Practice. There are four different skills related to a foreign language: passive skills like reading and listening, and active skills like writing and speaking. You need to practice all four, and it's normal if your ability in every category is different. So don't practice listening only, also read texts. Books and websites for children are great, use Google to look for things that you find interesting. You can practice writing on Italki. If you find a language partner, you can also practice speaking on Skype etc. If you can't find one, try reading aloud, speaking to yourself or recording what you say. Vocabulary takes time. Make sure you have a good dictionary, online or as a book. Learn some new words every day, and make sure to repeat them. I use Anki (http://ankisrs.net/), but written cards or your own notes work, too. Everyone learns at a different speed, but you'll probably need at least a year until you can understand a random German conversation to such a degree that you can follow what's going on. And if people speak very quickly and use dialect, it will take longer. :-) Some random ressources: http://www.udoklinger.de/Deutsch/ http://www.mein-deutschbuch.de http://www.dw-world.de/ http://www.listenlive.eu/germany.html http://www.ard.de/ http://www.zdf.de/ http://www.tagesschau.de/kinder/ http://www.lilipuz.de/ http://www.wdr.de/radio/home/podcasts/channelausspielung.phtml?channel=klicker

You need time to amass vocabulary. Especially in German, since words have to fit the case. Take your time.

Guten abend Andres. I suggest that you click onto this italki site and make use of the Quicklinks on the right hand side.