No matter what some people say about the joys of "living in the moment" one still can't get by in this world without being able to discuss things that happened in the past, could happen in the future, or might happen if certain conditions are met. Being a native English speaker, I've got a fairly good handle on saying things like "I had some awesome beer in Bavaria" and "I could soooo eat a giant plate of hot wings right now.*"
Since my study of the German language has been largely catch-as-catch-can, I've missed out on a lot of the basics of the grammar. I understand a lot of the German that I read and a bit less of what I hear, but as it turns out, producing grammatical sentences is going to require a lot more work on my part. Speaking as the grown-up version of that one weird kid in your English class who actually liked diagramming sentences, I say bring it on.
The German course I'm taking right now is great. The software's full of multimedia goodness and interactivity. The emphasis seems to be on virtual immersion. There are almost no grammar drills. Since my goal in taking the course is not merely to pass, but to dramatically improve my fluency, I've been hunting around for resources.
My current favorite is this Vocabulix site. It offers verb conjugation drills in English, Spanish and German. It's quick, user-friendly and has actually helped me install the future tense of the verb werden (to become) into my brain in the last 48 hours. Seriously. Three days ago, I couldn't have told you in German that I will become a ninja. Now, I totally can!
Ich werde ein Ninja werden**!
* Mmmmmm . . . hot wings.
** You know, in case I get tired of linguistics or need a career to fall back on.
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