85% on the final exam of my German class. It was equivalent to A2.1 (with A2.2 and A2.3 if I were to continue). Although the class was clearly good, it was substantial amounts of time and money invested, and the stated schedule feels quite slow (3 hours a day / 30 weeks on A2 alone?).

At least at my beginner level, I think I can self study further and faster (especially with 10 weeks of class under my belt). I do have a substantial amount of German exercises / books that I’ve been meaning to get through. So a few weeks (months?) of self study probably is fine.

I am worried about my speaking skills for the near future. But I do think that today, my main hold up is simply vocabulary. Reading, grammar exercises, and other activities should improve my vocab. I’ll look into speaking / talking practice later. For now, I’ll try self study / shadowing for my speaking practice.

---

Self study is averaging a bit above 1 Grammatik aktiv lesson a day (on good days I can get two done). I also flipped through the whole book and I think I’m actually aware of all grammar concepts from A1 through B1. I just need the practice so that my skills can do it.

Vocabulary wise, my plan is to coast on frequency list for now (while I’m focused on completing Grammatik aktiv), then use Nico’s Weg A2 level to shore up my vocab. Grammatik aktiv is 100% German so it is some supplemental vocab practice.

Anki remains set at 5 words a day (+10 cards/day) for now. I really don’t know how others can push 10, 20 or 50 words a day. My long term hope is that when I get my vocab from my graded readers or other related coursework, it’d be possible to increase back to 10 or more words/day.

Between Anki and Grammatik aktiv, that’s over an hour day commitment. Every car drive is passive listening to German music only, I do browse some German YouTube and other passive practice. I know it’s not a complete study course but it’s what I got for now…