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7 Tips For Busy People Who Want to Learn German

When you’re a busy person, it’s difficult to learn a new language. If you’re set your goals to learn German and you find that you just don’t have time to keep up with the pace of your goals, it’s time to rethink how you incorporate German into your life.

In this article we will provide you seven tips to help you keep making progress in German, despite your busy schedule.These seven tips are aimed at helping you:

  • save time
  • add structure to your German learning
  • make your German content more relevant and interesting
  • squeeze in some German learning into pockets of time that you’re not using
  • provide a mix of passive and active learning
  • provide a balance of reading, writing, listening and speaking

1. Download the app LingQ to all your devices.

LingQ is an ideal app for German language learners of all levels because it offers material at all levels of German. You can incorporate into your life while you are on the go. It’s user friendly. With the premium version you can download audio material and listen to it while you are on the go. You can build up new vocabulary and expressions for later study via flashcards within the system.

When you’re at your computer, you can also use LingQ as an online platform. LingQ premium users can download content for use while on the go and offline. The LingQ application and platform allows you to practice your listening and reading skills at the same time. They also have options for you to submit writing samples for review. LingQ has an online language-learning community for several languages and it has an abundance of material for those who are learning German.

2. Download the HiNative app to your devices.

HiNative also as a free version as well as a premium version. Any time you encounter new German words, you can whip out your smart phone, open the app and ask a native speaker for help. HiNative works best when you spend equal time helping others in your language(s) as well. By giving back to the language-learning community you receive a better profile and gain trust from the community.

Premium members can have their questions pushed to the front of the line. They also benefit from having their voice recordings reviewed, so they can improve their pronunciation. HiNative is the brainchild of those who started Lang-8. It's easy to use on the go and in the spur of a moment, you can post a new word or expression and usually will have feedback within a few hours. You can also post questions about German culture and places.

3. Set aside a specific time to dedicate to your German studies.

If your pace is slow and steady, you should be focusing on your German at least once a week. It’s best to do this at the same time and day every single week. This way you build continuity and consistency in your efforts to learn German. There are several things that are important when it comes to learning a new skill faster, and setting aside dedicated, uninterrupted time is one of them. It's about forming good habits and keeping to them. Then German learning will become a part of your routine.

4. Do meditation in German.

There are many forms of guided mediation. Yoga nidra is one form of such meditation. You can find several videos on YouTube. The length of the mediation can vary from 10 minutes to a whole hour. It’s been proven that meditation makes you more effective in stressful settings. If your German is already intermediate or higher, it’s time to try meditating in German. If you’re doing yoga nidra, you’ll learn new words and expressions in German and you’ll be able to conduct visualizations in German.

5. At the gym and while on the go, listen to podcasts or other material in German.

Choose the right level of material for you. If you’re a beginner, you could consider a course such as Teach Yourself German. You can download the material and listen to it while on the go and while working out at the gym. Spotify also has German courses such as German in Your Car. This kind of material can also be helpful for people who spend a significant amount of time driving.

When you reach an intermediate level, you should be able to find podcasts at your level such as Deutsche Welle which has Marktplatz Business German and Wieso nicht LingQ also has a variety of podcasts for intermediate learners. Advanced German learners can dive into any German podcast that discusses topics of interest to them.

6. Listen to German pop music.

Download the lyrics to your favorite German songs and quickly read through them. Then listen regularly to the songs that you like and you will begin to pick up more and more on certain vocabulary and expressions that you hadn’t learned before. After time, you’ll be able to incorporate them into your conversations where they are appropriate. You can join German-learning groups on Facebook and share your favorite songs.

7. Join the Goethe Institute.

If you are in a city with a Goethe Institute, you’ll find events and a library with material for you in German. These rangesfrom films and CDs to books and magazines. They often arrange activities and social events. So you can mix your free time with your desire to improve your German. This is a great place for you to get face-to-face practice speaking German. If your city doesn't have a Goethe Institute, look for German-language groups on Meetup.com. Join a German expat group and hang out with some native speakers.

Now that you have these seven tips for learning German while keeping up with the pace of your business schedule, it’s also good to think about your motivation for learning German. Motivation is the key to success in learning a languageIf you’ve been delaying your plans to learn German because you just haven’t found the tip to get started  then it’s important to know how to avoid procrastination.

Another important part of your success with German is to not give up. You need to be persistent with your German learning goals in order to achieve conversational fluency. Once you’ve reached conversational fluency, you can enjoy the ride as you progressively improve your German skills. Mastering a language is a lifelong journey. Languages evolve, there are regional differences, slang, industry-specific vocabulary, nuances, attempts to understand humor and to even learn how to be witty in German.

With these seven tips, we hope you’ll find a way to get back on track with your German-learning plans, no matter where you are in your language-learning journey. Mix up your German lessons with some light material such as absorbing a list of German curse words.

Some of you still might be at the early stage of learning German and would be curious to know how easy German is to learn. Others might be more advanced and ready for some useful idiomatic German expressions that often only native German speakers use.

Wherever you are in your journey to learn German, Eile mit Weile which is the German way of saying ‘slow and steady wins the race’

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