When I first started learning Hebrew, I used a very popular overpriced software which promised to make learning a new language simple and intuitive. But after a few days of clicking on colorful stock photos of smiling people and saying things like “the cat is under the table” over and over again, I began to…
Hacks & Tutorials
How To Become A Better Writer By Finding Creativity Within Constraints
Lately, an interesting writing app has been making the rounds. It’s called Hemingway, and it promises to “make your writing bold and clear”. The way it works is that you type or paste in a few paragraphs, and then the app will try to highlight long and complicated sentences, unnecessary adverbs and overgenerous use of…
Culture
9 Things You Should Know About Cologne’s Carnival
Cologne’s Carnival, also known as the Fifth Season, is one of the more strange and colorful events in Germany, attracting tourists from all over the world. From extravagant costumes, biting political satire that doesn’t shy away from even the most controversial topics, to non-stop music, mandatory drunkenness and dancing, the festival is a feast for…
Hacks & Tutorials
3 Ways To Start Learning How To Code
Knowing how to code is becoming an increasingly important skill for many different fields of expertise. Software is everywhere: in our cars, telephones, books and even refrigerators. While learning to code is not a magic bullet to land the perfect job, it can nevertheless be an great asset in many different situations. Especially for people…
Games
Find German Language Games on Steam
When I first started gaming back in the nineties in Germany, there weren’t too many games around in my native language. While most adventure games were eventually translated into German, the English originals were simply much easier to come by. So I took the challenge and made my way through the first Monkey Island and…
Discover Dino lernt Deutsch: the German story series for beginners that will help you learn German in no time.
learn more German
False Friends: 5 German Words That Don’t Mean What You Think They Do
What are “false friends”? German and English are both Germanic languages, so they not only share many grammatical features but also have a lot of similar words. For example, when you know English and you hear the German word “Haus” you immediately know what it means: house. The spelling is different, but it sounds exactly…
Online Business
Streamline Your Podcasting Workflow With Auphonic Audio Post Processing
Podcasting can be a great way to get in touch with your audience in a different way. Whether you’re an independent teacher offering weekly study tips or an indie publisher sharing tools and strategies, podcasts make it easier to communicate your message in a direct and very personal manner. There are many different programs and…
Culture
30 German Movies For Kids, Adults & Cinephiles
Learning German with stories is an effective and fun way to practice and enjoy yourself at the same time. Learning German with movies is another excellent strategy for immersion. Today, I’d like to present a number of German movies for learners (in no particular order). Where available, I’ve added vocabulary and exercise resources to help…
Hacks & Tutorials
How To Create Custom Bit.ly Links
Shortlinks have been with us for a number of years now. Whether it’s bit.ly, tinyurl, or another service, URL shortening has risen in popularity together with Twitter, where every character counts and the only good link is a short link. But besides shortening, another reason for using short links is to beautify long and ugly URLs….
