Category Archives: German

Why you probably shouldn’t buy Schau ins Land

Posted on March 30, 2008 by Josh

There’s a company called Champs-Elysees, which makes four different audio magazines for language learners: Champs-Elysees, Puerta del Sol, Acquerello italiano, and Schau ins Land. Each issue of the audio magazines comes with a CD or cassette tape (around an hour … Continue reading →

Posted in German, Language Learning, Learning Methods | 7 Comments

Words In Context Vs. Word Lists, Part 2

Posted on February 25, 2008 by Josh

I wrote previously about word lists vs. words in context, and said that I thought for a lot of words, context just wasn’t needed much. This is especially true of concrete nouns. A bakery is a bakery, whether you say … Continue reading →

Posted in All Entries, German, Language Journal, Language Learning, Vocabulary | 8 Comments

A couple of charming German words

Posted on January 18, 2008 by Josh

I sat down a few minutes ago and flipped through a few pages of Using German Vocabulary, not really looking for anything in particular – just enjoying seeing new words, really. I landed in a section on the animal word. … Continue reading →

Posted in German, Language Journal, Vocabulary | 3 Comments

“Oh, do you speak [X]?”

Posted on January 12, 2008 by Josh

A little over a week ago, I went into the university library to pick up the copy of Using German Vocabulary that was waiting for me. As I work at the library as a reference assistant, the lady at the … Continue reading →

Posted in German, Language Journal, Language Learning | 17 Comments

Words in context vs. word lists

Posted on January 5, 2008 by Josh

In poking around at the How to Learn Any Language forums, I’ve come across many good discussions on vocabulary acquisition. One of the things that the discussions usually revolve around is whether one should avoid using word lists, relying solely … Continue reading →

Posted in German, Language Learning, Vocabulary | 4 Comments

What am I doing, language-wise?

Posted on September 4, 2007 by Josh

I’ve not posted about how my language learning is going for a while now, so here’s the obligatory update. My German is going extremely well. It’s mostly just an activity of vocabulary acquisition at this point. I’m familiar with all … Continue reading →

Posted in French, German, Language Journal, Language Learning, Russian | Leave a comment

Typing in German made easier

Posted on August 18, 2007 by Josh

I’ve been studying German for 4 years or so now, and since I began, I’ve been pounding away with alt-code keys. Alt+0220 for Ü, alt+0246 for ö, etc. I just discovered something which will save me quite a bit of … Continue reading →

Posted in German, Language Learning, Tools | 3 Comments

The German equivalent to Merriam Webster?

Posted on August 1, 2007 by Josh

I was wondering about something: why have I never seen the equivalent of a German Merriam Webster online? For English, many commercial or professionally made dictionaries provide a free online version to anyone who wants to use it. The one … Continue reading →

Posted in Dictionaries, German, Language Learning | 3 Comments

Slow German podcast from Annik Rubens

Posted on June 21, 2007 by Josh

I blogged earlier this month about listening to Schlaflos in München to work on your German listening skills. In my previous post, I neglected to mention that Annik also offers a special version of Schlaflos for learners of German, Slow … Continue reading →

Posted in German, Podcasts, Resources | 6 Comments

Using monolingual dictionaries for foreign language learning…

Posted on June 5, 2007 by Josh

… is it worth the trouble? I’ve read in a few different places that using a monolingual dictionary which is in your target language is a good way to advance with your studies. I can certainly see the logic in … Continue reading →

Posted in German, Language Learning, Learning Tips | 2 Comments