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Currently I am doing German A1 level. My teacher and all my classmates are Indian. I think I am able to grasp German very well compared to others in my class. But I am not sure the way I speak can be understood outside my class by native speakers. How do I check (what's the best way to) that if I don't have any German speaking friends/acquaintance?

Is google voice translate a good place?

Tom Au
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Sreeraj Chundayil
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  • One way would be to listen to german films or songs. That way you can test if sth seems odd to you. After that you know that you used to speak incorrectly. – uuu Jan 12 '17 at 16:05
  • You could also look for German language youtube channels to get a grasp how people actually talk. – Janka Jan 12 '17 at 18:08
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    I feel this is a duplicate of the resources question and the finding somebody for speaking question. – Jan Jan 12 '17 at 20:02
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    Try to find a local Goethe-Institut. They have discussions, exhibitions, movies and training in a lot of countries (also in India) where you might easily get in contact with native speakers. After all, it's their mission to spread German-language culture. – tofro Jan 12 '17 at 20:31
  • @tofro: Actually I am studying in Goethe-Institut. Just two classes got over :) – Sreeraj Chundayil Jan 13 '17 at 06:09
  • Eigentlich sind die Antworten auf die Frage nicht anders, als für andere Sprachen, oder? – user unknown Jan 14 '17 at 02:33
  • @userunknown Ja. At InQusitive you should take a look into the language learner exchange, too! – Artery Jan 14 '17 at 15:48
  • Wobei ... bei automatischen Übersetzungstools schneiden andere Sprachen oft deutlich besser ab, als Deutsch - ich schätze Voice-Translate wird nicht besser sein, als das einfache Google-Translate. – user unknown Jan 14 '17 at 21:35

2 Answers2

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The best way to "check" your German would be to talk to native speakers. If you do not have any German speaking friends or acquaintances try to find some! It sounds trivial but that's the key to becoming a successful speaker of German.
You said you were studying at a Goethe-Institut. I can't believe you won't find people you can talk to or to ask for recommendations about "group of regulars" or similar "get-togethers". Even if no one from the Goethe-Institut can really help you out, just search in the internet for German communities or similar groups/get-togethers in your perimeter. Because I am not from India, I have no idea what a "common starting point" for this is, but I would suggest you search e.g. for Facebook groups for networking. You can even start your own group of regulars, after finding some like-minded people.

If you intend to use google voice translation to verify pronunciation this a bad idea.

In my opinion, the golden rule to really learning a language is to talk with native speakers. This is what you really should be focusing on!

Good luck ;)

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Artery
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Basically, you need to speak to people outside your class so that you don't all learn while making the same mistakes.

The first group of people to speak to are native speakers. Even if you don't have many friends from this group, there are others "on the street," the shopkeeper, the server, the cleaning lady/man. Try to speak German to "anyone" (native) even not your "friends." Also, you can learn a lot by listening to radio and TV.

The second group of people to speak to, if you have them as friends, are "non-native" speakers who come from backgrounds other than Indian. They will make mistakes, but probably not the same ones as you. You and they can then learn a lot by correcting each others' mistakes. In this regard, you are aiming for a "least common denominator" of "standard German." If you can understand people who are, in essence, speaking a different "dialekt" of German, you have "arrived."

Tom Au
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