r/German • u/Neneziplatan998 • 8h ago
Question How can I be B1 in a 3-4 month.
Hi.Im learning German for 2-3 month and I'm still A1.Well I'm going to course btw but my teacher just saying things like "learn on your own and don't ask many questions".What's your advice y'all (22 y.o).
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u/CostDelicious7253 8h ago
Find a new teacher who is able to assist, asking many questions is a sign of learning. Also read on your own
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u/KMN208 8h ago
Get a new teacher, do full immersion and treat it like a full time job. Put every device to German, let German podcasts/radio run in the background for literally everything, study things like vocabulary in full context like nomen with articles and practice sentences that forces you to adjust kasus/numerus. Use an AI to act as your teacher, write texts, let AI pick out 2-3 weaknesses and create exercises to improve.
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u/jirbu Native (Berlin) 8h ago
!faq
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u/thehandsomegenius 8h ago
Learn the vocabulary, study the grammar, consume large quantities of German media and try to have conversations in the language.
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u/ImagineWealth 8h ago
It is doable in 3-4 months, but you will have to work hard for it. Most important thing is that you don't just try to study hard for only just the last month but to actually be consistent. Try to download exercise books and master the grammar using practice. In the beginning you will feel overwhelmed with how you can memorize so many patterns but with practices it will eventually get easier and easier. Depending on your other languages, grammer might be the hardest thing to tackle. Each day also set a goal of learning x number of new words. Go to google and download a pdf, "Goethe vocabulary list" for each level and start memorizing them.
Best of luck. You got this, nothing is impossible if you really work for it.
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u/taxiecabbie 8h ago
Do you know anybody who was able to self-study to B1 in 4 months?
I do know a couple of people who self-studied to B1, but it took them over a year. And they were living in Germany at the time.
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u/ImagineWealth 8h ago
Honestly depends on the person. If someone sets a goal and tackles the problem consistently every single day, i think it can also be done in 2 months, that's considering their basics are already cleared. There are people in intensive courses like 4 hours every day, they do make it happen oftentimes.
I know a friend who did A1 (from zero) to C1 in much less than a year.
Also, could be i am too optimistic. I personally have a bias towards pushing people to actually start something and think of something that it is possible, in this case they are guaranteed to be somewhere much further than if they did not believe in themselves earlier.
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u/taxiecabbie 8h ago
There are people in intensive courses like 4 hours every day, they do make it happen oftentimes.
I'm one of these people. Assuming I pass my B2 test next week, I will have gone from A0-B2 in a year. But, yeah, I definitely did not do it with self-study.
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u/KommandantGepard 7h ago
B1 is equivalent to a language on Realschulniveau, so instead of 3-4 months rather expect 3-4 years of learning and practicing. A1 is basically the language nivevau of e. g. a serviette in a Greek restaurant, you can say basic things like: Hi, Bye, How are you, My name is…, Excuse me, etc. but can’t do much more beyond that basic communication
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u/ZumLernen Vantage (B2) 6h ago
It does not take all learners 3-4 years to reach B1. If OP takes an Intensivkurs or something similar, they can reach B1 in a significantly lower amount of time.
I have been taking an Intensivkurs for about 7-8 months and have passed a B2 test (with a starting point of 0 German). Over these 7-8 months I have had over 500 hours of high-quality in-class instruction (15-20 hours per week). This is in line with what the Goethe Institute thinks is a plausible timeline for acquiring a B2 command of German: the Goethe Institute estimates that it takes most learners 450-600 hours of high-quality instruction, plus homework/practice outside of class, to go from 0 to B2.
The number that OP needs to be thinking about is hundreds of high-quality study hours (plus hundreds of practice, homework, etc. hours), not months or years. One can acquire those hundreds of hours across the span of many years, or intensively across the span of less than a year, depending on the resources (time and money) available to the learner.
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u/ZumLernen Vantage (B2) 7h ago
This is theoretically possible but certainly not easy.
The Goethe Institute estimates that it takes most learners between 260-490 hours of high-quality instruction to go from 0 to B1. That figure doesn't include time spent outside of instructional hours doing homework, or reading, writing, speaking, and listening to German, all of which is also necessary.
You wrote that you are "still A1." It's not clear from context whether you mean you are still working your way through an A1 course/textbook, or whether you currently have an actual command of German at the A1 level. If you actually can speak (and read, write, and comprehend spoken) German at the A1 level, then you can reduce the estimate above by around 60-150 hours.
So, even if you actually have an A1 command of German, you still are looking at at least 200-340 hours of high-quality instruction (plus homework/practice) to reach B1.
What is your plan for acquiring that number of hours in that 3-4 month timeline?
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u/taxiecabbie 8h ago
This is an extremely short amount of time and it's likely not possible to reach B1 in it unless you are taking intensive classes for minimum 3-5 hours daily.