I'm looking to learn German and am currently using Duolingo to get the basics of the language...

>It's difficult to convey just how beneficial it was to my intellectual thought.
What do you mean by this?

If you search "dual language" then you should find stuff, but not for long works like Faust.

If you know a little bit of German then you should just bite the bullet and read the original with a dictionary. Dual language editions can become crutches that you find yourself having to outgrow. It's easier in the long run to suffer a little bit.

I guess. But they try to sound rougher and "older" on purpose. You know. Because sounding like Nazis is hardcore and shit. But maybe that will help with the rougher sounds, like r, ch and sch.
I'd suggest something with clearer pronounciation. Fantasitschen Vier/Thomas D are suggestions, because it would also help with getting a feel for it.

Shit pham, before you start thinking about German philosophy, get comfortable with a German news paper. I studied Philosophy in Germany. The only reason I was confortable with it, was because I spent my teenage years as edgy political Marxist, debating anyone who'd listen. (Thank fuck I outgrew that.)

Honestly, yes. You can get by with basic knowledge, but for MEANINGFUL conversation, you'll have to be forced to actually use the language. You don't have to move there, but get yourself some German to talk to regularly.

Using the wrong article isn't as bad as pussying out and using a universal one. Even Germans get confused with them sometimes.

German is a better language to make exact statements. Very strong nouns, clear adjectives if that makes sense to you. (French for instance is better for talking about the timeline of events.)
When I think about feels and humor, I think in English. When I want to think about something rationally, I'll switch to German.

>but not for long works like Faust.
Well....

This is some grade A advice. Thanks man, I've been studying German as a hobby for the past year now and I'm happy to hear any good guidelines

Link to where I can buy this on Amazon? Looks like exactly what i'm going for.

It translated Lust to specialty, how accurate is that?

That translation is extremely bad. It loses all the rhythm and melody. Wer auch immer den Schrott geschrieben hat sollte sich in Grund und Boden schämen.

I would be okay with it if it was to rhyme. But it doesn't. So I have no idea why they would use that word.

I don't really care as I can read German just fine. It was just to show that it does exist.

I don't recommend Faust bilingual editions, get complete German editions instead. If you want a book that's bilingual: amazon.com/dp/0520229258

A philosophical text by Wittgenstein is bilingual: amazon.com/dp/0061316865

Search "Reclam," they have a lot of German texts available.

>Most foreigners give up and try to use some kind of genderless article like "de" instead of "der/die/das". Never do this! You'll sound unemployable.
This. Not learning genders is really the best way to get German people to passively aggressively hate you.

I have to wonder, with out getting into any deep linguistics. Why did these gender articles develop anyway? What is there purpose?

They're a remnant of declensions. In some languages they signpost what group a word belongs to too.

I don't hate anyone because they don't get the genders right, I'm amazed they speak German in the first place

I've heard a few stories where someone has learnt passable German but then uses the same gender for every noun. I mean I haven't heard anyone get annoyed by that Das Boot line in that Oktoberfest American drinking movie for example, but in a working relationship I can imagine it gets annoying. And sometimes confusing.

Im using Duolingo to learn french
it makes me speak the weirdest sentences
the last one was 'the wolf is above the table'
le loup est (iforget) le tableau

My favorite was "the dog respects the wolf"

>But READ! Start with shit like Michael Ende and work yourself up. Aim to be able to talk arts and politics.
This especially. Pic related.

Nice pic. I had learned a lot of German before I even opened up a book, but I did feel as though it "solidified" my learning in a sense. Reading is the shit, for sure.

Regarding the last part of that pic, just get a kindle and a proper dictionary for it (don't skimp on this, don't settle for the first one you find. Some French ones don't recognize elisions for example). This way looking up words will be super easy, just click on it and you'll get a translation. I feel like this also pushes the 80-90% rule in the pic a bit.

That sounds weirdly philosophical.

Reminds of a sad story where a pack of wolves killed a family's Labrador in their back yard in the asshole of Utah or wherever it was, though.

Duolingo is good for revising basics on the move but if you really want to learn you need a core textbook to study, Duolingo is just something that you'll use maybe for a few minutes on the bus or tram.

Alright. Suggest me a book for French, German, and attic greek

Alternatively just underline it and look it up laterm

I've been using Duolingo for German since January and I'm about halfway through the tree. What is a really easy book to get started with? I finished the tree for French and I started to read Le Petit Prince but it was still a bit difficult and I lost interest. I am Swedish though, and it really helps with German vocabulary.

Don't go for the classics just yet. Choose something contemporary you've recently read in English and can mostly recall.
YA or children's books are great for this, too.

My father got a job in Germany so i was forced to come along as well. I have to go to a "Language" learning school since I'm not old enough (18 as of now) to take a course. I have been in Germany for 1 year now and i can't even hold a conversation on a basic level

Hello! How are you? I'm good.
I had no motivation since the language sounds like a metal grinding machine but as i started reading Veeky Forums suggested books in English and finding out how many Veeky Forums suggested books actually have German authors i decided to learn the language so i could read the books in their real language.

In the last 2 days i learned more than i have learned this entire year. I would say the key to mastering the language would be to just read simple texts or Manga.later on you can mix it up with anime with german dub or just german dubbed shows.

I shoot for a good 20 new words a day,but if anybody could post some Kafka with translation on both sides it would be great.

Overall i think it's worth learning the language

I think you would like the work (on learning languages) of Kato Lomb

No, Faust has never been translated to English

>move to Germany

Don't move to Germany OP. The average German is culturally and mentally challenged, pedantic and painfully unfunny. Most of the women you'll encounter are stuck-up simpletons. Berlin is a shadow of it's former self and is represented by an the biggest failures of the nation who have nothing to show for themselves, besides living in a "metropolis".

Germany has free education and wealth, but the shittiest nation a country can have

As a German, I agree!

There's a German word for that, "Tellerrandmentalität", from the German expression "über den Tellerrand schauen" (to look past the end of your plate) - it means you don't want change or expand your limited view of the world.

Nietzsche was correct that the Germans learned nothing from Goethe.

Actually, I know for a fact that there is an edition of Faust with English on one side and German opposite, page by page. I used to own it. It had a brown cover, with a hand and a quill, if I remember correctly. Paperback, of course. It's the way to go, OP. However, it was bought in Germany so if you're in the US, z.B. (that's short for zum Beispiel), it might be tougher to find.
However, if you expect to learn German from Faust, forget it. The distance between that language and contemporary spoken German is immense.
The best way to learn a language is immersion. If you can find a tandem partner, a fluent or preferably native speaker who will speak German with you, and then you in turn help them with your native language, that's a good start.
Another good idea is to start reading/listening to/watching news in German. Süddeutsche Zeitung and der Spiegel are personal recommendations, but to start Deutsche Welle is probably best, especially "Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten" a news program developed to help German language learners!
You could also start watching news programs-- ARD publishes the Tagesschau (daily national brief news program) online for free as well as the longer Tagesthemen, and there might be subtitles. The ARD and ZDF as well as some of the regional broadcasters publish many TV programs, some of which have extraordinarily high production value, for free viewing (z.B. Hessischer Rundfunk's hilariously awkward Wer Weiß Es?). Programs like Tatort even have subtitles, while Die Anstalt does not. Even youtube has stuff, like Böhmermann's Neo Magazine (which is hit or miss).
Happy hunting OP

You can learn a little from Rammstein and the like. Also try Einstürzende Neubauten, KMFDM, and Laibach. All excellent, all considered industrial all have plenty of songs in German.
This song is unspeakably beautiful and comes with subtitles youtu.be/BCX2lnxa_g8

Does this expression explain why the only thing international most Geemans embrace is foreign food?
Agreed. Unless you know someone persoally who can help you with paperwork and legal stuff and is truly willing to, you're in for a rough fucking ride unless you're C1 maayybe B2 competent already.
Speaking from experience.
And doctors, even when they claim to speak English, generally can't.

Idk about French and German, but the best Attic Greek text is Athenaze; that's not to say it's good, but it's better than anything else you'll find.

Native speaker here. Rammstein sucks, especially lyrics-wise. They use very basic, dumbed down vocabulary to appeal to foreigners. If you want proper German in your music, there are a number of German underground rappers you can listen to, namely:
Illoyal
youtube.com/watch?v=FOcWMB9mr5w
Hiob & Morlockk Dilemma
youtube.com/watch?v=kez0F_NXg5k
Retrogott
youtube.com/watch?v=-7h1MIo2NVU
Prezident
youtube.com/watch?v=94bzaEdZqMI

The most Veeky Forums music I know.
Also, try German liedermacher like Franz-Josef Degenhardt and Hannes Wader. Great lyrics, very good use of the German language.

I also second Einstürzende Neubauten.

Oh, and Forseti
youtube.com/watch?v=Th4v_KHNTME

Well, that's enough /mu/ for today..

Is this true? I remember a lot of my musician/artist friends moved to Berlin in the previous decade. Personally can't say I have met many Germans, but there was this hot exchange student from somewhere in the Ruhr area studying "Management" who otherwise fit your description. Oh yeah, and I remember being snubbed by this German chick who insisted on speaking Spanish with the Chicanos instead of talking to me, a charming devil if I say so myself. Both seemed incredibly narrowminded, all butthurt aside. I've been wanting to study German for a long time mostly for the poetry and philosophy with the idea it might be nice to work over there in software, but have heard comments like you described about Germans before. I hope you're not a T*rkroach.

Completely true. The country should have been divided up between the winners after WWI

Kek.

Rude. Overall we're pretty alright. The most annoying things about us overall are probably the intense self-hatred that seems to permeate our whole society currently and the fact the political spectrum is changing towards an American one, with retarded right-wing nationalists on one side and mentally challenged left-wing antifa scum on the other.

By the way, if there are any anons in Muenster, let me know. We can hang out and you can make fun of me for being too dumb to work my way through Hegel.

>genderless article "de"

Was?
I've been learning German for 3 years and never heard of this.
Some people use this "de" thing in Akkusative and Dative too?

Dude, get a tutor. Don't use Duolingo. Watch German TV and watch all the "Easy German" episodes on youtube.

I'm pretty sure that user was trying to say that people use "de" instead of Der/Die/Das

Lots of kebabs in my German course do that.
I dont know if i should focus on learning new words or just learn the grammar.

Also if there are any anons in Goppingen we could hang out sometimes.

>get a tutor
What dogshit advice. Give him a book, not tell him to pay twenty dollars an hour.

Try reading Unteralterbach in German. It's full of imageboard memeing, so it should come as natural.

Get a good grammar book with sentences, plug a lot of them (especially the harder ones) into Anki with a little note about the grammar rule. That's how I went about getting both vocabulary and grammar at the same time at least, worked great for both German and French and it lets you have something to do on the train etc.

Any suggestions on the which book i should get?

>Get a good grammar book with sentences
Why do you people never suggest a good grammar book. I've seen this so many times, never a suggestion.

A Practical Review of German Grammar

Hammer's German Grammar and Usage

Can't help you with that unfortunately, as I used a Swedish->German grammar book.

I'd suggest you google around a bit and look at reviews for the most highly esteemed grammar books and see which ones incorporate a lot of useful example sentences for each grammatical phenomenon.

It heavily depends on the area (and the people you chose to hang out with). But yeah, most of Germany is quite... bland.
Then again the same is probably true about most countries. And generally speaking, Germany is pretty okay. And definitely not the "shittiest nation".

If anything, Germany is a great country to move to for a couple years of education.
True, but the "de" is associated with "Asi-Deutsch", so foreigners of the second or third generation, who have no excuse to speak so poorly.
Also Germans are mostly pretty up-tight and like to get outraged (empört) over the smallest shit. Especially the elderly.
And while Germans are generally more direct, many areas have a passive-aggressive mentality, because they are stubborn as fuck.
Yeah. It will rek your reading experience, but it's worth it. Which is why I suggest starting off with classical childrens/YA books. Like Michael Ende, modern Grimm fairy tales, Walter Moers, Janosch, Cornelia Funke,...
Or read translations of simple books you already know.

Oh, I guess simple German poetry could work. Bilingual editions have already been suggested. Works well, when you want to get a better feel for nuances later on.
Yeah, I came to Germany when I was around 5 and it still was a struggle.
Becomes more of a grind later in life, I imagine.
It depends. But I would say that I prefer to be among scholars, artists and upper-class. But again, the same is true for me in most countries.
i.e.: Average German humor if horrible. But the cabaret/political satire is grade A and funny as fuck.
>pic related; left-ish cabaret dude who I rarely agree with, but who always makes me laugh

Volker Pispers is funny as hell, I agree. Also Hannes Wader and classics like the Dreigroschenoper.

>gender of articles is near meaningless
>near meaningless
>meaningless

why the fugg did my kraut professor make us learn all these god damn articles, senpai?

Some have different meanings like das stauer and die stauer (I think one is tax or rate or something like that and the other is steering wheel) and der tau and die tau (dew and rope). Also some other words are homophones or sound very similar and the gender helps distinguish them too. So no not meaningless. However declensions in German are p easy mode, the only problem might be if you forget to do them because of them being on the article.

What Swedish->German book did you use?

Not him, but Swedish is my second language so this might work for me.

Nah, brudder, he should def listen to Wagner. He da best OPERAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Seriously though, listen to Wagner.

They are mostly meaningless in their primary function as gender-giving devices.
I phrased it that way, because that is exactly how it feels when you learn them, make errors and people correct you but are unable to give you a reason. There are no real rules to it, unless something clearly has a gender. Which most things do not.

On the flip side, Germans seem physically unable to pronounce "the". I've spent hours teaching this (literally just an "A" while lightly biting the tip of your tongue) and they forget it in a matter of 10min.

Sorry I must have not been clear enough lmao. I meant English and German side by side for studying purposes.

>There are no real rules to it, unless something clearly has a gender.
Even then not always die mädchen

>die
Ffs das

100 millions people in europe talks german and they are all white, not like spanshit or french (africa).

Not everyone in Germany is white bro. And Germany did have an African colony.

even with the syrian refugee and the truks, germany is mostly white, when you go to most of the city, people on the street are white, go in france you wil see the difference. Paris is 50 to 60 % non-european (african)

>Germany did have an African colony.
just a little country, and nobody speak germna in africa

>just
>a
>
little
Which country's education system produced you?

I'll give you that there are many areas that are predominantly white but all sorts of people immigrated and stayed for the rebuilding after wwii

yeah my english is shit, sorry

>rebuilding after wwii
top kek
this leftist meme again ? the boss of the factory during the 50s to70s ask for immigrant because they were cheaper and to break the homogeneous labour class, at least in france. France use to have a great culture of strike, the poor worker were all syndicate because they were racialy the same. When you bring 75iq arab or black from his backward shitty country in the top ten country, he is not going to complain and open his mouth, he will calmy do his job because for him it's a great promotion. Those immigrant didn't rebuild after ww2

and offtopic but that why there is no immigration in japan, because their population is etremely docile you don"t need to break them with immigrant, they are naturally obediant slave.

>this leftist meme again ?
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_of_Germany
Meme uh-huh. And you're unironically posting about IQ too.

>During the mid-1950s, the unemployment rate in Germany was so low that it led to the influx of Turkish immigrants into the country's labor force.[citation needed]
>[citation needed]

WE BUILD UROPE N'SHIET

Sicc songs my Freund. Post more stuff which will help me impress German qts.

>official language of the UN
>Esperanto
>language made in Eastern European ghettos
>not French, the actual language of the UN
Retard

Jeah, that has to do with where the word comes from. Also affectionate versions are often objects. "Das Mäd-chen", "Das Büblein", etc
Most black people in Germany are straight up Africans who became engineers.
Or the odd American soldier, who wanders off from his troops and then tells his buddies back home Germans must be racist, because they looked at him funny.
Yeah, it's almost as if all non-white foreigners are scared of Germany. I wonder why...
Don't bring this topic up, please. If there are enough Germans around here, it will just devolve into West- vs East-German shitposting.
That or literally 70 years of German politics. I'd literally rather shitpost about American politics.

How did a thread about learning German turn into a shit-tier /pol/ fiesta?