How I became Fluent in GERMAN

Your German is pretty good by the way, Yes, you sound like an English-Man, but your accent isn't pretty strong. I would give you an 8/10 and knowing German is hard to learn, that is pretty impressive.

I totally agree that Fluent does not mean perfect. The word "fluent" stems from the latin word fluentem which means "flowing freely". I think this is a great definition! I consider someone as fluent if they are able to speak freely and independently in a foreign language. That doesn’t mean it has to be flawless.

Thank you for sharing your experience with learning German! That was very interesting to watch.

I'm improving my German by watching videos in both German and English, set at 3/4 speed with German subtitles. These are not language videos, just anything I happen to be interested in. It's really helping my vocabulary, but also grammar. I don't have a problem with cases, having studied Latin, but still find German quite a difficult language.

How we can learn German easily

I can relate to this. I studied German at university in the UK but it was still a huge shock and massive upheaval to integrate into German culture despite having the language. Like you, I feel Germany has changed me. I call it my personal hell, a boot camp to becoming independent, but it was hell. And I did not enjoy my time in Germany, despite being there 15 years. I was stubborn enough to stick it out. The first month's were insanely hard and no one helped me. I was however, in Saxony at the time. I struggled so much. Getting work was so hard, they look at your cv like it is diseased. It's not a typical German "Werdegang" so they dislike it. Based on my name I rarely got interviews. It's not German. Sounds foreign. There is a God damn Ausbildung for every type of job. We don't have this in UK and you learn on the job but Germans want German qualifications they know. You cannot change careers easily in Germany and companies putting you on courses and training you is non existent.

I have a sign in my study it says ( you only fail if you quit) Has helped my German lessons.

interesting, in most professional services or graduate jobs in German almost all adverts request C1 level of German. Often fluency is not necessary for jobs in Technology sector, but I think the social component of getting to know colleagues seems to be more important. You won't get any job in Germany today in a professional services career job without C1 German certificate. Some employers might accept the B2 level of German but C1 level is absolutely vital. What your video confirms to me is that you need German fluency to succeed in Germany, its as simply as that.

you should go back to the uk school's need teacher's you would fit perfect a well paid job with holiday's

I moved to France and I struggle with my French but I did pass the exams required to get my visa. I still struggle but after finding this video even if it is about German I know that I will be okay. You made me feel not so bad and confident that I will improve and that I know more than I realized Thank you.

I have tried to learn German for years. I study it every day and I’m improving all the time. I moved to Germany in 2017 and stayed there for 2 years (ish). I know very well how difficult the integration and language learning is, I wasn’t successful though, more for financial reasons than anything else, but it honestly warms my heart to hear someone conquering such a difficult life challenge! I salute you, Sir! That’s such an incredible achievement! 👏🏻

"The language of a country leads into the heart and soul of its people."
Touché, and very well said. Doesn't hurt to learn simple greetings, p's and q's and "do you speak English" in the language of the country you might be travelling in. You will likely get much more out of the folk you encounter if you make this simple effort and they will appreciate this too (we Anglos are internationally infamous for only speaking Anglo when we visit other lands). I have also noticed that when I learn Hindi words and use them with the South Asians I work with here in Aotearoa New Zealand they open up to me more and one can sense that they are loving it. 🙏🏽🧿💙

In most cases, the reason for unsatisfactory results of learning a foreign language is a loss of interest in the student, or you have stopped at some stage of their training and began to "stomp in one place. Thus, the effort and time you have spent in the absence of new techniques will not allow progress in mastering the language. For example, if you spend your time and effort learning the alphabet for months on end, you will not learn to read, write, speak and understand the spoken and written language. Yuriy Ivantsiv in his book "Polyglot Notes. Practical tips for learning foreign language" writes that you should not selectively stop at one thing, and try to gradually move forward, without skipping anything and not jumping, developing all the necessary language skills for you proportionally. Only then will you get effective results. In your strategy for learning any information for you, including a foreign language, you should adhere to the following principle: you made a breakthrough - mastered the new information, then you need to take the time to consolidate the material and bring it to automaticity. The next step - learn new material and master it, and so on. "There are no secrets to success. It's the result of good preparation, hard work, and learning from your mistakes." Colin Powell. Many thanks to the author of the channel for the tremendous work in creating the instructional video. Thanks to such helpful videos, we have rapid progress in language learning.

Really thought you Brits would have an easier time learning german, since the simple sentences are quite similar and that should give you a starting point.
At least that's how it felt for a german learning english: You start with the basics instead of starting at 0, like when I tried french.

Languages are harder the older you are and I didnt speak a word of German until I was 38 and met "her indoors". She wanted to practice her English but instead taught me German. The first thing I did was buy a book caller German in 3 months and it did what it said on the tin. After 3 months I was fluent enough to have conversations and watch German TV etc. Once I started watching German TV things improved rapidly. I got a second satellite dish so I could have German TV when in England. Its now 20 years on and I understand pretty much everything as long as I can hear it clearly. I still make lots of mistakes, often the same mistakes I have been making for 20 years - der die das den is often a random selection, word endings and sentence order but generally its good enough and its only on rare occasions people ask me to repeat something. The only time I struggle a bit is when its hard to hear such as on two way radios and sometimes I miss a bit of dialogue on TV dramas, but if its a documentary or the news I understand everything. If anyone is starting out I highly recommend watching German TV, its a relaxing way to learn and you can choose what your interested in. Funny things are I accidentally use the odd English word when speaking German and German words when speaking English. Just occasionally I forget what a word is in English as only the German word comes into my head. Its strange how life turns out !

Thanks for your video. I am curious to know what field of work you are in. I have watched a few of your videos where you talk about (getting/switching) jobs but never reveal what you actually do (not what company you work for). Maybe I missed it? I lived in Germany for a while and am always curious to learn what other Europeans do for work in Germany.

Hello,I know there is no exact or late age to learn a new language but if you are not young enough it may be more difficult.I am 43 and feel a bit exhausted but I know that I'll cope with it.Congrats for your determination and success.

I love Germany. It has so much to offer and I am grateful to live here, but jeez the language takes a long time to learn! But little bit by little bit it improves. I did a bit of an internet hack course to get B1 so I don't think I learnt the structure / grammar properly. Maybe I should do a formal course. I passed my B1 with 84% to my surprise, but I a m so frustrated with my actual level of speaking. Maybe I should do a formal course, would you advise please?
It is a lovely language though. It makes a lot of sense but I just wish I could speak it more fluently. Living here does help, so the immersion is invaluable

I cannot do maths to save my life, but I can learn languages...given time! I was lucky as my first language was German (mother german) but grew up in Denmark. Had German lessons at school, and the grammar lessons were excruciatingly painful, teacher eventually told me to just go with my instinct. Took it at Uni too, as an extra thing, and did wonderfully. Learnt French at school (and mostly forgotten now) and Arabic at Uni (grammar again a total monster!). I moved to the UK (a year after finishing O'Levels) thinking I was great at English as always got top marks in school, and was unable to even read the Sun! So, it was on the job learning, and I have to say, I think I learn best when immersed in the language, country and culture. (forget about teaching me grammar, that's just not my thing at all!)

Immersion.

High quality camera on this.

I lived in Germany for two years and I was still very poor at speaking German it would have taken me 5 years to become fluent but I decided Germany wasn’t for me and haven’t kept it up which is a pity ..well done on your determination to integrate into your environment by learning the language..

After you had the Frontal lobotomy you became fluent in German!!!

Thanks for your interesting, encouraging video. It's inspiring to all English speakers learning other languages as adults. Best wishes.

Hallo, ich bin solch ein Rückwanderer nach Deutschland nach mehr als 40 Jahren in Australien, Frankreich, England und Mittlerer Osten - das 1. Mal mit 50 hat es nicht geklappt mit Jobsuche und ich bin wieder zurück nach Aust bis zur Pensionierung..... Dann ist es leichter on vueler Hinsicht.....Ausser der Jobsuche darf man nicht unterschätzen, wie sehr man seine deutsche Identität unbewusst abgelegt hat nach so langer Zeit man hätte es nicht für möglich gehalten.... mit jetzt 74 bin ich in vielem eher australisch als deutsch!!! Alles Gute.....

I live in Berlin and I’m in German Intensive now, A2.2 and I swear the more I learn, the worse my German gets.
It’s really messes with your head and is SO exhausting to be so terrible at it. I also feel like the stupidest person in class.

Your video gave me a little charge to keep my head up and keep the faith.

Thank you for this!

Prince Harry

Scottish Army brat here...i started German school when i was 14 in Hessen, the things that helped me learn German when i look back is LISTENING to Deutsches Hip Hop...was tough to start with but wow and the main wee tip is to play your favourite Xbox Game in German ....i had ordered Skyrim when i first landed in das deutsches land expecting all things to be in English but it was in German (Duh).....i was PISSSED at first, tried getting a refund even when that failed after a week of looking at the skyrim disc i just thought Fuk it....

started up Skyrim and had my mind blown by how much it levelled mein Deutsch hoch. lol

Still have my Scottish accent speaking ANY language and most dont understand me because of this anyways

MIR EGAL

GOD SHAVE THE KING

You're lucky in two ways, and it's a pointer to people thinking of coming here. 1) you're in Frankfurt which is a very "international" city - particularly due to the Messe - and you're unlikely to be the first (or even 30th) English speaker your locals have met, and 2) Frankfurt speaks German, not an out and out dialect.
If you move to the sticks (or the Banana Swamps in my case 😉) those two things are usually reversed: unless you're very close to a US base, you may well be the first English speaker your new friends have met, and certainly the first they'll have spoken with at length.
Celebrity has it's plus sides of course, but one of it's downsides is that everybody who learned English (or actually American) in school - around 50% of Germans are around Grade B in English - leaps on you to try it out on the real deal.
You find yourself after 3 or 4 years with a mass of great mates who by now speak perfect English with (in my case) a fine Mockney Estuary English accent rather than the "Texan with a blocked nose" drawl they had when you met, plus a hat-full of slang words and the usual insults.
Which is great - except your German is pathetic because you so rarely get to speak German 😄
The second is when you do kick yourself up the arse to actually learn German - and expect Ubung to make Meister - you find that hardly anybody actually speaks German, hardly anyone understands your tortured efforts, and they answer you in gobbledeegook - otherwise known as "Plat" or Saarlandisch, which is a mish-mash of bastardised German, bastardised French, German slang, French slang, original slang and even ancient Celt and archaic English, with few if any grammar rules, and all spoken with a soft accent that blurs one word into the other.
In other words, you're Donald Ducked - so move to a city like Frankfurt first, people 😄😄

You English is like middle to upper class British .Clipped and precise .I would put every cent i own in betting that you did not grow up in a British Council estate .You German sounds very good to me .I have only baby German myself after living in Berlin many years ago for a year 1977-78 .

Wenn ich deine Videos sehe, weiß ich, dass ich nichts kann im Englischen. Es scheint mir, dass in Sachen Wortwahl und Satzbau auf einem höherem Level als viele andere Briten bist.

For me you speak german with your british accent

For me you spek german fluently with your british accent

Wow, that's pretty suicidal approach you took. I work for English-speaking employer here in Munich and I'm struggling to transition to speaking German as well. (Had German courses in elementary for 4 years and 2 semesters at uni, always ended up dropping it, but structures remained in my subconscious). Already dropped 3200 EUR on a private 1-on-1 course since I moved here, which is a biggest waste of money any beginner can make. I don't wanna speak it, because I don't wanna make mistakes in front of volcanic neurotics, who could go off any second.

Darf ich mal fragen, in welchem Stadtteil du wohnst?

Du kannst meine Gedanken lesen. Mein Deutsch ist fließend, aber nicht perfekt. Man lernt nie aus. Übrigens: deine Aussprache ist sehr schön und deutlich. Greetings from Frankfurt Nordend-Ost.

Well…
As far as I can tell, you speak a language when you understand the HUMOR 😂

Would you allow me to ask a question? For a long time I thought I understood American English well and had serious trouble understanding British English. Now I found I understand you well, and I also like watching the British TV series "Fake or fortune". It's easy to listen to and understand. So I was wondering if the British English I don't understand has to do with dialects. For example some people from Britain say donkay instead of don-kee and they say all endings with ay instead of ee. Some swallow almost all vocals and it's just a staccato of consonants, so that even if I enable subtitles I don't get a word on the screen. And some change all the vowels into something else. So are these forms of dialects? And maybe I do understand British English, but just not the dialects? Thank you very much.

I know exactly how you felt. Had the same torture with the Latvian language in a class comprised mainly of Russians who have lived in Latvija for years, I was new and felt like a total idiot. Yes,"humiliating" is the correct term that you used. You are a great role model for me because I want to get where you are in my new home.

Sehr schönes Video und eine faszinierende Geschichte! Ein grosses Kompliment zu Deinen Deutschkenntnissen! Ich bin in Frankfurt geboren und seit 1986 im Ausland: Italien, Schweiz und jetzt seit 20 Jahren in Spanien. Oft vermisse ich Frankfurt und frage mich, ob es Rückwanderer in meinem Alter (60) gibt und wie die "Reintegration" in die alte Heimat verlaufen ist. Viele Grüsse und alles Gute!

That was really interesting, thanks for sharing :) Your video really conveys how frustrating and challenging it can be to learn a language, but also that you can get out the other side! I'm hoping there is another video where you talk more in depth about the benefits and great experiences you've had now that you're skilled in the language, showing why it was ultimately worth the pain!! :)

Your voice is so smooth wtf

Ah... I felt exactly the same way after coming to live and work in England from a country that is not Germany but very much influenced by its mentality and culture... It was definitely not love at first sight 😅 but after a year, the English accent had finally grown on me 😇 and later on, I even started to appreciate the differences much more than I have ever thought I would or could ☺️

Dein Deutsch ist sehr gut! Respekt! Und ja, ich kann absolut nachvollziehen wie es ist eine Sprache in 3 Monaten zu lernen, bei mir war es Latein und ich war am Limit! Dabei musste ich "nur" den lateinischen Text ins Deutsche übersetzen und nicht auch noch vice versa!

Dein Deutsch ist super !
Es gibt sogar deutsche, welche nicht an deinen Stand kommen.
Dein Akzent reiht sich auch blendend in all unsere Dialekte ein.
🤝💪

You have an amazing voice. You should consider doing voice narration or ASMR reading or something :)

Ich finde dein Deutsch wunderbar! Ich wünschte ich würde so gut english sprechen, wie du deutsch sprichst!

I think learning a language is an art, rather than a science. For me, I have noticed that learning a language is a labour of love, the more in love I am, the easier it is, and the more I retain. I have never loved German. I hit a wall after I got to about intermediate stage. It has always been something I had to do, rather than something I want to do, and if I left the country I don't know how much of the language I would retain. French was easy. I loved French. I still speak even though I am barely exposed to it and have never actually lived in France. I can read and understand Spanish, but have never actually lived in Spain. The challenge with German seems to lie in how I feel about it. I am currently considering doing an official course just to get to that level where I can have a conversation at work without thinking. Perhaps like with so many things in Germany, you just have to go the boring route to get what you want.