Is it possible to learn German in a small amount of time?

[MedLam]

So I am thinking about going to Germany, they offer an intensive course for 6 months in there to learn German, it's supposed to get you to level B2, I really want to get to this level to be able to apply for a German university ( that's my only choice cause they are free ) and study physics, given that I will study alone when I am not studying in class and I will work really hard, is it realistically possible? and will there be a difference than to stay here and study alone from the internet? and is it hard to get accepted in a university there ( a good one, or at least not a bad one ) or this studientkolleg thing? any information about education in there in general would be helpful ( for extra information, I am from Algeria ).

 

[Vanadium 50]

Wikipedia says 1200-1500 hours or so is needed to get to B2. Eight hours a day, five days a week for 6 months is 1000 hours.

 

[axmls]

Wikipedia says 1200-1500 hours or so is needed to get to B2. Eight hours a day, five days a week for 6 months is 1000 hours.

Of course, there's a difference between 8 hours a day in class and 24 hours a day immersion in another country. It just depends on how much the OP is forced to use the language. It also might depend on the OP's experience with learning other languages. Unless I'm misunderstanding the original post--I believe the OP is talking about taking this course in Germany, no?

 

[MedLam]

I believe the OP is talking about taking this course in Germany, no?

Yes, I will first study in here for a month ( intensive course by some good professors ) and then go to Germany for 6 month. Also, I know English, French, and Arabic, Don't know if that would help though, do you think I can do it?

 

[jim mcnamara]

We cannot truly know if you will succeed. You have to realize the size of the task and how well you deal with tasks like this. You've already gotten one maybe and another cautionary maybe not. There aren't too many other answers. Except the one I just gave.

 

[micromass]

I think it is possible if you get really immersed in the german language. So engage in a lot of conversations with germans, read a lot of german books (children books are a very good start), watch german movies, go to german forums, etc.

If you only depend on the course and nothing else, then it's doubtful you'll make it.

 

[malkitechism]

It's definitely possible to learn the needed amount of german to enter university in 6 months but you will have to study hard. Speaking from my experience, I got to A2 level in my home country and then spent 5 months learning german in Berlin and finally passed the DAF and DSH exams (you have to pass one of these exams in order to apply for a university in germany) after 1 month of preparation. The best advice I can give to you is to borrow every single book that trains you to the DSH or TestDaf exam from the Library and do them all ( you can start from B1 training for these exams ). I also spoke arabic, french and english before learning german. Knowing these languages will help you with pronounciation, there are also some words that were "taken" from french or english and used in german.

Most universities in germany don't require anything special in order to apply for a physics degree. I'm studying physics (bachelor degree) at the Technical University of Munich, I only sent my baccalaureate exam certificate, a copy from my DSH certificate and some other papers ( copy of passport, ect ...). Its a "Zulassungsfrei" course, anyone that applies to it should normally be accepted.

For the studienkolleg :
It is "only" intended for students whose high school graduation degree is not recognized as equivalent to the graduation degree in germany.

 

[symbolipoint]

How much is "a small amount of time"?
How well and how much you could learn depends on how "German" is taught. Maybe 5 months for being able to think in German and have some good basic conversations, if the course or courses are taught as both a language and as a subject; but maybe much longer otherwise.