How do you make the leap from studying German textbooks, flipping flashcards and poring over worksheets to reading (and enjoying) classic literature? Even native speakers who make their first acquaintance with the classics in high school often find themselves bewildered by archaic vocabulary and convoluted nested sentences. Whenever the literary German dives into a sentence,…
German
The German Prefix “be-” Explained
Once you’ve started learning a few German verbs, you’ll notice that there are a number of awkwardly similar verbs which have a slightly similar yet sufficiently different meaning. I’m talking about those pesky German verb prefixes which sometimes are just two or three letters long but completely change the meaning of the verb. Let’s take…
German
“I Can’t Get No …”: N-Declension In German
Welcome back to another instalment of our German grammar series in which I answer some of the questions that have popped up on the newsletter. Today’s question is by Douglas: My question: why do some German nouns add a final ‘n’ in the acc. sing., e.g. ‘meinen Namen’ , einen Geldautomaten, which, of course has…
German
New: Dino lernt Deutsch Episode 11: “Lockdown in Liechtenstein”
The wait is finally over! Dino is back, and although his world has gotten a lot smaller, he still finds himself at the center of much mischief. Get volume 11 on: 📙Amazon 🍏Apple Books 🔽EPUB/PDF 📕Kobo 📘Barnes & Noble This book comes integrated with flashcards (Quizlet & Anki) across all platforms and retailers (check at…
German
Demonstrate This! – Demonstrative Pronouns in German – A Brief Overview
This is another instalment in my grammar series where I try to answer some of the questions posed by readers of my newsletter and (hopefully) shed some light on certain bewildering grammar topics, always with a practical focus on how people actually speak. Here’s today’s question, by Myron: “Would you explain all that which is “Demonstrative”…
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learn more Games
Boost Your German Vocab With This Quirky Web Game
While sorting through some old files recently (definitely not procrastination but research!) I stumbled over some old notes and re-discovered this quirky little language learning game which is just too good not to share. It’s called Ba Ba Dum, and it’s actually five little games that run directly in your browser, no downloads required. At…
exercises
3 Simple Rules of German Negation: How To Position “Nicht” in A Sentence
German syntax can be quite daunting. There are many moving parts. It can be helpful to split things up into smaller more manageable bits. Earlier today for example a question came up on the newsletter about the correct placement of the so-called Negationspartikel nicht in a sentence. So here are 3 very simple rules (and some exceptions)…
German
New: German Dialogues For Beginners & Intermediates (PDF, MOBI, EPUB)
Over the past few months I’ve been thinking a lot about the power of dialogue. Whether it’s the Socratic dialogues or the Analects of Confucius, both Eastern and Western traditions have been using dialogue as a teaching tool for more than two millennia! Why is that? Plato for example could have just doled out his…
German
Should German Learners Use Google Translate?
When Wikipedia first became popular I remember my teachers and professors scoffing at it: “A free encyclopedia? On the Internet? Why, that can’t be good! You had better learn to use the library instead, young whippersnapper!” And yet everyone still used it. All the time. Was (or is) it perfect? Of course not. When it…
German
Not Rammstein: German Music Artists Beyond The Teutonic Shtick
When we think of Brazilian music we think of samba, bossa nova, a cool breeze on the beach and the Girl from Ipanema. But what do you think of when you think German music? Do you think of laid-back melodies and velvety vocals? Or more industrial staccato and alveolar trills? Whatever your particular associations may…
