Lernstrategien

General Advice

• General Language Learning Advice
• Short quiz on language learning strategies, and a few basic expressions. [Ignore questions about the old German 101 course procedures!]

Self-Study Advice

• Keeping Up With German In Spring/Summer
• Advice for learning German on your own
• Advice on buying and using a dictionary A short summary. More detailed advice on using a dictionary, oriented somewhat towards essay-writing, is under “Schreiben” below.
• Preparing for German 102
• Preparing for German 231

Resources for Teachers

• Resources for Teachers This page compiles some of the resources included or linked to on this site that may be useful for teachers at other institutions.

Schreiben (Writing)

• Writing in German without Thinking in English
• Essay Writing Checklist
• Advice on Using a Dictionary Includes some practice exercises!
• Grammar and Usage Advice Written for students at the 200- and 300-level.

Lesen (Reading)

• Reading Strategies

Hören (Listening)

• Listening Practice Ideas

Vokabeln

• Vocabulary Learning Strategies

Miscellaneous

• Maybe you should chew gum in class?

Motivation

You will learn much more effectively if you are motivated. Take a look at some of the sites below and compile your own list of reasons why you want to study German. Then use this list to set yourself some concrete goals for today, for this week, for this semester, and for the longer term!

• Why Study German 12 great reasons
• Why learn German? 10 reasons to study German, compiled by the Goethe Institut
• “Deutsch nach Englisch” Posters Here you can download scaled down versions of three posters created by the Goethe Institut Inter Nationes, listing in alphabetical order a range of German-English cognates (i.e. words that are very similar in both languages). You can also order the complete series of six posters.
• Herr Masemann’s Homepage The videos on the front page of this site include eloquent statements from students at other universities on why they are studying German.
• Why We Should Learn German Eloquent article by the best-selling novelist John Le Carr© (The Spy Who Came in from the Coldetc.), written in 2017, shortly after the “Brexit” vote.
• Rationale for the language requirement in the College of LS&A at the University of Michigan