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).