Posted by Angelika Davey on Thursday, May 10, 2012,
In :
learn German
That's a stupid question, I hear you say! Walking a marathon is a physical challenge, learning German isn't! True, but they are both challenges.
Imagine:
You're looking for a challenge and decide to walk a 26 miles marathon. You book your place and as it's quite a while before the walking date, you're not really worried about it.
You're looking for a challenge and decide to learn German, You book your place at an evening class and as it's quite a while before the course starts, you're not really... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, February 4, 2012,
In :
learn German
Today was the last day again of another term at the German Saturday School. The four oldest in the group - Cissi, Charlotte, Abigail and Yona - had been doing work on TV programmes this term. So, for the last lesson they were allowed to make a powerpoint presentation of a poem about advertising (taken from the book 'Ja Klar 3, Deutsch als Fremdsprache für die Grundschule') We had one problem, though - we only had one laptop. Plus, it was a German laptop, which meant, it didn't have the QWERTY... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, January 27, 2012,
In :
learn German
I had an interesting conversation with a friend earlier about keep fit classes and language classes (she is also a language teacher) and how much easier it seems to go to Pilates classes instead of German lessons.
We started to compare them -
attending keep fit classes is good for losing weight
they are good for your physical well-being
if you miss several, you can still re-join later and carry on without any problem.
These points don't seem to apply for learning a language, don't they? Well, I d...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, November 15, 2011,
In :
learn German
I have been teaching German via Skype for quite a while now and if you can't find a German teacher in your area it is a great alternative.
But what if it's a small group who wants to learn German and can't find a teacher? What if you and your best friend always wanted to learn German together but he or she now lives too far away from you?
The answer is : Google+ Hangouts!
I must admit I'm not very keen on the name but the idea is great. Just as with Skype you'll need a microphone and a webcam...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, October 28, 2011,
In :
learn German
Last Sunday I went to The Language Show in London to see what new resources there are for learning and teaching German ... and I noticed the arrival of smartphone apps. Unfortunately for me, they were for IPhones and IPads and not yet for Androids but if you have an IPhone you might like to buy them.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, July 30, 2011,
In :
learn German
I came across this short article in a German newspaper today and thought it would make a good reading exercise. I will not leave you with a translation, just with the question: What is this article about?
"30. Juli 1966 - Fußball-Geschichte in Wembley: Die deutsche Nationalelf unterliegt im Londoner Stadion im Weltmeisterschafts-Finale mit 2:4 nach Verlängerung den Briten. Das Tor der Engländer in der 101. Minute ist bis heute umstritten: Der Ball wird an die Unterseite der Querlatte gesc... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, July 12, 2011,
In :
learn German
One more week and the German Saturday School Frome will close its doors for the summer holidays. We've had lots of fun again this year, learned a lot of new things, played lots of games and sang lotsof songs - all in German, of course.
It wasn't all fun and games, we also did lots of writing, and some of the children would like to show off some work they did recently. I hope you enjoy it:
The German Saturday School Frome will start again on Saturday, 17th September 10.30 - 12.30 at Frome Colle...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, June 18, 2011,
In :
learn German
I thought it would be nice to let somebody else tell you about learning German, so I've asked guitar tutor Al Summers a few questions. I have been teaching him and his wife Gill in his office in Warminster and he very kindly agreed to answer my questions.
How long have you been learning German, Al? I began learning German about three and a half years ago, I think.
Why did you want to learn German? Every few years I study something new. It's something I advise tutors that I teach and mentor, to d...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, June 11, 2011,
In :
learn German
In part 1 and part 2 we looked at some of those lovely German words which are identical or almost identical to English words. Now, in part 3 we will look at those words which look identical but have a different meaning - our 'false friends'.
False friends alphabet: die Art - type bald - soon der Chef - boss die Dose - tin, can eventuell - possibly die Fabrik - factory das Gift - poison das Handy - mobile phone irritieren - to confuse die Jalousien - Venetian blinds die Konkurrenz - (business) competiti...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Wednesday, June 8, 2011,
In :
learn German
In part 1 we looked at some of those German words which are identical to English words. Now let's look at those that are almost identical but still instantly recognisable.
Here is my 'not bad' alphabet:
der Alkohol - alcohol die Bluse - blouse der Charakter - character das Debüt - debut der Elefant - elephant der Fisch - fish das Glas - glass das Haus - house das Insekt - insect der Joghurt - yoghurt der Kaffee - coffee die Lippe - lip der Markt - market die Nummer - number die Oper - opera der Präsident...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Monday, June 6, 2011,
In :
learn German
When people decide to learn German, they often feel quite apprehensive about learning all those new words, phrases and grammar. If you feel the same, then let me show you some interesting German words.
I am talking about the good, the not bad, and the ugly German words.
Part 1 - the Good: You will be pleased to know that there are many German words you already know because they are exactly the same as in English. Some may be pronounced slightly different but if you read them, you'll recognise ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, May 31, 2011,
In :
learn German
Today I saw several people tweeting an article on Twitter about the advantages of being bilingual. It was an interesting article, which also mentioned that people who are bilingual can cope better with Alzheimers if they were to get it. Very interesting, but I've read this so many times, I almost clicked to get away from the article ..........
.... until my eye caught the following question and answer: Q. One would think bilingualism might help with multitasking — does it?
Posted by Angelika Davey on Wednesday, May 4, 2011,
In :
learn German
When people find out that I teach German, they often ask me questions about it. As the same questions keep on appearing, here are the top 5 questions and my answers:
How long does it take to learn German?
I've got some 'teach yourself' books in the attic? Should I get them down? I wouldn't need lessons, then!
So, what is the best way to learn German?
Should I do homework?
Are there any good websites to learn German?
How long does it take to learn German? That questions can be answ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Wednesday, April 13, 2011,
In :
learn German
If you have been following my blog posts you will have noticed that I like using music and singing in my lessons, and one of my favourite songs is 'Das Fliegerlied'
Actually, I like it so much, I have plans with it: If you happen to be in Wiltshire on the 2nd of July and you would like to know more, send me an email
In the meantime, check out this page for the lyrics and instructions for the actions.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Monday, March 28, 2011,
In :
learn German
"I want to learn German, but how do I start?" I quite often hear this question, so here are a few ideas:
The best way is to join an evening class. It is far more fun to learn German (or any other language) in a group. It is easier to revise as the group can practise a particular topic in lots of ways and it doesn't seem boring. There is also less pressure on you when the teacher asks a question. If you don't know the answer, hopefully somebody else does ;-)
Posted by Angelika Davey on Sunday, March 27, 2011,
In :
learn German
A dumb question - hmm - how often do you think you may have one? I read this quote this morning and instantly was transferred back to my childhood: at the end of a lesson, the teacher would ask if everybody understood and EVERYBODY nodded their heads, so I didn't dare ask a question, as it surely would be a dumb question.
Of course, later I would then find out, that actually, some of the others didn't understand either, but they also didn't want to be seen as dumb. Result: we didn't have a clu... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, March 22, 2011,
In :
learn German
Last Saturday at the German Saturday School we read a story about a man who lost his hat and his wife who wanted a new dress. Afterwards the children asked to re-enact it. It was so enjoyable that I recorded it. We only practised it twice beforehand, so please excuse the few mistakes; but a well deserve applause goes to the fantastic actors Abigail, Charlotte, Cissi and Lennie!
I hope you enjoy it, too!
This just leave one important question: How did the wife get the money to buy her dress ;-)
Posted by Angelika Davey on Wednesday, March 16, 2011,
In :
learn German
Did you hear about the Englishman and his French dog? Apparently, the dog will only react to French commands spoken with a French accent, so his owner had to learn French.
So, just in case you ever get a German dog who doesn't know his woof woofs from his wau waus, here is a list of dog commands:
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, February 19, 2011,
In :
learn German
Those who have learnt German at an English secondary school may remember the BBC programme 'Hallo aus Berlin' - short videos from 1996 with some children from Berlin and, of course, the songs by Rita and Rolli.
Who still remembers Rita and Rolli?
When I taught at a secondary school we sometimes watched the videos and most students thought the songs were awful, but actually, they were that awful, they were catchy again and I had been asked frequently to play them again.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, October 30, 2010,
In :
learn German
When Germans like a songs so much that they can't get it out of their head they call it 'Ohrwurm' which means 'earworm'. So when I was followed by sombody called @earwormsmtb on twitter a while ago, I was intrigued and checked out their website and quite liked what I saw. Two German beginners CDs (they do other languages, too), each with "200+ essential words and phrases anchored into your long-term memory with great music". At the Language Show I saw their CDs and bought them. As I teach a be... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, October 29, 2010,
In :
learn German
Surely not, you may think!
I'm not so sure, so let me explain:
I love walking. For the last ten or so years I have been walking as much as possible. I try to do 10,000 steps a day (don't always achieve that) and at weekends we go for long walks. Twice I have managed to walk a marathon, the whole 26miles!
But I cannot run! I tried a few months ago and I couldn't even run 1 minute :-( I tried several times and then gave up - I'm no good at running!
Posted by Angelika Davey on Thursday, October 28, 2010,
In :
learn German
I read an interesting article on the Deutsche Welle website this morning (if you want to read it - it is in English) Soon you will be able to see internet addresses with the letter 'ß' in it. Until now the only choice was 'ss'.
This reminded me of a question I get asked a lot in my German lessons: "How can I write those extra German letters if I don't have a German keyboard?"
The good news is - you don't need a German keyboard! All you need is the number pad on the right hand side of your keyb... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Monday, October 25, 2010,
In :
learn German
While I was teaching somebody today we were talking about the German and English words for jobs and it made me realise again how literal lots of German words are. Have a look at some of them:
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, October 23, 2010,
In :
learn German
People frequently tell me that Germans don't have a sense of humour and the term German comedian is apparently an oxymoron. Well, there are loads of good and very funny German comedians. The problem is, it's not always easy to translate jokes and something that is extremely funny in German doesn't sound funny in English (or the other way round).
Henning Wehn is a German stand-up comedian who lives in England and tries to teach some German the fun way. You can watch some of his videos on the BBC...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, October 23, 2010,
In :
learn German
This question cam to my mind this morning while I cleaned out the chicken house ( Don't ask why THIS question, no idea!). So I decided to compare those two -
Losing weight: Imagine, you decide to lose some weight because you either just feel you'd like to lose a few pounds or because your doctor told you that you must lose some weight because of health reasons. The first thing you may do is go on a strict diet plan. You lose a lot of weight but then you get back to eating all that unhealthy food... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, October 22, 2010,
In :
learn German
I came across this article the other day, where German bestseller writer Bastian Sick was asked to give 10 reasons for learning German. I liked his reasons so much that I reprint them here on my blog, but if you want to red the whole article you can find it here
These are his ten reasons:
1// So you can understand the lyrics of Tokio Hotel songs and sing along with the right pronunciation.
/2// So you can write a love letter to Bill Kaulitz (Tokio Hotel singer).
Posted by Angelika Davey on Thursday, October 21, 2010,
In :
learn German
They are actually quite the same!
If you watch the video below of my daughter skydiving, you'll see her very scared but also excited at the start. Then you'll see her worried about jumping into the unknown and then the sheer excitement about the view and her knowledge about what she can do. And all that knowing that the teacher is there to guide her. Finally you'll hear her say:" This is amazing ... the best thing I've ever done!"
Learning German is no different: Once you've decided you want t... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Wednesday, October 20, 2010,
In :
learn German
So, Tokio Hotel appeals to the teens, the Wise Guys are good for adult education, which leaves primary school children. Is there any good music to use with them? There are a lot of good traditional songs which are still great to sing nowadays. My favourites are 'Mein Hut, der hat 3 Ecken' or 'Laurentia, liebe Laurentia' (brilliant action song if you need to get fit and don't have time for the gym ;-))
Posted by Angelika Davey on Monday, October 18, 2010,
In :
learn German
Today was the first day I ever heard some songs from Tokio Hotel! I always thought their music was just for teens but, from what I heard, the lyrics and the melodies were actually quite good.
But what does this have to do with learning or teaching German?
Tokio Hotel is a German band and I get the feeling, they do more for the German language than any other band. One of my students is an avid fan of Tokio Hotel and this has instilled a desire in her to learn German - and her German is good, so ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Sunday, October 17, 2010,
In :
learn German
I went to London today to attend the annual Language Show and it was a great success again. It's good to see what new resources are available and what the new trends are. It's also lovely to pick up some freebies and meet people I otherwise only 'meet' online. One other reason for my visit is the variety of workshops/seminars. My favourite this time was Russel Stannard's seminar about 10 great Web 2.0 tools for language teachers, and amongst others he spoke about this useful vocabulary website ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, October 16, 2010,
In :
learn German
If you have read one of my earlier posts you know that I am not very keen on translating websites. Online dictionaries are different, though, and leo is my favourite. Leo started 1995 and was very basic then. After a while they were looking for volunteers and I was one of them. Several times I got a list of 250 basic German - English translations. I would then add the German gender plus any phrases I knew. I really enjoyed working with those lists but I am glad the dictionary has improved imm... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, October 15, 2010,
In :
learn German
Sometimes I get asked about German lessons by people who live too far away for me to travel. If I then suggest online lessons via Skype, they shy away. They want the personal touch, they say, and in a way, I agree. I rather teach with the student in the same room.
But what if that's not possible? What if you`ve looked for a tutor and cannot find one in your area? This is what happened to one of my students. You can read his blog here
Fast forward one year and the lessons are still going strong. ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Thursday, October 14, 2010,
In :
learn German
1972 a new TV programme started in Germany. It was Sesame Street.
Although I was way too old for children's TV (no comments, please ;-)) I loved watching Sesame Street because it was shown in its original language and allowed me improve my English.
A German version of Sesame Street - Sesamstraße - followed soon, which means you can do the same as I did. If you are interested in the German language and have a few minutes spare every so often, check out the many clips on Youtube (just search for... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, October 9, 2010,
In :
learn German
How often have you had those thoughts? Especially if you are learning a foreign language?
Does the following sound familiar? You are learning a foreign language and are beginning to get a bit confident, when after a few weeks or months you come across a text, maybe a newspaper article, in that language ......... and you feel you don't understand a single word you're reading!
I was in London today for a seminar at the Austrian Cultural Forum and amongst other things we did an exercise in a forei... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Monday, October 4, 2010,
In :
learn German
I came across this picture today and I was wondering if birds shout louder if they can't be understood. This little fellow seems to be shouting at the top of his voice just like it is said about English people when they are abroad.
As tourists we can't learn every foreign language but if you are stuck abroad, then please don't shout. Try to learn a few phrases,or try to get your message across with hands and feet if necessary - and above all, keep smiling -;)
Nikki Pilkington's blogging ebook has been very helpful to me. Check out what other books you can buy from her by clicking on the '30 Day Blogging Challenge' book.
