I found this infographic and have to admit that my main reason for this blog post is so that I can keep it myself. This is a fantastic list of suggestions for language learning.
Find more education infographics on e-Learning Infographics
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How can I help you with some of these tips?
Tip 20: Eat more chocolate – I can’t help you with that, but it’s such a great tip I will follow it myself ☺
Tip 19: Socialize and share – come and join my Facebook group Ask Angelika where you can share what you have learned and ask questions if you have any.
Tip 15: Make yourself laugh – if you find this difficult, listen to this German newsreader ☺
Tip 3: Combine learning methods – there are so many different resources available for you to learn German. If you are still looking for more, subscribe to my newsletter which gives you a free PDF with lots of free online resources. There is bound to be something for you.
Tip 2: Create a learning timetable – my planner for German learners might just be what you need:
What’s your favourite tip?
I miss perhaps the most important thing (besides having fun) which is WANT TO LEARN IT- whatever it is. If you don’t have a NEED or at least a reason *that matters to you* then learning is an uphill struggle. You have to know why.
Another thing to bear in mind is : “You never know where the growth will come”. That ties in with ‘try different methods’. I often surprise people when I say I learnt most of my German standing outside kiosks with the rest of the ‘Fertische’ (that’s Hessian dialect for those alcoholics who stand outside the kiosks all day drinking beer, means something like ‘losers’- and no the final ‘n’ of that plural word isn’t pronounced).
Another thing that helped me a great deal were the “Foto Love” Stories in teeny-girl magazines.
https://josieloves.de/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/410.jpg
Yes I mean that. Back when Bravo Girl! (other truly naff teeny mags are available) first came out they were given out free where I lived and I spent many happy hours reading the Foto Love stories through a haze of Roth Haendle and DDR Potato schnaps. In the UK I would have punched anyone who would have suggested I read such a Girl Mag but I learnt more German from them than almost anything else.
Also I found Asterix comics a good learning resource, because I knew them all in English so could usually figure out what Obelix was actually saying.
I’ve mentioned the songs of Reinhard Mey here before, his German is exquisite and more than a few of his lyrics are extremely valuable grammatical constructions (although something more for advanced learners) and great for anyone wanting not only to improve the quality of their German but also gain some ‘style’. Here an example :https://www.reinhard-mey.de/start/texte/alben/der-m%C3%B6rder-ist-immer-der-g%C3%A4rtner
Nina Hagen and Nena both also taught me well.
Not so impressed with the Health Nazi type advice in the graphic though. Bit too ‘Mens sana’ Some people probably learn well on wheatgrass tofu smoothies and brisk walks…..to the toilet no doubt…very briskly. Others may find 20 Benson and Hedges a better mental stimulus and whatever else one thinks of nicotine, it fires the brain like little else or as a minor German poet once wrote: “Fruchtlos ohne die Zigarre. Die Gedanken ich erharre; Witz und Phantasie entfliehen.Jedes Blatt in meinem Kranze. Stammt von der geliebten Pflaze, ist getraenkt mit Nikotin” – A.Traeger (1830-1912)
Personally I find Astaxathin works much better than other fishy oil products or chocolate and there is some solid science behind it.
Yes, the fun bit is the most important one.If you are choosing to learn a language, choose one that you enjoy learning. And if you HAVE to learn a language that you don’t enjoy it’s even more important to find some activities you enjoy. Even if it means learning the language on the street or by reading Bravo!
I used to love reading Bravo and, of course, the photo story. About 12 years ago I picked some up for my German lessons at a secondary school. Of course, I had to rip out all the pages which were deemed unsuitable, which left me with very little…. and the boys still found one tiny ad with a naked lady, which I missed ☺
Years ago I visited the library of a girls school/6th Form here (i knew the librarian) and glanced at the shelf for German. They got BRAVO etc delivered every week. The librarian and then the headmistress were quite shocked when I translated some of the articles and it was decided there and then that they would no longer be stocking such ‘filth’ (it was back in the early 90s when attitudes towards teenage condom and drug use, etc were perhaps a little more puritan than they are today,). I think the phrases ‘sin of Onan’ and ‘our gals would NEVER let a man do..’
Mind you I admit that when our then 7 year old son brought home his Hausafugaben from the German Grundschule and was supposed to draw Hans and Lieslotte (or whatever their names were) under the shower together, I too was shocked and I am so not a prude. Ahh the sweet innocence of childhood…
I am going to make sure that I use these points! It will make my learning better I am sure.
That’s exactly what I thought when i saw it!
Thanks for dropping by, Roland!