a Dream ... Hard to achieve

Hasnaaab:

I have been studying German since 1993.  Since I have no one to converse with in order to practice my skills in the States my fluency is somewhat limited though I have amassed a decent vocabulary over time as well as a decent understanding of the language.

Most language courses today attempt to teach a language using the same techniques that a child would use.  However, studies have shown that this cannot be done as a result in which a child's brain is forming compared to that of a fully formed brain within an adult.

Adults then have to learn a new language in the same manner in which they would have done so in High School or University, grammatically.  To this end there is an excellent course offered by the Fluenz language company, which can be found at http://fluenz.com/

Without a doubt I have found this to be the finest course for learning German that I have used in all my years studying the language.  There are five levels to the course, all of which will bring you to a level of mastery of advanced German.  However, you can purchase the levels individually as you can afford them or altogether at once.

Fluenz also provides purchasers of their course access to a number of online resources includinga large community of language students that can help get answers for your questions as they arise during your studies.

All such German courses are taught as High German or Hochdeutsch, which most people do not speak in Austria as they speak their own dialects of southern-based German.   This is most pronounced in Vienna where the dialect there almost sounds as if it is comprised of Italian since it is such a smooth sounding German.

As a result, once you get comfortable with your German through the studying of a course such as from Fluenz, I would recommend that you consider a class  in German in the area you are intending to live so you can learn the local dialect as well.

I hope this information is helpful...