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Are you always on the lookout for some quirky German learning ideas? How about 17 ideas for September?
According to Kleiner Kalender (English version: Cute Calendar) each day of the month is also a special – and sometimes worth celebrating – day.
I’ve picked 17 of those days to give you some fun ideas for practising your German – enjoy!
1 September World Letter Writing Day – Welttag des Briefschreibens
When was the last time you’ve written a ‘real’ letter with pen and paper? Today is your chance AND you get to do it in German ☺
And if you can do it for real and actually post it to somebody – even better!
3 September Skyscraper Day – Tag des Wolkenkratzers
What a perfect day to do some research about ‘Wolkenkratzer’!
5 September Be Late for Something Day – Sei-spät-dran-für-etwas-Tag
Now, I don’t want to encourage you to be late for something today. But you could think of and write down some excuses in German why you might be late. You’ll never know when you might need it!
6 September Read a Book Day – Lies-ein-Buch-Tag
I don’t need to tell you what to do today: read a book. Read a German book or a book about Germany. If you haven’t got a single German book at home and can’t find anything suitable online either, try your local library. You might be pleasantly surprised.
8 September European First Aid Day – Europäischer Tag der Ersten Hilfe
There is a World First Aid Day in September, but not always on the same day. The European Day is always on the 8th September. So today you can find out about first aid. Depending on your German understanding, find out what plasters, bandages etc… are called in German, or revise on your first aid knowledge, but in German, or watch some videos …
9 September National Wiener Schnitzel Day – Tag des Wienerschnitzels
Find out what ingredients you need for a Wiener Schnitzel (and their German words), research its history, or just cook and eat it.
10 September Swap Ideas Day – Tausche-Ideen-aus-Tag
What a great day to swap some wonderful ideas for learning German! If you’re learning in a group, get together and swap ideas. If you’re learning on your own and use social media, go to twitter, Facebook etc… and post your ideas. Or just start a collection of ideas which you picked up over time for when you need more suggestions.
11 September Make Your Bed Day – Mach-dein-Bett-Tag
What could you do to enhance your German today? While making your bed you could think of what quilts, pillows, pillow cases, etc.. are called in German. You could also google ‘Betten machen’ and read German articles or watch videos about making your bed. or you could just find out about the different sizes of German beds and compare them to your country’s sizes.
12 September National Video Games Day – Nationaltag der Videospiele
This day will either appeal to you big time … or not at all! If you are a video gamer, then enjoy playing some games, in German, of course. If you hate video games, then either do some research about them in German, or even write (in German) why you don’t like them.
13 September Positive Thinking Day – Tag des positiven Denkens
Use today – and you can do this in English if you wish – to write down how much German you have learned. Don’t dwell on whatever you still can’t do, think of what you CAN DO and really enjoy it!
16 September National Play Doh Day – Nationaler Play-Doh-Tag
If you have small children you probably have some Play-Doh at home. In which case, go and make things with it and either name them in German or make up a story in German. You could also find out (in German) how to make your own Play-Doh type dough. Or you could go to YouTube and search for ‘Play Doh deutsch’. There are lots of videos to watch, even if you wouldn’t want to touch the stuff.
20 September Children’s Day in Germany – Deutscher Kindertag
Find out more about the Children’s Day or spend time with your children and teach them the joys of the German language with a German action song or nursery rhymes. Make sure you have fun together!
21 September World Gratitude Day – Welttag der Dankbarkeit
Use today to make a list (in German) of things you are grateful for. This can be an easy bullet point list or long sentences. Maybe you can even send a German gratitude message to somebody!
25 September National Comic Book Day – Nationaler Tag des Comic-Buchs
Do you have any German comic books? Dig them out again and have a read. If not, see if you can find out something in German about your favourite comic character (or one you know of).
26 September European Day of Languages – Europäischer Tag der Sprachen
Do you speak any other languages? Find out what they are called in German and / or write about those languages or your ability in German.
28 September Ask a Stupid Question Day – Stell-eine-dumme-Frage-Tag
Today is your chance to ask some really stupid questions – as long as they are in German.
30 September International Translation Day – Internationaler Tag des Übersetzens
Have a go at translating a German text. Select one that matches your level and translate it into English. Or could take an English text and translate it into German.
There you are, 17 quirky ideas for practising your German. Which one are you looking forward to do, or (once you’ve done them) which one did you enjoy the most?
If 17 ideas aren’t enough for you, you may wish to buy my book which has 365 ideas, one for every day of the year!
Available as paperback
And also for your kindle
Thanks for commenting. Most of the ideas in my book are unusual ideas for learning German. Wiener Schnitzel is just as popular in Germany as it is in Austria. Also, many of my students are learning German because of holidays in Austria, so a little bit of Austrian German vocabulary isn’t a bad idea either.