When people ask “How are you learning German?” it really gets awkward because I don’t really know what to say. There is no “one way” or “supreme course” that will make you know a language. I’ve used most free German courses and a smidgen of Pimsleur, but they never really made me learn German.
Usually my plan is to go through the basic parts of Pimsleur (already done awhile ago). By basic, I mean up until you learn to ask for food. Pimsleur helped with getting comfortable speaking, but not conversing. Pimsleur also helped me get an idea of what German grammar is like without even “forcing it” into my brain. For example, it helped me learn “Ich moechte, sie moechten, ich bin, sie sind, etc. It also helped with getting an idea of the word order of simple phrases. For example:
I want to learn Japanese
Ich will Japanisch lernen.
At first, you won’t get it. That’s when communicating with people helps is vital to learning a language. I would’ve never knew verbs after “sie” would (mostly) end with an “n” unless I actually communicated. I feel like when you use a course, you aren’t actually “doing” the language. Just like how you can read about a sport all you want, but if you want to get better, you actually have to do it. After communicating, I was able to construct sentences like:
“Welche anime liebt du?”
After only knowing the two phrases:
“Ich will Milch trinken.” (I want to drink milk.)
“Sie lieben Buch schreiben.” (You love to write books)
As confusing as this sounds, this sums up “how” I learn German. I still don’t know the “steps” to learn German, but when in doubt, communicate. Keep in mind I know some of this German grammar is off, and I know a lot those of you reading this might disagree, but after all, this is how I am going about learning German.
The Left Mind 