Learning German

Try your community college. I started that way the classes were 16 weeks. It is easier to learn with a live teacher and other people.
I would Google "German classes in New Jersey."

Also some countries have schools like this stateside:
https://www.goethe.de/ins/us/en/spr.html

Ty. Will do.

Go with the flow and treat learning German as you learned Latin in school. The verb is at the end of the sentence.

Similar to exercise regimes, the best language learning plan is one you'll stick to. It never hurts to add a language learning app for spaced repetition. Duolingo and Memrise are user-friendly for most. If you have language learning experience or a higher level of comfort with the vocabulary of grammar, Babbel is a personal favorite. The previously mentioned Goethe-Institut is a great resource if you're near a larger city with one, and they also have some online class / learning resources. While I've never tried it, I've heard of aspiring polyglots doing the Lingoda "marathons" to get the classroom environment, but online. The "Fluent Forever" method of self-study seems to focus on learning to pronounce the sounds of a language correctly and goes from there. The creator of the method has an app that I have yet to try.

I also recommend starting in on watching some target-language TV. It can be very rewarding to pick up bits and pieces you understand, even if it's nothing more than someone saying what time it is!

I use Pimsleur CDs from the public library to get basics for travel, and I could learn more with an investment in more lessons. But I also agree that a classroom course has advantages over "at home" learning -- working with others, the discipline of attending classes, the chance for more individual help from a teacher or fellow student.

I can't believe that it is 6 (count 'em, SIX!) years since I turned 50 and decided that it was time to learn something new. I picked German, thinking maybe it would help me with my interest in genealogy and might help with my paternal German side.

So, I started with a local community college course (lucky for me the community college is only a few blocks from my house) and Duolingo.

I struggled. German is hard and my brain is soft. I took German I three times before I felt ready for German II. But I had fun.

And after struggling with it, I asked myself, "why the heck am I learning German if I don't go someplace where it's spoken?" and took my first trip to Germany in December 2014. And went back to Germany in 2015. and 2016. Oh, and 2017, too.

How's my German now? Well, improved but it still needs lots of work. But I have expanded my brain and my experience and my world and my circle of friends.

So, Yes, start. But also understand your personal goals and motivators....understand them and work with those as your guides. While, of course, I wanted to be fluent in 30 days, given where I was and where I am, that's not realistic. We need opportunities to actually speak it and, sadly, my current opportunities are limited. But I do online exercises daily, keep attending local community college classes, travel, and am now almost done (after a year) of reading my first novel in German.

But, I wonder still how I can improve and am looking forward to a longer visit with an intensive local language course. And, after 6 years, I think I just might be ready.

My advice to you: start small with both an online component and some type of local instruction. Then take a trip and get excited that you understood even one small thing in the language. Then, once you have a better understanding of your true motivation, figure out the best way to make it happen based on both your desires and real-life constraints.

Check out Deutsche Welle or dw.com. There is a good selection of courses and they are free. I have also done French and German language courses through the Udemy online platform. Quite good but I still preferred DW.

"The verb is at the end of the sentence." This only applies to sentences with split verbs, to verbs in subordinate clauses and to verbs in some complex sentences. In simple sentences the word order is subject - verb - object. Examples: Ich sah meinen Freund. (I saw my friend). Ich habe meinen Freund gesehen. (I have seen my friend). Ich sprach nicht mit meinem Freund, obwohl ich ihn gestern sah.
(I didn't talk to my friend though I saw him yesterday).

Download the free "Coffee Break German" podcasts. They're good for listening while driving or working out at the gym. The Coffee Break language series is produced in Scotland, so not only am I learning more German, I now speak English with a Scottish brogue. :-)

Watch the nightly 20 Uhr Sendung (8 pm news broadcast) from Tagesschau. It's what a news broadcast ought to be -- major stories, statements of spokespersons from both sides of the issue; sports; weather; lotto results; and good-night. You'll be surprised at how quickly you start to catch on.

I think you have to gauge how much time you have before your trip and how much time you're willing to (seriously) commit to studying. Most importantly, you have to decide whether you want to learn "tourist German" (enough phrases and words to get by on a trip) or want to learn textbook German. I've done both, and its hard for an adult to find the time for a complete course, online, CD, or classroom. Whatever you do, hearing other people talk makes the difference - you have to hear the cadence.

I like to listen to the Pimsleur series on CDs in the car whenever I am preparing for a trip, in whatever language is needed. Its just enough to get the basics.

I agree that it's important to know your goals. My goal is to speak/read German well enough to be conversational and to be able to read a German newspaper. I've intermittently worked on German since 2015 or so. I'm nowhere near my goal to be honest, but I've gone 6-12 months at times without much practice. I do have enough skill that I can negotiate a German restaurant without using any English (like I did tonight in Berlin), can have very basic conversations with German speakers (like I did last month with a taxi driver in Slovenia who didn't speak English but spoke German), and can stay at an accommodation where the owner speaks zero English.

I did Pimsleur first. It was nice, but none of the natives had listened to it, so they didn't know how to respond "correctly" to my attempts at communication.

I took a course at my local German School, but the once per week Saturday morning adult class was not adequately intense to retain the info.

Then I started taking lessons on italki.com. It's by far been the most helpful thing to me. The platforms allows learners to sign up for lessons via Skype with a native German speaker -- some professional teachers (more money), some not professional teachers (less money). I progress best when I have time for 2-3 sessions per week with homework/practice time between sessions

I also agree with exposing yourself to German as much as you can. I listen to German music more than US music at this point. I watch German movies and tv shows. I read German reviews on Trip Advisor. The Deutsch Welle courses mentioned above are good, too.

Ty All for your feedback. There is certainly as lot of options to look at.

I used Duolingo for about four months prior to my wife and I traveling to Germany. While I found that I could (more or less) ask for a table at a restaurant or how to find the right train platform, the responses I received all sounded like one long German word that I could not comprehend. Maybe that one sentence I practiced was too good but I had some fun exchanges regardless. Even though I am home for two months now I am still trying to get better but improving my vocabulary probably isn't going to make me all that conversational - one of the drawbacks from a one-sided teaching method. I really need to find German-speakers in the US (I'm in NJ too) to practice on or is it with?

The Technical University of Munich produces some courses at €9.95 with free trial (a lot less than $300!).
I have no experience of these courses, I do however use their online dictionary regularly. It is the best I know for technical words. Lots of other people at work use it.

Here (click on German flag): https://dict.leo.org/content/index.php?lang=en&lp=ende

Hi,

Good that you decided to tackle German. Yes, it is hard to a degree but not that hard. Certainly not impossible, just focus and put your mind to it, ie keep pounding away at it. I use only books, the old fashion way, the drill and kill method, etc.

Use that method that which works best for you in getting the max results. The key to learning as much language as possible is learning the verbs, focus on the verbs, what case they take, weak or strong, and word position. and a host of other factors.

As some have mentioned, one key is to find a way to listen to others speak German. Parsing words from the flow of conversation is the first step. I learned basic German as a child of 5-10, so my ability to parse is pretty good. My ability to interpret what I hear is less good.

Don't put out so much money - go to the Library first, see if that program can be obtained. (Never heard of Olly Richards, but certainly there's a Rosetta program, or Berlitz). You can start with some "tourist phrases" that you know you'll need. I always found German to be easier than Spanish or French. It helps if you have an "ear" for the sounds.

"I always found that German was easier...." How true.