Occasional notes on learning German

Brief background: I have been learning German for slightly over a year, concentrating on passive skills only. My main course materials have been courses on the Deutsche Welle website, Living Language Ultimate & Advanced German, and Aspekte (I only bought textbooks/workbooks/audio). I have a library of various German learning books collected over the years when I very briefly would entertain the idea of learning German, never persisting beyond a few pages.

Anki has been my mainstay, and in the past year I have learned over 10,300 lemma forms (give or take 2-3% either way), and have another 4K words in the queue. Creating this Anki deck (sub-decks by courses and other sources of vocabulary), has been very time consuming, but worth it to me.

My passive understanding is fairly good. I can understand NDR documentaries almost perfectly, easier Krimi TV series like Komissar Rex (dog theme fits polydog!) very well, and doapy soaps like Sturm der Liebe fairly well. The TV series Tatort has been harder, but is getting easier. I read online newspapers daily with a popup dictionary and don't have much problems unless it is very technical (some of my vocabulary sources are lists from courses I don't own but which like other German produced courses focus on CEFR levels and the business/technical vocabulary that often goes with same).

u.s.w.

Which brings us to literature for language learning. Cainntear and I had a brief exchange in another thread where I said the from reading past threads on HTLAL, and at least one study which as I said I think was one of ISP Nation's, literary novels (as opposed to popular genre ones), often contain a lot of low frequency vocabulary that is used only once or twice in the novel. Which to me indicates smaller serial types of fictional works may be better for language learning to get more repetition of vocabulary.

I am not much for literature, whether in my own native English or other languages. I do study parallel translations of some books of the Bible, as it is easy to find same, but that is the only work I have done this with. I am a fan of Herman Hesse, having read most of his works in English translation many years ago, so I would be open to reading those again in German. But as an experiment, I have started reading Im Westen Nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front) by Erich Maria Remarque. Even with the vocabulary I already know, it is somewhat of a slog looking up all unknown words, which is part of the experiment, i.e. how much unknown words will it contain.

Even while being mindful that literary fiction is well known to contain a lot of upper register low frequency vocabulary, I am astonished by how much so far. Just 16 pages in, I have encountered 96 unknown words, and by unknown I mean not even being in my Anki queue let alone those I have learned or partially learned up to now. Many of them I could however figure out based on forms in the same word family that I know.

So despite having over 14,000 entries in my Anki deck (I count/enter past participles if they have their own dictionary entry), less than 10% of the way in the novel, I have found almost 100 new words. I added these to Anki and started studying them immediately. Every so often, I plan to go back a ways and reread chapters in the novel, since I am distracted initially by word harvesting. Below is a list of those words so far, and from dictionary lookups it is obvious that many are antiquated, upper register (high brow), dialectical, names of flora/fauna, or pertain to the military theme of the book. So far, I know every English equivalent(s) save some of the flora/fauna. I am fairly aggressive in moving collocations to the card for the main word so as not to bloat my counts, so some of those below may end up getting combined with another card.

abführen - anflehen - anfunkeln - beben - beharren - bessergestellt - büffeln - Brummen - Deckbett - Erwachsensein - Fass - Feldlazarett - Gemetzel - Karbol - Schwärmertum - Trommelfeuer - Puff ( ) - Deserteur - Durchschuss - Eiter - Erzieher - Essenholer - Gefreite - Kessel - Klatschmohn - Kohlweißling - Meuterer - Mohn - Nullouvert - Oberschenkel - Plattfüß - Ramsch - Sanitäter - Schoßrock - Speckjäger - Torfstecher - Tornister - Trichter - Bescherung - Entrüstung - Granate - Hummel - Lebendigkeit - Rispe - Untermalung - Wanze - Witterung - Ziehharmonika - eingelegt - einrücken - energisch - ergriffen - erschlagen - flau - gedankenlos - gedunsen - gedämpft - gehässig - gehütet - geläufig - genieren sich - gerissen - geschwollen - gespentisch - großgewachsen - herantrauen - herausgegrängt - herrüren - hilflos - hinhauen - kacheln - kernig - klobig - krümmen - lütt - nahrhaft - sonderbareweise - tadellos - tapsig - taumeln - tischlern - trommeln - unverträglich - verdanken - verdattert - verflucht - versammeln - verspotten - verwaschen - verzählen - wegschnappen - zerfließen - zupackend - zurufen - zäh - überdacht

For any native German speakers who happen on this post, how about quoting the part of this post with those words, and italic those words which you would almost never read, let alone use, and bold any if you don't even know its meaning.

Being an Anki obsessive is not good with literature.

End of chapter 2 of Im Westen Nichts Neues, p. 27, and another 92 words for total of 188.

anschnauzen - aufgewirbelt - aufschichten - austreiben - auszusetzen haben - bajonettieren - beigeben - betresst - blindlings - blitzblank - Anrecht - Fegeblech - Gestell - Gewehr - Zusammengehörigkeitsgefühl - Dienstbote - Dreckklumpen - Kasernenhof - Kletterer - Reinfall - Schemel - Schinder - Schützengraben - Spind - Hacke - Kameradschaft - Korporalschaft - Schikane - Überzahl - eintränken - einwurzeln (sich) - erbittert - fuchsig - geputzt - gerieben - geschniegelt - herumschleichen - herunterrinnen - hinausragen - idealisieren - kleinkriegen - lauernd - mitleidlos - rachsüchtig - rechtsum/linksum - schrubben - stramm - strammstehen - teilnahmsvoll - unfasslich - verrohen - wegschwemmen - wildgeworden - zumuten - zusammenschlagen - zuteilwerden - übermütig - abwehren - amputieren - angstvoll - aufmunternd - blankgewetzt - bärenstark - dabeistehen - Reck - Skelett - Soldbuch - Förster - Radau - Stichling - Erkennungsmarke - Hilflosigkeit - Prothese - Rippe - Zeitlang - durchflossen - einsinken - forschend - geschmeidig - heranrücken - hineinschieben - röcheln - schimmern - schnauben - schnaufen - transportfähig - verschleimt - verwundet - wegkommen - wegwischen - zerschmelzen - zusammenklappen

As with the list in the post above, many are past participles but which have their dictionary entries (and sometimes are more common than the other forms of the verb itself), many are military, and the majority likely are low to very low frequency or outdated. And naturally some could properly be considered collocations, or with verbs, phrasal verbs whose prefix is not normally attached in modern usage. Many of the words I could deduce without looking up from related words in the same word family.

For some of them, especially terms of anatomy, I am reminded that I need to stop and follow my plan to go through a couple thematic vocabulary books to pick up mid-range vocabulary that every native speaker knows well, even if such words are infrequently spoken.

Edit: I came across the first non-flora/fauna word for which I did not know the English transalation, i.e. "Dreckklumpen" which translates to "clag", which is a glue or paste made from starch. Sounds like a British usage.

I'm really trying not to take time away from what I allot to language learning with this reading, so it comes out of my normal German newspaper reading. Really I am just reading through and extracting words into Anki (but adding definitions at the same time from online dictionaries). That card preparation time comes out of what I normally do anyway, which is add definitions to lists I have already inputted into Anki (though I usually do that with German TV/radio in the background). I have not gone through that many pages, so I am not really spending a lot of time each day on it, as in not more than an hour.

To answer your overall question, I probably study 2-3 hours a day, with Anki taking an hour of that.

We like to talk about dialectical continua. "diligent" and "obsessive" are also on a continuum .

I am really hoping to get some comments on these word lists from native speakers, as well as L2 learners who have learned German to a fairly high degree.

Just like me, trying to be efficient

End of chapter 3 of Im Westen Nichts Neues, p. 37, and another 97 words for total of 295.

abbringen - abgestanden - abrichten - allerhand - angeheitert - anknabbern - aufkrempeln - befindlich - bespannen - betasten - betteln - blinzeln - Bettgestell - Betttuch - Drahtgeflecht - Gefecht - Koppelschloss - Maul - Peitsche - Artillerist - Bettnässer - Bettüberzug - Flaschenhals - Holzhacker - Hummer - Knüppel - Kommiss - Reim - Strohsak - Säbel - Anständigkeit - Backpfeife - Dattel - Drillichhose - Ehrenbezeigung - Einkleidung - Furage - Gelasse - Gurgel - Positur - Rauchfahne - Schmalzstulle - Steckrübe - Sägespäne - Tatze - Tresse - Unterführung - Zeltbahn - Zudecke - disputieren - duseln - entbehren - ersterben - essbar - fluchend - gelehrig - genussreich - geradewegs - geschmiert - gesättigt - gewürfelt - gönnerhaft - höhnisch - ingrimmig - Kohldampf haben - lungern - muffig - prasseln - riskant - schinden - schlapp - schleifen - Schmachtriem - schwelgen - steinalt - storchen - stumpfsinnig - stülpen - teuflisch - trübselig - unbebaut - unermüdlich - verhauen - verheben sich - verkohlen - versonnen - verziehen - vorkochen - vortreten - wegreißen - zuckend - zurechtsetzen - zurückbefördern - zurückwerfen - zusammenfinden - übereinander - überschlagen

Well I probably actually spent a couple hours on this today since I had the time. Still only got through an initial reading of one more chapter along with extracting the words and definitions into Anki. The usual lot of upper register, obsolete, military, natural sciences and otherwise low frequency vocabulary. This is an important 20th century novel, and this exercise should drive home to would-be learners of German primarily interested in literature, just how much vocabulary they need to know in order to read it.

One word for which I could find no definition or help via google: "Schmachtriem". Context: "Dann müssen wir eben den Schmachtriemen enger schnallen."

This is torture but I'll probably continue on. It actually is an interesting book, though not as interesting as science or history which I prefer to literature. Have someone whom you dislike that is learning German? Recommend to them that they start with a short grammar and a dictionary and dive right in with this novel.

I'm definitely not a native speaker of German, but could describe myself as a fluent speaker who makes a lot of silly errors. However I am just as interested in getting a good large vocabulary as you are, although I prefer Wordlists to Anki.

Seen and maybe even used:
abführen - anflehen - beben - beharren - bessergestellt - Fass - Feldlazarett - Gemetzel - Karbol - Schwärmertum - Trommelfeuer- Puff - Eiter - Erzieher -- Gefreite - Kessel- Oberschenkel - Sanitäter -- Torfstecher - Tornister - Trichter - Bescherung - Entrüstung - Granate - Hummel - Lebendigkeit - Wanze - Witterung - Ziehharmonika - eingelegt - einrücken - energisch - ergriffen - erschlagen - flau - gedankenlos - gedämpft- gehütet - geläufig - genieren sich - gerissen - geschwollen - gespentisch - großgewachsen - herantrauen - herrüren - hilflos - hinhauen - kacheln - kernig -krümmen - lütt - Mohn - nahrhaft - sonderbareweise - tadellos - taumeln - tischlern - trommeln - unverträglich - verdanken - verflucht - versammeln - verspotten - verwaschen - verzählen - wegschnappen - zerfließen - zupackend - zurufen - zäh - überdacht

Feels like a known word, but maybe it's guessable rather than seen/used:
anfunkeln- büffeln- Deckbett - Erwachsensein - Deserteur - Durchschuss - Essenholer (guessable, but not seen) - Kohlweißling - Meuterer - Plattfüß (? - sollte vielleicht Plattfüssler sein?) - Speckjäger - Untermalung - gehässig - herausgegrängt -verdattert

What the...
- Brummen (wellknown as a verb) - Klatschmohn - Nullouvert - Ramsch- Schoßrock- Rispe- gedunsen - klobig - tapsig -

PS: "Schmachtriem" is a belt which you tighten more and more - and I could find it in my German-Danish dictionary so it does exist outside the book where you found it. "Schmachten" has a literal meaning (starving/being very thirsty), but it is mostly used figuratively, and through this use it has come to mean something like being sentimental. However it is sheer brutal starvation that lies back its use in the word "Schmachtriem". In Danish we have a related word, "vansmægte", which is the thing you do I you have been dropped into an oubliette without anything to eat. "Van-" means 'badly" - just to make things worse!

Iversen, thanks for the reply. It is reassuring to me to know that the majority of words in that first list are ones you know or could deduce, and that especially given your own preference for non-fiction, the majority of the words will be useful in contexts other than literary fiction. Thanks as well for the explanation of "Schmachtriem". While the context made it seem like a buckle or belt, I couldn't be positive without finding a definition, though I did find that related word "Schmachten". I wonder if "Schmachtriem" is dialectical. Regarding the "what the ..." words, the meanings I found were:

Brummen :growling, muttering, humming - Klatschmohn :corn poppy - Nullouvert : [also "Null overt"] open null [game of Skat] - Ramsch :coll. word for "junk" - Schoßrock :tailcoat- Rispe- panicle - gedunsen :bloated - klobig :bulky, chunky - tapsig :clumsy, shambling

Although I don't wish to learn the German for every flora and fauna in the world, I have no way of knowing what is commonly found in Germany versus in the US. So I am willing to learn those terms unless I run across hundreds and hundreds.

It is obvious that many of the non-technical words of all parts of speech have more commonly used synonyms. But of course one doesn't know that unless they are looked up. However many of such are likely only partial synonyms, which is one of difficulties of properly learning the usage of a language.

And I continue on. End of chapter 4 of Im Westen Nichts Neues, p. 55, and another whopping 175 words for total of 470 (that my 14K+ Anki deck didn't already contain). This was a painfully slow chapter with even more new words than the last one. I am still only 25% of the way through the book.

abschwellen - abspulen - absuchen - anbrummen - angeknipst - anrollen - armselig - aufgewühlt - aufklatschen - aufschlitzen - aufspritzen - aufzucken - ausgefahren - auskotzen - Dunkelwerden - bersten - bleich - blitzartig - buddeln - Abrollen - Aufblitzen - Bajonett - Bündel - Gedärm - Geheul - Gemurmel - Gepfeife - Geschnatter - Grauen - Hellwerden - Klump - Laubhüttenfest - Lineal - Ventil - Wachsein - Würgen - Zischen - demütig - Abschuss - Aspirant - Brei - Buckel - Draht - Dreck - Einschlag - Flachskopf - Geschützstand - Hall - Insasse - Kattun - Keil - Pfahl - Qualm - Ruck - Scheinwerfer - Schwaden - Seufzer - Spaten - Splitter - Stäbe - Volltreffer - Vordermann - Zunder - Zünder - Knäuel - dichtstehend - dickfellig - Ader - Bahre/Tragbahre - Besinnung - Bodenfalte - Brunft - Brusthöhe - Gemeinheit - Geschmeidigkeit - Kolonne - Lauer - Mulde - Mündung - Patrone - Salve - Saugkraft - Schanze - Scholle - Schwinge - Stichflamme - Strähne - Vernichtung - Vertiefung - diesig - donnern - ducken - dumpf - durchzucken - dürftig - einhauen - einwühlen sich - ekelhaft - emporschießen - entsinnen sich - ertrinken - erzittern - feierlich - fortlaufen - frösteln - galoppieren - gebogen - geborsten - gebrochen - gebückt - gedankenvoll - geduckt - gegabelt - geisterhaft - gequält - geschient - hastig - heil - heiser - hellsichtig - heran - herüber - hinkauern sich - hinwegfegen - hochbiegen - hochfliegen - hochgeschleudert - horchen - klaffen - klappern - kreischend - langgezogen - lautlos - martern - militärisch - nachgebend - niederbrechen - niederregnen - pressen - purzeln - rasseln - rumoren - rumpeln - räkeln sich - rütteln - sacken - sausen - schlagend - schwellen - sickern - stückweise - surren - taghell - tappen - tosend - trollen sich - umklammert - unentrinnbar - unfehlbar - unmerklich - unverwandt - verstummen - verwüstet - verängstigt - vibrierend - vorfühlen - wogen - zerfasern - zerfetzen - zerplatzen - zerschießen - zerstampfen - zusammenfahren - zustreben - überschwemmen

My Anki reviews are rising in number and the time to review with them. Still under an hour though. It still is amazing that knowing over 10K words in German and having another 4K+ in my Anki deck in the queue, I still find so many new words per chapter. In the old days, Latin students were thrown into the vocabulary dense Gallic War of Caesar with far less known vocabulary going in.

End of chapter 5 of Im Westen Nichts Neues, p. 72, and "only" another 124 words for total of 584 new ones from this novel (my count apparently was inflated by 10 above somewhere). Quite the vocabulary load when already having over 14K entries in my Anki deck. Still only a third of the way through. It is an enjoyable novel though, that displays both the horror and dreariness of war on the level of the common soldier. Besides the human carnage, animals are not spared either. War horses pulling wagons get hit by artillery just like men, and a Great Dane loyally defending his master's property gets shot for trying to protect a couple geese from hungry soldiers.

abermals - abgeschabt - abkanzeln - abtasten - alarmieren - andersherum - ankotzen - ansammelnd - ausgewachsen - ausrenken - beehren - begießen - beleidigt - besaufen sich - besessen - bewirtschaften - Biest - Gebrüll - Genick - Kielwasser - Luder - Reglement - Stutzertum - Wachstuch - Ballon - Buchweizen - Dragoner - Ehrgeiz - Feldwebel - Heide - Kneifer - Köter - Landjäger - Leutnant - Napf - Pflock - Rachedürst - Sauhund - Spieß - Stabsarzt - Stiefelschaft - Stumpf - Zufluchtsort - Liebende - Dogge - Fata Morgana - Feindseligkeit - Festung - Genugtuung - Grübelei - Keule - Kinnlade - Kohäsion - Luke - Magd - Nachdenklichkeit - Pfote - Prügelei - Schmier - Umrisse - Vernehmung - Wucht - diktieren - duzen - eintrichtern - entfesseln - ermahnen - etatmäßig - exerzieren - festklemmen - fleckig - fortbringen - glitzern - hauen - heranholen - herfallen über - hinausschmettern - hintreten - hochreißen - jaulend - kapitulieren - knirschen - lagern - längelang - lüften - quäken - requirieren - rundherum - rupfen - räuspern sich - schielen - schmatzen - schwätzen / schwatzen - sichtlich - sittlich - sommersprossig - spärlich - stillliegen - suchend - traben - traktieren - triefen - türmen - umschlagen - umsummen - unausdenkbar - unschlüssig - unterdessen - verschnaufen - verstreichen - verstärkt - wegholen - wegtreten - wickeln - widerlich - wispern - wohlbekannt - zackig - zufassen - zugeschüttet - zusammenklappbar - zusteigen - zwitschern - übriggeblieben

One of the lamest arguments against the need for a large vocabulary in the range of 15-20K is the fact that "word" is hard to define. And German certainly shows the difficulty. While I try to put collocations on the card for the main entry, the German propensity to stick two words (or more) together makes this difficult when the meaning is not exactly discernible from the base meanings, or to stick "das" in front of any verb to make a noun. And what applies to substantives also applies to separable verbs, especially those with directional prefixes. No matter this aspect of German morphology, I believe one can adjust the number of 15-20K from studies of English, up in this case and be close enough. That is, the total might be different to English by a factor of as much as 20%, but cannot be off by anything approaching an order of magnitude. The difference in meaning between precision and accuracy.

I was revising the -da and -wo compounds today. I don't find the concepts hard, and in fact a German learner should welcome them since they get one out of determining the declined form of articles following the respective prepositions. But many of them have multiple meanings, not readily traceable to the simple translations of "that" and "what" in English. Let's look at "dabei". Looking up its definition on wordreference.com, we find the following definitions along with examples:

with it; (nahe) nearby, close by;
at the same time, while doing so;
besides, what is more;
nevertheless, yet, for all that, at the same time;
although, even though;
on the occasion, then; (während) while, in the process; (dadurch) as a result;
about it;

This makes it difficult for me to translate this very common word when I hear it in some of the German videos I watch. The examples help, but part of the problem is the unfortunate tendency (the subject of another thread I started), for either non-native speakers to supply definitions, or for native speakers of English to try to add every possible colloquial (and often inappropriate) English translation of the German. Hopefully with enough input it will become second nature, especially if I avoid translating in my head and just pay attention to the German.

Peregrinus, wenn ich mir deine akribischen Wortlisten durchschaue, bekomme ich den Eindruck, dass du jede Menge historische Kriegsberichte liest.

Stimmt. Nicht nur weil ich interessiere mich für militärische Geschichte, sondern auch wegen der Tatsache, dass ich war bei der Armee als ich jung war. Und sowieso ist dieses Büch einer Kriegsroman.

End of chapter 6 of Im Westen Nichts Neues, p. 101, and almost half way through. A very long chapter from which I gathered 236 new words for total of 820 new ones from this novel. I still find it highly entertaining, despite the gruesome descriptions of the horrors of WWI trench warfare. If the machines guns don't mow you down, the artillery will blow you up, and if that fails, then the poison gas attacks will get you. And if you survive, then you get to be surrounded by the corpses and parts of corpses of your fallen comrades. Then you get to do it all over again.

abblasen - abgelöst - abgezogen - abklopfen - abkratzen - abmurksen - abriegeln - abrücken - Abschnarren - abschwächen - absondern - alledem - aufflammen - aufgestapelt - aufgraben - ausbessern - auseinanderlaufen - ausgeleiert - ausgepumpt - ausgraben - aussaufen - beerdigen - beglänzt - beieinander - benagen - bepflastern - bestrichen - bestürzend - blitzschnell - blutig - brütend - Augenlid - Geschoss - Handgemenge - Harz - Kaliber - Keuchen - Käppi - Raubtier - Rückenmark - Schafott - Schießen - Schrapnell - Seitengewehr - Sperrfeuer - Verlangen - Viereck - Vorrecht - Vorzeichen - Anfall - Aufschlagzünder - Bann - Blindgänger - Brodem - Dunst - Elefant - Flammenwerfer - Führungsring - Hungerleider - Klotz - Kolben - Kreuzgang - Laufgang - Minenwerfer - Prankenhieb - Proviant - Schuss - Stollen - Stoß - Todfiend - Trieb - Unterleib - Unterstand - Verhau/Drahtverhau - Vorstoß - Wegelagerer - Widerschein - Ausdruckslosigkeit - Braut - Brustwehr - Böschung - Büsche - Genüge - Graupe - Kante - Kehle - Kniff - Konserve - Ladehemmung - Lebensgier - Lerche - Lockung - Matte - Offensive - Pappel - Rübe - Schießbudenfigur - Schwermut - Starre - Unendlichkeit - Verfolgung - Verwesung - Wirbelsäule - Zertrümmerung - blecken - dröhend - durcheinandergewürfelt - durchlöchert - durchsiebten - durchsoffenen - durchwühlen - eindringlich - emporsteigern - entladen - erbarmungslos - erbeuten - erschütternd - erwachend - fauchend - fetzen - flaumig - folgsam - fortschleppen - forttragen - fortwischen - geballt - geglückt - gegnerisch - gehetzt - gekrallt - gemunkelt - gepresst - geschnappt - geschärft - gierig - heimsuchen - heimtückisch - heranschaffen - herausspringend - herbstlich - hernehmen - herüberwehen - hinausgelangen - hinauslaufen - hinzugekommen - jammervoll - klirren - kläffen - knabbern - knattern - kotzen - kupfern - losbellen - losgemacht - koskriegen - losmachen - losschlagen - löffeln - misslingen - mitschleppen - morsch - mühselig - nervenzerreibend - preisgegeben - pulsen - quälend - raffen - reihum - rettungslos - revidieren - schartig - schauern/schaudern - schlottern - schlurfen - schneidig - schwefelig - splittern - sprühen - standgehalten - stickig - stieren - stocken - stumpf - tollwütig - tröstlich - trügerisch - umfangen - umgelegt - umlaufend - umwenden - unausgesetzt - unbegreiflich - unberechenbar - unbändig - unerklärlich - unpoliert - unterweisen - untätig - unvermindert - unverrichteter - verbluten - verdrehen - vergeudet - verglasen - verkrustet - verlorengehen - verprügeln - verschütten - versteinert - vervielfältigen - verwerten - verzerrt - verzischen - vorausbestimmen - vorfinden - vorsorgen - vorüberfahren - weggleiten - wegspringen - widerwärtig - wiedergefunden - willenlos - wüst - zaudern - zergehen - zerquetscht - zerschossen - zerspritzen - zerwühlt - zurechtrücken - zureichen - zusammengesunken - überhören - überrannt

No definitions found for:
Abschnarren, context: "Abschnarren der Feder" (think it means a shrill buzz)
beglänzt, context: "Zwischen den beglänzten kleinen Säulen der umlaufenden Kreuzgänge" (has to do with "shining" I guess, maybe "worn shiny")

While the book has a huge vocabulary load, its style is not very difficult, as literary fiction goes. It sure is exceedingly descriptive though. I guess "evocative" is the word used for such novels.

I have to say that after going through all of the Assimil but, most importantly, Wieso Nicht? and Marktplatz at Deutsche Welle, my reading skills improved to the extent that I don't think it's worth using Living Language Advanced German for me.

Also, I'm reading non-fiction as native material, and I believe fiction will seem easier when I try it.

Hi, thanks for posting. I think LLAG is good mainly for just more audio input to stick on the phone. Though I have not used the Linguaphone base course, I have the 2nd stage one bought used. I probably will go through it quickly solely for conversational material.

Re DW materials, have you spent much time with Top-Thema mit Vokabeln? The older stuff in the archives seem more meaty and I still am shy of all of 2007's material. To test your understanding level a little, try some entries from Sprachbar and Alltagsdeutsch in the C levels. If they are too challenging then TTmV is probably the right level for you right now. There is so much material there that it is hard to exhaust.

The point of my posts above about the novel that I am reading, is that literary fiction is harder due to the vocabulary load and so much of the vocabulary not turning up many times in the course of the novel. Obviously a modern genre novel would be easier than literary fiction. I can read newspapers and German articles on Wikipedia with almost complete understanding and relatively few lookups outside of very specialized material. But I am still finding hundreds of new words in this novel that I have never run across before or are derivatives of know words, in my non-fiction reading, which is most of what I read. But naturally there is some overlap, and today in a newspaper article (re credit card skimming) I came across the word vervielfältigen which means to duplicate or copy, and which I learned from the novel.

I'm not familiar with Top-Thema mit Vokabeln. I really went initially for the old stuff from my first attempts back in 2002. Only a few months ago I tried newer stuff such as the video series, like Jojo.

I believe fiction will seem easier than I think it would also thanks to Norwegian, there's some synergy going on. I read fiction in Norwegian and non-fiction in German.

End of chapter 7 of Im Westen Nichts Neues, p. 137. Another long chapter from which I gathered 186 new words for total of 1006 new ones from this novel. I am going to quit listing those words for each chapter as I think the above listed ones give a good indication of the types of words found in this book. Still an interesting book and this chapter dealt with the bittersweet vacation of the protagonist before having to return to the trenches.

No definitions found for:

abtrudeln [wander away, spin away?]
Bleiblock - did find Bleiblockprobe = lead-block expansion test
Plätterinnen - Josquin helpfully supplied the definition in another thread - means a woman who presses/irons clothes - my mistaken guess was a woman who speaks Plattdeutsch
vorstürzen - found hervorvorstürzen which means to lunge out
zurückschleifen - think it means to drag back, loop back

I am going to read another novel after this one, this time a modern Krimi type of one based on a true crime story, Tannöd. I watch Tatort a lot, and it will be interesting to see the difference in new vocabulary between a literary novel and a modern genre one. I ordered the book from Germany and should receive it soon. It is amazing that one can get shipping from Europe for US$3.99 through Amazon. That link is to the English wiki entry and as is often the case, the German wiki entry has more information, including an allegation of plagiarism which was rejected by the German courts.

End of chapter 9 of Im Westen Nichts Neues, p. 137 (last chapter above was actually ch. 8 it appears which explains how I got off on the count). Only 132 new words in this long chapter, for a total of 1138 so far for the book. Another dreary though interesting chapter where the protagonist is stuck in a crater during an enemy attack and kills a French soldier and reflects on that act and war in general, before finally being able to crawl back to his own lines and comrades. I still have the sense that only a small portion of those 1138 words are getting reused much if at all.

No definitions found for:

Gekrach - think it means crack
einwichsen - found a conjugation on Verbix but no translation
losstechen - maybe means to stab out at
wurffertig
zerpflügt - plowed through?

Already received this a couple days ago. Much shorter novel and looks fairly easy from a new vocabulary perspective.

End of chapter 10 of Im Westen Nichts Neues, p. 197. 150 new words for a total of 1288 for the book at this point. The end of the novel is in sight. I started rereading it from the beginning as well to hopefully help cement the vocabulary better and to more easily enjoy the story without constantly looking up words and adding them to Anki. Kind of a dreary chapter about the protagonist and his friend being wounded and spending a lot of time in the hospital, with the friend semi-suicidal from the amputation of a leg.

Radio news is still almost dead easy to understand, and the Tatort Krimis mostly understandable. Such shows don't deal much in repetitive chit-chat. With newspapers, I understand almost everything, and probably average 5-10 lookups per article. Mostly I have been reading the Badische Zeitung.

My Anki meter sits on 11,644 for learned or partially learned, and about 3,500 more in the queue right now. I am trying now to up my daily vocab learning from an average of 30 to 60, dependent on the number of reviews not exploding.