The
first major step in learning another language is familiarizing
oneself with the sounds of the language. |
A
good way to work on "the sound system" is simply to listen
to the language. |
You
did this with English ... (if'n thass wut you tawk). |
|
Get
yourself some movies
to hear over and over
again. Just play them while you're cleaning house, or piddling
about, or "chillin'." |
Even
if you're not listening ---
you are hearing! |
It
seems that we have a tendency to learn songs by hearing
them over and over again. At least it happened to me with
songs that I wonder: "How come I know these words?" ---The
question exists because I never even
listened to a lot of them. |
|
Always
repeat what you hear, but listen to the words or sounds
umpteen times before you "make" the sound. |
Feel
out what you're hearing, and try to recognize that your
mouth is going to be in a few different positions. That
is, "You're gonna tawk differnt." |
Germans
speak in deep voices ... until they're learning a foreign
language. Then it ups about an octave. |
Try
to avoid doing the same thing when you're working on your
German. |
A
fun way to figure out some pronunciation - and PRACTICE
it - is by using Tongue
Twisters.
German has some really complicated ones ... see if you can
do them! |
| You're
not going to learn the whole German language on this website,
by the way. |
All
I can do is provide some of my experiential tips with foreign
language study. |
We're
just here to have fun playing with learning something new
... in a different language ... from a different perspective
... completely different from what we've always taken for
granted ... maybe even the opposite of what's "normal" for
us ... |
And
my first suggestion is: Find yourself the resources that
you're most comfortable with. If you're a "visual learner"
get some picture
dictionaries. |
If
you're a "mime learner" - watch TV or movies. |
If
you're a "hearin'-about-it learner" - just go through and
listen to audio files, learning all the words you like/enjoy/can
have fun with. |
If
you're a "whining learner" - make all the wishes you want
to about " ... I wish they'd put that-&-that here ..."
And learn all about forming negative sentences. |
And
everyone work on vocabulary that's useful for you. Don't
learn nit-picky in German
(pingelig) if you don't need the word. |
| |
The
Märchen
are for use in furthering your German vocabulary and recognition
of "older German." |
| |
Another
way to "figure out" some German vocabulary is to visit some
of the German websites sponsoring this site. There is always
information (along with pictures) that lets you know what
the subject matter is, that names objects, or that reflects
topics that are going on in the world ... Visit some of
the German links in the right column of each page, and see
what you find! |
|
The
German Lessons Section of this website -The German Language
Resources- is dedicated to OSCAR MATSON, professor emeritus
of Shasta College. I'm still working on his Dedication
Page. |
| Sometimes
creativity takes a while! |
