film Goodbye Lenin, which was originally written in German and then in English. I watched it with English subtitles, listening for words which I knew and writing down relevant words which I had not learnt previously. Throughout my normal study time, I listened to German music, again picking out words, for example, “99 Luftballoons” by Nena, which has different lyrics from the English version. Finally, I found a stream of Tottenham against Bayern Munich on German TV with German commentary. Again, I picked out words I knew.