Learning German

[honeydevil]

Oddly enough, my house contains no children books in German. I only have what my parent have read, Faust, Der Herr der Ringe, Lolita, and many more.

that's really bad, i mean i had problems with "lord of the rings" and "faust", how hard must it be for somebody who just changed the language!!

i like the crash course to learn a language!! go into the country and speak to the people!! okay, therefore you need a little bit basics, but it is a lot more fun, than to study this on your desk at home!!

 

[Rigana]

Oddly enough, my house contains no children books in German. I only have what my parent have read, Faust, Der Herr der Ringe, Lolita, and many more.

Wow, these are really tough, especially Faust, which is even for me hard to get through..

Some well-known children's books are for example:

Michael Ende:
'Die unendliche Geschichte'
'Momo'
'Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer'
Erich Kästner:
'Emil und die Detektive'
'Das fliegende Klassenzimmer'
Otfried Preußler:
'Das kleine Gespenst'
'Die kleine Hexe'


Pupils at primary schools often read 'Ben liebt Anna' by Peter Härtling or 'Fliegender Stern' by Ursula Wölfel.

 

[honeydevil]

Wow, these are really tough, especially Faust, which is even for me hard to get through..

Some well-known children's books are for example:

Michael Ende:
'Die unendliche Geschichte'
'Momo'
'Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer'
Erich Kästner:
'Emil und die Detektive'
'Das fliegende Klassenzimmer'
Otfried Preußler:
'Das kleine Gespenst'
'Die kleine Hexe'


Pupils at primary schools often read 'Ben liebt Anna' by Peter Härtling or 'Fliegender Stern' by Ursula Wölfel.

oh that is soo cruel!! i don't like these things!! i mean "die unendliche geschichte" is pretty cool, but the rest?? try something interesting like "FEAR STREET", they are teeny books and they are easy, but still they are more interisting than Emil udn die Detektive (this is one of the books i started but never read through to the end )

 

[Rigana]

Hihi, honeydevil. I haven't read most of them myself, I must confess.
I grew up with Astrid Lindgren & Enid Blyton.
But those well-known books might be the easiest to get if you're not living in Germany. Besides, there might probably be a good english translation for those..
Maybe Cornelia Funke (Herr der Diebe, Tintenherz) might be worth a try or Wolfgang Hohlbein (Märchenmond). My little sister liked those a lot. Kai Meyer wrote some nice children's fiction, too (Die fließende Königin). These ones are more up to date.

 

[Bathory]

Why not try 'Neverending Story' by Michael Ende. That's originally in Deutsch.

I'll look for it!

i like the crash course to learn a language!! go into the country and speak to the people!! okay, therefore you need a little bit basics, but it is a lot more fun, than to study this on your desk at home!!

I am going this summer for two and a half months, and my parents won't accompany me this time, as I am now old enough to trust. Without them there to translate, I may learn a lot.

I'll see about FEAR STREET.

But those well-known books might be the easiest to get if you're not living in Germany.

If I am really desperate, I can get some family to send me the books, or atleast pick them up this summer.

 

[Bathory]

Can you order off of amazon.de if you live in the United States?

 

[honeydevil]

Hihi, honeydevil. I haven't read most of them myself, I must confess.
I grew up with Astrid Lindgren & Enid Blyton.
But those well-known books might be the easiest to get if you're not living in Germany. Besides, there might probably be a good english translation for those..
Maybe Cornelia Funke (Herr der Diebe, Tintenherz) might be worth a try or Wolfgang Hohlbein (Märchenmond). My little sister liked those a lot. Kai Meyer wrote some nice children's fiction, too (Die fließende Königin). These ones are more up to date.

astrid lindgrin is funny!! yeah cornelia funke is not bad either!! i started to read "adult" books when i was 10 or 12, so i missed most of the childrens books!!

 

[Rigana]

Can you order off of amazon.de if you live in the United States?

Yes, but the shipping is very expensive. (13,00€ + 2,50€ each book) It would be cheaper to ask some relatives to send it to you. The 'Deutsche Post' offers so-called 'Büchersendungen', which is an easy and cheap way to send books. (A book 500-750g will cost 3,50€)

 

[honeydevil]

Yes, but the shipping is very expensive. (13,00€ + 2,50€ each book) It would be cheaper to ask some relatives to send it to you. The 'Deutsche Post' offers so-called 'Büchersendungen', which is an easy and cheap way to send books. (A book 500-750g will cost 3,50€)

hey there i learned something new!! before i go home i have to send at least 30 - 40 books!! that can get really expensive!!
maybe i just send the half of my clothes and put the books in my suitcase!!

@ Rigana
where are your location in germany??

 

[RainbowGurl]

Guten tag!

 

[Stewart]

Guten tag!

Capital T.

 

[RainbowGurl]

Capital T.

Yes well...Guten Tag

 

[Rigana]

hey there i learned something new!! before i go home i have to send at least 30 - 40 books!! that can get really expensive!!
maybe i just send the half of my clothes and put the books in my suitcase!!

@ Rigana
where are your location in germany??

Shame that this price is only for books, magazines etc.

I live in Schleswig-Holstein, near the North Sea and Denmark.

 

[honeydevil]

hey i've got a question!!! how does it come that everybody knows either german , or is related to germans, have friends in germany, was in the army etc.?? thats like a disease!! and germany is just a little country in the middle of no-where and there are so much more interesting countries around us, what's the matter??
i'm soo confused

 

[Stewart]

how does it come that everybody knows either german , or is related to germans, have friends in germany, was in the army etc.??

I learnt German in school and I've been to Bremerhaven on numerous occasions. A lot of UK schools teach French and German as the main "second" languages. An the British Army sends a lot of its troops to barracks in Germany.

On the American side, a lot of Germans sailed up the Elbe to America to start new lives.

 

[honeydevil]

I learnt German in school and I've been to Bremerhaven on numerous occasions. A lot of UK schools teach French and German as the main "second" languages. An the British Army sends a lot of its troops to barracks in Germany.

On the American side, a lot of Germans sailed up the Elbe to America to start new lives.

yeah i know, since i'm here i met more german people than i ever saw in germany!! i mean why, it is like we're everywhere!!
in every book i read there are things in it, like the german guy Karl, or the german beer... whats the matter??

 

[novella]

hey i've got a question!!! how does it come that everybody knows either german , or is related to germans, have friends in germany, was in the army etc.?? thats like a disease!! and germany is just a little country in the middle of no-where and there are so much more interesting countries around us, what's the matter??
i'm soo confused

Come on, honeydevil, don't be coy. Germany is an economic powerhouse in the middle of a powerful united Europe. The Austria-Prussian Empire comprised most of Europe not that long ago. There are German immigrants all over the world, particularly in the Eastern US states, coming in several mass exoduses over 100 years. Plus, because of WWI and WWII, lots of US and UK armed forces and their families have spent time there. My husband's English family lived there for a few years, and they summered along the Mosel.

It's not exactly tiny and isolated. In fact, for some time, Germany was on everyone's doorstep.

 

[Stewart]

yeah i know, since i'm here i met more german people than i ever saw in germany!! i mean why, it is like we're everywhere!!

I know the feeling. I went to a bar in Bahrain (and one in Denmark) and ended up meeting Scottish people. We're everywhere too.

 

[Anahorish]

hey i've got a question!!! how does it come that everybody knows either german , or is related to germans, have friends in germany, was in the army etc.?? thats like a disease!! and germany is just a little country in the middle of no-where and there are so much more interesting countries around us, what's the matter??
i'm soo confused

I was conceived in Germany.

My pa was in the Army. The only thing he could teach me about the German language though was really useless stuff like "ich habe drei Kinder" and that "wasserfest" means "waterproof"!

And I actually quite like Germany, although I've only been there a couple of times. It's hardly a "little country" though - it's one of the biggest in Europe!

Berlin is one of the coolest cities I have ever been to.

 

[Kookamoor]

I really need vocabulary...

Here are some things I can think of doing:

>Get parents to speak to me in German only
>Get parents to recite phrases to me, like tapes
>Translate German books
>Travel all by myself to Germany to live with family who don't speak any English for two and a half months. (Already plan on doing this)
>Read a dictionary
>Make vocabulary flash cards
>**Take German in College (Depends, I don't want to fail and lose my scholarships)

I have considered tapes, but just doesn't seem worth the money when you have people who speak it living with you.

To Novella: Do you mean that responses sound like one long word? If so, I can recognize words, but can't understand them.

To Ell: I can take it in college, but I want to be fairly good at it before I take the course. I don't know of any other than that.

Any thoughts on what I should do?

**I don't start college until Fall

I've got some hints for you regarding the studying at college thing. I'm a grad student at a Canadian university and I'm taking French here as an 'audit'. This basically means that I can attend classes, do the homework, take tests, but that my transcript does not receive a grade. It's a hobby for me, and wouldn't count towards anything even if I took it for credit (not here for long enough for it to be a minor). I would seriously consider taking it for credit, though, particularly if it would count towards your degree. If you're really passionate about it (and it sounds as though you are), you'll do well in it. Most universities also offer a range of language levels, so no matter what your proficiency you can take courses.

Also check out if there's immersion programs in Germany. I had a friend who went to France and took part in an immersion program. They lived and had classes in this beautiful old building in the French countryside. The best part, was that the French government gave him a bursary to do this!! He was Australian, and they offered bursaries to international people if they take immersion French courses for longer than a month. Obviously there's still some tuition to pay, but it was apparently still a good sum of money. The reason for the bursaries, I understand, is to encourage the French language to prosper. I'm not sure about the details of this, or if it's still offered, but if anyone does find out anything about it please feel free to let me know more! I would love to do this.

Thanks everyone for your ideas, too! I would never have thought of making flash cards (vocab is my big barrier - I know the conjugations, but I'll be blowed if I can recall what the word means!!) or journalling in the language I'm learning.