Even after living in Vienna and travelling through Germany there is still so much more to learn. Let’s get into it!
To refresh your memory
Language goals 2025 | Korean, Italian and Chinese
Will I become a polyglot before I turn 30? | Video
Language goals 2025 | study update #1
Language goals 2025 | study update #2
What is my language goal for this year?
German – Get my speaking skills fully to B1 (other skills are already at B2/C1 level)
What do I need the language for?
– Because I like the language, so just for fun. There is no pressure behind it.
– To be able to communicate better with my German and Austrian friends.
– Useful for my work as a manuscript reader, I am already picking up German manuscripts, but I would like to learn more nuances to become better at my work.
– Picking up comics in German and also German written novels.
– Watch German speaking tv-shows without (German) subtitles and fully understand everything.
– Conversations with German speaking people when travelling.
Where was I at the beginning of this year?
To get to a certain level, maintaining it and learning everything that you need to know to be on that level is quite a lot. I realised that when I lived in Vienna (Austria) at the end of 2024 and beginning of 2025. Except for my speaking skills, everything else is already at a B2 level. Reading is most of the time at a C1 level. I could be sad that my speaking skills are behind, but I am not. Because I found out that I can think in German after just living in Vienna for two weeks! My mind clicked at a certain point and I couldn’t be happier about it! When I studied English my speech was also behind, but once it clicked I started to make big jumps forward. I am between A2 and B1 depending on the topic.
What did I do in the first two quarters?
My goals for Q1:
– Grow my vocabulary, study words.
– Practice conversations.
– Read more comics in German.
– Travel to Germany.
My goals for Q2:
– Just have fun, do what you can without pressure.
It’s not a lot, but I did every single one of these! And yes there is still a lot of work left for me to do, but everything goes really well. Certainly considering I also had a lot of other things to do over the last quarter and I couldn’t be doing a lot of language studies. However, something that made me really happy is that conversations are becoming more and more second nature to me. I can practise long dialogues that I makeup on the spot and even noticed growth in my understanding skills. Depending on the topic being spoken, however dialect and accents are harder, I think I actually am understanding C1 level now.
Where am I now after the first six months?
Everything has gotten so much smoother! Living in Vienna was one of the best things I have ever done in my life in general, but it also helped my German skills so much. Even after I came back I also spent some time in Germany like Düsseldorf and Leipzig, that truly made a difference in my overall skills. Sooo, here is the thing, I think I might be closer now to B1 speaking skills than I have ever been before. But I also have noticed it truly depends on the kind of conversation I am having. Sometimes everything gets smooth, other times there are a lot of new words for me to learn. Luckily I did find my rhythm in adding and applying these new knowledge in my daily life as well. This makes me extremely happy, cause that would mean I reached my goal for this year!
Not to forget that my understanding skills also leveled up! Don’t worry, I will keep on learning. There is still so much I want to explore and I also found a big love for German written books. The German language is simply here to stay. And who knows, maybe I will be close to fluent by the end of the year. A woman can dream…
How am I going to continue studying the language from now on?
My goals for Q3:
Have fun! In the next few weeks I want to focus on Korean and French. But I do hope to read multiple German books and keep on practising my speaking skills. I also hope to go on a weeklong or weekend trip to Germany later this year so I can practice my conversation skills even better, but nothing is set in stone as of yet.
Love,
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