Tips

• As many former exchange students will attest, the only way become fluent in any foreign language is to be willing to make a fool of yourself. Do not worry about being perfect. Study, do your best, then inflict your German on the Germans. Do not take it personally if they correct you.

• If you're able to spend time in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland, participate in all of the school related activities. Study hard, but play hard too. Having a beer or two at a pub can really let your inhibitions about speaking imperfect German go out the window, and you can explore how much you know. Make friends, socialize, and explore the country with your newfound friends. At the end of your journey you will have learned more German than you would've taking years of classes, and you will have friends from countries all around the world to visit next time you go traveling! Avoid people from your country. Being around someone who speaks your language will cause you to always revert back to your comfort zone in speaking your native tongue. If you're in your comfort zone, you aren't learning.

• German: a self-teaching guide, by Heimy Taylor and Werner Haas, is an informative book. Great for beginners.

• Read, speak, and think in German as much as possible.

• Word grouping is extremely useful to some.

• Ignore the myths: "German is very difficult." Any language is hard at first glance. As you progress, the language will grow steadily easier; the same with any other. You may even find that German is quite easy once you get into the swing of things; it happens to be quite a logical language in terms of vocabulary-building.

• If you encounter an unbelievably long word, be aware that there is no limit to the number of root words that can form a compound word in German. In this respect, German is similar to ancient Greek. The good news is, you can break these down with a little experience and a dictionary. An extreme example is Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapit?n. This can be broken down into:
  • Donau-Dampf-Schiff-Fahrt-Gesellschafts-Kapit?n
  • Danube-Steam-Ship-Trip-Company-Captain

• In other words, the Captain of a ship owned and operated by a company that offers cruises on the Danube river. Note, all nouns in German are capitalized. Also note that there are two cognates, and one false cognate, in the above example. Finally, feminine nouns ending in a consonant add an 's' when forming compounds.

• Realize that you have an advantage over other learners if your native language is Germanic. German and English used to be one language. They're practically cousins! To Russian speakers, Polish is easier than English!

• Stay positive and optimistic. Don't become crestfallen by minor difficulties. Keep studying!

• Get a penpal, via http://www.penpals.de, or through the mail.

• Find a language partner at http://www.italki.com/ then talk to him or her using http://www.skype.com

• Never let yourself become bored. If you do, then language learning isn't for you!

• Learn word etymologies.

• Visit Germany and stay at a Jugendherberge (youth hostel). They usually maintain inexpensive rates. However, be warned that many Germans speak English well. You may need to explicity ask people if you can practice speaking German otherwise you may find yourself in mostly English conversations.

• It may be easier for you to learn German by listening to German music. Try finding German covers of songs that you know, or try mtv.de/charts for a list of the current hits in Germany.

• To aid in pronunciation, here is the alphabet in closely approximated English:

A(ah), B(bay), C(say), D(day), E(ay), F (ef), G(gay), H(haa), I(eeh), J(yoht), K(kah), L (ell), M (emm), N (enn), O(oo), P(pay), Q(koo), R(air), S (ess), T(tay), U(ooh), V(fow), W(vay), X(ixx), Y(oops-see-lohn), Z(tsett). Once you know the sounds of the alphabet, it'll be incredibly easy to pronounce any word in German.

• Germans are used to hear other people speaking German with a strong accent. Most Germans
  
  like it when a person speaks German with a British accent, for that sounds quite noble and elegant. German with an American accent rather sounds lazy or even bossy. So if you can, prefer speaking German with a British accent!

Steps

Make sure you really want to learn this language and that you are determined to learn it, because any new language is hard work.

Go to your nearest bookstore and buy books/audio tapes for German beginners so that you can start with the basics. If you are a beginning learner, translate simple texts, poems, songs, and German kids' books. A dictionary, and quick grammar reference guides, as well as more informal basic German books can all be really helpful tools when something slips your mind.

Take at least a 1/2 hour to an hour out of your day to practice German. Lots of students find it more productive to study in twenty minute sessions as opposed to one hour sessions.

Make sure you learn the basics like your name, where you live, and your age before diving into the harder stuff.

Carry a small notepad in your pocket with vocabulary; you can study it anywhere. You may find it very helpful to review only four or five irregular verbs each day.

Take at least one year of introductory German taught in your own language. Being exposed to it in your own language and learning the basic grammar before immersing yourself in it will make the overall experience a little less overwhelming. If you are taking this class in college or a community college and aren't using it to graduate, don't take the class for a letter grade. This takes the pressure off getting the grade and makes the experience more relaxed and enjoyable, just remember that what you put in is what you get out.

Become friends with people who speak better than you or are in a higher level class. Having someone who is always there to help you out can really pay off.

Research potential language schools in Germany. This is the best way to learn, as you will be immersed in the culture and language, yet there is structure and guidance to facilitate quick learning. The Goethe-Institut is the official language school and is sponsored by the government. Whatever school you choose probably isn't cheap, so a scholarship is preferred. The DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst) is the first place to try and get one.