Intensive German course

[WhyCantPeopleBeNice]

Has anyone done an intensive German course?
I need to learn German for a new job, I haven't don't any since my GCSEs 18 years ago, even then I scrapped a D.

I started using Duolingo in April to learn Danish, when I went over in May they said I was muddling Danish and German and murdering both languages 🙊

I really don't know the best way to learn a language rapidly - the job will involve me being around a team who work in Germany, speak German in all meetings and all documentation will be in German so to say I'll be immersed in it is no understatement. I know that will support my learning, but only if I can follow enough of what is going on.
any help or advise would be appreciated

Gosh, that's a challenge! What are your circumstances? Doing an intensive German course in Germany (lots of German cities offer them) would be ideal, but may not be possible.

Failing that, the Goethe Institut in London offers some intensive German courses.

I had to learn German from scratch when I moved there for a job. I did intensive online courses with Kapitel Zwei and speakeasy and can recommend the former school in particular.

I was doing 3 hours a day Monday to Thursday plus 1-2 hours homework and it took me 6 months (the fastest timeline) to go from basic knowledge to a B2.2 which is the level at which you can start having some decent conversations and understand lingo in the workplace. This was coupled up with actually living in Germany and trying to practise in the shops, post office etc.

It’s a complex language that takes a long time to establish the bases of. I definitely recommend an intensive course. German was my seventh language and the one I had the most trouble with at first, I thought it would be just as easy as my 5/6th but it’s a very difficult language.

Circumstances are living in a rural village in Lincolnshire, I'll assume I'll be popping over every couple of months but primarily I'll be working from home.
I'll be doing the job part time for 6 months (awaiting the contract) before going full time in the New Year
In my mind that 6 months allows me to really focus on the language.
I'll see if Goethe Institut do a remote course as well as checking out Kapitel Zwei and speakeasy.
Thank you both for the recommendation though feeling nervous about your comment @GrandSlamFinalee about German being the hardest of 7 languages to learn

6 months is a good timeline @WhyCantPeopleBeNice. If you’re more dedicated than I was, supplement your intensive course with the odd Netflix show in German etc - it’s so useful to hear spoken German in informal settings which the course won’t give you much of a chance for. I was usually way too fed up with German by the end of the day to watch Netflix in it too, but as you’ll still be living at home perhaps it won’t be as hard for you.

Good luck with the whole process, sounds daunting but exciting too! I’m sure you’ll do great.

Don’t feel daunted because Duolingo didn’t fully teach you Danish. I did Danish for months on DL and didn’t come away with much long-term knowledge. These apps have amazing marketing, but the reality is to learn any language to the level you’re talking about you need a variety of inputs. And frankly more ‘meat’ than DL provides - I’ve always thought it was poor on vocabulary in particular. That said, it varies a lot by course and I’ve not tried the German one.

I don’t speak German but have learnt a few other languages and a structured course with a teacher giving feedback can’t be beaten. Even then, you’ll want to supplement it with conversation practice (italki is great for this), tools for boosting vocabulary (memrise is a really good app, and flash cards would probably help at the beginning too), a grammar book so you can puzzle out anything that’s eluding you in your own time, graded readers and so on.

I did an intensive 4 week course at the Goethe Institute in Berlin and improved so much. I'd definitely recommend it. They do an assessment on the first day and place you in the right class. They do online classes now too, but I haven't done one so don't know what they're like. Listening to podcasts in German is a great way to supplement your learning.

I think your best bet is an intensive course in a German speaking country. Do some work in advance so you are not a complete beginner - learn about language structure, it’s useful in German to nail the grammar.