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 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... Continue reading ...
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 Tuesday, July 12, 2011,
In :
learn German
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...
Continue reading ...
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...
Continue reading ...
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?
A. Yes, multitask... Continue reading ...
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...
Continue reading ...
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 ;-)
I can't find a group clos... Continue reading ...
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. Today I came across them ... 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! But it annoyed me. Surely, if I can walk I can run... Continue reading ...
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 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 ...
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