I’ve been doing a lot of listening to German lately, mostly podcasts. I’ve been listening to Alltagsdeutsch from Deutsche Welle, along with two from Annik Rubens, Slow German and Schlaflos in München. To perhaps stop other German learners from going mad with frustration, I thought I’d point something out: either the variety of stuff I’ve listened to thus far is misleading, or Annik Rubens speaks extraordinarily fast in Schlaflos in München.
For a long while, I thought it was that my ears just weren’t accustomed to normal speaking speeds; I thought I just needed more exposure to the spoken language. The more I listen though, the more I think Annik just talks really, really fast. In Alltagsdeutsch, there are often large segments in each podcast where they’ve interviewed people on the street, and I can usually understand these people just fine. While I very rarely understand the meaning of everything they say, I am at least able to understand what they’re saying, so I can look up the unknown words. With Schlaflos in München there will often be segments of each podcast that I just can’t understand at all - the words are flying by so fast I can’t pick any out, they’re just a bunch of syllables squashed together.
This, of course, is not an “attack” or any such thing on Annik Rubens. It’s her podcast, and she should be allowed, if you will, to talk however she wants. After all, she makes a specific Slow German podcast for us learners. 
I do think, though, that learners might find it useful to know that, in my opinion, her speaking speed is not representative of the normal speed at which Germans speak. If you listen to a few episodes of Schlaflos in München and suddenly feel as if your listening skills have taken a lunge backwards, try listening to something else. It may very well be the material, not you.
Can anyone else comment on this? Have you noticed it as well? Could a native German have a listen at Annik’s site, and let me know if I’m crazy or not?
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March 17, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Nils Geylen
Well, not a native German but here’s what I’d venture to add. I had a listen to the Slow German podcasts and yes: they’re slow. Slower even than say, the news on German TV would be. If I were learning a new language, that would be what I’d need though.
SiM, on the other hand doesn’t sound exceedingly fast, but it does come close to what I can only describe as ‘excited girly chatter’. Again, a news broadcast, or someone reading from a text, would be slower.
Then again, I’ve heard it faster too, in panel talks, for instance, or Germans talking amongst themselves, where often I can’t make out much either. Then again, you’re in luck: she has a charming voice and a lovely accent. I might subscribe myself.
March 17, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Josh
Yeah, the Slow German is some of the slowest I’ve heard, barring the recordings for the very beginning of the Assimil German with Ease course.
Regarding SiM: Maybe you’re right, perhaps it’s not only the speed that makes it difficult for me to comprehend, but also just how Annik speaks. Her personality could be described as excited, hyper, etc.
I’ve noticed that there are a lot of “um’s” thrown in, which tends to throw my brain into fits when I’m trying to listen to German. If I’m doing fine in understanding, and then 3 or 4 um’s get thrown in, followed by the words the speaker was after, I tend to get lost amidst the um’s.
I’ll admit that your remark about panels / hearing Germans talking amongst themselves has me looking a bit like a deer who’s staring into headlights; if I’m struggling to understand Schlaflos, how in the world am I ever going to understand even faster stuff? Jyeesh.
And indeed, despite my struggles in actually understanding her, her voice is quite pleasant and fun to listen to.
March 19, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Jessica Sztaimberg
Hey there!
I am not sure of Annik’s site.. however, I will say that I had lots of trouble understanding my own cousin from Spain speak Spanish, but had no problem understanding his mother/my aunt. Come to find out…he mumbles when he speaks, and my aunt can barely understand him!
Funny though.. in one of my Spanish classes I had a teacher who spoke extremely fast, and was overly enthusiastic about everything (he blamed it on the daily 2 cups of morning coffee) My first few class I sat there thinking, “How on earth am I going to understand him?” and many students had to ask him to slow down. However, after a few classes I got used to HOW he spoke, and his accent, and by our last class we all joked about how we thought he was so speedy because at that point none of us had a problem understanding him!
Sometimes I think it takes a little time to get used to the way a person speaks, before you can fully understand what they are saying ( even if you speak the same language!). You have to pay real attention to their accent, tone, and speed. Hey, maybe even the way their personality is makes a difference as well!
How long have you been listening to Annik?
March 19, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Rmss
I don’t think she speaks too fast, I often hear people on the radio speaking faster. I have no problems at all understanding her, but that’s maybe because I grew up in the Netherlands where German is still quite common and the language is quite close to Dutch.
But maybe, when she makes her sentences too long, it does seem to be a bit unclear what she says.
March 20, 2008 at 2:28 pm
lucas luky
i’ve seen your post about online dictionaries and today I’ve found BEOLINGUS
http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de
it seems to be good and some words has audio example done by natives.
i’ve used to use LEO Dictionary… if you’ve discovered a better one, please let me know!
thanks
March 20, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Josh
Hi Jessica! Funny story about your cousin. Regarding your Spanish teacher, as well as your question: I’ve not been listening to SiM regularly for very long. I’ve listened to it a fair bit, but it’s been rather here and there in nature. So maybe I do just need to get used to how she speaks. By the way, welcome to LG.
Rmss: Thanks for the input. Your experiences point me to what others have said: keep listening!
Lucas Luky: Hi! Yeah, the dictionary from Chemnitz is pretty nice. I found the layout to be a bit weird at first, but once I got used to it, I like it fairly well. Thanks for the comment!
March 25, 2008 at 9:12 am
Jessica Sztaimberg
Hi Josh!
Thanks for the welcome!
Yah, it didn’t help me at first that my cousin actually grew up in Malaga, so his accent took a little time to understand!
I think it just takes a lot of listening over and over again, and after awhile it sounds normal…
I do miss that teacher back in Spain… he made us really concentrate in class (even though he was very hyper) his classes were SO much fun, and he taught us a great deal of Spanish in a short period of time! Since I was there around Christmas, he even showed us a holiday song and dance that we had to perform in class. We got to sing along with the music on a cd, and then we were asked to each sing a song from our own country (only if we wanted). It was great because the students in my class were from: Germany, Japan, Brazil, Turkey, France, and America, so we got to hear a lot of songs in different languages.
Happy language learning!
March 25, 2008 at 9:56 am
Josh
Jessica: Yeah, I’m going to keep plugging away at Schlaflos in Münche, perhaps with pen and paper in hand to jot down words that I simply don’t know.
The Spanish teacher sounds like fun, but I must say - I would have hated having to sing along with music, and I would’ve downright refused to dance. I’m too shy for that!
The getting to hear songs from all of those countries sounds pretty cool.
April 10, 2008 at 6:43 am
Annik Rubens
Hey there! I’m just writing to shout out a loud and slow “SORRY” for frustrating you guys out there! My podcast is mainly for Germans and thus I don’t try to slow down. My talking speed is quite normal for Germans, or let’s say for young Germans. But don’t worry: As soon as anybody notices that you are not a native speaker, they’ll slow down! Hope you keep on listening to “Slow German” (slowgerman.com, though…
April 10, 2008 at 6:47 am
Josh
Hey Annik! No need for you to say sorry. Like I said, it’s your podcast, and you should be “allowed” to speak at your normal pace. I just wanted to point out that you seemed to talk a little faster than most - which I ended up being wrong about anyway!
Thanks also for the info; at least I now know that I need to be able to understand you to understand the majority of Germans.
And, lastly, I plan on continuing listening to both Slow German and Schlaflos.
April 10, 2008 at 2:56 pm
anka
same here, even if schlaflos is just to get the hang of the language
April 10, 2008 at 2:56 pm
anka
by which I mean, how it sounds
April 19, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Mark
I listen to Schlaflos as well and it brings back memories of when I was in college living with a German family in Marburg, who had a student from some other part of Germany staying with them - when I listed to Annik, it reminded me of him - he spoke “unheimlich schnell”, or so it seemed to me at the time. I think Annik speaks pretty fast actually, but she’s right that some young Germans will sound that fast - over time, I get better and better and getting the drift, even if not every word. In the end, consider yourself lucky - she could be speaking Schwäbisch! LOL
Mark