The audio part of a language learning course is probably the most important part in my opinion, because it is aimed at teaching you how to speak in German (and understand people speaking to you in German). Ultimately, this is why you want to learn a new language – to speak to people. Being able to speak in German to German speaking people is not only the point of learning the language but it serves to motivate you and makes you learn faster.
For instance, if you can communicate your thoughts and feelings about a certain topic in German to German people and then listen to their response, you will be energized by your achievement and this will keep you studying. And once you can communicate in German at a fairly good level, without feeling self conscious, then your learning will really take shape. When you get to this stage you will be learning just by talking to people and it will stop being such a struggle. The quicker you get to this stage the better, if you want to progress to fluency in German.
I think the Rocket German audio course is very good. It comprises 31 lessons of around 15-30 minutes in length. The audio quality is good and can be transferred to a CD or MP3 player so that you can listen to it anywhere that is convenient.
The basic format of each lesson is a scene involving the narrator of the course and her native German speaking friend as they travel through Germany.
So for example, they might be booking into a hotel. They will go through the typical things you would say doing this and some other questions you might ask when checking in.
After the conversation, the lesson works through all the phrases that were said. It explains new words, how the grammar works and how you would pronounce the phrases and sentences.
The narrator is an English speaking person and she will guide the teaching and explain concepts and meanings of German words. She has a slightly quirky sense of humor but you get used to it after a while or maybe she tones it down a little as you get into the lessons.
The native German speaker (Paul, the creator of the course) speaks all the German conversations. He will say a sentence and then say each of the words or pronunciation chunks separately so that the listener can repeat the pronunciation after her.
This is much like the Pimsleur method of teaching pronunciation. It breaks down each word to the syllable so that it is easy to copy the German pronunciation. It can be a little slow going but it is a good way to ensure you have a decent accent.
Paul (the native German speaker) says all the sentences once and then pauses so that you can say the sentence aloud. They stress at the beginning of the course that this is the only way to do it if you want to be successful. I tend to agree with them on this point. Only by saying something out loud will it sink into your head. Saying it repeatedly will ensure it stays there and can be recalled when you need it.
At the end of each lesson the narrator summarizes the main points of the lesson. They may run through parts of the original conversation again and ask you questions. The questions generally try to include parts of the previous lessons along with the new stuff.
The course is advertised as an interactive course. What this means is that you must say the words or sentences out aloud when instructed by the narrator. For instance, if the narrator asks a question, there will be a pause that allows you to answer, then the native German speaker will give the correct answer.
This is a good audio course that starts with the basics like meeting and greeting and goes through to more complicated sentences and scenarios as you travel round Germany. I think the course will give you more confidence to speak to real German people, which is half the battle when it comes to becoming fluent in a new language.
