ISR German Beginner by victor.ios https://padlet.com/vcovasan1/188maflqb7jl Spring 2018 content en-us 2018-02-20 16:34:55 UTC 2025-12-11 13:52:05 UTC hello@padlet.com Ordering at a coffee shop vcovasan1 https://padlet.com/vcovasan1/188maflqb7jl/wish/233363890 In order to further enhance the basic conversational skills I checked a podcast that I used extensively while studying French and I consider very enjoyable and practical. The conversation acted in one of their episodes I listened to was about ordering at a coffee shop. This was in accordace with this semester’s curriculum because it made use of common verbs and prepostions that we encountered in class: helfen, trinken, essen, mogen / kein, nur(milch/zucker). Their way of explaining these common phrases was particularly clear and easy to remember due to the fact that, after listening to the conversation two times, they analyse each line and phrase with its variations and then play again the recording in the end. It also helped me better notice how the umlaut alters the way vowels sound and how ch is authentically pronounced in the middle of the word by following the PDF they provided on their website.]]> 2018-02-20 16:37:18 UTC https://padlet.com/vcovasan1/188maflqb7jl/wish/233363890 Strong verbs vcovasan1 https://padlet.com/vcovasan1/188maflqb7jl/wish/258313365  At the end of week 5 I felt like I needed to calrify the concept of strong verbs: what they are,specific forms, conjugation and how to use them.
I studied the following resources and found out that “weak” verbs are the ones that don’t alter the presence/postition of their radical vowel for any decliations, and since this is valid for most regular verbs, these are also called “regular”. On the other hand, some verbs that we encountered in class, like sehen, lesen, sprachen are known as “strong” verbs because of the fact that they deviate from the regular conjugation for the second and third person, as well as from Präsens to Imperfekt or Partizip Perfekt. I especially recommend the video by VlogDave because of the ludic way in which it is presented and the funny comparisons that make the grammar easier to remember and understand.
]]> 2018-05-06 15:50:35 UTC https://padlet.com/vcovasan1/188maflqb7jl/wish/258313365 Trilingual blog vcovasan1 https://padlet.com/vcovasan1/188maflqb7jl/wish/258313538 This week I discovered a blog which discusses everyday topics in a trilingual manner: the first version being in German, and the parallel with its French and English translations. The articles presented are rather short but on very engaging cultural topics like: The ethics of street art, Yoga, cultural road trips etc. Even though the german side was quite difficult to understand, I discovered the meaning of some very frequent words that we use to hear in pop culture but never thought to research about like: Wanderung, Reisefiber, atemberaubend etc . One of the best articles I found was about a wonderful trip around southern France , it was also one of the most accesible. Overall this is a resource more appropriate for intermediate level but the fact that for german phrases and expressions that have no English equivalent there is usually a French version which gives you better insight into what it really means.]]> 2018-05-06 15:52:14 UTC https://padlet.com/vcovasan1/188maflqb7jl/wish/258313538 Numbers practice vcovasan1 https://padlet.com/vcovasan1/188maflqb7jl/wish/258314182 I’ve always regretted not studying the numbers properly during the first lessons when I started learning a language. To avoid this happening with German I searched for an interactive platform that would allow me to practice recalling numbers randomly and in different types of exercises. In this regard, Quizlet was by far the most attractive option. Although I couldn’t remember all of them at first, I tried to solve the quizzes using a bottom-up approach, since the first exercise asks for writing the complete and correct word describing the number while the last questions are multiple choice or true/false therefore you can practice the structure and learn most of them by the time you are confident enough to type the complete word down in a blank box.]]> 2018-05-06 15:58:11 UTC https://padlet.com/vcovasan1/188maflqb7jl/wish/258314182 The accusative case vcovasan1 https://padlet.com/vcovasan1/188maflqb7jl/wish/258316142 I noticed that even though I studied the theory behind the accusative case and gained a sound understanding of how to use it, I rarely noticed when I was supposed to use it while speaking, so this week I decided to get used to recognising this case and using the right prepositions. First, in order to revise the theory and hear some examples I searched for video lessons on YouTube, the video I watched was clearly presented but rather poor in examples since they used a basic sentence(“Der Hund sieht den Ball”) and swapped the articles or the order of the nouns to prove how this dramatically changes the meaning of the sentence(by forming 4 variations of the same sentence). For more examples and practice I chose to go again through the Akkusativ section in the Duolingo tree and practice their exercises with a stopwatch, to be pressed to say it the right way under pressure. ]]> 2018-05-06 16:19:07 UTC https://padlet.com/vcovasan1/188maflqb7jl/wish/258316142 Rammstein theory vcovasan1 https://padlet.com/vcovasan1/188maflqb7jl/wish/258316698 This week I came back to a song that dwelled for many years in my gym playlist by the German band Rammstein. The lyrics are exclusively in German and they are extremely appropriate for beginners(as long as you find metal tolerable) since the vocabulary is very simple and the song even starts with the numerals from 1 to 10. The grammar used is also very accessible and the verses are relatively short and repetitive,  they are also easy to remember as well since the ideas transmitted by their lyrics are quite empowering and radical, so it has a lasting impact on one’s vocabulary. I encountered plural forms of common nouns that form with umlaut: Händen, Fäusten, Ängste as well as nouns given in class as: Licht, Nacht, Sonne, Herz, therefore I consider the lyrics as being one of the most appropriate texts for beginner level.]]> 2018-05-06 16:24:35 UTC https://padlet.com/vcovasan1/188maflqb7jl/wish/258316698 Gender Practice vcovasan1 https://padlet.com/vcovasan1/188maflqb7jl/wish/258318791 It’s a good practice when learning a new language to look as soon as possible for patterns that might help you recognise noun genders. Tinycards provides several collections of cards that train gender recognition, therefore this is where I studied from. Some of the most useful tips I came across were: nouns ending in -schaft, -ur and -ung are usually feminine, while nouns borrowed from English, especially those ending in -ing are neuter. 
I also appreciated how they structured some concepts on cathegories where it was applicable for example: how the days of the week, the seasons and the months are all masculine while most german rivers are feminine. ]]> 2018-05-06 16:43:35 UTC https://padlet.com/vcovasan1/188maflqb7jl/wish/258318791 Separable prefix verbs vcovasan1 https://padlet.com/vcovasan1/188maflqb7jl/wish/259702670 One of the most frequent mistakes done during the speaking exercises was conjugating the verbs with separable prefixes as regular verbs(since we have already met: frühstücken and  einkaufen), therefore in order to prevent that from happening further I decided to have a little research into common prefixes that usually form this type of verbs and the nuance they add to their radical. This ended up being one of the most captivating and engaging linguistic concepts I have studied due the one great website that I discovered which illustrated very clearly how the meaning of every separable particle affected a verb by using common radicals, for example: mit- conveys the idea of accompanying or cooperating, therefore mitmachen means "to participate"; ein- conveys the idea of getting used to something, therefore einspielen means to warm up; züruck- conveys the idea of returning, therefore zurückreisen means to travel back or zurückdenken, "to think back". I took note of most of them and I'll be looking forward to do some further research into this topic. ]]> 2018-05-10 16:56:27 UTC https://padlet.com/vcovasan1/188maflqb7jl/wish/259702670