Guten Tag from the Berliner Stadtbibliothek (in Mitte)!

I’ve been having internet problems for the past few days so I decided to go to the library to write my blog post. The library is in a great location beside the Spree River and across from Nikolaiviertel, which is where the original settlements in Berlin were located and date back to the late 1100’s. This is my first time in a library in Berlin, and thanks to my internet dilemma, I might start coming here more often to get some work done and perhaps study German!

I’ve been studying German at DeutschAkademie for four months now, but I knew that I would be living in Germany long before I moved here. I was very intimidated by learning a new language from the very beginning, but I wanted to get a head start if I could. My husband was already using a website called Duolingo to practice his German, so I gave that a try while still living in Canada and I really liked it! It uses a combination of words and pictures to teach you words and phrases through translation, speaking, spelling or listening. I was able to progress quickly and comfortably. By the time I started A 1.1, I was very thankful that I had already started to study German, because it gave me that extra advantage in the first month.

After arriving at DeutschAkademie, I learned that they had created their own app and they have many free, online German studying tools that I have used myself. It is a great way to extend your German learning outside of the classroom and to keep up with the increasingly challenging German concepts. DeutschAkademie also has many language learning books. Some have an audio guide component and exercises for those who prefer pen and paper, and some can be purchased as an E-Book.

Other apps that I heavily rely on are Google Translate and German Verb Conjugator. Both are very helpful in and out of class! I have spent countless times in stores Google-translating specific cleaning products or what yogurt to buy. Thankfully, I’ve reduced the amount of time I spend doing that now! German can be a daunting language to learn, but there are plenty of additional computer programs, phone apps and books to help you get through it.

Good luck!

Sara