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Synonyms in German function differently--they overlap differently--than in English.

Well, of course they do, right? Because it's a different language.

A lot of German learners - A1, A2 and B1-level learners confuse the verbs meinen, bedeuten, and heißen because in English they all mean "to mean."

bedeuten = to mean

heißen = to mean (also means "to be called," which you'll hear as well today)

meinen = to mean

UGH!

The good news is, there are ways to tell them apart and you'll learn them in…

Summer vacation (or summer holidays) are drawing to a close for loads of people in the northern hemisphere.

So what are these called in German?

Das sind die Ferien.

And why is that word so frequently confused with "feiern"?

Because they are so similar.

In this episode of the GermanWithNicole.com podcast you'll learn how to pronounce these two words, which article you should use with Ferien (it's simpler than you might think), and a couple of example sentences so you can remember which word …

In this 5th episode of the GermanWithNicole.com Podcast you'll learn what these designations mean for German learning.

You've surely seen this alphabet-number combination on German learning materials and maybe you've seen or taken a German language assessment test and received one of these combinations as a result. “You can take a class at the A2 level.”

But what does it mean?! And why should you care?!

Hint: Understanding these combinations will make your German learning life sooooo much eas…

In this episode of the GermanWithNicole.com Podcast you'll discover when a good time is to start reading Harry Potter in German.

You'll also hear why that's a good time to start it.

We'll break down only the first two sentences of the book, both in English and in the German translation, to support this, and we'll have some fun along the way.

Think of this episode like a special map for German learning. ;-)

Giving credit where credit is due:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Page 5 © …

In Part 1, we explored the three most problematic approaches to learning German.

In Part 2 here today, we'll explore solutions to those three problematic approaches. They're all easier than you think, easily actionable, and will get you further in German than you might have thought possible.

If you're frustrated with German, if you haven't made progress like you wanted, and you just don't know what to do differently, this episode is for you.

Be sure to subscribe to automatically receive…

Consider your strategy and overall approach to German.

If you have been working on German for a while and are only treading water, this episode will help you figure out which parts of your learning approach are getting in your way.

You'll hear three of the most common, problematic approaches I've seen in the last 11 years of teaching German and 18 years of teaching a foreign language.

This is part 1 of 2 because part 2 will then guide you into more constructive territory for German learning. …

«Erst Ordnung schaffen.»

the stylist proclaimed as she clipped a section of my hair to the side and combed the section she was about to cut.

Erst Ordnung schaffen.

First, create order.

At that moment the hairstylist probably had no clue what an impact she would have on my life.

Her comment was my official introduction to the German sense of order.

In this first episode of the GermanWithNicole.com Podcast you'll hear how one of my private lesson clients created order and how it has chan…

And find out more about the first three episodes of the GermanWithNicole.com Podcast

The first episode of the GermanWithNicole.com Podcast is going to publish in only a few days.

The second and third episodes will follow soon after, and you can find out what those dates are in this short listening exercise.

Ihre Aufgabe:

Your task is to listen to the audio below and to note which dates the first three episodes will be released (auf Deutsch, natürlich) and then how often new episodes will b…

As usual, the German text is first, then after the flower you'll find the text in English.

Die GermanWithNicole.com Sendung (der Podcast) ist hier! Die Vorschau ist bereit zum Hören und Sie können die Sendung jetzt abonnieren.

Sie können entweder ihre Lieblingspodcastapp öffnen und nach GERMANWITHNICOLE suchen (alles ein Wort), oder Sie können diesen link benutzen:

https://germanwithnicole.captivate.fm/listen

Die Sendung gibt es jetzt überall: Apple Podcasts, Podcast Addict, Spotify, Googl…

If you're looking for listening practice at your level of German, you can now find it in Stube Radio, real German news audios (real German news, but only on pleasant topics) made personally by Frau Warner. There is a PDF transcript for you to download and keep (if you like).

What Stube Radio ISN'T

The most important thing for you to understand is that Stube Radio ISN'T news articles based on the horror-show of the day. It's not some super bored dude reading off the news at a very slow tempo wh…