(sorry for possible errors I used google translator to write this in english)
Could you ask me a question? I started learning German a long time ago (2019) and yesterday I reached the 10,000 word mark, but my listening comprehension of the language is still relatively low, I only understand things within subjects that I already understand in my mother tongue but I still miss a word or two, so I’m a little afraid to keep advancing and this is where my doubt comes in, could someone with more experience tell me if I should keep advancing and understanding comes with time or is it better to pause for a while to listen and review the lessons I’ve already studied and then go back to advancing?
I thank you in advance (sorry for possible errors I used google translator to write this in english)
It’s hard to tell without knowing what you are doing (or not doing). Are you mostly reading? Without much listening? Then I would say add some more listening. When you say your listening comprehension is low, are you referring to content that you are reading/listening? Is it near your level? i.e. is it content that you can read and comprehend without looking up much? Or is it more “native” material?
10,000 words in the grand scheme of things isn’t much. So you’re not really likely to understand a lot of content above that level. tv shows or movies or documentaries…you’re not going to understand a lot of from them. I’m at 18,000 and I’m pretty much lost with a native tv show or movie without subtitles. Documentaries I do a little better, but still do not comprehend a lot. My gf’s German family…sometimes I understand some things, but still mostly lost. Getting better though! Many of these things there are times where I feel like maybe I’m making breakthrough in listening comprehension. Then, like this week, I almost feel like a beginner. It’s ok, I know I’m getting better and it’s all part of the process.
Anyway, point is, I wouldn’t feel bad about where you are. I think if your reading comprehension is advancing, keep moving forward. Add some more listening if you aren’t doing much.
It’s ok to go back and repeat some things and could be beneficial. Yesterday I decided to re-listen a couple of times to a MrWissen2go video, after reading the transcript in LingQ. That certainly helped in the listening comprehension as there was a lot of new words for me. The first time I listened I had an idea of the topic, but overall did not understand beyond that. So maybe try that…listen, read, then listen and listen again. Then move on.
I’m using a lot of MrWissen2go videos and other material between intermediate level 1 and level 2, and I tend to review them thirteen times before going to the next one, but I keep listening to them on the playlist. And sometimes I go back to some older lessons to review. But because my comprehension is low (with real material, the ones I study at lingQ I I can understand most of your content after reviewing it a few times. ) But because I don’t understand “external” things, I’m in doubt if I’m really making progress with my listening, because in reading I can see the progress I’ve made over the last few months.
I am living in Germany. I can only share what I have observed. Now I am understanding people around me talking about daily topics nothing technical. I have done 2300h focused listening hours in 16 months + 1.9 million words read. I am also understanding televisions series a lot without using subtitles. The thing is, I would like to share with you is “intensity” - to see real progress you need to increase intensity whether reading or listening. How many words have you read or listened so far; that is a great benchmark to aim for rather than word count. Try reading 3 hours a day then also try listening 3 hours a day that is intensity. You are engaging with your TL 6 hours a day. I never repeated my lessons here I am always advancing with new texts as important words will keep coming up in the new texts. Even for people who do 9-5 job , 5 days a week having a language day on Saturday will be really beneficial where they will be engaged in the language 8 hours a day. Intensity sharpens your subconscious mind to notice and absorb things quickly.
Simplesmente continue a ler: revisar as lições não ajuda demais. Ao mesmo tempo, você pode ver videos em alemão no youtube. Veja tutoriais de temas que você achar interessantes e podcasts. Tente compreender sem legenda. Não se preocupe se não compreender tudo. O mais importante e entender a mensagem e algumas frases. Faça isso todo dia e a sua comprensão melhorara.
You ARE making progress. You’re into that intermediate stage that will feel like it lasts forever and you are going to be introducing content that has a lot of new words, and you’ll be seeing many of these words rarely. (and btw, this still is going on into the advanced (lingQ definition of advanced). When you start reading and watchin/listening to videos and podcasts that delve into all different topics, you are going to run into a lot of new words, and feel pretty overwhelmed and lost. The great thing about LingQ is that you can import it and read and comprehend it there with the aid of LingQ, but LingQ can’t aid much with the listening part. You also have to feel comfortable not understanding a large chunk of the audio if listening to content a lot higher than your level. The other issue with content at the higher level is much faster speaking speeds. You’re still trying to comprehend the sentence you just heard and the speaker is already on sentence 5. Even if you understand nearly 100% of the words you read, if the speaker is going fast, your brain may not yet be ready to keep up. You can read and comprehend SLOWLY that 100% of words, but once the pace picks up then it introduces added difficulty. Then if it is audio at that same pace…you are lost. So it just takes practice.
I’ve not listened to a lot of MrWissen2go yet, but I plan to do so more. The last one I did was not easy, and I have 80% more words than you. So don’t be discouraged.
You might try more content that is closer to your level…Vera and evgueny40 have some good intermediate material that may feel more incremental and easier. Perhaps it’s a good idea to mix in easier material with the more difficult material. It sounds like you may be doing that already.
Frankly, I think you are probably doing just fine and you are just feeling a little discouraged. I can see this past week you read 10,000+ words and listened for 3+ hours. Keep that up and you will make a lot of progress even if it doesn’t feel like it (particularly in the listening).