For week four I have continued to focus on learning more German through the game MindSnacks. I am now able to recognize 402 German words and phrases! Another aspect I have been working on this week is understanding the culture of Germany. Because my husband is from Germany and his family is still living there, I have a great resource to help answer some of my initial questions about the culture, the proper use of German and the rules to the language. One thing that I have found very interesting is the way that German words build on each other. For example, the word badezimmer. Zimmer means room, so any word that ends in zimmer you can assume will be a room of some sort. Bade is bath, so together it builds in to bathroom. This is how the German words begin to get so long, because they are building ideas on to it. I have also learned that there is a proper way to speak German, and a relaxed way. You must, culturally speaking, speak the proper German until the person you are with gives you permission to speak in improper German. If you don't wait until you are given permission, then you will appear rude. Another cultural difference that is noted, is that Germans will correct you if you say something wrong. They correct each other all the time, and it is just a customary reaction for them to correct your speech. This week I have built up my learning to lesson 21 on Mindsnacks! I am very comfortable using the game to listen and choose the words, but I need to work on speaking and being comfortable with discussing in German.
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2015
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