Any one else on /lit/ trying to learn German? What are some

Been learning german almost a year now. Best advice: memorize all the grammar, minimal vocab. After you get that do some graded readers to build vocab. Then start reading Grimm/select Kafka and work up.

>>9494304
I tried to do some Rilke when I was learning German. Not very easy going. Goethe moreso. Seriously, find some children's books when you begin. German has changed since Rilke and, until you are aware of the differences, it'll confuse you more than help.

That said, you'll have fun with the Book of Hours or some of the Sonnets to Orpheus. I also tried to work through some Trakl and Celan.

>>9494311
>>9494314
Thanks for the tips. I'm taking a beginner's course at university over the next couple months, hopefully it will equip me to move on to some of these authors.

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>>9494304
google
> Reclam Bücherverlag

These books are very good for foreign literature. I use it to help me read french literature. Maybe it can also work other way around.

I read a lot of short plays when I was learning German. If you've read A Midsummer Night's Dream, Herr Peter Squenz by Andreas Gryphius is a nice place to start.

>>9494304
My best advice is to read books you're actually interested in reading.
If you're very new, you can also re-read books you have already read in English or that aren't too complex in their thought or too ellipsis; which poetry unfortunately often is. If you learn German with Goethe's poetry for example, you'll fuck up your grammar completely.

If you have a certain field of interest I'll recommend something.

Kafka's short stories are a good place to start. Try to stay away from guys like Mann, Fontane or any of the big realist/modernist authors (Kafka being the obvious exception here)

Hesse

>>9494833
Fontane is actually really simple, just incredibly boring

If you just started learning, you probably won't be able to read an actual book. But as soon as you have some basic vocabulary

>do try
Kafkas short stories
Böll, e.g. Katharina Blum
Dürrenmatt, e.g. Die Physiker
Stefan Zweig e.g. Schachnovelle

>easy mode
Childrens books
Translations of books you've already read - if it's just for learning, this works really well

>don't try
Goethe
Schiller
Lessing
Most other 100+ years old stuff, save it for later