More German Practice
April 13, 2012
I have not been devoting much time to blogging lately, as you’ve probably noticed. Instead, I’ve been pouring my energies into the German language. I thought I’d share some helpful links for those of you who are also interested in learning this language:
- i tunes U has some great German podcasts. Make sure you enjoy some of the University of Freiburg’s “Rede des Monats.” I recommend Anton Vögtle’s Die griechische Sprache und ihre Bedeutung für die Geschichte des Christentums (1971) (see lecture # 19). Vögtle speaks with unmistakable passion, and his German sounds a bit Scottish to me.
- i tunes also has some very helpful links. Beginners will find the Goethe institute’s Radio D and Warum nicht? series useful. Deutsche Welle also offer some helpful sources, such as their Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten.
- Finally, it’s important to have fun while learning a language. For this I recommend Die Sendung mit der Maus. You can view new episodes weekly, and can also puruse video segments. Although this show is for kids, I would advise some caution as some of the material is not child appropriate, in my opinion.
I hope these resources help you as much as they’ve helped me. Sometimes it seems that fresh resources provide much needed breezes of motivation and fight of the stagnation that so easily creeps into language learning.
What grammar did you get started with?
I started with German Quickly by April Wilson. There are several things I do not like about this grammar, so I would not recommend it. The most helpful grammar was a conversational one. It walked through hundreds of pages of conversation, explaining grammar along the way AND explaining pronunciation. Then at the end there was about a 20 page synopsis of the grammar. If you can get a firm grasp of one of those bare bones grammar sections, and then apply it to conversational reading, you’ll be well on your way. The one I used was a bit outdated–it was from the 50′s and had some outdated German phrases, but it was exactly what I needed to get started. I picked it up for a few bucks from a used bookstore and have since lost it. Another excellent option is to learn by podcast. The radio d and warum nicht that I linked to are available on I tunes and are excellent!