Talking with my classmates we have been looking for diverse forms of practicing German, at the end, you need to practice what you have learned in the lessons otherwise everything will be forgotten. So we have shared some tools and tips to practicing, like apps such as “Leo”, a good dictionary app with accurate translations. To acquire more vocabulary, read books for children, there are also some books for adults written in German and English even many available in your own mother tongue. There are also many apps with games like duolingo, memorise or studyblue to do flash cards or just play a game while you learn German. Personally, I prefer to use flash cards in an electronic device due to I have lost many times the ones that I did on paper, so with it, I found a way to never lose them again. Finally, I recommend to do “tandem”, there is always local people that are fluent in German and want to learn your mother tongue, in my case Spanish, so why not try this one and practice more your speaking, it is also a good way to meet people. I have joined many tandem pages on Facebook and the other ones have been recommended by friends.

The last three months I have been traveling around Germany, such as Frankfurt, Berlin and towns and cities in the south like Nürnberg, a beautiful city just two hours by train from Munich and of course the fabulous Neuschwanstein Castle an unforgettable visit in Bavaria. But at the end, I can say that Munich is my favorite city. What I like about it, is the combination of nature and the asphalt. Nothing better that in a sunny day walk through the city center and getting lost in the beauty of its buildings and their history to continue to the English Garden, having a beer in the Bier Garten or just walk around seeing the nature, to finally end in a cafeteria drinking coffee as a good Colombian studying German.

On Thursday we had a special visit of two Easter bunnies that came to the DeutschAkademie with chocolate eggs to wish to my classmates and me a happy Easter “Frohe Ostern”! This was a sweet present of them.

Then a question came up, why eggs and why rabbits? Nobody knew the answer so we started talking about which are the Easter traditions worldwide, as we come from different countries and cultures around the world, as in some of them Easter is not celebrated we change the topic,  also following our book, to different traditions during the year. Everybody was talking about their own country so was a productive class learning German and diverse cultures.

In the third lesson of B1.1 my teacher gave to my classmates and me some important rules and tips to study German. First of all, and one of the most important rules, the verb is the “König” and the preposition the “Königin”, what it means? In each sentence which determines if you use Nominativ, Dativ or Akkusativ is the verb, then the article. Second, as you need to remember it, while you are learning the verbs add to the word, the translation to your mother tongue, the präteritum, and the case Dativ or Akkusativ, in my case I use flash cards, I show you an example of it.  On the other hand always that you are memorizing a noun add always the article and the plural form, so for instance, the flower – die Blume, die Blumen (Pl.)

My classmates come from different countries, Nigeria, China, Ukraine, Brazil, Palestina, Irak, Bosnia, Italy, Venezuela and me from Colombia, all of us are agree with the same reason of why we are learning German, even we could say at the same time “to work” if you want to live in Germany, to have a job or to interact with Germans, first step learn German.

A friend that has been living here in Germany for almost 10 years added a couple of things, like learn German, see Tatort every weekend, learn German, use sandals with socks in summer, learn German, go at least once per year to Mallorca to holidays, learn German, eat Schnitzel (at least in Bavaria) and learn German. And finally she added, then you will feel that you will start thinking as a German, so as you saw the most important thing here is speak German, doesn’t matter the reason, it could be for joy, to study, for a job, to travel, anything, find your motivation and Learn German.

Hallo Leute!

I am Angela and I come from Colombia. Many people ask me why I have changed the tropical climate to the cold weather of Germany. But what can I say I have been living here in Munich for almost one year and I love this city. I came to do my master’s thesis and an internship in Engineering, believe it or not without knowing a word in German, was hard but many people helped me in the process. Without time because of my tight agenda I couldn’t take lessons of German properly (learn a new language require dedication, but learn German even a double effort), even Oscar Wilde dared to say “Life is too short to learn German”, but once you start speaking and understanding what Germans say to have at least a short conversation introducing yourself, you feel that you want more and more. So after a year I could find the time to learn German and this is my third month with the DeutschAkademie so I have even started dreaming in German, which makes me see that my dedication is taking results, just be patient, it takes time but you will see the results.