Expanding German Vocabulary

[winsomenotions]

I can speak German close to completely fluently because I was exposed to it as a child. However, since my childhood I haven't heard much German so my vocabulary is still at a pretty low level. My vocabulary is probably at an elementary school level. I was wondering what resources I could use to learn some more advanced words?

[harpy]

I'm learning German and I wish I had the fluency you described. If you consider your German semi-fluent or at an elementary-level, I'd consider mine to be nursery level. I can only speak a few words at a time and my sentence construction is weak-- so weak, that if I got lost in a German-speaking country, I'd probably be requested to talk in English instead.

Anyway, I found online German-English dictionaries to be very helpful. I am learning 10 new German languages per day. After learning what the words mean in English and how to pronounce them, I use them in sentences. I would describe what I'd do in German and I'd use my new found word. This has been helpful in my learning experience.

[megshoe]

I would suggest reading novels, and reading/listening to news reports. I find that novels especially expose you to a different kind of writing and use of language than you'll find in normal conversation. My German boyfriend is totally fluent in English, but has trouble reading adult novels in English because it's a much more advanced, complicated style. I think you could also pick up a lot of unique/advanced vocabulary from news reports. Just read something that would be somewhat challenging to you even in English!