Answers

Apr 10, 2018 - 06:19 PM
What kinds of material will you study now, since you have finished the program?

Apr 10, 2018 - 11:51 PM
I've weighed many options, and for now my primary resource will be Kontakte, 7th edition. I'm using AnkiDroid to make flashcards for each chapter. Thanks to Fluenz I already know a good bit of the vocabulary and grammar that's covered, but I need to brush up on grammar terminology before moving into more advanced resources. I'll also be using English Grammar for Students of German (Zorach & Melin), German Grammar Drills (Swick), Schaum's Outline of German Grammar (Gschossman-Hendershot & Feuerle), and reading books by Brian Smith (German Easy Reader, German Pre-Intermediate Reader, etc.). For audio, Brian Smith's books have free audio recordings online, and I plan on using materials from Deutsche Welle (ex: Nicos Weg). Further down the road I'm considering German language classes at a local community college and textbooks by Hueber. Also I'm fortunate enough to have become friends with someone who minored in German in college as well as a German cook at a local restaurant, so I'll be able to get some speaking practice in. So I guess I won't be studying completely alone.

Apr 11, 2018 - 09:26 AM
Herzliche Glückwünsche! Viel Glück weiter!

Apr 12, 2018 - 11:05 AM
I have an Ed Swick book on German sentence construction (Practice Makes Perfect German Sentence Builder); so far it looks pretty interesting. One of the first topics he covers is the construction of sentences that don't start with the subject, so that the subject and verb are inverted. I'm at the beginning of Level 5 on Fluenz, and so far the sentences mostly start with the subject unless they are interrogative. I get very confused with how flexible the German sentence structures can be!

Apr 12, 2018 - 11:54 PM
Yeah, Fluenz covers the structure you mention... I think towards the middle of part 5. The tutorial mostly covers those sentences that begin with a time indication. For example: "Last year I drove to Canada." You could write it as: "Ich bin letztes Jahr nach Kanada gefahren," but if you wanted to emphasize "last year" you could write it as: "Letztes Jahr bin ich nach Kanada gefahren." Btw... I found a better (so far) app for flashcards: Quizlet. Definitely check it out!

Apr 13, 2018 - 11:32 AM
Thank you for your helpful tips!

Apr 16, 2018 - 11:25 AM
You're welcome!