Wilkommen

Willkommen!

Thanks for stopping by! If you’d like to know what to do to be successful in German or what you should be doing outside of class, read on. While you’re deciding, why don’t you pick out a Wurst from the Wurstkoffer?

Daily Language Practice:

In order to help you best acquire the language, you have homework every night. You’re welcome!!

All students should spend some time to review and practice each day.

Multiple, but short review sessions are much better than longer, infrequent sessions. “Cramming” doesn’t work in long-term language learning.

Taking notes in class is an act of study and is REQUIRED. It also provides something to review later.

Remember, there can be a pop quiz at any time!! So, you must prepare each night as if there is a quiz the next day, because there just might be one!

To review, you can:

1. read the class notes out loud in German and English

2. read the Lesestücke (readings) aloud in German and English

3. practice vocabulary online with Quizlet (links available in each level’s area)

4. retell the stories done in class in German to a parent, friend, pet, the air, etc.

5. use the vocabulary to write or orally tell a story

6. decide if you understand the structures, grammar, use of language in your notes and ASK QUESTIONS if you don’t!

7. make flashcards with a picture of the item on one side and the German word on the other; use English only when a picture won’t work

8. quiz yourself

9. draw cartoons that tell stories and write captions

10. explore the Internet (see links below) for a wide variety of input opportunities

NOTE: Every time a Lesestück is read in class, you need to review it at home: read it again aloud in German and English!

Acquiring language requires you to process language input with multiple exposures to each word and structure (usually 70-100 times each). It also requires motivation on your part and some work outside of class!

Below are links to the vocabulary words already covered in each level in previous weeks. Any word on the list is fair game for a pop quiz at any time. Any word that you don’t know automatically, off the top of your head needs review. If you don’t know the English meaning of any of the words, a link to a dictionary is provided below. (Of course, your notebook should contain it already!) Be sure to ASK if you don’t know what a word is and can’t figure it out from notes or dictionary!

Here is a very good online dictionary:

GERMAN DICTIONARY

Please be aware that online translators usually give awkward or inaccurate translations. Don’t use them. The best translator is the human brain!

Students who would like some additional language input and practice, should avail themselves to the great resources of the Internet.

german-podcast.blogspot.com is a great source for podcasts on various topics.

http://www.listenlive.eu/germany.html is a list of German radio stations that stream on the Internet (free). Play German radio on your computer in the background while you do something else!

www.blinde-kuh.de is a search engine for easier-to-read articles on many topics.

www.deutschlern.net is a site devoted to learning German through reading. There are different levels of difficulty and cover many topics.

http://rtl-now.rtl.de/ is the site of a prominent German television station: RTL. You can watch shows via streaming. Some cost money, many are FREE! Look for “kostenlos.”

http://www.stepintogerman.org/ is a site with many podcasts, music videos, and other content in German.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,,8030,00.html is a site by Deutsche Welle, a prominent German news agency. There you can listen to newscasts spoken more slowly to help German learners build their listening skills.

www.languageguide.org/deutsch/ is a site where you can develop vocabulary. It shows pictures of various things. When you point to the object, the site will pronounce the German word for it for you and show the written word.

www.yodelcourse.com/ is a site where you can learn to yodel!

www.devinettor.com/aki_gr/ is a site with a game. You think of a name and then by asking you JA/NEIN questions, it will guess the name you picked.

www.wordchamp.com/lingua2/Home.do is a site that allows you to read authentic articles in German, but if there are words you don’t know, you can hover your cursor over them and it will tell you what they mean. (You have to join—free!)

www.slowgerman.com is a site that provides listening clips/podcasts of articles of various topics spoken more slowly for German learners. There are also articles to read with vocabulary help and links to other sites.

www.locopodia.com/ is a site with a variety of audio files on many topics such as cities, fairy tales, and more.

http://mediathek.daserste.de/daserste/servlet/content/487910 Watch German TV! You might have to download or update Quicktime (free) for some of the shows to work on some computers.

http://www.stadtpanoramen.de/html/index.html Look at panorama views of German cities!

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/languagesonline/german/german.htm Basic practice on many topics.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/ German-learning site from the BBC!

http://www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/de/home1.html Facts about Germany.

There are thousands more great sites on the Internet where you can improve your German through reading and listening. If you find a great site, let me know and I’ll list it here.