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How to Give a German Learner a Seat in "die gute Stube"

Give a German Learner Gift

The email delivery on this gift is so fast.

Trying to send gifts this year is a challenge. We can be really grateful for all the fantastic people working hard to get our packages to their destinations, that's for sure.

Sometimes sending them is a different story, however. Yesterday I stopped at the Post Office to send off a package and as soon as I approached the door I realized it wasn't the best time. It was 11 a.m. and the line (physically distanced, of course) was all the way to the front …

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Take this Relaxing Video Trip to Bavaria

Take This Relaxing Video Trip to Bavaria

Wenn man nicht reisen kann, egal ob man zu wenig Geld hat oder es eine Pandemie gibt, kann man immer das Internet benutzen, um eine virtuelle Reise zu machen.

Es kostet nichts und man kann die gleiche Reise immer wieder machen.

Diese Woche gibt es eine Videoreise nach Bayern. Sie können verschiedene Seen sehen, eine Wiese, verschiedene Städte und vieles mehr.

Kommen Sie für 4 Minuten, 30 Sekunden mit nach Bayern. 

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When the time isn't right to travel, no matter if it's because money is tight or there…

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What are the Six Levels of Learning German?

What are the Six Levels of Learning German

If you've seen the combinations A1, B2 or C1 on your German books but you don't know or understand what they mean, this post is for you!

There are six total combinations of letters and numbers: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2. These are simply guidelines for figuring out where you are in the German learning process.

The name for this straightforward scale is the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages or the CEFR.

Why the CEFR is so helpful

This scale is so clear, so helpful for Germa…

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What Are the Six Parts of Learning German?

What Are the Six Parts of Learning German

Ask any new German learner and they will say German has a million parts and a gazillion words and then you can add the words together to makes new words and...

Stop!

There are only six parts to learning German.

No one part is more important than the other, either, as they are all part of the same machine, if you will.

Think of it like a car.

Does a car function well if part of it is missing or broken? Not usually!

A couple of weeks ago my car battery died (I'll spare you the details becaus…

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Practice a Tongue Twister in German

German tongue twister Zungenbrecher üben

der Zungenbrecher = tongue twister

Heute können Sie einen Zungenbrecher üben! Hier können Sie das PDF herunterladen:

 PDF herunterladen

Dann schauen Sie das Video. Ich helfe Ihnen dabei, das /ts/ aussprechen zu können und den Zungenbrecher zu lernen. Viel Spaß dabei!

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auf Englisch:

Today you can practice a tongue twister! You can download the PDF here:

download PDF

And then watch the video. In the video I'll help you correctly pronounce the /ts/ sound and to learn the tongue twister. Ha…

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Ein Gedicht: Wenn die Hoffnung nicht wär

Wenn die Hoffnung nicht wär

Guten Morgen allerseits!

Heute habe ich ein Gedicht für euch. So können Sie das Gedicht lernen:

1. Laden Sie das PDF herunter und lesen Sie das Gedicht.

PDF herunterladen

2. Schlagen Sie Wörter nach, die Ihnen neu sind. Schreiben Sie einen Kommentar, wenn Sie eine Frage haben.

3. Schauen Sie das Video.

4. Schauen Sie das Video nochmal und sprechen Sie mit.

5. Sprechen Sie das Gedicht laut vor. Gut ist's!

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Good morning everyone!

Today I have a poem for you. Here's how you can le…

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How I Learned German in 6 Months

How I Learned German in 6 Months

There isn't much of a secret to language learning because it's all about working with the language as much as possible over a length of time. However I can give you tips on how I learned to speak German fluently (and I mean--I could say anything I wanted or needed to say) within about 6 months. Konjunktiv II? Kein Thema. Polite discourse? Absolut! Telling someone off? That, too.

Don't get me wrong--learning German in 6 months was really tough. I started at an A2 level (the second-lowest level) …

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Wiederholen Sie, bitte!

5 Ways to Re-Use your German and Learn More

5 Ways to Re-Use Your German & Learn More in the Process

There is one key ingredient to students who learn the most in their German lessons:  they repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.

My first German teacher was (and surely still is) an excellent instructor. She told me if I wanted to learn a new word in German, I'd have to use it 28 times.

28 times!! That's a lot of repetition. (If that's an average, sometimes it goes faster--say 20 repetitions, and sometimes it takes longer, say 40 repet…

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How to Pronounce the "Ich-Laut" in German

How to Pronounce Ich-Laut German Instructional Video

Use this Instructional Video to Learn How to Pronounce the "Ich-Laut" in German!

The Ich-Laut can be tough for English speakers to pronounce because it's not a part of English...or is it?

Ladies and Gentlemen, we *do* have the Ich-Laut in English--it's just hidden!

In this video on how to pronounce the Ich-Laut, I show you where to find that hidden "ch" sound in English and then I guide you through a couple of exercises to help you pronounce this sound in German.

The most important factor is…

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