Repetition is your best teacher. I made a choice to enroll in an intensive beginners class just under a year ago. It comprises of three hour lessons over four weekdays which can be quite overwhelming. I really encourage you to attend every single class. One missed class leaves a big gap in learning and you don’t want to get left behind. Seek to understand the theory so you can practice alone in your own time. Then repeat! Here is an example of an activity that encourages repetition. Repetition is the best teacher. 

Wiederholen [Vee-der-ho-len] Verb

The act of repeating. E.g Bitte höre, sehe, lese, spache. Immer wiederholen!

April

Focus on what really matters and don’t get bogged down on words that you would never use in a dialogue at first. You can start by picking up all the greetings, introductions and how to present yourself. This is why i chose “Sprachen” as my word of focus. Practice different ways to say Hello, Good bye, How are you, My name is, I am…, and so on. Greetings in another language are sure to help break down barriers. Today in class we had a speaking exercise which involved asking where certain furniture items should be placed and the partner responding with instructions.

April

I’m afraid I can’t tell you the secret formula to successfully learn a language. Everyone who has become fluent in a secondary language has had to go through the same journey. I am fortunate to have German all around me. So what did I do? I soaked my brain every day. I activated all “die Sinne” and kept at it consistently. Remembering words by seeing, listening, reading and reciting. Joining a class, getting a tutor or a tandem partner is a good first step. Then the rest is up to you to apply. Here is my kitchen (the place I actively spend the most time at home). You see what I mean by brain soaking?

Sinne [Sin-neh] Noun

The way in which the body perceives an external stimulus by way of sight, smell, touch, hearing, taste.

April

My name is April from Sydney Australia (yes, like the month). Sounds like a distant land doesn’t it? Because it is. It’s a 24 hour direct flight, across sea and land of a total of 16,318 km from my doorstep to Munich city. If you take the vertical distance of Germany from its northern border of Denmark to its southern border of Austria just east of Zugspitze that’s equivalent to 19.5 trips! I’m a long way from the motherland, living in Munich for the last year to pursue a different cultural landscape and embrace an exciting role working for one of the world’s number one travel platforms. Each day I’ll present a practical tip of how I’ve embraced learning a new language as an absolute beginner. Buckle up as “die Reise” is a bumpy one.

Reise [Rise-Eh] Noun

to travel from one place to another.; the act of journeying especially to distant places. e.g. “Ich reise von Sydney nach Muenchen”

April

Today was the last day of my A2 course. It was overall a nice experience learning with three teachers.

In this course I got to learn a lot of grammar and many new words.

I am planning to learn further but after a short break. I’ll make my grammar topics perfect and then will go for the next course.

Here I met very nice colleagues and learning together was a fun!

Today on the last day our teacher Anni baked some cakes and together we enjoyed them.

While eating we had a nice conversation about the general experiences in Germany and everyone’s future plans.

I wish everyone luck and prosperous future!

Bye bye…

Swarali

I am born and brought up in India…a country with lot of diversity and billions of people. It was challenging in India to find my way due to tremendous competition everywhere.

Population is the main difference I notice in every aspect and in every field when I compare India and Germany.

Wherever I used to go everywhere there used to be queues and lot of waiting. While traveling in day to day life trains, buses used to be flooded with people.

Lack of discipline I used to notice at most of the places. Certainly there were lots of good things too! I used to live in Pune city which is known as an educational hub and used to enjoy city’s culture.

I moved to Germany at 33…the age where you are somewhat rigid with your opinions but I kept myself neutral and blended in easily.

I have lived in Munich since I came here and I really liked the people and the city. Punctuality and discipline pleased me here.

Here too local trains are crowded but not flooded like it used to be in my country…of course it’s because of the overall population.

In Germany, people respect someone’s privacy and behave accordingly. Women are also equally treated here and I adore it!

Only the challenging thing to live here is language….and I have accepted this challenge.

So right now India is there in the one part of my heart and Germany in the other!

Swarali

In meinem letzten Artikel am Ende meiner Beziehung mit der Deutsch Akademie, möchte ich mich für die Hilfe beim Deutschlernen und für die positive Erfahrung bedanken. Für mich ist es die beste deutsche Sprachschule in München.

Für mich wird diese Sprachschule immer der erste Schritt sein, die deutsche Sprache und Kultur kennenzulernen.

Offensichtlich ist das der Verdienst meiner Lehrerinnen Andrea und Ines. Aber für mich sind sie nicht nur Lehrerinnen, sondern auch gute Freunde, die sich immer mit dem Verständnis auf meine Probleme und Fragen beziehen. Ausserdem bringen sie oft Kekse für uns. Ernsthaft, als ich zur Deutsch Akademie gekommen bin, konnte ich nichts anderes als «Hallo. Ich heiße Esther. Ich komme aus Russland.» sagen, und jetzt schreibe ich die ganzen Artikel auf Deutsch.

Auf dem Niveau B1.1 hat mich Ines geduldig die Grundlagen der Sprache und einfache Wörtern gelehrt und jetzt erklärt Andrea geduldig den Unterschied zwischen «wegen + Sachen” (z. B, Ich bin schlecht gelaunt wegen des Wetters) und «wegen + Personen» (z. B, Der Mann, dessentwegen ich schlechte Laune habe). Wenn die Grammatik zu schwer ist, um sie zu lernen, sagen wir: «Das ist C3.» Das ist unsere Definition einer sehr komplizierten Grammatik.

Dadurch, dass ich viele neue Freunde in der Deutsch Akademie getroffen habe, ist die Zeit, die ich dort verbracht habe ,für mich immer etwas besonderes. Jeden Tag wünschen wir uns einen guten Abend und an nächsten Tag beginnen wir unseren Kurs mit der Frage: «Wie war dein Tag?» So höre ich viele interessante und lustige Geschichten, z. B warum nennen bayerische Leute München Minga. Das werde ich sehr vermissen.

Esther :)

Everything you need to know to survive in Munich’s public transport.

First of all, if you are an app user, it is possible to download the free MVV app  to plan journeys, check the schedule in real time and purchase tickets.

The infrastructure facilities in Munich are up-standards. The public transport network includes S-Bahn services (suburban trains), U-Bahn (underground), buses and trams. Subway U-Bahn stations are marked with signs “U”, the S-Bahn services are marked with a “S”, tram and bus stops are marked with a “H”. S-Bahn runs from the outskirts to the city center. If you travel on this system, you get brand-quality service. It is quick, safe and clean. The system is complemented by the regional trains, which connect the smaller cities around Munich.

As for me, public transport in Munich is a bit expensive, especially compared to the prices in Russia. By the way, Munich’s public transport system is based on honesty. There are no barriers or gates. All you need is to buy the right ticket according to your journey. Anyway there are random checks in the trains, and they take them really seriously. They call it ‘Schwarzfahren’, when you failed to purchase a valid or correct ticket. In that case, you need to pay a fine of 60 euros.

Attention! Always validate your tickets and bring ID with you if you are using the MVV app.

Esther

Das Wetter in München ist ein anderes Diskussionsthema. Das Klima ist mild sowie allgemein warm hier. Wahrscheinlich denke ich so, weil ich aus Russland komme.

An meinem ersten Tag hat mich München mit ein bisschen Schnee und Regen getroffen. Es war am 17. Dezember. Die Temperatur war -1 Grad, was eine Überraschung war, da ich nach München aus dem frostigen Astana gekommen bin, wo zu diesem Zeitpunkt -17 Grad waren. Im Allgemeinen ist das Wetter hier seine Veränderlichkeit bekannt und ich habe das erkannt. Ende Januar 2018 waren +20 Grad und Schneeglöckchen haben geblüht, und im März waren bis -20 Grad. Dies wird als echte Vielfalt bezeichnet. Frühling, Sommer und Herbst 2018 wären sehr warm und fast ohne Regen, was für München ungewöhnlich ist.

Der Frühling 2019 erinnert mich daran, dass man sich nicht entspannen soll. Regelmäßige Regenfälle, starke Winde und niedrige Temperaturen waren in diesem Jahr die wahren Freunde des Frühlings.

Was ich am meisten überrascht, ist, wie stark sich das Aussehen der Stadt bei bewölktem und sonnigen Wetter verändert. Bei bewölktem Wetter sieht München sehr deprimierend und düster aus, und bei sonnigen Wetter sieht sie wie eine fabelhafte Stadt aus den Seiten Ihrer Lieblingsbücher aus. An solchen Tagen ist das Wetter zu schön, um mit der S-Bahn oder mit dem Bus zu fahren. Ich gehe gerne durch die Stadt spazieren.

Also… in welchem Monat eignet sich das Reiseziel München aus klimatischer Sicht am besten für einen Urlaub? Definitiv ist Juni, Juli und August die beste Reisezeit für München.

Esther

In this era of online shopping I still love to visit the shops and buy the things. There are many branded outlets in Munich. Marienplatz area is full of such outlets.

There are several malls in Munich and I love to spend my whole Saturday there sometimes.

Pasing Arcaden, Olympia Einkaufszentrum, Riem Arcaden, Pep mall are my favourites.

In pep mall there are two stores namely Kaufland and Primark where we get variety of stuff at reasonable price.

For good clothes one should visit C&A, Kik, H&M shops.

For branded cosmetics and perfumes Douglas shop is the best.

I like Mac brand for the cosmetics. These Mac outlets are almost there in every mall.

Thing I like about malls is there are play areas for children too so that they don’t trouble us much while shopping. Also there are many ice cream shops and eateries available.

In Germany and Austria one must buy the Swarovski jewellery. These shops are located near Marienplatz.

FC Bayern is world famous and its fan shops are plenty in Munich. Buying souvenirs from such shops are totally worth it!

In Munich, stations like Karlsplatz, Hauptbahnhof also have many stores for shoppers but I find them little bit pricy.

There is one small town near Munich… Ingolstadt. It’s very famous for shopping. All the designer outlets are there. No doubt shopping lover will enjoy shopping here.

So Munich gives you many options for shopping only the thing you must remember is on Sunday everything is closed in Germany.

So these are my insiders tips for shopping… happy shoppingJ!

Swarali