Language blog - update

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Things have changed a lot since I last wrote.

I’ve just moved to the Netherlands. I left Taiwan in October and have spent the past couple of months catching up with friends and family in the UK.

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German has replaced Chinese as the focus language and there are plans to learn Dutch but not for a few months yet.

I’m learning German first because I’m living in Venlo, which is very close to the German border and there’s much more German material on the net.

So far, I’ve listened to about 60 odd hours of German. My understanding has increased a lot though I haven’t had any chance so far to use it. A couple of phrases roll of the tongue now but not that much. I hope to make a video pretty soon to show how much I can speak – need to find a willing German speaker to do this with.

The Mission

To speak German fluently by the end of April. To expand on fluently, I mean to cover the basics of getting around and asking for things, to being able to hold a simple conversation with someone I’ve just met.

Plan of action (for January)

To listen to at least two hours of German a day, for the month of January.
To find five German speaking friends by the end of the January.
To start a German language exchange by the start of February.

That’s basically it. Simple and I hope effective and achievable.

I’ll post some of the websites I’ve been using, with comments about how effective I think these sites are.

I’m living in Tegelen, just outside Venlo on the Dutch and German border. My time is pretty free at the moment, so I have time for teaching English or doing a language exchange (English – German).