50 ways to learn your German

Last week I read a wonderful blog post from Suzan St Maur, called  ’50 ways to win at blogging'(sadly, her website has gone)

I automatically thought : Everything she can do I can do better …. or at least just as well 😉

So here it is!

If Paul Simon had had German lessons when he wrote his song ’50 ways to leave your lover’ it would probably have sounded like this:

“The problem is all inside your head” she said to me.
“The language is easy if you take it logically.
I’d like to help you recognise your ‘der’ from ‘die’.
There must be fifty ways to learn your German.”

She said “It’s really not my habit to intrude.
Furthermore, I hope my meaning won’t be lost or misconstrued.
So I’ll repeat myself at the risk of being crude.
There must be fifty ways to learn your German.
Fifty ways to learn your German.”

Learn every case, Jase
Conjugate a verb, Herb
Know ‘shy’ means ‘scheu’, Roy
Just speak fluently

Know neuter means ‘das’, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just ask ‘how’ or ‘wie’, Lee
And speak fluently

Ooo, learn every case, Jase
Conjugate a verb, Herb
Know ‘shy’ means ‘scheu’, Roy
Just listen to me

Know neuter means ‘das’, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just ask ‘how’ or ‘wie’, Lee
And speak fluently

She said “I know that German can be such pain.
I wish there was something I could do to make you smile again.”
I said “I appreciate that and would you please explain
About the fifty ways.”

She said “Why don’t we both just work on it tonight.
And I believe in the morning you’ll begin to see the light.”
And then she kissed me and I realized she probably was right.
There must be fifty ways to learn your German.
Fifty ways to learn your German.

Learn every case, Jase
Conjugate a verb, Herb
Know ‘shy’ means ‘scheu’, Roy
Just speak fluently

Know neuter means ‘das’, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just ask ‘how’ or ‘wie’, Lee
And speak fluently

Learn every case, Jase
Conjugate a verb, Herb
Know ‘shy’ means ‘scheu’, Roy
Just listen to me

Know neuter means ‘das’, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just ask ‘how’ or ‘wie’, Lee
And speak fluently

And if you want to hear the original song, here it is:

11 thoughts on “50 ways to learn your German”

  1. Wunderbare Idee, so hätte ich auch Freude daran Sprachen zu lernen… Würde Dich gerne in meinem Blog verlinken!
    LG M (Landfuenkchen.blogspot.de)

    Reply
  2. Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod ….. how would that go? Nein! Ich bin mit meinem Dasein zufrieden ….even if “mit” does take the dative. What’s not to love? Angelika, any help perfecting (!) my German is always welcome…..all 50 ways!

    Mmm, just realised/noticed/worked out that German does not have a vocative. So, that’s my 51st hint!

    Reply
  3. Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod ….. how would that go? Nein! Ich bin mit meinem Dasein zufrieden ….even if “mit” does take the dative. What’s not to love? Angelika, any help perfecting (!) my German is always welcome…..all 50 ways!

    Mmm, just realised/noticed/worked out that German does not have a vocative. So, that’s my 51st hint!

    Reply
    • The ‘Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod’ soundtrack has no lyrics, so that wouldn’t be very useful, and we can’t change Paul Simon’s original song into ’51 ways …’.

      But (don’t you just love a ‘but’ at the beginning of a sentence ;-)) anything that helps perfecting your German can be sent your way 🙂

      Reply

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