Learning a new language is often considered a costly task and people spend tons of money on buying books, courses, taking daily German lessons or paying for audio tapes, video lessons and so forth. Now, there’s an alternative to all of this: free language lessons online.
Not all languages can be learnt online. It depends on what you’re trying to learn and what your mother tongue is or what other languages you’re already familiar with. For example, learning Chinese online won’t be as easy as learning German through the same methods. Chinese requires more careful assimilation of grammar rules, vocabulary and learning steps whereas German can be learn more “freely” (and I’m not talking just about the financial costs). If you’re reading this, you’re either at least moderately familiar with English, or English is your mother tongue and this is a good starting point to learn German online, since there are a lot of connections that can be made between the two languages.
With German becoming an increasingly important language on the international stage, more and more people leave their course books behind and seek out websites that can offer free language lessons online. They’re faster, more convenient, you can go through them from the comfort of your own home and most importantly, they are much easier to assimilate, since an online lesson, unlike a course book for example, can combine visual and audio elements to make your learning process faster. In the past, this was not possible as websites were pretty blunt back then, they were just “clones” of course books with text, text and more text.
With the increased interactivity offered by many language learning sites out there, you can take online quizzes, play language games on the Internet, or on some sites, take audio/video lessons like you would from an audio or video tape. Forget about wasting time going to your local store, buying the tape, buying a good stereo and a set of headphones – now you have all these bundled up for free on the Internet. Technology is a blast, isn’t it?
Many websites (such as Internet Polyglot for example) offer a wide variety of methods to learn German, ranging from standard basic-to-advanced lessons, to word memorization games, text-video quizzes (like the ones that have you attach a specific word to a specific image – sort of like an interactive flashcard game) and so forth. Using games to increase German vocabulary or strengthen your grammar rules is also a solid option. Although many consider these games “childish”, they’re actually quite important and efficient, since you’re learning while having fun and we all know that this is a major boost to assimilating new words naturally.
One good tip would be to try and find quizzes and games that don’t simply use words. Sure, you can easily memorize a few words each day, but they won’t be “printed” in your memory as strongly as if you would have something visual attached to them. Our brain holds visual images much longer in our memory than simple strings of characters and words, so it’s a good idea to associate a picture to each word. When learning German, it’s even easier to do this since German has a lot of cognates with English (words that look or sound alike in the two languages and that share a common meaning) so you can stamp the English word instead of a visual image to the new word.
However, watch out for false cognates as they can be quite misleading. False cognates are words that sound or look alike in both languages, but their meaning is completely different, so if you don’t learn to spot them, you could be using words in completely inappropriate contexts. Fortunately, the list of false cognates is not that high between English and German, but it’s still a good idea to learn these exceptions by hard.
I’ll leave it to you to find the right websites for learning German online, but know that you shouldn’t just settle for the first one you find. Try learning from two sources and go through several websites before settling in on these two. In most cases, this will offer you a more complete coverage of the German language.
Posts Tagged ‘learn’
Why Some People Don’t Want to Learn Spanish
January 6th, 2010Learning Spanish can be fun and interesting. It can make you comfortable in situations where you would be lost without knowing the language. Yet, not everyone has the desire to learn Spanish. These people have several reasons for their reluctance.
Some people feel that they are too old to learn Spanish. They realize that children learn language faster than anyone else. This makes them hesitant to even try. They think it’s a lost cause, so why even try?
Actually, people of all ages can learn Spanish. It is true that the young are better language learners. However, as has been said, “There’s always someone better than you and someone worse. ” Just because you can’t be the best, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Maybe you will learn Spanish better than most adults if you only try.
People often decline to learn Spanish because they think that they won’t be traveling to any Spanish speaking countries in their lifetimes. First of all, you never know what’s around the corner. You could even win a trip to such a country. You never know what might take you there.
Second, there are reasons to learn Spanish even if you never speak a word of it. You can enjoy Spanish literature and movies. You can take pride in knowing the words to songs that others can only stumble through. You can watch Spanish language news and learn Spanish politics and culture. It can be a fun pastime.
For some, it seems like a monumental task to learn Spanish. They believe it will be one of the hardest things they ever do. They don’t want to work so hard at something voluntarily. They feel that Spanish is a hard language to learn.
This couldn’t be further from the truth. Spanish is one of the easiest languages. In Spanish, if you know what a word sounds like, you almost always know how it’s spelled. If you know how it’s spelled, you can pronounce it easily.
Some of the words of Spanish are in common use in the vocabulary of most Americans. Others are just slight variations. Of course, you will have to deal with gender of nouns, which is actually easy. Verb conjugations are harder, but still are easy to understand if taught properly. If you want to learn Spanish, you probably can.
Money is a stumbling block for some people. They feel that to learn Spanish they must shell out a huge amount of money to schools and teachers. They know they aren’t that well off, so they give up.
Although there are expensive ways to learn Spanish, there are less expensive ways as well. Some community classes are very nearly free. If you like, you can check out books to learn Spanish from your local library. Some libraries even carry language learning CD’s as well.
If you’re negative, you can always find a reason not to do something. However, if you’re positive minded, you can learn Spanish without a lot of difficulty or expense. You only have to make up your mind that you want to do it.
Are We There Yet? 3 Easy Tips to Keep You Motivated to Learn German Fluently
January 5th, 2010Move me momma! Just to jump right in and say it like it is. We all know that there are many different types of motivation, but the type that we are concerned with is intrinsic verses extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation refers to the desire to do something that pleases you and makes you pat yourself on the back. Most studies have shown it to be much more effective in long-term language learning than extrinsic motivation (for an external reward such as impressing the boss or your peers). Unfortunately, most of us are not lucky enough to hire a personal pep squad or self-improvement coach to keep us motivated. Yup, you are going to have to find the power within yourself. It seems that to become fluent in German will take time and perseverance, so how can you stay motivated?
1. Fraternal Twins Separated At Birth
Yes, the process of learning German can be very stressful but keep in mind the cool thing about German is that modern German and modern English both originated from the common Germanic ancestor language and despite their distinct differences, the two languages share many similarities in both vocabulary and grammar. Also, German is spelled phonetically. This means that once you learn the system of sounds, it is easy to predict how the spoken word is written and how the written word is pronounced. Know your German ABCs and you will be better equipped to learn to speak German quickly.
2. Oktoberfest Anyone?
If your ultimate goal is to learn to speak German fluently, then it is important to know that you will become more fluent quickly if you maximize your language exposure. You can start by simply practicing the language with a classmate outside of class. You can befriend native speakers in your community or attend a local foreign language conversation hour, if one exists. Rent a German DVD, or listen to authentic German audio or video online. Or you could attend your local Oktoberfest or plan a trip to attend the world famous Munich Oktoberfest. The first the first Oktoberfest was held on October 12, 1810 and lasted 6 days. The festivities were in honor of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig’s marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. In Munich the “die Wiesen” (as the locals call it) starts around late September and lasts for sixteen days up to the first Sunday in October. The festival is a vibrant venue where you can eat sauerkraut, drink German beer, practice your German and expose yourself to Bavarian culture.
3. The Gift Of The Gab
Whenever possible, speak German aloud rather than reciting it silently to yourself. Say vocabulary words out loud, read passages in the text aloud, and do pronunciation activities orally. Transferring language from your mind to your mouth is a skill that requires a great deal of practice. And you should practice German actively frequently.
The process of learning German can be very stressful, and the impact of your own positive or negative attitudes can be critical to your learning. Self-motivation is the key to staying on track and achieving fluency. Because German and English have similarities, you have a head start when learning German. Ultimately, to learn to speak German online or otherwise is all about you. Therefore, you must play an active role in your learning by jumping at the opportunities to speak, listen and comprehend German. You’ll meet new people, make new friends and most importantly, learn German fluently.
