German Language Resources - Some Fun Links

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So far I’ve listened to about 30 hours of German this month. Slightly behind my target of two hours a day. Hopefully, I’ll be able to make this up over the second half of the month. I haven’t made any progress in finding German speakers, though I started to use some German for shopping.

Most of my listening has been of simplified language videos. There’s some good stuff out there. I’ve also been playing some free games. This is an area that has huge potential for language learning and if you can take the addictive qualities of gaming and put it in a language learning frame – brilliant. I’ve also watched some videos that are meant for Germans speakers.

Video links for learning German

Easy German – I love these videos. Basically, they use a simple question, for example – where are you from? And ask many different people. So you get to hear lots of commonly used replies to the question. As the video progresses, the language gets extended. They use German and English subtitles – an excellent tool for learning. These videos are on Youtude under the name of 'magauchsein'. It's worth checking out other videos from 'magauchsein' they are 'days in the live of' style videos which also have German and English subtitles. There's videos in other languages too, especially 'Polish'.

Lingorilla also produces videos with German and English subtitles. The great thing about theirs is that they build up a story with two main characters. You can see lots of free videos with the link given.

Bob the builder - German, I watch these videos because the language is easy and I like the 'games' provide online by Bob the Builder. My excuse is that I'm learning through being familiar with the programme.

German Yabla is another TV based learning tool. They seem quite professional as you can switch German/English subtitles on and off. The link will take you through to the 'free' page where you can click onto a video. They also have 'games' to test your understanding. For access to other videos you have to pay - rates are reasonable and if you have the time, I think their product would definitely help anyone learn German. I also learned about Culcha Candela from this site - they make very listenable German music.

Der Welt is a German news site and they have some videos about topical events.

Games

Bob the Builder provides a number of activities where Bob will say something and you need to do them. The games are easy but I like the concept and I think part of the future of language learning lies in this type of game - basically - say and do. You can change the language too, so if you're learning Spanish, you can get some game practice in.

More free games Bob the Builder (his best game for language learning) - making different things under Bob's skilful instruction. Rupert the Bear - nature spotting game, Thomas the Tank Engine - what's his mood? and click on the bald boy to play the 'make a pizza game' - a mostly German game for learning some English. If you pay, I think the games get bigger. I haven't paid for any games so I don't really know about this.

I want to find some more 'free' games, so if anyone knows some links then that'll be great.

Podcasts

I signed up for a month with German 101 podcast. It only cost $9.99 for a month subscription and a free DVD with the beginner's lessons on. I found the full podcast long and boring, because they used so much English to explain things. I tend to just download the 'dialogue' and use the PDFs to understand what is going on (this option is only available on the paid up section). This, I feel, saves me a lot of time and also increase the amount of time I'm listening to German. The dialogues in themselves are very useful. German 101, also provide some fun videos which you can watch on German101podcast - Youtube

I have also been listening to some songs. I really thought German music would be painful but I've found some groups that I really like. As I mentioned before Culcha Candela is one of them. Another group Ich + Ich is worth listening to, as well. They make very listenable pop and their videos are pretty cool too. They are also popular so it's easy to find their lyrics. For more annoying but catchy music, you can give Genki Songs a go.

That's it for now. If you're learning German, I hope that you'll found these links useful. Personally, I think are more enjoyable then using a book.

Language blog - update

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Things have changed a lot since I last wrote.

I’ve just moved to the Netherlands. I left Taiwan in October and have spent the past couple of months catching up with friends and family in the UK.

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German has replaced Chinese as the focus language and there are plans to learn Dutch but not for a few months yet.

I’m learning German first because I’m living in Venlo, which is very close to the German border and there’s much more German material on the net.

So far, I’ve listened to about 60 odd hours of German. My understanding has increased a lot though I haven’t had any chance so far to use it. A couple of phrases roll of the tongue now but not that much. I hope to make a video pretty soon to show how much I can speak – need to find a willing German speaker to do this with.

The Mission

To speak German fluently by the end of April. To expand on fluently, I mean to cover the basics of getting around and asking for things, to being able to hold a simple conversation with someone I’ve just met.

Plan of action (for January)

To listen to at least two hours of German a day, for the month of January.
To find five German speaking friends by the end of the January.
To start a German language exchange by the start of February.

That’s basically it. Simple and I hope effective and achievable.

I’ll post some of the websites I’ve been using, with comments about how effective I think these sites are.

I’m living in Tegelen, just outside Venlo on the Dutch and German border. My time is pretty free at the moment, so I have time for teaching English or doing a language exchange (English – German).

Top Language Learners and How they Learn

Learn how to learn language from the best learners around





In this post I introduce some of the top language learners I’ve come across on the net.

This will only be a brief introduction. Their approach varies but they have some things in common, namely that motivation is key to success and that whatever you do to learn the language must be enjoyable/rewarding.

Learners

Khatzumoto who heads 'All Japanese All the Time.'


He believes that languages need a hell of a lot of input. By this he means 20-30,000 hours. To achieve this, you need to centre your life around your target language. He learnt Japanese by surrounding his whole day with Japanese stuff or put another way – between 14-18 hours of Japanese a day though his MP3 player, playing games, reading manga and watching Japanese TV and movies. Unbelieveably, he learnt most of his Japanese before he got there.

• Need a lot of input (listening and reading) – ideally more than 10 hours per day
• It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand it. Your brain will sort it out.
• Do stuff that’s enjoyable. I think he plays a hell of a lot of videos games (with language in them).
• Measure your progress and celebrate it.
• Believes you can learn the language no matter where you are.

Speaks Japanese like a native. He is now using the same approach to learn Cantonese.

Benny the Irish Polyglot.

He famous for doing three months intensive language learning 'projects'. He believes a lot can be achieved in a short time. He takes a communicative approach and uses no English. He also stresses positive thinking and stresses the social aspect of learning.

• Speaking is central to learning a language quickly.
• Goes to the country to learn
• Uses no English when speaking to a someone in his target language
• Set clear goals for himself and tell lots of people.
• Uses a lot of techniques to help with communication when knowledge of the target language is low.

Speaks six or seven languages well. He works as a translator too, though I’m not sure in how many languages.

Antonio Graceffo's website is Brooklyn Monk in Asia.

He believes in focused self study and warns against relying only on exposure to the language such as being with a group of foreign friends talking very fast and on many different subjects. He believes this will lead to you blocking the language as ‘noise’. He also believes in lots of input and on a constant bases. He has also experienced ALG, a program where Thai is taught but you aren’t allowed to speak until you are about 800 hours into the course.

• Study hard and put at least 5 hours in each day.
• Uses books and films that he already knows the story.
• Uses lots of input, i.e. listening and reading
• Learned Korean though a lot of input and not talking.

Antonio Graceffo speaks numerous languages, for example, French, German, Italian, Khmer, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and Thai.

Professor Arguelles

He’s an academic and takes a serious but passionate view of language learning. He has also developed a technique called ‘shadowing’. This techniques uses two texts, one in English and the other in the target language. First he listens to the text and reads in English. Then he listens and follows the foreign text. The ‘shadowing’ comes next, this is when he listens and speaks with the text.
He has a rigorous study schedule.

One of his motivation is to be able to read ‘classics’ in their original language.
The professor speaks and reads many languages. From his website, he can read over 20languages pretty well.

Some other notable learners Tim Ferriss of 4hr Workweek, Steve Kaufmann of LinkQ and Moses McCormick.

Next I will outline my goals for speaking Chinese and hopefully upload a video of my current Chinese level.

Introduction

English is EASY

Welcome to Easy English, Easy Chinese!! This site will focus on language learning, providing free resources for both English and Chinese learners, links to 'free' resources and will look at ways to make language learning fun.

My name is Chris. I'm an ex English teacher. I have also been learning Chinese for four years. I've decided, in the next couple of months to focus on how to be an excellent language learner. I have been following some excellent language learners over the past year, Benny the Irish Polyglot, Khatzumoto, and Steve Kaufmann as well as some more.

Also, I want to look at ways to make learning interesting and plan to produce material, mainly for people wanting to learn English.

What to expect from the Blog

• Language learning tips
• Listening exercises for popular American TV program and celebrity interviews.
• Videos of simple, spoken English with exercises
• Videos of simple, spoken Chinese (no exercises planned at the moment as I don’t write Chinese) but meaning should be easy to understand from video.
• Guide to different language learning tools
• Links to free language sources.
• I also plan to provide some free English sessions. English for a cup of coffee, will be a once a week session. This will only be for people living in or near Taipei. It will be mainly conversational session. Later, I plan to provide some ‘free’ English tours around Taipei.


My next blog will introduce websites of excellent language learners

Bye for now