Practise your German with church hymns and bible stories

Students often ask me what they can do to practise more German in addition to their textbook or course. I always tell them to think of their hobbies and find some German resources. For example, a football fan can find a German website of a football club, a music fan can follow a German singer’s music, etc… to find new vocabulary that is particularly interesting to them. It is also a good way to reinforce grammar terms while reading things of interest instead of textbook German.

The other day  I suggested this to somebody who then told me he liked listening to Church hymns and following German church services.

I already wrote a blog post about 15 Things to find in a German Church and another one How to attend a German church service without leaving home

What else is there for you to practice your German?

If you like listening to church hymns

• Kirchenlieder Lyrics has the lyrics of classic and modern church songs, but if you click on ‘Abspielen’ a small video pops up and you can listen as well
• Die Liederkiste has the lyrics but often also downloadable song sheets, an option to listen to the hymns and/ or watch a video
• klassische Kirchenlieder is a lovely YouTube playlist of songs with the lyrics added as well
• Die besten Kirchenlieder für Kinder has wonderful church songs for children, again also with lyrics

This is a video from the ‘klassische Kirchenlieder’:

EDIT July 2018: A friend just showed me this beautiful video and I just had to add it:

If you like reading the bible

You can read stories aimed at German children, which makes it easier for you while you’re still learning. The following sites are all free:

• • • Bibel für Kinder,  the stories  can be read online or can be downloaded as picture books with not too much text or story books which can be coloured in.
    • Mein Buch mit biblischen Geschichten, 116 Bible stories to read and to listen to. There are even some comprehension questions that you could answer.
    • Bibel Geschichten, a YouTube channel, if you prefer to watch stories. Here’s an example, part of Noah’s Arc

If your German is advanced, you could attempt to read a German bible.

• GUTE NACHRICHT BIBEL, the 1997 version of the German Good News Bible. The free online version lets you find chapters (that you already know from your own bible) and read them in German.
• LUTHERBIBEL 2017 works the same way as the GUTE NACHRICHT
• Die Bibel (Luther 1912) works the same but you can also listen to the chapters.
• Tagesleitzettel has daily mini “sermons”, a bible verse with a short explanation. You read them online or subscribe to their daily emails.

I’ll leave you with one final video – the Lord’s Prayer in German:

So, if you think you have a hobby or interest that I haven’t written about, let me know and I’ll see if I can find enough material to turn it into a blog post full of ideas for practising more German.