How I learned German from A1 to B2 in 6 months and reached functional fluency - Self-Study - Guide

Guten Tag und herzlich willkommen auf meinem YouTube-Kanal. Ich bin Aditi und ich komme aus Bangladesch und bin Ärztin von Peru. Aufgrund meines Masterstudiums in Neurowissenschaften bin ich nach Deutschland gesogen und während meines Masterstudiums habe ich außerdem die Approbation in Großbritannien erhalten. Aus verschiedenen Gründen habe ich zu Beginn dieser Zeit die Entscheidung getroffen, meine Approbation in Deutschland weiter zu verfolgen. Und derzeit bereite ich mich auf Fachsprachprüfungen wie C1-Medicine vor und arbeite parallel in Fallzeit am Marienhospital. Und in diesem Video möchte ich gerne mit euch teilen, wie ich die B2-Prüfung innerhalb von sechs Monaten bestanden habe. Dann lasst uns anfangen! So, I'm gonna record the remaining part of the video in English, because most of my audience are in the beginner level. So, before we jump into discussing the tips and tricks and materials and so, the most important thing that you need to ask yourself is why. Why do you want to learn German? Is it for job-related purposes? Do you want to study here to pursue your medical license or just to integrate in the normal day-to-day life? Whatever your reason is, the clearer your why is, the more faster and more efficiently you can learn the language. Because, trust me at this, at one point you will reach a plateau stage. Where you will feel stuck, you will feel like you are not improving anymore and motivation will 100% fade away. And this is the stage where 90% of the people give up and find themselves in the vicious cycle of frustration loop. But if you have a clear why in mind, it will help you stay consistent and committed. So, know your why. Now let's talk about some technicalities. According to CEFR, the Common European Framework of Reference for Language Learning, from A1 to C2. And it also provides a complete guide regarding the number of hours that you need to invest to achieve a particular level. Now you need to compare this guide according to your personal circumstances as a student or as a full-time employee to decide the number of hours that you can invest. For example, I defended my master's thesis in the beginning of this year in January. And after that I decided to invest 7-8 hours per day into learning the language for the next 6 months. And I was able to pass my B1 in March and then the B2 in June. So this is possible and doable if you have access to the right methods, techniques and resources. At this point we can divide the language learning into two categories. The passive and the active. Listening is passive, speaking is active. Reading is passive, writing is active. Which means that if you listen more, you will be able to speak more better. If you read more, you will be able to write more better. And this is not a theory. This comes from a personal experience. My mother language is Bengali. And English I have learned formally in school. But I am also able to speak Hindi very fluently without any Bengali accent. Almost like a native. But here is the catch. I cannot read or write in Hindi. Why? Because during my childhood I used to consume a lot of Indian content in the form of Bollywood music or films or movies. But I never sat down traditionally with a book with the grammar rules or alphabets or so. And that's the reason I cannot read or write in Hindi. And that brings me to my most important tip. That is, start speaking from day one. You need to start speaking from day one. Even if it's like small sentences like Hello, I am Aditi. I am from Bangladesh. I am 29 years old. And so on. But it's really important that you start speaking from day one. And as you progress along the levels, for example from A2 to B1, you should be able to describe your day in complete German sentences. Even if it's like small paragraphs. Apart from the four important skills, listening, reading, writing and speaking, the strong foundation of any language learning are the grammar and the vocabulary. Without a strong foundation, your progress of learning will become stagnant at one point. Specifically for German, there is a concept that says that from A1 to B1, you will learn 75% of grammar and only 25% of vocabulary. But from B2 onwards, you will learn only 25% of grammar and 75% of vocabulary. Now, based on this concept, I took a decision for myself that I will study from A1 to B1 all by myself. Because based on my personal medical school journey, I realized that I am good at teaching myself better. But I will not recommend this to anyone. You know yourself better. And if you think that you need to enroll in a language school, then you should definitely enroll in one. So for A1 to B1, I decided not to overwhelm myself with multiple resources, rather stick to one or two main resources. And for the grammatic section, I studied this book. It's called the Grammatik Aktiv A1 to B1. I think it's a really helpful book. It has all the important grammar rules in a comprehensive way summarized in one book. And I had the soft copy version. You can definitely find the hard copy in every store. Also, one month before the exam, I solved this book. It's called the Provence Training Zertifikat Deutsch Telk bei Eins. This is also a very important book that you should be having because it has some module tests to kind of prepare yourself or give you an idea about the real exam. Along with the two books, you would also be needing some YouTube channels that will help you understand the German grammar concepts more better. First one would be for A1 to A2 level. I will recommend this to LearnGerman and YourGermanTeacher. These two channels are excellent and will be really helpful in building a very strong foundation. Now at the level of B1, I would be adding two more to this list. The first one, I'm sure you have heard about it. That's the EasyGerman. They kind of interview different kinds of people in the streets on various topics. And I think it's a really fun and interactive way to learn the language. Second one would be YourGermanLanguageMitBenjamin. These four channels have immensely helped me to build a strong foundation around the language. So, highly recommend it. I also believe in entertainment-based learning. Language learning should be fun. So, there is a series that goes vague. It is also recommended by Deutsche Welle. It's really fun to watch and it also gives you an idea about the German culture. After I completed until B1, I decided to test myself by taking the TELF B1 exam. This was not a requirement for my medical licensing pathway. They only require the B2 certificate. But still, I decided to go forward with the exam because I wanted to test myself where do I actually stand. Do I need to invest more time at this level or can I continue further? Thankfully, I was able to pass the exam with wonderful colors and that kind of gave me the confidence that okay, I am at this level now and I should be planning my step forward. For B2, I joined a language school and I think it's really important to join a language school at this level because I can, as I said, B2 is mostly 75% of vocabulary and I can no longer sit with myself in the library, study from YouTube or from a book. It's really important that I go out in the open and have real-time conversations with real women because it's important that you need to develop the au-sprache, the pronunciation, the umgangssprache, the colloquial language. So it's really important that you join a language school at this level. It can be offline or online but I would definitely recommend an offline language school. Regarding the materials for B2, I followed the traditional books that were recommended from my language school and just before the exam, I also saw this book. It is called the Myth, Error, Good, TELF, Base, Why. This is just like the last book. It's all with the model test and kind of helps you prepare for the real exam. The most important part of learning the language, I think, is developing the confidence to speak even if you make mistakes. And before you go out and start speaking with real people, you can start by using these apps such as HelloTalk, Italki or the Tandem. There you can find different kinds of people at your level with a strong accent, with a different accent and I think that kind of helps you in the beginning to develop that confidence that you are not alone. That brings me to the end of this video. Some final thoughts. German is not an easy language and it becomes even more difficult when you are learning at an older age. At a younger age, our brain is more flexible and adaptive but as we grow older, it becomes more difficult to sit down with the traditional book and learn the alphabets in another language. But with time and with practice, this becomes doable. So I hope you found this video helpful and if you have any questions, please feel free to drop a comment. I will reply to it as soon as possible. And until then, see you next time. Ciao!