https://padlet.com/akaradimos1/akar01_germanisr2 German independent study record en-us 2019-05-10 14:52:42 UTC 2019-05-10 17:07:18 UTC hello@padlet.com akaradimos1 https://padlet.com/akaradimos1/akar01_germanisr2/wish/358907535 To practice giving instructions while using the imperative forms of gehen, nehmen and fahren I picked famous sights from around the world (Eiffel Tower, Pyramids of Giza, Acropolis, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Taj Mahal, Statue of Liberty, Big Ben, Berlin Wall) and tried to navigate to them starting either from an airport or a train station, in a manner similar to one that I would have to use when giving instructions to a stranger. (40mins)]]> 2019-05-10 14:56:36 UTC https://padlet.com/akaradimos1/akar01_germanisr2/wish/358907535 akaradimos1 https://padlet.com/akaradimos1/akar01_germanisr2/wish/358913727 While trying to find something to help me to learn the colors we did this week, I stumbled upon a mobile phone (android) app called Infinite German (pictured). I have another app from the same company for learning Japanese and I saw it in my recommended apps. I downloaded it and it seems very useful. It is engaging and it helps build simply vocabulary from the bottom up. There are a total of 18 categories of 8-10 words each, so I will work towards it as the semester progresses. For this week I covered 3 categories, numbers, colors and animals. (1 hour)]]> 2019-05-10 15:09:28 UTC https://padlet.com/akaradimos1/akar01_germanisr2/wish/358913727 akaradimos1 https://padlet.com/akaradimos1/akar01_germanisr2/wish/358921302 For this week I decided to cook some German food, using German recipes, written in German. One day I cooked https://www.gutekueche.at/wiener-schnitzel-rezept-170 while one other I cooked  https://www.t-online.de/leben/essen-und-trinken/id_71558232/gruenkohl-rezepte-tipps-zum-kochen-und-zubereiten-des-wintergemueses.html(specifically Grünkohl mit Pinkel). Apart from letting me connect with the German culture (and eat something delicious), this activity also allowed me to practice reading and following instructions. (Un)fortunately, the instructions were in the Sie-imperative form, so I re-wrote them and converted them to the du-imperative form, that I wanted to practice. (1h 30mins)]]> 2019-05-10 15:27:00 UTC https://padlet.com/akaradimos1/akar01_germanisr2/wish/358921302 akaradimos1 https://padlet.com/akaradimos1/akar01_germanisr2/wish/358925227 This week I practiced forming dates by writing down important dates of events around the world, for example when a country was founded, when a war started etc. (e.g Sealand wurde am zweite September neunzehn siebenundsechzig gegründet), as well as dates that I paln on doing something in the future. I also finished two more categoreis from the app from Studiensitzung 2 (animals2, fruit). (45 minutes)]]> 2019-05-10 15:36:49 UTC https://padlet.com/akaradimos1/akar01_germanisr2/wish/358925227 akaradimos1 https://padlet.com/akaradimos1/akar01_germanisr2/wish/358935513 Following this week's lecture, I decided to focus on the reflexive pronouns. I used this site https://study.com/academy/lesson/german-reflexive-pronouns.html#lesson to further my understanding of the pronouns through the lesson and quiz columns. Then I used https://www.germanveryeasy.com/reflexive-verbs to study on the most common reflexive verbs. Afterwards I formed some simple sentences to check my understanding. Another two categories knocked in the app (vegetables, meat). (45mins)]]> 2019-05-10 16:01:29 UTC https://padlet.com/akaradimos1/akar01_germanisr2/wish/358935513 akaradimos1 https://padlet.com/akaradimos1/akar01_germanisr2/wish/358940685 Similar to what I did in semester 1, I felt that this was a right time to practice my listening abilities. First I watched some videos but, unlike before, these were a bit more difficult: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv5DrfDppVk  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YNpevMiA9g&t=2s. Although they still were a bit too fast and advanced for me, I felt that I had improved compared to before. I did stop quite a few times just to look up words that I did not know, but at least that helped my vocabulary as well. Finished an additional 3 categories from the Infinite German app (drinks, clothes, waether), only 8 left! (1h15mins)]]> 2019-05-10 16:14:47 UTC https://padlet.com/akaradimos1/akar01_germanisr2/wish/358940685 akaradimos1 https://padlet.com/akaradimos1/akar01_germanisr2/wish/358949201 The formation of the past perfect tense is not that difficult. The difficulty arises from needing to know for each separate verb whether it is a sein or haben verb, as well as the ending of it, sometimes even the past participle is not used. I did try looking up ways to learn them easily but, as it was mentioned in the lectures, in the end we just have to learn them. I did, however, find a site that has all the sein-formed verbs: https://ielanguages.com/german-sein-verbs.html.
Thus, I contacted an online German friend of mine to help me practice. I had him tell me what he had done the past week, or anything interesting that happened recently, and then I also did the same. He was as always very understanding and paused/let me pause when I had unknown words. (1h)]]> 2019-05-10 16:32:56 UTC https://padlet.com/akaradimos1/akar01_germanisr2/wish/358949201 akaradimos1 https://padlet.com/akaradimos1/akar01_germanisr2/wish/358952489 The various body parts are one of the things my vocabulary app does not cover, so I decided to spend some time learning them. After going through the handouts, I also read through the quizlet flashcards https://quizlet.com/341364/flashcards, a conversation with a doctor http://dontspeakgerman.com/german-dialogues-107-doctor-patient/ and listened through https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyTNuVCdUzw. Afterwards, I had my flatmate help me: I gave her the list with all of the body parts and a phrase to read "berühre deine(n) ...(e.g Kopf)". Each time she would choose a different part and would instruct me to touch it, until I could find everything quickly, or at least reliably. Also finished 2 more vocabulary categories (transportation, places), only a few left. (1h)]]> 2019-05-10 16:41:22 UTC https://padlet.com/akaradimos1/akar01_germanisr2/wish/358952489