# data[].attributes.headline
Looking at subject pronouns and different types of present tense verbs

# data[].attributes.subject
Looking at subject pronouns and different types of present tense verbs

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zy3qxsg/revision/1

I went through BBC Bitesize's explanation of the present tense as I felt I was struggling to get to grips with basic subject pronouns and how to identify what an infinitive looks like as opposed to a conjugated verb. I spent perhaps 50 minutes going through pages 1-9, and discovered how some 'strong' verbs change with the addition of an 'i', an 'umlaut' or from swapping an 'e' for an 'i' in the 'du' and 'er/sie/es' forms. I also learn that to form a question you simply swap the verb and the subject around. I also briefly looked at how to conjugate 'Separable Verbs' and basic 'reflexive verbs.'
I found this to be a very helpful exercise as the step by step explanations were clear to understand. I will look to Bitesize for future grammar explanations need be.

# data[].attributes.body
To make sure that I felt more confident in conjugating regular verbs, I wrote out a series of flash cards with the full verb conjugations for: machen, sein, arbeiten, kochen, lesen, haben etc. This was really helpful for me as I consolidated some information:
1. some verbs have a letter change in them e.g. lesen -> du liest.
2. When taking the '-en' off an infinitive, if the stem ends in 't' or 'd', another '-e' must be added e.g. er arbeitet.

# data[].attributes.headline
Understanding how to use the articles of nouns

# data[].attributes.subject
Understanding how to use the articles of nouns

# data[].attributes.body
I learnt that there are two different types of article: definite and indefinite. This was quite a simple exercise to understand and make notes on, however, I feel that this was something very important to understand in order to progress in learning German. I made a helpful list of clues to look for in nouns which will allow me to know whether the definite article should be die, der or das.

# data[].attributes.headline
Learning nouns and their meaning + their plural forms

# data[].attributes.subject
Learning nouns and their meaning + their plural forms

# data[].attributes.body
I have tried to make a habit of always adding words which I do not know to my vocab list. This can be words from homework exercises, or those which we learn in lessons. To make it really clear I have allocated colours to the different masculine, feminine and neuter nouns. I have also written out the plural forms of the nouns next to their singular forms. It took me a while to fully understand how the nouns become plural, especially as some nouns may require being changed into a female format and then being made plural. e.g. Arzt > Ärztin > Ärztinnen.  However, I feel that writing this all out step by step has really helped be understand it! Now I just need to make sure I regularly look over my vocab lists!

# data[].attributes.headline
Practicing Long and short Vowel Pronunciation

# data[].attributes.subject
Practicing Long and short Vowel Pronunciation

# data[].attributes.body
I bought myself a guide which had a helpful section in about how to pronounce the difference vowel sounds. This is an area I had be struggling with. I went through the list of sounds and said the different vowel noises out loud multiple times, whilst  writing the noises phonetically in my notes. I particularly found it helpful to know that vowels are usually long if they are doubled or followed by an h, and often short if they come before two or more consonants. I found that the vowels with umlauts on were always a pronunciation which I was not expecting, so this was a very useful task.

# data[].attributes.headline
Revising the Nominative and Accusative cases

# data[].attributes.subject
Revising the Nominative and Accusative cases

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zg8pycw/revision/2
Using BBC bitesize I revised and consolidated what cases are in German, focusing on the Nominative and Accusative cases. This was really useful as I was finding it confusing seeing 'den' in my textbook and not understanding the simple grammar behind it.

# data[].attributes.headline
Practicing Telling the time and Food vocab

# data[].attributes.subject
Practicing Telling the time and Food vocab

# data[].attributes.body
I am quite a visual learner so I found these online quizzes very helpful, if not a little easy! I particularly improved from the quiz for telling time. This is because I could repeat the words out loud after the quiz 'said' them which improved my pronunciation and as it was fairly long, I feel that I really got to grips with the terms 'nach', 'vor' and 'funf vor halb vier' etc.
Food: https://www.digitaldialects.com/German/Food_words.htm
Time: https://www.digitaldialects.com/German/time_learn.htm

# data[].attributes.headline
Practicing Modal Verbs and learning new vocab

# data[].attributes.subject
Practicing Modal Verbs and learning new vocab

# data[].attributes.body
https://quizlet.com/502434704/modal-verb-quiz-flash-cards/
I used these flashcards to test the conjugating of modal verbs. This was quite tricky for me as I discovered that there are a few modal verbs I do not know, as well as some unknown vocab in the sentences. However, I made a note of all the new vocab so I feel I have no only improved my modal verb conjugations but also improved my vocabulary.

New vocab:
- heute: today
- jetzt: now
- Eine Nussallergie: Nut allergy
- sollen: to ought to / should
- hier: here
- auf : on
- nachher: later
- Abwasch: washing up
- fettig: greasy
- nur: only
- ankommen: tomorrow

# data[].attributes.body
On a few occasions I have felt I was getting the hang of forming sentences only to find that I was still putting the article in the wrong place or words like 'nich' and 'sehr.' I decided to consolidate my sentence knowledge and looked at : http://germanforenglishspeakers.com/basics/sentence-structure/
I feel a lot more confident in forming sentences now. I understand that there are simple sentence structures but also sentences where you rearrange the words to change the emphasis or the sentence. However, the conjugated verb must always remain in position 2 - I find visualisnig the different number positions really helpful when constructing sentences.

# data[].attributes.body
My friend from Sheffield lives in Berlin and although we couldn't see each other in person, we tried to have a small conversation on the phone. I found this quite hard as my understanding in German is clearly stronger in reading and writing sentences. We managed a small conversation about food which I wanted to buy and hobbies, I was happy with the sentences I constructed even though I did need a minute to think! This has highlighted to me that small conversations like this aren't easy but something which I can only improve on with practice.