digital tools and media

PukkaGerman.com Pukka German Podcast, German Slang, Colloquial German, Idioms, Funny German Sayings for Intermediate to Advanced

travelinguist — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:37:46 -0500

Summary

Pukka German a free audio podcast for intermediate to advanced German learners. The Pukka German podcast focuses on real-life German, including colloquial German, slang, German idioms and funny German sayings. A few example podcast topics are Oktoberfest, Gobsmacked, Money, Party and Like Clockwork.

The lesson audio, podcast transcripts and vocabulary lists are totally free and there is an option to become a pro member to gain access to online quizzes for a reasonable price. Pukka German is vibrant and filled with useful content for people that want to learn the kind of German language that is used in everyday life. The podcast production quality is that of proper studio recordings and the website is quite colorful as well.

Overall, this is an excellent, vibrant, relatively new podcast for students of German. Bravo Lisa and Tyler!

From Website

Who is Pukka German for?

Our German podcast is aimed at independent learners of German of all ages from intermediate to advanced levels. Whether you are a student, business professional or a language afficionado you will find plenty of useful material on the site to help you speak more fluent and interesting German.

We do not teach beginner German so you will need to have the German basics under your belt already to get the most from our German podcast and online quizzes.

Pukka German Inspiration

On arrival in Freiburg, I realised that in order to properly integrate and enjoy living out here, I was going to have to learn German.

Immediately I devoted considerable energy to learning the German basics as quickly as possible. I used language learning software, CDs, a multitude of books, online resources and also took German language classes. In fact Lisa was quite taken aback by my motivation and she worried that I had some kind of compulsive disorder that she'd failed to pick up on during our time in Scotland!

On arrival in Freiburg, I realised that in order to properly integrate and enjoy living out here, I was going to have to learn German.

Immediately I devoted considerable energy to learning the German basics as quickly as possible. I used language learning software, CDs, a multitude of books, online resources and also took German language classes. In fact Lisa was quite taken aback by my motivation and she worried that I had some kind of compulsive disorder that she'd failed to pick up on during our time in Scotland!

Unfortunately, I soon noticed that the language I learnt from text books was very different to the colourful language that I heard being used socially. It frustrated me that despite all the time and energy I'd invested to improve my German, I battled to understand what seemed to be the most entertaining conversations. I also felt cramped in my ability to express my personality and bring humour into conversation. It didn't take much to realise that it was the idiomatic language, the colloquial expressions and equally important, the German slang that I was missing.

Fortunately for me, I had Lisa who not only did me the favour of speaking with me in German from my first week here, but she also explained many of the useful German expressions, that my private studies hadn't exposed me to.

This obvious difference between textbook German and the language used by a large percentage of the Germans I was meeting is what inspired the creation of the Pukka German podcast. My vision with Pukka German is to help learners of German to bridge this divide, which normally is only achieved with a patient native speaker at your side.

A German podcast seemed the perfect solution because it allows subscribers to hear new vocabulary in context and spoken by a native speaker. Podcasts are also great for regular delivery of content, which is super for language learning.

Visit Pukka German.

Subscribe to Pukka German.
Subscribe to Pukka German via iTunes.

german.about.com German Learning+Teaching Resources, Verb Conjugator, Audio Listening Lab, Grammar, Geneology, Culture, Lessons

polyglot — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 05:06:47 -0500

Summary

german.about.com is packed full of information for beginner to intermediate German learners as well as teachers of those levels. In fact, there is so much content there that listing it here would take too much time! Instead, this article will highlight some of the things you can find on the site, and leave the rest for you to find on the site.

Of special note are the start learning section, practice materials, teacher resources, audio lab, grammar section, travel section, vocabulary section, culture section, thesaurus, games/exercises and verb conjugator.

There is a lot more there, and it's all accessible for free. :)

From Website

Our German Language Lab offers audio for beginners or more advanced learners of German. Using the audio categories listed below, you can learn how to pronounce German correctly. By listening carefully to the sound in our German Language Lab, you'll have a model to imitate. Some language learners find it easier than others to get just the right sounds of German, but with a little effort you can do it! If you want to sound like a German, remember the German saying: Übung macht den Meister. (Practice makes perfect.)

Use the German Word of the Day (Wort des Tages) to expand your German vocabulary. Below you'll find two versions, one for beginners and another for intermediate or advanced learners.

Visit german.about.com

Radio Lingua's A Flavour of German Podcast Teaches German Idioms (Idiomatic Expressions) via Audio Lessons

travelinguist — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:45:21 -0500

Summary

A Flavor of German is a series of free brief podcasts by Radio Lingua Network that teach useful German idiomatic expressions. Lessons already exist with idioms for such concepts as weather, time, colors and being tired, with more episodes coming fortnightly.

The free audio lessons are good, and if you would like transcripts of the lessons plus additional materials, you can purchase the whole series from Radio Lingua for about $15 USD.

From Website

We're delighted to introduce the latest series in the range of language learning materials from the Radio Lingua Network. A Flavour of German will help you to 'spice up your German' by teaching you idiomatic German phrases and helping to increase your range of expression. In the show the tables are turned on Coffee Break Spanish teacher Mark, who is aiming to improve his German, ably assisted by teacher Julia from One Minute German. Join Julia and Mark in fortnightly episodes and spice up your German with Radio Lingua.

Visit A Flavour of German Podcast

Subscribe to A Flavour of German Podcast.
Subscribe to A Flavour of German Podcast via iTunes.
View A Flavour of German Podcast Feed on Free Language.

German-Flashcards.com Free German Flashcard Course with Dictionary and German Text Annotation

travelinguist — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:42:51 -0500

Summary

German-Flashcards.com is a fast-loading, useful site for German learners to manage and practice vocabulary lists (words and sentences). There are many existing word and sentence lists created by other users that you can snag and use right away. You can also create your own lists and sentences on-the-fly and test yourself until you know them all. As a result, this resource works for Spanish students of all levels, beginner to advanced. The self-testing is done via built-in flashcard software that you control.

The website has an integrated dictionary that gives explanations of individual terms and includes examples of how these are used in real sentences. In addition, when you view a sentence, you can scroll over the German words and view annotations. NB: You can copy and paste any German text you want into the site's Text Analyzer and it provides you with what you see below (see grey scroll-over pop-up in image for annotation). Words that are not in the system with be displayed in grey.

Something I find useful is the site's Sentence of the Day email. This sends a different sentence every day complete with a translation of the sentence.

If you upgrade to a premuim membership (~$5/month) you can also hear audio for the sentence. In fact, the only thing you cannot do without a membership is hear the audio on the site.

Bravo Oliver for this excellent site and keep up the great work!

From Website

Introduction to German-Flashcards.com

German-Flashcards.com started in July 2006. A lot of time has been invested to design an efficient system which enables you to learn new words in the shortest time possible. Make sure to read this introduction carefully so you understand how the system works. Once you know how this website works and you use it regularly it will become an important tool to learn German. Ideally make time each day for 2 or 3 sessions a day, each lasting about 10 - 15 minutes.
Once you have created your own account you can set up your own word list. There are basically two different modes on how to add new words to your word list. One is automatically and one is manually.

Automatically

If you choose "automatically" then the system will choose random words for you to practice. Within the Auto-Mode there are two different choices. The first is "completely random words" and the second is "frequent words first". Obviously if you are a beginner you should focus on those frequent words firsts, so if you chose the level "Complete Newbie", "Basic" or "Intermediate" the system will just do that. If you chose the level "Upper Intermediate" or "Advanced" completely random words will be added to your word list.

Manually

If you would like more control over which word you learn switch to the manually mode. In this mode you have to choose which word you will learn, not the system. There are a few ways to add words manually. The first is to use the search function in the navigation bar on the left-hand side. You can search for German or English words. On the result page every found word has an "Add Word" link next to it. Click it to add this word to your personal list. After you click it the link text will change to "Remove Word", so you can immediately remove the word from your list if you have added it by mistake.

The second way to add words manually is to click the link "Add new Words" in the navigation. This will show random words for you to add. They are sorted by frequency, the most common words will be at the top of this random list, while the rare words will be at the bottom of the list.

Finally you can add words manually by browsing through the "public word lists". These lists have been created by other users. These public lists normally have a common theme, like "animals", "computer terms", "fruits", etc. You can either pick some words of these public lists or copy the whole list.

You can also combine these methods, add words automatically but also occasionally add words manually.

Adding words automatically is the default setting. If you do not want to add words automatically you can change this in the settings.

The Loop

The main problem of learning new words is that over time word lists grow very big. This means that the learner feels overwhelmed and the time between word repetitions becomes too long. Thats where the Loop comes to the rescue. The Loop consists of a subset of only 20 words out of your word list. This means you can concentrate on a few words only, until you have memorized them properly. To keep a flashcard in the loop click on the link "Keep in the Loop".

If you have become familiar with a new word which is in the Loop click on "1 day", "7 days", "30 days" etc. Which means that the word will be shown only after the indicated time has passed. If you know a word very well click on "30 Days" or "3 Months" so the word will be shown only after a long time. After the indicated time has passed the word will be put into the Queue.

Once you remove a word from the Loop another one will be put in the Loop. The system will first check if there are any words in the "Queue". If the Queue is empty and you are in Auto-Mode the system will choose a new word for you and add it to your word list and into the Loop. If you are in "manually mode" the system will tell you that you need to add more more words in order to continue.

By default there are 20 words in the loop. You can change the number of words in the loop in the settings.

Word Lists

If the Loop system sounds too complicated to you, then you can also set up simple word lists. To do this click on "[Manage Lists]" in the navigation. Then click on "[Add List]" to create a new list. If you want to share this word list with other users tick the box "Public List". If you want to immediately add new words to this list tick "Also Activate". You can create as many lists as you want. In the navigation bar you can always see which list is active at the moment. Words will be added to the currently active list. To go back to the master list (which uses the loop), click on "[Manage Lists]" and the "[Leave List Mode]".

You can view this introduction anytime by clicking on "Help" in the navigation on the left hand side.

If you have questions don't hesitate to contact us online by clicking on Support Chat, also please leave feedback about this tutorial (if something is not clear or if something is missing for instance).

Visit German-Flashcards.com

OneMinuteLanguages.com One Minute Languages German Podcast Introduction to Basic Greetings and Key Travel Phrases

travelinguist — Sat, 31 May 2008 12:48:04 -0500

Summary

One Minute Languages German is a series of ten short and sweet German language lessons that last only a few minutes each. Created by Radio Lingua Network, this podcast is a great way to get a very basic introduction to German phrases and greetings that will be of use to any traveler exploring Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Also available through the site are pre-packed downloads of the lessons for a nominal fee.

From Website

Welcome to One Minute Languages where you can learn the basics of a language in a matter of minutes. Perhaps you have friends who speak another language, or maybe you're going to be travelling to a country where the language is spoken. The most important thing to remember is that even a few phrases of a language can help you make friends and get much more out of your travel experience.

One Minute Languages will introduce you to a new language from scratch. Each language features ten lessons and each lesson is only a couple of minutes long, so there's no excuse! Join our teachers as they introduce new languages and cover greetings, talking about names, saying you understand or don't understand, counting and making friends.

Remember, One Minute Language courses are very basic introductions - taster courses which give you a feel for a new language. But even with just a few phrases you can make a great impression on your friends or the people you meet while you're travelling.

Visit One Minute Language German.

Subscribe to One Minute German Podcast.
Subscribe to One Minute German Podcast via iTunes.
View One Minute Language German Podcast's Feed on Free Language.

BBC Languages German

travelinguist — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:11:46 -0500

Summary

BBC Languages German provides solid learning resources for beginning and intermediate German learners. There is a self-contained beginner's course, a 12-week newsletter course and multiple video resources, a TV series and a book!

The BBC has done an amazing job of providing free learning resources for many of the world's languages, including Chinese, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and others.

This is a great site for total beginners to start learning practical German that will serve while traveling in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

From Website

Quick Fix: Printable holiday phrases with audio and mp3 download

For Beginners

German Steps: A self-contained online course

German in 12 Weeks: Sign up for weekly emails with tips and encouragement

Talk German: A video-based online resource with activities plus TV series and book

Intermediate

Cool German: An audio guide to German slang with mp3 downloads

German for Work: Information and practice for those using German at work

Other resources

Deutsch Plus: A longer TV course with book and website

German across Europe: A historical and geographical profile of the language

Germany Inside Out: Website complementing TV travel documentary

Visit BBC Languages German.

Deutsche Welle Miro Player for Instant Access to DW's Audio and Video Content in German, English and More

travelinguist — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:49:19 -0500

Summary

German language learners and lovers delight! Deutsche Welle (German Public Radio) and Miro have teamed up to create a fabulous and free video player that smoothly and effortlessly brings together loads of Deutsche Welle's German (and English and more) video and audio content into one easy to use player that can run on Linux, Mac and Windows.

The result for the end user is quick and eye-candyful access to loads of quality news and cultural content in German regarding Germany and the rest of the world. Just download (from Miro or Deutsche Welle) and start watching and listening to DW's news, podcasts, video podcasts, YouTube channel and more - all in one place.

If you are interested in using Miro for more than just Deutsche Welle (it plays almost any audio or video format you can find out there, including saving and viewing of YouTube videos), you might consider downloading Miro and then subscribing to the Deutshe Welle channels (view these in English or German) that interest you as well as all the other RSS feeds (audio, video, text, HD, even BitTorrent!) that you're into. You can also subscribe to all DW channels with one click at this page.

Miro is 100% "free and open-source, because open media matters". Check out the Miro Guide for loads of InternetTV channels.

Bravo Miro and Deutsche Welle! :) And an extra-special thanks to the Participatory Culture Foundation.

From Deutsche Welle Website

Podcasts auf einen Blick: Mit dem Miro - Deutsche Welle Player haben Sie ausgewählte DW-Audio- und Video-Podcasts übersichtlich in einem Player.

Auswählen und abspielen: Stellen Sie sich Ihre Favoriten zusammen und erhalten sie die neuesten Inhalte direkt auf Ihren Desktop. Der Miro - Deutsche Welle Player unterstützt zudem alle gängigen Video- und Audioformate. Der Player bietet eine Vielzahl von weiteren Kanälen zum Abonnement an und mit der integrierten YouTube-Suche sowie einer Auswahl an HD-Inhalten sind tausende Videoinhalte nur einen Klick entfernt.

Download the Deutsche Welle Miro Player or visit DW's website.

From Miro Website

Video RSS

Video RSS feeds are at the core of our vision for internet TV. They provide a simple system that any publisher can use to distribute their content. Viewers can bring feeds from anywhere together into one place. Miro is compatible with more feeds than any other video app.

Auto-Download

Set any channel to download new videos as soon as they are published. You can also tell channels to stop downloading new stuff if unwatched videos are piling up.

1-Click Subscribe Buttons

If someone comes to your website to see a video, take the chance to turn them into a subscriber. 1-click subscribe buttons let users go from web to Miro with a single click.

Watch the Bubbles

Numbers in a blue bubble next to a channel name indicate that new videos have been published since you last viewed that channel. Green bubbles mean that there are new videos downloaded that you haven't watched yet. Move your cursor over a green bubble and it becomes a play button.

Rename Channels

Right-click on any channel to rename it.

Download the regular Miro Player, watch a screencast about it or view more of it's features.

Making InternetTV

The Participatory Culture Foundation has also created an excellent resource for folks out there interested in making InternetTV. They are 100% real deal.

Deutsche Welle on Free Language

Free Language has much love for Deutsche Welle!

Deutsche Welle Slowly Spoken News in German Podcast
Deutsche Welle Sprachbar Podcast
Deutsche Welle Top-Thema Mit Vokabeln Podcast
Deutsche Welle Alltagsdeutsch Podcast
Deutsche Welle Stichwort Podcast
Deutsche Welle News in German
Deutsche Welle News in Chinese

FSI-Language-Courses.com US Foreign Service Institute German Free Audio Lessons Downloads

travelinguist — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 10:46:41 -0500

Summary

FSI is an acronym for the Foreign Service Institute, "the (US) Federal Government's primary training institution for officers and support personnel of the U.S. foreign affairs community".

Over the years, the FSI has researched, designed and taught language courses to Foreign Service staff and diplomats. These courses are now available and licensed to the Public Domain.

FSI-Language-Courses.com (and .net) is a sweet and simple website that provides users with the ability to view and download the Foreign Service Institute's courses for 31+ languages. The content is provided by individuals donating time and resources in an overall effort to provide quality languages-learning materials for free worldwide.

Sounds good to me. :)

In the German section of the site, there are currently two volumes of a basic course in German. This course gives total beginners a solid and useful introduction to practical situations that you actually encounter in your average day while traveling, studying or working in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstien, Switzerland, et al.

From Website

Welcome to fsi-language-courses.com, the home for language courses developed by the Foreign Service Institute. These courses were developed by the United States government and are in the public domain.

This site is dedicated to making these language courses freely available in an electronic format. This site is not affiliated in any way with any government entity; it is an independent, non-profit effort to foster the learning of worldwide languages. Courses here are made available through the private efforts of individuals who are donating their time and resources to provide quality materials for language learning.

Visit FSI-Language-Courses.com German Courses.