r/German • u/erioldman • Jul 15 '26
Discussion I got my B2 in 10 months (self-taught - from zero)
So we had a conversation with my sister about how difficult the German language is and how it is preventing people from migrating to Germany and I was like "German is not difficult. I can do it in a month." So we bet on it. 45 days later I took several placement tests and all of them came out as B1. Of course it wasn't enough. Neither for properly determining my level nor my learning hunger. So I took it serious and started studying for an actual in-person exam. Long story short, I shot for C1, got humbled, then took the B2 and finally reached this milestone.
My main points:
- Don't forget that difficulty is subjective. Do not let other people's struggles disappoint you. If you believe in yourself, go for it. It's absolutely possible.
- Your goal of passing the exam and actually mastering the language must be separated. Passing the exam has nothing to do with your knowledge. The exam is just a fixed format that proves nothing (Right now the German consulate in Turkey is rejecting TELC certificates for this exact same reason).
- You don't necessarily need to take classes or spend tons of money. Having a teacher especially a native one, definitely helps you, but it's not a must.
Resources:
I tried almost all the free, paid, and subscription-based apps on Google Play and listened to all the podcast channels on Spotify and here is what I can recommend: (There are lot's of good products out there but I try not to overwhelm you because I struggled with it myself.)
- Grammar:
- Grammatik aktiv A1-B1
- Grammatik aktiv B2/C1
These two books are all you need for learning the grammar
- Vocabulary:
Well-organized, good UX, and uses spaced repetition
- Listening:
- Easy German podcast (I suggest using other platforms like Pocket Casts because they have useful extra info for each episode)
- Sprechzeiten podcast
- Einfach gesagt podcast
- German Listening & Speaking app
Listen as much as you can. For the first 4-5 months I was consuming German material 24/7, even slept with headphones on, and it totally paid off.
- Reading:
- Speaking:
- Shadow-talk like a madman. Play any kind of native content and repeat aloud every single sound you hear exactly as it is
- Dictionary and Translator:
- Other resources that I liked:
- Language Transfer German course. They also have an app but the audio quality on youtube is enhanced.
- Article Buster
- Dative Doctor
- Verb Wizard
- Linguico
If you have any questions I'm more than happy to help.
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u/Lizard_Li Jul 15 '26
How well can you functionally speak and understand? Do you understand tv shows no problem now? Can you have a conversation with a German person about your life? Can you manage a group dinner with lots of people speaking around you in German?
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u/erioldman Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
After first month I could easily understand YouTube videos, music, stand up comedy shows, and of course memes. And speaking is not my superpower not because of language barriers, but because I normally don't speak much but since I'm already living in a foreign country, I'm used to dodging lock ups and keeping the flow going
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u/Icy-Negotiation-3434 Jul 17 '26
What environment were you living in, when studying the language? Here in Germany? I ask because I have been working with American exchange students here in Germany , who literally started learning the local language here and living in German families. 6 months later they were boasting to each other in German about their experiences in school and with their host families. Naturally their grammar was not perfect and they sometimes filled in English terms but they were fluent enough for everyday conversations.
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u/erioldman Jul 17 '26
I'm Persian and currently living in Turkey. Never been to Germany.
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u/Icy-Negotiation-3434 Jul 18 '26
Wow, that is really good to learn a language without lots of personal contact. The first generation immigrant Persians I meet here in Germany usually speak good German and their kids are fluent in both languages but prefer the local language when playing with other kids (even Persian friends). But that is true for most kids who went through kindergarten and school here.
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u/adrobj Jul 18 '26
Benefit of Persian close relationship with identifying direct and indirect objects, as well as putting verbs at the end of sentences. Not saying you’re not hard working, but that I’ve always felt Persian word order helps German more than English word order.
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u/erioldman Jul 18 '26
Your feeling is wrong. That's something you can only say when you are fluent in Persian.
German puts verbs in second postion, Farsi puts it at the end. Direct and indirect objects "look" identical in Persian. Persian has no gender system. Some of Kon I and Kon II do not exist in Persian like Plusquamperfekt Kon II. And ...
You can't compare two languages which don't share the same root. Knowing more languages definitely gives you a better idea on how languages work in general but it's not a language-specific thing.
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u/Czar1987 Jul 15 '26
Important things to clarify: what's your experience with languages? what's your mother tongue?
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u/erioldman Jul 15 '26
My mother tongue is Persian. I've studied English since I was a kid and also I have C1 in Turkish so German is my 4th. (I studied French for one year but not that serious which I regret so much)
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u/Czar1987 Jul 15 '26
ah so you have great experience in languages HARDER than German, haha
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u/erioldman Jul 15 '26
German has such a disciplined grammar. Maybe they make it look difficult to scare off die Ausländer 😂
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u/nerdy_adventurer Jul 17 '26
You know Farsi is a hard language just like Mandarin don't you? so you clearly have an edge, but German grammar is difficult too.
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u/erioldman Jul 17 '26
Comparing the difficulty of Farsi and Mandarin must be a joke.
As I stated, German grammar can be subjectively difficult for you. It doesn't mean it's difficult. That's a different argument.
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u/nerdy_adventurer Jul 18 '26
Difficulty levels of Farsi and Mandarin are subjective depending on one's mother tongue, most of European framework language hours do not apply to Asians. Having thousands of characters in Mandarin does not mean it is difficult, there are stories behind characters.
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u/Fear_mor Jul 20 '26
It depends to who it’s harder. Mandarin would relatively easy for a Cantonese speaker, and Farsi would be easier for a Kurd than German. Also Farsi being hard has no meaning for OP because it’s his first language, it just spawned in his brain through existing as a child
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u/JustinTheCheetah Jul 15 '26
Also he shows an obvious proclivity to picking up other languages.
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u/erioldman Jul 15 '26
Actually in all of them I was forced to pick. Not that I hate it but I had no choice.
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u/P_Jamez Advanced (C1) - Servus! Jul 16 '26
picking up means ability to learn, i.e. you have already learnt 2 other foreign languages
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u/ifeellikefloating Native <region/dialect> Jul 16 '26
Actually I find Turkish extremely learner friendly. It might look intimidating at first glance but it is extremely logical and you can make great mileage with relatively low effort, if you chose not to be intimidated
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u/NuclearSunBeam Jul 16 '26
Dude, you are either bullshitter or gifted, stop bashing this idea about speed
This is backhanded encouragement, because those who study really hard and make small progress may get discouraged.
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
When I started my journey I opened this community and the only posts I saw were people struggling on even lower levels for several years. I don't want to be rude or sth but those are the real discouragement. I'm not gifted nor the only one who could achieve this but people like me need to see some faster time frames and see that it's possible. I wanted to show that the process is not slow itself. If you are struggling, you're the problem.
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u/Jetztinberlin Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
If you are struggling, you're the problem.
Uh, I'm pretty sure it's statements like this that utterly fail to acknowledge that not everyone learns the same way or at the same speed or even has the same resources to do so that is the problem. It's wild to make a post complaining that people like you aren't being represented and while doing so state that any other person or representation different from your own is inherently flawed or at fault.
All the linguistic ability in the world doesn't substitute for empathy, apparently.
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u/erioldman Jul 18 '26
Two things I learned from posting this: 1. People can't read 2. People love to add their own random made up assumptions/statements and relate them to OP
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u/Jetztinberlin Jul 18 '26
Aren't you OP? Why are you referring to yourself in the third person? And how is my directly quoting you being unable to read or making things up?
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u/The_Simpsons_22 Jul 15 '26
Would appreciate your effort if you give me details about the speaking skill. I've some difficulties in getting rid of my accent and articulate my thoughts in German as B1 learner. Thanks!
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u/erioldman Jul 15 '26
As an introvert that was my bottleneck too. Actually the exam day was my first time having a conversation with someone in German. But try these: You need to hear yourself a lot and as I mentioned, shadow-talking is the best practice for it. Listen to or memorize a word or sentence and repeat it aloud several times until you either nail it or hate your voice. My very first thing that I learned in German was how to pronounce Eichhörnchen. Maybe start with that 😄. And for the blocking: You've developed a very complicated network of meanings and rules in your mother tongue which is not yet present in your new language. So when speaking, your main focus must be on breaking down your thoughts into very small and basic pieces to help your brain process them easier instead of giving up. And the most important thing: it's totally OK to make mistakes
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u/The_Simpsons_22 Jul 15 '26
I totally relate to that, hopefully I can reach B2 soon by January 2027 🤞 Thank you for your detailed feedback :)
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u/N-F-X Jul 15 '26
Hey, when u said “Listen as mush as you can”, do you think it will be helpful to listen to German conversations and podcasts without understanding anything ?
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
Absolutely. That's exactly what I meant by that. It's actually a proven scientific method.
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u/lazydictionary Vantage (B2) Jul 16 '26
The more you can understand the content you are consuming, the btter. If you are only understanding a word or two of every sentence spoken, you need to find easier content.
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u/No-Demand840 Jul 16 '26
I fully believe that listening to the foreign language that you’re trying to learn, even though you don’t understand it, is a very important part of the learning process. It will give you an intuition for the individual sounds, pronunciations, cadence, intonation, and actually as well grammar. Think about how children learn their mother tongue. They hear it all around them without anyone explaining the rules then start to speak. A part of what they’re doing is just mimicry. Listening is a powerful tool.
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u/BAT9x1213 Jul 16 '26
I am sorry, appreciate that you share materials but 45 days to reach B1 - so inflated 🤣🤣🤣 make your whole story less persuasive....
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u/pikapiie Jul 15 '26
OP, it's really inspiring to me that although your mother tongue is Persian, you know all these other languages too! Amazing! I hope to be like that too someday.
Anywho, what was your routine for studying? How much time would you spend doing wriring/reading/talking and when do you use these resources? I would love to know your schedule in specifics
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u/erioldman Jul 15 '26
Happy to hear it. I will repost my reply to someone else: "First 45 days my whole day. Next 4 months (until I failed C1) 5-6 hours a day and the rest was casual." "I started with very basic grammar. Then focused entirely on vocabulary until ~1.5-2k words. After that dived deep into grammar plus passive listening all of my spare time." And to add to these, basically what worked for me was spending most of my time on vocab because then you don't need to constantly pause and look for meanings while learning grammar or listening to sth. Then achieve a deep understanding of grammar. And finally start putting these knowledge into work by writing, doing practice books, taking tests, etc. And for listening just keep drowning yourself in native content all the time.
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Jul 16 '26
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
From 7 am to 10 pm I was either actively studying or passively listening. I think I already answered that otherwise could you be more specific? Yes, you should. It's a proven scientific method. Your brain will do the wiring anyway. It's like having the road already built when you are finally going to use it.
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Jul 16 '26
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
*with German subtitles. Leave your safe zone if you wanna see real progress.
I don't believe that we can easily draw a line between each level but anyway, as of preparing for exam, yes. B1's grammar, word list and topics that you should be able to handle are very basic. And that gap you see is not exactly from B1 to B2 because my main goal was C1. During that time I finished Grammatik activ B2/C1. Dug very deep into detailed grammar rules. Expanded my vocabs from ~2k to ~7k while focusing on their roots and relations. And tried my best to gain confidence in speaking. But after I failed the first exam, I found out that it doesn't matter how much you know. Like I could easily understand any tv show but got 33% in Hören Teil. So I spent the rest of that time switching to only studying the exam format.
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u/Euphoric_Rhubarb_243 Jul 16 '26
What do you recommend for increasing vocabulary acquisition?
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
The app I mentioned is a very good starting point. It gets you till ~6k words. After that I can't really suggest anything. I personally took the nerdy route, ended up writing my own word database, categorizing about 10k entries and feeding it to my flashcard app.
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Jul 16 '26
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
That's exactly what I said. Exams' formats are just stupid. My actual lvl is definitely higher than B2 even back then when I failed that C1 exam.
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u/Thunderplant Jul 15 '26
This is similar to my experience & timeline. I don't really have an opportunity to use German right now besides listening to content, but it's still cool to have access to an entirely new language after less than a year of study
(I'm a native English speaker who was previously c1 in Spanish)
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u/B6s1l Jul 15 '26
How are you with reading longer-formats (books, articles etc)? How does it compare to conversations (text, forum etc)? I am asking since your resources for reading seem few compared to others
Also congrats and thanks
As someone from Turkey, I will probably be taking the same exam format as you
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u/erioldman Jul 15 '26
Honestly I'm not a book guy and the one I mentioned was only because it's very well-made. IMO reading improves your writing and listening improves your speaking that's why I mostly focused on music and podcasts. Another thing is exam's Lesen Teil has nothing to do with reading books and articles. You only need a rich vocabulary bank to pass it. Thanks a lot. Also if you currently live in Turkey watch out for the current situation. I might need to take Goethe too cuz they are rejecting TELC.
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Jul 15 '26
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
Exactly. I think it's because everyone's first option for practicing speaking is finding a partner so no one thinks about any other ways.
Honestly, I didn't. I gave up for almost two months. I was so lucky to have supportive people around me who pushed me into it again.
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Jul 15 '26
How many hours per day did you study?
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u/erioldman Jul 15 '26
First 45 days my whole day. Next 4 months (until I failed C1) 5-6 hours a day and the rest was casual
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u/hildegardvonbingen01 Jul 16 '26
Wie alt bist du? Was bist du von Beruf? Dein Lernplan sieht sehr anstrengend aus. Nicht machbar für einen durchschnittlichen Menschen. 😮
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Jul 15 '26
how did you usually split your studying time? Like, how much time did you dedicate to listening, gramar, etc
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u/erioldman Jul 15 '26
I started with very basic grammar. Then focused entirely on vocabulary until ~1.5-2k words. After that dived deep into grammar plus passive listening all of my spare time.
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u/Ashamed-Driver-8921 Jul 17 '26
How you allocated for each module like listening 1 hr grammar 1 hr writing practice 1 vocab...etc howww
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u/erioldman Jul 17 '26
It was more of a multiphase plan than a fixed routine. I started with very basic grammar. Then focused entirely on vocab until I reached ~2k words. Then back to grammar but this time as deep and detailed as possible. And in the meantime I was listening to some sort of audio material all the time. After fundamental grammar was done, I began putting everything I learned into use by doing workbooks, writing, speaking and also expanding my vocab.
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u/truesoul16 Jul 16 '26
Thank you! I have passed DTZ B1 and I’m currently working. But I want to study for B2 and eventually appear for the DTB exam. I’ve been looking for resources that I can learn from when I’m on the way to work or when I’ve free time in office! This is very helpful! Thanks OP!
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u/fxavier93 Jul 16 '26
Thanls for the tips!!! The hardest part is is to keep me motivated 😭😭
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
You're very welcome. Yeah, I get it. Keeping yourself motivated is way harder than the language itself.
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u/itsankityadav7 Jul 16 '26
Do you know a teacher who can teach me German in the shortest possible time? I don't have much time left.
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u/No-Tumbleweed4598 Jul 16 '26
Hey I passed B1 exam 20 days ago and im stuck on what to do, im doing self study as well. You think I should pick up a B2 Lehrbuch like Aspekte neu or do grammar on Grammatik aktiv. Im hella confused. Would really appreciate any advice.
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
Depends on your style. Personally I prefer raw grammar so my choice is Grammatik aktiv.
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u/No-Tumbleweed4598 Jul 16 '26
I love raw grammar as well i never used textbooks before b2 i just used grammatik aktiv and nicos weg since theres no nicos weg for b2 im just confused. So you suggest grammatik aktiv and daily practice?
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
Yes.
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u/No-Tumbleweed4598 Jul 16 '26
Could you elaborate what else you did for B2 other than Grammatik aktiv if you don’t mind
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u/Ok-Ease-6842 29d ago
Thank you for your post. I am thinking of learning German to reach a B1 level in six months. My friends are saying that isn't possible because German is so difficult. They say it usually takes around 1 to 1.5 years to reach B1. Now I know I am right, and I will keep going to reach that level in six months.💕
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u/CopyWorldly7105 Jul 15 '26
Interesting you didn’t mention using AI anywhere
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u/erioldman Jul 15 '26
As a developer I do use AI daily but it didn't fit in my language learning process
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u/CopyWorldly7105 Jul 16 '26
Not really sure why I’m being downvoted when AI is quite literally reinventing language learning. Pathetic.
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
Maybe because they see it as a hate comment. And I highly doubt that AI is reinventing anything.
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u/CopyWorldly7105 Jul 16 '26
You said in your post that you don’t necessarily need to pay for a language tutor or expensive lessons. There are AI language learning apps out there which simulate real life conversations and give live feedback. I’m starting to doubt your entire post quite honestly. I think you’re plugging some of those apps you linked, all the best dude !
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
I even ended up deleting my own apps from the original draft because I thought it would cause concerns and shift focus. How the hell did you get AI promotion vibe from my post?!
And you wonder why you're getting downvoted...
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u/CopyWorldly7105 Jul 16 '26
It’s the opposite. I said you didn’t mention AI in your post, you then downvoted my comment and downplayed impact AI is having on language learning, all the while saying you don’t need to pay for expensive tutors.
I’m ending this convo here man, you’re making no sense to me. All the best
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
You are so lost my son. I didn't "downplay". Downplaying is when you minimize or hide the impact while I clearly said it had ZERO impact on my language learning process. I also corrected you that in general it hasn't "reinvented" anything which both of these statements are hard truths.
And your second mistake is thinking that by saying "you don't need to pay for a tutor" I automatically meant "you should pay for AI slop" which is something I never said nor meant to say.
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u/CopyWorldly7105 Jul 16 '26
You would never call me ‘my son’ to my face, little boy. You work in AI but clearly hate the tech, maybe look at a career change.
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
I always underestimate how uneducated people can be, so that they can't even understand such basic and simple sentences. You are blinded by your assumptions.
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u/Suspicious_List_8395 Jul 16 '26
What would you recommend me as a beginner to focus on if i want to achieve at least b1 level in that time?
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
You won't success by only focusing on certain part. You need all the skills equally.
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u/Suspicious_List_8395 Jul 16 '26
What was your first month of learning like
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
First I got a grasp of grammar then focused entirely on vocab until I reached ~2k words. Then went back to learning detailed grammar. In the meantime all my spare time was dedicated to listening podcasts and other audio materials.
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u/Away-Salamander-8589 🇺🇸 Native | 🇩🇪 B2 Jul 18 '26
when listening did you ever look words up that you didn't know? If not, what source did you use for vocabulary?
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u/erioldman Jul 18 '26
Never. Not that I could understand everything, just because you shouldn't let it slow you down. Listening trainings are for language exposure. It's not about understanding everything.
Listed in the post.
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u/Away-Salamander-8589 🇺🇸 Native | 🇩🇪 B2 Jul 18 '26
Did you just learn the entire list of words on vocabeo? That app doesn’t seem to have an Apple equivalent so I’m not familiar with it.
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u/erioldman Jul 18 '26
Yes, foundation of my vocabulary are all those words. They also have a website which functions the same as app. There are some good free alternatives too like Goethe and TELC word lists but those are raw materials.
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u/myvowndestiny Jul 16 '26
How many hours did you study german daily ? How did you manage this with your schedule?
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
5-6 hours a day for the first half after that just casual study. I had to get up an hour earlier and quit doomscrolling to add some extra hours. Also I used all my break/free time listening to sth in German.
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u/dannyparker123 I still have a LOT to learn (B2) Jul 16 '26
That’s seriously amazing! May ask how old you are?
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u/callout0100 Jul 16 '26
thannkyou for mentioning how you have completed b2 in 10 months using the materials you mentioned . but i wanted to ask you is there any website or app which has podcast and listening materials which i can download and listen for free ? if you have please help me .
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
Spotify does offer a free plan with ads. You can't download but you can listen to podcasts for free.
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u/Alternative-You-1445 Jul 16 '26
Hi! Thank you for listing all these resources. When did you start using the book you mention? Right away or after some time focusing on listening to podcast/watching tv shows in German? Thanks in advance!
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
You're very welcome. First book right away but for the second one, when I started it I constantly had to pause and look up the words I didn't know. So instead, I shifted my focus to vocabs then came back to it after I collected a proper word bank. And I was always listening to something no matter the time.
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u/HomeObvious257 Jul 16 '26
i want to go to germany for my graduate degree as an undergrad, is it possible to do so as someone who knows 0 german i have around 8 months. C1 should easily take a more than a year or two right?
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
You might be able to just pass C1 exam if you dedicate your entire life in this 8 month studying it but you will definitely get into trouble later on with your classes and overall living there. Btw, you can apply with B2 then they'll give you one year to get the C1.
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Jul 16 '26
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u/PerfectDog5691 Native (Hochdeutsch) Jul 17 '26
A friend of mine did his B1 test as the first test. You don't need to pay the money for all the tests in between. You can check online, if you are ready to go for the B1 test. There are also many recordings on YouTube so you can see if you can solve it or where your blind points are.
I recommend a structured book like from Klett (publisher) to have a guide how and what to learn. Especially because you also will learn sth about Germany in these books and not only the language.
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u/alex3delarge Jul 16 '26
Can you share a bit of your daily routine of studying? I’m on/off studying for years but never really learned more than a2. A mix of being lazy and bad memory, as I have actually invested quite a few hours and money into this.
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u/erioldman Jul 17 '26
It was more of a multiphase plan than a fixed routine. I started with very basic grammar. Then focused entirely on vocab until I reached ~2k words. Then back to grammar but this time as deep and detailed as possible. And in the meantime I was listening to some sort of audio material all the time. After fundamental grammar was done, I began putting everything I learned into use by doing workbooks, writing, speaking and also expanding my vocab.
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u/Minute-Fox-4738 Jul 16 '26
What about grammatik aktiv
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u/erioldman Jul 17 '26
What about that?
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u/PerfectDog5691 Native (Hochdeutsch) Jul 17 '26
What publisher? Or do you have an ISBN number?
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u/erioldman Jul 17 '26
Cornelsen
Grammar Active A1-B1: 978-3-06-122964-1 Grammar Active B2/C1: 978-3-06-122965-8
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u/Evening_Leather5101 Jul 17 '26
I never believed that german would be such a hard language. I am german, of course I don't believe it. I had been learning turkish when I was a little child, along englisch, and I would say my english is close to native level, since I have been practicing for now more than 20 years daily, so I don't really remember if those langauges were easy or hard for me. But then I started learning spanish... God... At first I was "what the hell is this? why is it so damn hard?" My gf native spanish speaker always tells me "no spanish is so simple", and yeah after finally getting it, she is right.
German IS fricking hard! As you said, such a disciplined language. I mean it is natural to me, I love it, and that was the issue with me learning such an easy language as spanish. We have what feels like a million different ways to accentuate what we want to say, each way has a different strength so to say. In spanish it feels like they have two ways and that threw me off a lot, I did not understand that for a long time.
So yeah. German IS hard for anyone speaking a way less complicated language...
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u/suzzuu07 Jul 17 '26
Is it true that Germans are rejecting TELC!?
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u/SpareAmbition Jul 17 '26
I'd imagine they're being brought more and more into question. To get the certificate for a particular language level you should be displaying certain skills of that language but lately it's definitely not seemed the case. Apart from potential xenophobia, this is the main reason why a lot of jobs now ask for C1 in German because A/B has become a shit show of people claiming something that doesn't actually align with the actual definition of the level. My guess would be people just learning specifically for the exam to meet the criteria without having the wider language knowledge.
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u/erioldman Jul 17 '26
There is an ongoing situation affecting TELC certificate holders only in Turkey. I don't have any further information. Here is the link to the official article.
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u/winterfall299 Jul 17 '26
How much time each day did you dedicate to this though? A lot of people who get B2 level in a short period of time seem to only do so by studying it 8 hours a day which is not realistic for most people.
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u/erioldman Jul 17 '26
Average 5-6 hours a day. My problem is that I totally understand not all the people have enough time to achieve a certain level in short period of time BUT they must stop blaming the language. Not having enough time, being lazy, not being dedicated enough and many other similar reasons are all personal issues. It doesn't "necessarily" mean German is a difficult language.
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u/sigma-u Jul 18 '26
I believe you need to think in the specific language in order to unlock C1-C2. Not mother-language but mind-language.
I am soon at 10 months and pushing hard to reach B1 with German. Thank you for your resources and recommendations! ☕️✨
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u/pdxeater Jul 19 '26
So, I occasionally read posts like this and I wonder - should I just do everything this person says? It'd be so much easier than trying to figure everything out myself. I'd love to see some posts from people who saw a post like this, did everything they said for a year, and how it worked out.
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u/Available-Way-8534 Jul 19 '26
That’s German on paper , the one on ground is completely differently
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u/MrGodly01 Jul 21 '26
Hey guys I'm in a mess right now.. i got my interview coming and also my B2 Sprechen exam. I don't have any partner and i don't know how to prepare alone.
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u/Competitive_Mark918 Jul 21 '26
I am starting with B2 from next week, will do self study. Can you suggest me resources to do my B2 from? And how?
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u/p4ssive0bserver Jul 26 '26
hi, regarding listening, do i listen even tho i cant understand anything yet? or extend my vocabulary first
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u/erioldman Jul 28 '26
Yes, listen as much as you can no matter how much of it you understand. Passive listening is way more important than active listening. So don't focus on it, just expose yourself to the target language.
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u/gautam_np Jul 28 '26
Great insights OP... starting my journey with your blueprint. Today 28 Jul 26
I'll update the thread once a month.
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u/Admirable-Part4413 Aug 11 '26
for the Grammatik Aktiv A1-B1, are you using the newest version or the old one?
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u/erioldman Aug 11 '26
Second edition
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u/Admirable-Part4413 Aug 12 '26
for the easy german podcast. which level should i start listening to easy german podcast
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u/erioldman Aug 12 '26
What do you mean by level?
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u/Admirable-Part4413 Aug 12 '26
i mean like which level do required to understand most of easy german podcast?
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u/erioldman Aug 12 '26
It doesn't matter if you understand it or not. Just listen to it or whatever native content you can find.
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u/doyouknowmaryj 11d ago
Thats impressive! What helped you understand the Nominativ, Akkusativ, Genitiv? Im struggling a lot
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u/bimaar-anaar232 Jul 15 '26
Thank you so much for this post!! Your journey is very inspiring and I hope to emulate the same!!
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u/RegularParticular625 Jul 15 '26
你好！我有一个技术性的问题：您是如何具体训练听力的？比如每次只听一句。或者听慢速德语。我之前得过严重的抑郁症，还伴有adhd，我不知道这些对于我的听力有多大影响。我的阅读不错，但是几乎无法听懂对方在说什么，只有听两三遍，才能从句子中找到关键词，猜出对方的意思。我在英语学习中也遇到这样的问题。
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u/erioldman Jul 15 '26
Listening to slow content or pausing on each word that you don't understand, are listening traps. Only listen on natural speed and do not care if you understand it or not. Then listen again sentence by sentence and try writing as much as you understand. Again, do not bother with words you didn't catch. They only slow down your practice. Another thing that improves listening is your vocabulary bank and more importantly how confident you are with their contextual meanings. Do not just memorize them, try learning their connections and context around them. And if normal content feels boring, try their music. They have top notch artists.
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u/YupityYupYup Jul 16 '26
That is amazing, thank you for the resources!
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
You're very welcome.
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u/YupityYupYup Jul 16 '26
Question, I've started reading German for dummies, have you read that at all? Does it help any? I've found it spells things out pretty comprehensively
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u/erioldman Jul 16 '26
Yes, I have. All sources are finally going to help you one way or another so there is really not a good/bad resource. But my personal problem with those kind of resources is that they make you learn AS-IS while my learning philosophy is based on WHY.
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u/Historical_Public751 Jul 16 '26
b2 is not much impressive. Especially for 10 months it's like achievable with an hour a day
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u/Logical_Standard_513 Jul 16 '26
Meanwhile my ex still can't write a simple whatsApp message to a friend after being here for over 10 years.
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u/MomentOfSelfRelation Jul 16 '26
I am always confused by posts like this. I don’t think that people necessarily think B2 German is impossible to learn in such a time frame. I think a lot of the challenge lies in the fact that German does statistically take a lot more hours for westerners to learn (which automatically brings with it motivation problems since it’s over a longer time frame), in combination with the fact that people are busy with work and school etc, and don’t have unlimited free time and energy to learn a language. You say you spent basically 5-6 months full time learning a language. That’s really challenging for most people.