Listening and understanding what you hear is an important part of learning German if you ever want to be able to communicate with others in real-life. A good way to improve your listening skills is to listen but not just randomly. Many learners listen to podcasts regularly and that’s good for getting used to theContinue reading “How to work with podcasts and other audio material”
Author Archives: Esther Hartwig
Worst things first
When do you eat your dessert? Before you eat your meal or after? What do enjoy more: first have free time and then work or first work and then have free time? What is more pleasant: walking downhill and then uphill or first uphill and then downhill? I’ll take a wild guess: you have yourContinue reading “Worst things first”
Can I learn a language like a child?
When working in education you will frequently encounter theories about learning and teaching. Most are based on paradigms like constructivism, cognitivism or behaviorism and from there they go into all kinds of detail about how we learn or how we learn best. This is all very useful, because teachers and learners are often eager toContinue reading “Can I learn a language like a child?”
An unfamiliar way of saying something
Many things we say in German seem quite alien to learners, simply because in their own language they say it differently. What usually happens is that a learner will see the German version and register that it is different. When they use this snippet in speaking or writing, they will have to remind themselves thatContinue reading “An unfamiliar way of saying something”
The lecture is a treasure chest
When you study German – or any language, in fact – you go through lectures and lessons that cover a certain topic. What learners often miss are the words in between. We tend to concentrate on the subject given to us, so when there’s a lesson about the difference between zahlen and bezahlen, learners usuallyContinue reading “The lecture is a treasure chest”
What is the biggest issue when learning German?
You have already studied German, so you know about the different articles, the existence of cases, adjective declension and word order. Have you ever struggled with any of it? Have you ever wondered why you are struggling? Or have you brushed it off, simply assuming that you are not putting in enough effort? Or maybeContinue reading “What is the biggest issue when learning German?”
Why you need to study grammar
Let’s say, you have two sentences in English: I want to study. I’m trying to study. Now you get the correct German translation for both sentences: Ich will lernen. Ich versuche zu lernen. If you are not aware of the existence of a grammatical structure called the Infinitiv mit zu, the second sentence will comeContinue reading “Why you need to study grammar”
How to study articles
First of all, you shouldn’t study the gender of a noun in the same way at all stages of our learning process. In the very beginning, you can go with the simple version: der Tisch, die Tür, das Bett. As long as you have an overseeable number of nouns to deal with, this works fine.Continue reading “How to study articles”