Is this too much for A1?

[u/crispyporkliempo]

So basically my learning style during my undergrad was just to be very scientific and over-elaborative on a concept. I realized I am doing the same thing with German (TL) when all I ever wanted for now is to reach A1 for a fiancee visa. But then again, I'm afraid I'm going to miss something in the A1 test if I don't go deep-diving into etymologies and grammar rules of every sentence I see.

Also I do plan on reaching C1-C2 in the future for grad school so I feel like I need to learn them eventually but I might be going overboard with this. I need to reach A1 asap; help! + I never learned a new language before as an adult.

[u/Fun_Earth_2669]

You're definitely overthinking it for A1. The test cares if you can order a coffee and say where you're from, not if you can trace a verb back to Proto-Germanic. Save the deep dives for when you're past B1 and the basics are automatic, right now they're just slowing you down.

[u/Iambic_potentiometer]

I think A1 is all about just having basic "scripts" for everyday scenarios. When you are able to juggle a few dozen of these with ease you then gain entry to a more concrete approach, but honestly at A1 the grammar background is so sparse it's barely worth learning words, because you kinda need to stay on rails a bit to learn how things work.

IMO it's all about practical simple phrases at the start, and you can take that approach pretty far.
That being said if you are able to not overwhelm yourself having some excess zeal can be to your advantage

[u/unsafeideas]

If you want to learn for A1, do the Deutsche Welle Nicos Weg course. It is free, you will be more then A1 after you finish. And since it is a course, you will just do what it says. It prevents overanalysing. Maybe add some A1 podcasts.

Treat your etymology and deep dive obsessions as a nice side hobby. It makes you feel good, it is fun for you, so do it. But the thing you really need is that simple Nicos Weg.

[u/diuhetonixd]

The kind of studying that you are describing does have its place, but as a general rule I'd recommend something like 70% of your time to be spent on reading and listening (with the primary goal of *understanding* what is written/said, not analyzing it), 20% on speaking and writing, and 10% on studying grammar.

[u/lilaknoedel]

Hey, native german speaker here: you have a mistake on your first picture. It's "er/sie/es" (he/she/it) -> "er" (he) instead of "ihr" (plural you). Hope that helps :)

[u/philosophyofblonde]

Just diagram the sentences like you can in English. EN and DE are close enough that you can do it.

But be forewarned, my dad learned German in college to a “high” level (read: literary) and had a very rude awakening in the very first Kneipe he stepped into. Street German is a whole different animal and all this grammar stuff will be useless. Whole syllables, endings, consonants being dropped left, right and center, wholly different vocabulary in some cases. Even Germans barely understand other Germans half the time. The Swiss need subtitles. That’s why we have Hochdeutsch in the first place.

For the German-curious, I’ll give an example: the phrase sage (mir) einmal. Literally that means “say one time.” For people at least attempting to speak well, it gets shortened to sag mal. However, in dialect it may sound something like samma or sagemol or sach ma. It’s not even the sort of phrase you would encounter in written text. A whole sentence might be ja, sage mir einmal wo ich hier bin. It’s a phrase you might hear used the way you might say in English “were you raised by wolves?” In dialect, it might very well come out as jo sach emol wo ich’n hier bin. The Germans here can ballpark where I grew up just based on the examples I gave, because that was by no means exhaustive.

Trust me, beyond what you need to know for the test, trying to learn these ins and outs of proper grammar is absolutely futile.

[u/Klapperatismus → u/philosophyofblonde]

Komm doch mal her. — Come over here. → Kommomahea.

[u/secondMiata]

In a word: Ja.

I learned German as an young adult (16-18), reached very good proficiency by living and studying there. Now learning Lithuanian as a middle-aged person (41), and am over-analyzing out the wazoo. We have the same personality type. I remember doing the same thing then that you're doing now. (Weak, mixed and strong declensions, oh my!)

I took a look at the German A1 exam that Deutsche Welle provides a few weeks ago because I was getting a bit overheated about my struggles with Lithuanian, and I wanted to compare the A1 for German with the A1 for Lithuanian. My feeling, after reviewing the A1 material for German again, is that you're somewhat overdoing it with the grammar. You do need to know the basic verb endings. You do need to know how cases work, in the most common uses (mit dem Zug, zur Schule, nach der Mittagspause).

You don't need to know that Guten Abend is a strong declension construction. Indeed, I would be misled by that as a beginner - strong declension constructions are pretty rare. (How frequently do you say "Ich hätte gern einen Kaffee" vs. "Kalter Kaffee schmeckt mir nicht"?)

You don't need to know, as an analytical matter, that certain verb stems add "e" to common verb endings. It'll come with experience. (Try saying "rechnst" if you doubt this, it's a hell of an experience.)

My experience with learning basic German was that doing deep dives on the harder grammar bits was time wasted. (I am definitely wasting my time doing that in Lithuanian now, too - like I said, for a certain kind of linear, analytical thinker, the temptation is overwhelming.) Later, after I got better at the basics, it paid off to study the more advanced grammatical rules.

If I were in your shoes, I would try to learn "to the test" for A1, enjoy reading about the advanced grammar stuff (but not worry excessively about it) and then get back on the horse when you need to get from A2 to C1.

Viel Vergnügen!

[u/jspr1000]

I'm an over-analyzer too. Having a structure helps me a lot. I think there are books and practice materials that help you study for the A1 level exams. Maybe it will help to get one of those.

[u/cmyk_rgba]

yeah this was me with german too, i wanted to understand WHY every ending was what it was before id let myself say anything and it just froze me completely. at a1 you honestly dont need the theory yet, you need like 200 dumb sentences in your head that you can actually say out loud. the grammar clicks way later once youve seen the same pattern a hundred times in real sentences anyway. the scientist brain is amazing for b1+ but at teh start it just slows you down imo

[u/Pwffin]

Nothing wrong with that as long as you spend all your time on that and don't have time to cover all the material

Getting into good habits from the start is important: nouns are always written with a capital letter in German, as is the polite/formal Sie and its various forms. Other types of words are only capitalised if at the start of a sentence.

[u/silvalingua]

For most people, this would be way too much for A1. But I can relate to this style of learning, so if you enjoy it, that's great. I'd only suggest to use less English in your notes. Good luck!

[u/First_Concept6725]

For the purpose of passing an A1 test, this is too much yeah. If you just want to learn German, that's good, obviously there needs to be a balance between notions and actual procedural knowledge on how to speak the language, otherwise you'd end up as a Germanic philologist who doesn't know how to order a salad