German language starter

Hi, I'm new to /lang/, and I'm wondering if you could give me some advice (or direct me to some other source).

I want to learn German. My aim is to be completely fluent, and eventually use German in a professional scientific environment (I'm a molecular biologist).

I have plenty of time on my hands, but very little idea where to start from. Can anybody give me tips on what to focus on (grammar-wise), and in what order? Also, how does one gradually expand one's vocabulary parallel to that?

I'm 24, my mother tongues are Serbian/Croatian, and English. I've had German for a few years in school, I remember certain fragments of it well - like proper spelling/pronounciation, personal pronouns, present and past tense... I've never used it outside of the classroom, and have no access to spoken German IRL. I know the syntax well enough to understand written German only with (a lot of) aid from a dictionary. My vocabulary is almost zero.

TL,DR - Tips on order of lessons for learning German from scratch.

~Bob

I'd recommend that you install Linux and choose German in the installer. You'll be ready to cock it in no time.

OP: Already doing something similar. I've expanded my vocabulary by a few words, but that's about it. Also, too slow. I'm looking to learn a language methodically.

Find and read a good book on German grammar. Then find a german news site that offers mp3 recordings of the articles. Then read the articles while listening to the mp3s, look up words you don't know, and listen/read through each article several times. It's also a good idea to practice repeating the sounds with your mouth, so you learn how to pronounce the language. But that's not all. Then you need to take an mp3 player, put the mp3 articles on it, and listen to them when you go to bed at night, before you sleep.

I'm using this method with Swedish (and getting news and mp3s from 8sidor.se) and I think it's working well.

Interesting. Never would have thought of it.