By following the story of one character and his friends, it’s like reading fiction. Whether you are near or far away, the Audiokurs Deutsch Für Anfänger is a great thing to have at home, which is published with Deutsch Akademie. The book is helpful for many reasons, most notably because the texts go from English to German in the same paragraph (“His friends were easily persuaded because they all love skiing, sie lieben Skifahren”).
Throughout the storyline, there are lessons in between, translations and vocabulary building, which match up on the CD. For every chapter, there is a page with new phrases in English (“That doesn’t suit me at all”) with the corresponding translation (“Das past mir gar nicht”). If you have worked with other German textbooks, you’ll know this reference point is helpful and the storyline is much more colorful than what you’d typically expect. There is also a section in each chapter for grammar and verb examples. The rules are explained in plain language with several examples. Sie haben Glück gehabt – You’ve been lucky.

Let’s face it – you only get better at learning German by listening to the pronunciation of words (as well as practicing what you’ve learned, too). Here are a variety of German learning podcasts which will help you improve your ‘aussprache,’ by tuning into their weekly lessons. It usually takes only a few minutes out of your day, and is totally worth it to help build your vocabulary, exercise those grammatical muscles or just listen in to conversation.

One Minute German
http://radiolingua.com/shows/german/one-minute-german/

Learn German with Podcasts
http://www.dw.de/learn-german-with-podcasts/a-2917951

Survival Phrases
http://www.survivalphrases.com

GermanPod 101
http://www.germanpod101.com

German Ling Q
http://germanlingq.com/

The DeutschAkademie app offers over 22,000 vocabulary and grammar exercises

Learn German 6,000 Words categorizes words by 15 topics and 140 sub-topics

Der Die Das has an archive of 17,000 words to get you memorizing the German vocabulary

King of German Article has an endless gender quiz

AnkiDroid flash cards

Yapping Puppy offers German learning games

German Verb Trainer offers customizable tests

To keep you motivated during frustrating times.

Created with Notegraphy.

Long German words always fascinate people. In June, the longest German word at 63 letters, Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz (which means beef labeling supervision task transfer act) was reportedly kicked out of the Deutsch lexicon. However, there are still other long German words, here are some fun examples.

Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung = Speed limit

Freundschaftsbezeigungen = Friendship demonstrations

Stadtverordnetenversammlungen = City Council meetings

Generalstaatsverordnetenversammlungen = General state council meetings

Kinderbewahrungsanstalten = Child-care institutions

Unabhaengigkeitserklaerungen = Armistice negotiations

Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft = Association for Subordinate Officials of the Head Office Management of the Danube Steamboat Electrical Services

Kraftfahrzeug-Haftpflichtversicherung = Motor vehicle liability insurance

Rechtsschutzversicherungsgesellschaften = Insurance companies providing legal protection

Aufsichtsratsmitgliederversammlung = Meeting of members of the supervisory board

It was Mark Twain who tried learning German at age 15, but gave it up quickly. He revisited Deutsch again 28 years later with a mature mind. Still, he wound up writing an essay in 1880 called The Awful German Language.

There may be obstacles in learning German, but there are also helpful reminders as we go along. On that note, here are some quotes about the German language from the masters, from famous writers to actors and philosophers alike. Click through the links for further reading.

“How charmed I am when I overhear a German word which I understand.”
–Mark Twain

“I remember learning German – so beautiful, so strange – at school in Australia on the other side of the earth. My family was nonplussed about me learning such an odd, ugly language and, though of course too sophisticated to say it, the language of the enemy. But I liked the sticklebrick nature of it, building long supple words by putting short ones together. Things could be brought into being that had no name in English – Weltanschauung, Schadenfreude, sippenhaft, Sonderweg, Scheissfreundlichkeit, Vergangenheitsbewältigung.”
–Anna Funder

“If you’ve never studied German before or think you know nothing about it, you might be in for a little surprise. You already know many German words .And you have the advantage of being an English speaker, which means that your knowledge of that language will be a helpful tool for learning German efficiently and comfortably.”
–Edward Swick

“In German, a young lady has no sex, but a turnip has (die Ruebe).”
–Mark Twain

“America took me into her bosom when there was no longer a country worthy of the name, but in my heart I am German – German in my soul.
–Marlene Dietrich

“The German language speaks Being, while all the others merely speak of Being.”
–Martin Heidegger

“More particularly, having a largely German-oriented education has made me very responsive to 19th-century German literature.”
–John le Carre