Learning a language is not as hard as you probably think. When most people thinking about learning a second language, thoughts of strict school teachers, boring their students with rote memorisation. I know it is certainly how of I think of learning a language, which is what motivated me to create this site. To show people how a language should be learnt, rather than how it is, sadly, taught.
For me, language learning began in high school. Japanese was the language I was forced to learn and I embraced it at the start, topping my class for the first semester. It wasn’t long, however, that I began to become bored. In came rules and exceptions and all these other things that just ruined any of the fun that we had in the beginning. I ended up studying it up until the final year of high school, where I was finally able to drop it, much to the joy of my Japanese teacher, who did not enjoy teaching rebellious students.
Fast forward about 5 years. I was nearly through my university degree when I decided to take some time off school and head overseas. Not knowing any other languages, I thought I better learn a few words in at least one. I picked German and for the next couple of months, worked out a method that enabled me to learn at the fastest rate possible with least amount of time.
So over I went to Europe. I had a great time speaking my German, even though I couldn’t speak much. One night in Berlin, I saw a group of Japanese people and went over to start talking to them. Now, after studying Japanese for 5 years, all I could manage was a “nihon jin desu ka?”. Which in English is “Are you Japanese?”. After they replied in Japanese, I gave them the rabbit in the headlights look and they realised I didn’t speak as much Japanese as they thought.
My next move was to try English, but unfortunately, they didn’t speak a word. So what was left? German of course. Turns out the Japanese gentleman had lived in Berlin for quite a while, so spoke fluent German. What I found amusing was, that after a couple of months of studying German on my own, I was conversing better than in another language that I had studied for 5 years!
So that proves it, learning a language is not hard, you just need to know how to go about it! And thats where Jiffy German comes in.
The first thing that I want to say, is that while learning a language doesn’t have to be difficult, it’s not a complete walk in the park. It does take a comitted effort. The only way to learn German fluently is to keep working at it.
Another common problem I see is accents. While it does take a long time to develop the correct accent, you can make an effort from day one. I’m sure, at some stage, you’ve tried to talk like Arnold Schwarzenegger. You would be surprised how much better your German can sound when you put on a false German accent.
When it comes to learning grammar, I think language guru Barry Farber sums it up best. In one of his books he said “Conquer the language and you’ll posess the grammar”. This means, instead of worrying about every single rule all the time, just learn the language with grammar in tact. Over time, you’ll come to realise how grammar is used on it’s own. This will make your learning experience much more fun and take away a lot of the angst usually associated with learning German.
The German Learners toolbox.
Just as a carpenter doesn’t go to work without his hammer, neither should you attempt to learn a language without the proper tools. The following are what I consider musts in order to learn German proficiently.
German Dictionary: A simple, two way dictionary is vital. It allows you to look up any words you may not know. These are easy enough to find and they’re usually available for $5-$10.
German Phrasebook: These are very handy for learning basic sentences and other scenario based phrases.
Childrens books: Ok, so you may think this is a little different, but it’s amazing how much you can learn from simple books like this. After all, they are designed for people learning a new language!
Online Course: It’s great to have something that you can simply lookup online and learn from. Of course, you don’t need to know about that, having found this site 
German speaking friends: This one is a given. In the old days, you could apply to find a penpal from Germany and exchange letters. These days, with the invention of the internet, finding people from around the world couldnt be easier. Myspace for example, has millions of Germans on it. I’m sure there are plenty who would be happy to talk German to you.
Audio/Software Product: While this can be the most expensive step, it is by far the step that will help you accelerate your learning. There are some seriously great products today, some of them not expensive at all. For a review of my personal favourites, check out the “Top Product Reviews” section.
Once you are armed with the above and ready to put in the effort, you simply cannot fail. You will be a lean, mean German learning machine!