Learning German

[Maya]

I see you reorganized it, better without QUOTEs on The second Post, don't want to Touch now, from mobile. Coludí you remove then? If not I'll do tonight. I got you.

[Jorge]

Posted by Waidmann here http://affenknecht.com/forum/showthr...ll=1#post12914

On http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/ you can find many german stories. 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)

[Maya]

Updated again.

[Maya]

Done!!!!!!!!!

[Maya]

No problem I add your comments in your post, exists the option of merging too but they will be ordered cronologically

[Jorge]

No, what I mean is that if somebody puts a link to a resource, (a newspaper, for example), that post stays where it is, but the recommendation, is added to the second post.

Example: I recommended already in another post, and I do it again now, the radio station www.rockantenne.de It is international rock, but they talk also a bit and there is advertisement in German.

(so, this recommendation, is added also to the second post, to when this thread is hundress of pages long - - , future users won't have to go through endless pages in order to find the interesting stuff... )

[Maya]

Learning German is a different issue depending on what is your mother tongue. For us, Maya, it is relatively easier than for most of English speaker, as our education in terms of language is generally better. We learn a lot of grammar, and (at least when I was in school) we had to study Latin also.

Of course, if your name is Belén Esteban, learning German must be difficult...

Spain is a very Germanophile country. You can learn German in many places, schools, associations, etc. In London is actually quite hard to do it. Yes, there is Goethe Insitut... but at one hour by train/tram/bus from my home. Local councils organise courses, but people give up soon and eventually the courses are cancelled. Private tutors charge a fortune...

... well, I shouldn't complain much, weil meine Freundin kommt aus Deutschland... :P


PS: Y tú un cielo!!!

PSS: What do you think about pasting later contributions in the second message, in order to have it all together? I can do it, or any admin/mod, of course

Fortunately I'm not Belen Esteban.... xD

The problem is that the copied posts will be inserted into their chronological positions within this thread. So they will the first...

[Jorge]

Learning German is a different issue depending on what is your mother tongue. For us, Maya, it is relatively easier than for most of English speaker, as our education in terms of language is generally better. We learn a lot of grammar, and (at least when I was in school) we had to study Latin also.

Of course, if your name is Belén Esteban, learning German must be difficult...

Spain is a very Germanophile country. You can learn German in many places, schools, associations, etc. In London is actually quite hard to do it. Yes, there is Goethe Insitut... but at one hour by train/tram/bus from my home. Local councils organise courses, but people give up soon and eventually the courses are cancelled. Private tutors charge a fortune...

... well, I shouldn't complain much, weil meine Freundin kommt aus Deutschland... :P


PS: Y tú un cielo!!!

PSS: What do you think about pasting later contributions in the second message, in order to have it all together? I can do it, or any admin/mod, of course

[Maya]

Count with me, please!

Sure I do, Thanks. Waiting for the others, with their point of view; this thread could be very useful.

PS: Eres un sol !!!!

[Jorge]

Count with me, please!

[Maya]

Great initiative!!!

I want your feed back, can't do it now but in a near future I want to learn... so it would be great to know which are the best.

[Maya]

Great initiative!!!

I want your feed back, can't do it now but in a near future I want to learn... so it would be great to know which are the best.

[Jorge]

Learning websites:
http://www.deutsch-perfekt.com/ : They provide short articles, podcasts, games and tests for free. The best part is the monthly magazine (with subscription), great for learners at any level. I think you can ask for a sample. I am a subscriber of the digital version and I much enjoy it.
http://www.livemocha.com/. Rosetta Stone type of website. Free in its basic modes. Really useful.
http://duolingo.com/ translate the web and learn a language. Suggested by Snake here.


Online courses:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/lj/ BBC's "German steps - German for beginners". Very simple topics, very useful for the "blitzvisit" of a weekend or a couple of days. Say hello, thanks, good bye and so on in German. Very easy, quite simple, but good for getting to know a few basic stuff.


Literature database (free!)
http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/ Projekt Gutenberg, in German. Free digital books that don't have any more royalties. Great for reading in your computer or e-book! Thanks Waidmann for it!

National press:
Well... you better take a look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ers_in_Germany

News, general media for foreigners:
http://www.dw.de/: Deutsche Welle, German news in 30 languages. They also have language courses and podcasts.
http://www.euronews.com/ Euronews, you can always read it in German.

Educational publishing houses (for textbooks, dictionaries, grammars, etc.)
http://www.langenscheidt.de/
http://www.pons.eu/
http://www.hueber.de/deutsch-als-fremdsprache/lehrwerke

Online dictionaries:
http://dict.leo.org/
http://www.pons.eu/

Radio stations:
www.rockantenne.de They air international rock, but they talk also a bit and there is advertisement in German, so it is great the catch the sentences intonation and some words.

Online books:
http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/ Royalties-free collection, many classic works older than 100 year. Suggested by Weidmann, with his recommendations here.

Grammar books:
Hentschel/Weydts Handbuch der deutschen Grammatik. Suggested by Waidmann here

[Jorge]

We are all here because we like Rammstein. Some, like Rammstein so much that they decide to learn German and get the most of their lyrics. A few, eventually will learn it, and it is not an easy job.

How to make it easier? With some help from your friends, who, in this place, is us

I have decided to create this thread to give recommendations and resources for those learning German. Of course, anyonw can contribute with whatever they can/know!

Here we go...