Video killed the radio star! Really?

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Do you remember that song? “Video killed the radio star ………and you remember the jingles used to go ….’

But what does that have to do with learning German?

We all know that the quickest way to learn German (or any other language) is to learn it in Germany (or the other countries, of course ;-) ) ,where you are constantly surrounded by the foreign language. Unfortunately, that isn’t always possible, so the next best thing is to surround yourself with as much German as possible.  Watching TV is one way, either with satellite TV or on the internet, but the problem with watching TV is, that, once you’ve lost track you don’t know what’s going on. And as we all like to multi task, it’s very difficult to keep track of a German TV programme. Watching German TV is great for a short time  but hardly any good for surrounding yourself.

Cue: radio!

I found a website that lists a lot of German radio stations – listenlive.eu - which has a huge list of German radio stations (and other countries, too).  Have a look and then a listen, but to make it easier, I had a look at some of them for you.

They all play songs in German and English and have news, weather, information and adverts – perfect for learning new German words/ phrases. You know how any catchy  advert jingles stick in your mind! And if you’re not multi tasking and have time to read a bit, their websites also have lots of useful text for learning German.

alsterradio  comes from Hamburg, so if you’d like to hear some news from the north of Germany, chose this station.

BR1 covers Bavaria.

WRD1 comes from Cologne.

KISS FM  – the beat from Berlin!

NDR also comes from Hamburg and covers Lower Saxony.

This is just a start. If you come across a German radio station that you really like and I haven’t mentioned it, let me know either below or on facebook or twitter or google+

Either way, have fun listening to the radio and at the same time pick up some German!

Oh, and if you are now disappointed because you expected to hear ‘Video killed the radio star’, here it is ;-)

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  • http://www.assessment4potential.com/ LynnTulip

    Great resources, and you are so right Angelika; learning through immersion is best

    • http://angelikasgerman.co.uk Angelika Davey

      Thanks, Lynn. the good thing about radio is, that if you miss a bit, it doesn’t really matter and you can just carry on!

    • http://www.angelikasgerman.co.uk/ Angelika_Davey

      Glad, you liked them, Lynn!

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  • http://vatark.tel/ Robert Killington

    Thanks for the links. Now listening to NDR 1 :-)

    • http://www.angelikasgerman.co.uk/ Angelika_Davey

      And? Is it better than BBC radio 4 ;-)

      • http://vatark.tel/ Robert Killington

        I’ll be able to tell when I understand better what they are saying!

        Both Alsterradio and NDR have iPhone apps so one can listen while out and about. There are links to iTunes on the web pages you give links to above. Some of the other stations may also have mobile apps.

        For the unwary: the apps are in German!! :-D

        • http://www.angelikasgerman.co.uk/ Angelika_Davey

          Thanks for the info, Robert. I don’t have an iPhone and forget that others may be interested in iPhone apps

  • http://primefitnessforwomen.com/ Mary C. Weaver, CSCS

    Very cool—I’m going to share these links with the mother of our godchildren. Their daddy works in a German company here in the States, and the girls take (and love) German lessons in Saturday school. :-)

    • http://www.angelikasgerman.co.uk/ Angelika_Davey

      That’s great. Some stations also have children’s programmes – oh, that could be another blog post :-)

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  • http://twitter.com/StudyingOnline Angela Boothroyd

    A very helpful list of resources, Angelika :-) I always encourage my ESL students to listen to English radio stations – I think it’s a good way to get/absorb the ‘feel’ of a language (its rhythm, stress etc) as well; even if you’re only half listening and it’s on in the background.

    • http://www.angelikasgerman.co.uk/ Angelika_Davey

      Exactly, that’s the beauty of radio. Even if you only half listen or it’s in the background, you’ll still pick up bits – and if you’re really lucky, they may sometimes even be something useful :-)

  • http://www.sarkemedia.com/ Sarah Arrow

    A useful list Angelika, thanks for sharing it with us. I loved Video Killed the Radio Star, it was my favourite song that year…

    • http://www.angelikasgerman.co.uk/ Angelika_Davey

      It’s still a great song. I played it once or twice (or …) since writing this blog post :-)

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