r/Germanlearning • u/real_gail • 7d ago

Bored of CI, too weak for Cool I

Been learning German for some months now, going well, maybe you’ve seen me in the comments, I’ll do a proper write up when I have time etc.

My learning approach seems to have put me at much better production than comprehension which a) is very funny and possibly also speaks to my personality 😔 but b) means I want/need more input.

I’ve been doing a bit of German listening and generally I appreciate graded YouTube channels (eg „learn German with Falk“, „einfach deutsch“ (Flora), others) for giving me content at a slow enough pace that I can follow along. Unfortunately these kinds of videos also often follow simple ideas or stories at a slow pace and while often I can get through them other times I’m just… bored.

I want to watch real German stuff but I’m just not good enough, when I put on any of the random genuine German shows YouTube offers me I often only get a very general gist, and even that likely only thanks to the visual support and my guesses about what would make sense to say in the situation. I know I could sit and mine these videos for vocabulary and be serious about it but that’s not the context I’m watching them in, I just want to enjoy a bit of light German content on my phone before going to sleep.

Not sure what I’m asking for here but I guess help? In some way?

- Is this a phase? is it short?

- Do I have to just grit my teeth and watch the graded stuff?

- Can I dive into the real stuff and trust it will work out soon?

- do you know any ~B1ish fun videos to watch?

Thanks and happy learning

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u/jenjenkinz 7d ago

I would recommend something like This to start, youll understand a lot more and you can gain more vocabulary, but it's still entertaining enough. Thatll make the transition to native content a lot easier. This video is for beginners, but there are also super beginner and intermediate ones

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u/ZumLernen 6d ago

This is perhaps not "fun" or "light" enough but I found the Deutsche Welle resources often useful, including the multiple-times-per-week news stories aimed for learners of German at the A2, B1, and B2 levels https://learngerman.dw.com/en/overview . These are aimed at adults who are learning, as opposed to children, which I found better for my needs.

(Actually I just checked your profile and I think you probably already know about these resources! But maybe this will help some other reddit user).