German reboot

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Ok, some time ago I mentioned that I was absolutely going to learn German. I mentioned how past language learning efforts had failed and how I proposed to succeed this time around. So how am I doing? Well, the title of this post probably gives you a rough idea.

I'm at the very annoyed with myself stage and have come to the conclusion that I can either get on with it, or stop pretending. I'm going former.

One of the main problems I'm having is setting aside time. Solution: the car journey to work gives me at least 45 minutes a day to work with. But: some language courses aren't ideal for use in this situation because you really need to refer to the book. And so I introduce Michel Thomas. I say introduce, his courses have been around for decades but I've never used them before because they are 100% audio and I always want to be able to read a write too. However, they are 100% audio, so they should suit car-based study. I bought the Start German taster to try out the system and, given three drives since it arrived, I've got to say I'm really liking it.

There are several levels beyond Start: namely Total, Perfect and Masterclass. They are quite expensive - unless you find someone on eBay selling the lot for less that £40. Job done. This should get me progressing on the listening and talking side of things. I'll need to work through the Teach Yourself courses separately (I have both Complete and Enjoy) to cover reading, writing and grammar, but I think I should be able to find quarter of an hour a day to do some of that. I aim to do a little bit every single day. Every day. Not some days. Not most days. All of them.

Daily routine from now on:
  1. Wake up & get up - no dozing!!
  2. Drink lemon water
  3. A bit of steady exercise
  4. Get in the shower and get dressed
  5. Eat breakfast while watching German news on the Amazon Fire TV box
  6. Michel Thomas course on the drive to work
  7. Work: read Zeit Online for 5-10 minutes over lunch
  8. Michel Thomas course on the drive home
  9. At some point before bed do 15 mins of the Teach Yourself courses
  10. Sleep
That should get me around 1 hour a day. If things go well, I'll probably line up some chats on Italki. Completing all of the above-mentioned courses should get me somewhere near C1 on the CEFR scale. That would be quite some achievement, but I'm not going to book in for the exam just yet!

Anyway, this is the latest plan. Updates to follow... first one on 21 May. There, I'm committed.

Note: there are some affiliate links in this post

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