What are you reading?

[Edelweiss]

Dont say that RBF ! I wrote your name with a K before, I'm ditsy at times. I also like to read vampire books. Along with my school books I am reading Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris, and am almost finished with it. Also reading interviews by a certain hot man !

[Maya]

That's something with taste not cleverness....

[RICHARDS BIGGEST FAN]

Everyone here is far cleverer than me, i just read Kerrang and Metal Hammer and sloppy romantic novels although i do read Peter James detective books, they are based in Brighton so i can relate to him.

[wasp85]

I've been on a Stephen King marathon lately. I've read The Stand, Firestarter, and The Shining. Now I'm reading Carrie. Man, that guy can write!

[Edelweiss]

When I learn how to use it we can skype each other.

Currently I am reading Complete German Grammar and Essentials Of Human Anatomy And Physiology.

[rammsteingirl527]

I have Skype!

[Edelweiss]

Thank you Waidmann and Jorge !
Säda I have a skpe and would love to do it but don't know how. I think I need a microphone n camera.

[rammsteingirl527]

Waidmann...I got those books from my German teacher x) awesomeness!

[Jorge]

Thank you very much Waidmann... I will take a look at lunchtime, and I will try to send it to my ebook reader

[Waidmann]

On http://gutenberg.spiegel.de. I'll highlight the best ones for beginners:

Franz Kafka - Die Verwandlung (a bit long, but not very difficult)
Franz Kafka - Vor dem Gesetz (very short, quite easy - you can find it in his work "26 Erzählungen")
E.T.A. Hoffmann - Die Bergwerke zu Falun (long, but not too difficult)
Ludwig Tieck - Der blonde Eckbert (short (about 8 pages in book form) but not very difficult, one of my favorite stories of all time)
Heinrich Hoffmann - Struwelpeter (very short amusing stories, perfect for the beginner; Kapitel 6 was the inspiration for Rammstein's Hilf Mir)
Robert Walser - Zwei kleine Märchen (on http://www.gutenberg.org/files/37579...-h.htm#Page_49 you can find it, it's very very short)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - Das Märchen (not too long, but very metaphorical)
Heinrich von Kleist - Das Erdbeben in Chili (a bit more difficult than the rest but not very long) or Die heilige Cäcilie (shorter and simpler than the previous one)

Gutenberg only supplies stories that are at least 100 years old (with a few exceptions), so more recent stuff you should look up elsewhere. Such short stories from the 20th century I can recommend are:
- Hanns Heins Ewers: Die Spinne (about 12 pages)
- Heinrich Böll: Wanderer, kommst du nach Spa... (about 9 pages)
- Thomas Mann: Luischen (about 12 pages) or Tristan (about 20 pages)
- Alfred Döblin: Die Ermordung einer Butterblume (about 20 pages maximum)
- Friedrich Dürrenmatt: Romulus der Große (about 90 pages, but all in dialogues, so its reads as quickly as the above ones)

[Jorge]

I have just created a thread for "Learning German".

http://affenknecht.com/forum/showthr...earning-German

I hope that helps a bit, and please, use it!

[saeda]

I'm glad I found this thread. I've got lots of German practice textbooks but they're in another state right now, and I'd been going with Rosetta stone lately. I found it rather boring and lamented the fact that it was just like the Spanish I was trying to learn too. I'll be going back to my parents' home in a few weeks and will bring back all of my German textbooks!

Does anyone here who's trying to learn German/knows it have Skype and want to chat/practice sometime?

And does anyone have news websites in German and about Germany/Europe to recommend?

[Jorge]

On http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/ you can find many german stories. I'd give you some titles from short simple texts if you want to.

Yes, please!

[Edelweiss]

Thanks for the advice Jorge and Waidmann. I have a terrible memory at times so I have to connect words. Like I couldn't remember Wievel, even though I know Wie gehts. I would say "Koliko Wievel" Koliko means how much in Croatian so eventually I would just remember the German. Very strange. I don't automatically associate it with english first.
I love music, and one reason I love R+ is because they sing in German and if I know what the song means eventually I will remember the words.
I have a live mocha account and have started Croatian on there, but to go to the next step you have to tape yourself speaking and I don't have a microphone or web cam on my computer. I'm going to try to do it from my phone.
I will definately read a German book.

[Waidmann]

^Reading and speaking, that's the quickest way, I guess. Offcourse, as a dutch native speaker, it was easier for me to learn german than to most of you.
If I can recommend anything, I'd say you might start off with simple short stories like the ones written by Kafka, Martin Walser, H. Böll, H.H. Ewers, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Hauptmann etc. and offcourse with some poetry (Celan for the daredevils, Benn, Trakl) or some theater plays because they're not too heavy as well (I can especially recommend Dürrenmatt's Romulus der Grosse for that). On http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/ you can find many german stories. I'd give you some titles from short simple texts if you want to.
I agree with the persistence. A language should become some kind of routine and you reach that better by doing few everyday than lots once a week.