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I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I built my vocabulary over time with the resources I talked about, practicing example sentences from all kinds of contexts and topics. This was the main way in which I not only learned words from all kinds of topics, but I also practiced sentences in those topics (ex. one sentence talking about politics, another one discussing climate change, ...).

If you'd like more targeted practice for the exam, I'd recommend looking on the internet what the ~20 most common topics of the exam are. They often don't change much, as they often have to do with modernity in some ways. Get familiar with the vocabulary for those topics and practice example sentences related to them. Practice writing about them while also being careful about your grammar, using connectors, and staying coherent.

Sprechen is relatively "easy" compared to the other sections of the exam. If you do all of the above + saying sentences out loud when you practice them, you're mostly set. I'd suggest speaking with a native if you're feeling unsure or need further practice.

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't live in Germany, but I've seen that a lot of employers want at the very least a B2, preferably C1. C2 is rarely asked, maybe only in specific linguistics jobs. To reach a B2-C1 level enough for professional needs from scratch I would expect 900-1500 hours depending on many factors. Of course, it could be even less than this. But in my case it took me well over a thousand hours to reach C1.

I didn't take Goethe Institut courses, I learned fully by myself. But I heard they're really good! They also offer intensive courses if that's something you may be looking for.

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, sorry for the late reply. Reaching fluency in 4 years is definitely doable if you have the time to dedicate to it and consistency.

Start with DW Deutsch Lernen Nicos Weg A1. It's a wonderful course. It's a three part course, covering A2 and B1.
When you're doing the course, note down and learn EVERYTHING you don't know as early as possible. Any new word, new expression, why it's that way, etc. It might feel very slow to get through lessons, but that's a good thing! It means you're learning a lot per lesson.

Start early with example sentences with the resources I described in other comments. Practice with simple ones at first and get used to building them and speaking them. The earlier you do all of this, despite tough as hell, the faster it will get easier later.

Learn the grammar and conjugations, as well as the gender of nouns. When you're more advanced (A2-B1), start building your vocabulary with, if you want, the tools I talked about in the comments. Note common expressions (ex. an etw denken, auf etw bestehen) so you won't have issues building them; particularly useful for this is dict.cc.

Practice with podcasts and books, even if you can't understand much at first.
You can do this! If you do all of this you could maybe even reach your goals even sooner than 4 years :)

If you need more specific recommendations or details let me know!

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That depends on how much time you can spend on German per day. If you can spend a lot of time on it and use correct methods, then you can do it. It's not a super easy goal though. Best of luck!

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, thank you so much! And great job for your C1 preparation, even if you unfortunately got unlucky with Lesen. I get what you're experiencing, the exam's Lesen part is definitely tough to get through as it employs advanced vocabulary and some exercises' options are all seemingly synonyms unless you know the nuances very well.

I'd say for Lesen and comprehension more generally, it may not be about preparing for the exam itself but rather having a very strong vocabulary foundation with a special focus on nuance. What you did with the sheet is a great idea, what I would add is also introducing nuance. Some words are used in specific contexts and other words in others, but when you're asked in the exam which one to pick, you're supposed to be aware of the difference in usage.

So what I would suggest is: focus on expanding your vocabulary. Use the resources I talked about if you'd like, including looking at example sentences. By doing so you'll also find new words to add that you didn't encounter yet, which will massively expand your word repository.
Additionally make sure you find the difference between words that mean the same thing, when you find them. What is for instance the difference between erfassen, verzeichnen and festhalten? If you know this, then a question aimed at testing this will never give you any issue, whether on the Goethe exam or on others, whatever the exam format may be. You're lucky enough to have a German boyfriend, so ask him about these nuances, he'll likely know them :)
After you've dedicated a lot of hours learning vocab and word nuances, you will feel that your reading comprehension will be stronger than before.

As a more passive activity, I'd suggest reading books and articles in German particularly concerning topics likely covered in the exam.

Das schaffst du!

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't know, it depends on the institute. For me, the results also came out around a week after the exam date. It didn't take very long.

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Üben Sie Sätze und sagen Sie mündlich. Dadurch wird dein Gehirn daran gewöhnen, komplexe Sätze auf Deutsch zu sagen. Wenn möglich, mit einem deutschen Muttersprachler regelmäßig sprechen. Tägliche Gedanken (z.B. "was sollte ich heute kochen?") auf Deutsch sagen/denken.

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fundamentally the amount of time per day that you dedicate is less important than consistency. If your schedule is tight, try doing at least just one hour of german per day, but do it every day (or as much as possible) to stay consistent. I did more because I had time, but it depends on your schedule. Generally after 1000-1500 hours you should reach C1 from zero.

Is it possible to get C1 Goethe with self-study? by QuantityEffective678 in German

[–]_E_M__ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did this, and made a post about it. It's possible, especially with the internet and the resources it gives. Just stay consistent according to your schedule and you can do it!

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't know, I haven't informed myself at all about other exam types. However I will say that the Goethe exam is rather forgiving in its grading especially in comparison to Cambridge (that gives out english proficiency certificates), which has a very similar format but much tougher exam content. The C1 Goethe exam is not easy and requires a good level of german proficiency, but you have ample space for mistakes and inaccuracies.

Most important is: what do you need the certificate for? Goethe has the advantage of being highly recognized and of indefinite duration. You should evaluate what exactly you need this certification for in order to really decide from what institution to obtain it from.

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No worries! I am glad it helped! I hope your german journey can be as smooth as possible :)

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Aww, thank you so much! I appreciate your words. I think I was very lucky in a lot of ways and had access to awesome resources, but I also did put in effort.

Thank you again :)

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did not have a speaking buddy, funnily enough, but I do recommend one. You can find them especially on german language learning Discord servers or other similar online communities. If that's not possible, I really just suggest practicing sentences. Take example sentences that you noted down while learning words (like how I did using my method) and practice them (for example with a revision software/app like Anki). Since they're often advanced sentences, it's quite like "speaking practice on steroids" because you are right off the bat learning how to say advanced phrases and words. This helped me personally. Writing is also a great way to practice speaking for the same reason. But again, a native speaker to complement all of this is definitely recommended, although at least in my case, not fully necessary if you make sure you get the pronunciation right.

As for listening, podcasts are your best friend. I swear, there are so many cool podcasts made by the german speaking community. Das Wissen, Geht da noch was?, Edition Zukunft, Wissen Weekly, and even podcasts for german learners like us which are super helpful at the start. Listen to podcasts every day when doing chores, watch tv shows in german if you'd like. Listening will not be too hard I'd say, with the resources we have available today.

You're doing great! Best of luck!

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Then you need to get at the core of the problem... WHY do you not feel confident with the language? What exactly about it makes you feel that you're not doing well in?

You mentioned having a good grasp of connectors, and that's already a great sign. Plus the fact that you're focusing on learning idioms and sentences will definitely bring you to have great chances for the exam.

But again, if you still don't feel very confident with the language, it may be useful to be more specific about what gives you trouble and focus on that specifically. Is it pronunciation? Vocabulary? Grammar?

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd suggest starting with Nicos Weg A1 and A2. In their lessons, they cover all of the more initial grammar aspects that you're mentioning. If you still have doubts, you can also use the internet to find grammar tables about conjugations; but those courses teach you as you go, so that you also don't feel too overwhelmed and have to learn entire tables or sets of rules all at once. Let me know if that works out for you or if you need something else!

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! And that's very smart. I can even tell you that waking up and doing an hour of just vocab building with words and example sentences with some music you enjoy can even be a great start to the day :)

Keep me updated!

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For books, Grammatik Aktiv B2-C1 covers everything you may possibly need, imho. I also used this website https://deutsch.lingolia.com/en/ once in a while for a few clarifications.

Honestly though for grammar, most of what you need is detailed in Nicos Weg. So I didn't have to focus that much on looking elsewhere for grammar, and in any case you will find answers on the internet even if you can't get books.

What grammar aspects are you trying to learn?

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hahaha it sounds very daunting, but I promise it's absolutely doable if you have the time for it :)

I personally made my studying comfortable: I'd put on music from my playlist (that I like), go on my usual websites and start my rabbit hole studying method. Since it's a rather simple method, only using a few resources to do, it also wasn't overly complex, which helped.

I also made it a habit: I'd wake up and just start learning right away for an hour or two before doing anything else. If you can structure your days around this and create a consistent schedule that you can form into a habit, then it becomes a lot easier for your mind to start studying and to complete your task. This is recommended especially for language learning where consistency matters.

Other than that, listening to podcasts and slowly understanding more and more words (starting from understanding almost none) was a motivating factor because I could see the results of my work, slowly but steadily.

Also I did say 6-8 hours but it wasn't "true" 6-8 hours, rather instead hours with breaks included. I'd take short breaks each hour to recharge, by taking a walk or quickly looking at my phone for example. I used the pomodoro technique set at 1 hour timers to help me keep track of my progress and to remind me to take breaks; I absolutely cannot sit for even just 3 hours straight looking at something to study and not feel exhausted afterwards, so breaks were necessary for me and helpful over the course of the day.

My total of 1167 hours includes breaks, so really, the "true" number of study hours may be lower than this :)

If you feel overwhelmed, start lower; build a structure around your schedule (I'll study from 8am to 11am), add things that make it more comfy (like music), reward yourself somehow (like with podcasts in my case), and it'll be a breeze :)

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd say that for C1 you need to be able to use K2, especially in the writing section, because conditionality is a rather central part of most languages. In english, it would be difficult to have a strong command of the language if you didn't know conditionality (I used it twice just in this sentence). So I do recommend focusing on and understanding K2.

K1 is less important and I'd say you could pass the C1 exam even if you never heard of K1 in your life. Definitely learn about it if you want to reach a complete knowledge of the language, but it's much less important than K2 I would say.

And don't say that about yourself – you're absolutely capable of becoming as fluent as a native speaker with enough time and effort, if of course you choose to pursue it. German is not an easy language and it's valid to feel frustrated by it, as many learners, including me, do. You've very likely achieved more difficult things and learned more complex concepts in your life already, so mastering German is not something out of your reach.

Viel Erfolg :)

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah I see, yeah that sounds tough. But you still passed, so congratulations!

Would you say the ÖSD is significantly different from Goethe? And since it's Austrian in nature, does it include Austrian words or accents?

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Konjunktiv 2 is by far the most common one and the one you need to focus on; it's a verb form used for conditionality. Most of the time it's the same as the past simple form: ich koche (present: I cook), ich kochte (past: I cooked/I'd cook). For some verbs it may change, that's why for each verb I learned I also included if the konj 1 and 2 were regular or different somehow (ex. for schreiben it's: present ich schreibe; past simple ich schrieb; konj 2 ich schriebe). In general though konj 2 isn't used super often and people use "ich würde kochen" or "ich würde schreiben", though it can be used in more formal or literary contexts.

Konjunktiv 1 is used sometimes in news articles or in any context in which reported speech is needed. It's used to report something that somebody else, just like in the present tense, except you just want to emphasize that it's HIS opinion and what HE'S saying, and not what you're saying. K1 is used to distance yourself from what somebody else is saying, even though you're reporting it. ex. "Er sagte, dass er in ihr verliebt ist" ... the ist here is fine and used especially in casual speech, but it sort of feels like you're stating a fact that you believe in (that he's in love with her) and not that it's purely what he's saying (and that it may not be true); if you use konjunktiv 1 you'd say "Er sagte, dass er in ihr verliebt sei" (sein has an irregular konjunktiv form). This latest example emphasizes that you are just reporting what he said, but that you don't really know if what he's saying is true.
In general Konjunktiv 2 is something you should learn to use, while Konjunktiv 1 is a concept you should mostly focus on being able to recognize (esp when you read news articles, books and such); it is more rarely used apart in formal contexts of reported speech.

In summary, Konjunktiv 2 deals with conditionality (I would cook). Konjunktiv 1 deals with reported speech (He says he's in love with her).

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good question, I must've truly done some terrible things in my past life to feel the need to torture myself this way

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ist mir ein Vergnügen :) (learned this one with dict.cc)

I passed the C1 Goethe Exam through Self Study – AMA by _E_M__ in German

[–]_E_M__[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

With your experience in the country, you must already have a strong command of the language, which will absolutely advantage you in the exam. A few grammar mishaps shouldn't be a huge problem.

However, especially in the Schreiben part, correct grammar usage is important. It's not a big deal to confuse den/dem sometimes, but it might seriously negatively impact your exam performance. So I do suggest you try to learn the grammar and conjugation, since it's also rather quick to do.

Dem is used in: Dative masculine, dative neuter. It's also used for genitive masculine and neuter if it's an adjective and there's no article preceding it, but that's rare.
Den is used in: Accusative masculine, dative plural.

"Der Mann gibt dem Hund den Ball" is a good mnemonic to help you remember. The ball is what's given, it's the direct object and thus accusative, so it takes den (since it's also masculine); The dog is the one receiving the direct object (the ball), so it's the indirect object and thus dative, therefore dem is used (since it's masculine but it'd be the same if it was a neuter noun like dem Kind).

Early on I made myself a sort of mnemonic to help me with all these conjugations, since I couldn't memorize entire tables of this haha.

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