5 Ways to Re-Use Your German & Learn More in the Process

There is one key ingredient to students who learn the most in their German lessons:  they repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.

My first German teacher was (and surely still is) an excellent instructor. She told me if I wanted to learn a new word in German, I'd have to use it 28 times.

28 times!! That's a lot of repetition. (If that's an average, sometimes it goes faster--say 20 repetitions, and sometimes it takes longer, say 40 repetitions. For as many times as you have to remind yourself that it's "das Ende," suddenly 28 times sounds fairly reasonable, oder?)

My awesome teacher was right.

IKEA Germany advertises with a catchy slogan:

Wohnst du noch, oder lebst du schon?

Are you living still, or are you living already?

This works in German since wohnen ≠ leben. But the difference is significant. Here's how to tell the difference between wohnen and leben.

wohnen

"wohnen" is used for short-term situations.

"Ich wohne bei meinen Eltern" ...because I'm at home for the summer.

"Ich wohne bei einer Freundin" ...because I'm waiting for my new apartment to open up next week.

"Ich wohne in Berlin" ....because I'm only here for one semester.

"kennen" is not the same as "wissen" and sometimes it takes a while to get used to the difference. After all, in English we only have 'to know.'

kennen - is for things you can get to know, like people, cities, countries, films, museums, schools, stadiums.

wissen - is for facts about things.

For example:

Ich weiß, dass Neil deGrasse Tyson intelligent ist! - I know that Neil deGrasse Tyson is intelligent!

But you don't know him unless you've met him. So, assuming you've never met him:  Ich kenne Neil deGrasse Tyson nicht.

Pinterest is a rich resource for German learners with information, vocabulary lists, and of course it's so visual it can't be beat.

You could start boards for:

* vocabulary

* places in Germany you want to travel

* historical events that interest you

* differences between Germany, Switzerland, and Austria

* German design

* pictures of your favorite German food.

The possibilities are endless!

Be sure to connect with LGO there, too! Click the board below to connect.

Students of foreign languages sometimes get upset when they get frustrated. They get really frustrated and really upset because what they want most is to speak a foreign language, they've done their homework, they've studied, and somehow the pieces just don't fit together or the pieces they want don't come together when they speak.

It's a hard-core experience.

Some students think I learned German easily because I learned it quickly--it was not easy and my German skills were and are hard-won with hundreds and thousands of hours of listening, reading, and practice behind them; here's a short story to highlight one of my hardest moments.

In 2004, when I lived in Germany and was already fluent (and already spoke Schwäbisch), I went camping on the beautiful island of Rügen, in the far north-east corner of Germany. It's stunningly beautiful up there, the natural landscape undisturbed by "modern" development, with slow, rolling hills and the houses have thatched roofs. One morning it was my turn to go get rolls for breakfast so I hopped on my bike and rode through the campground to the small outdoor building where a local baker was selling bread and pastries. I asked for what I wanted, but had literally no idea what the saleswoman was trying to tell me.

There are many words in German that German learners don't quite grasp right away because they have several meanings. Think of them as very flexible words.

"Bitte" is one of them. Here is a fantastic pin from Pinterest that shows the many uses of bitte.

Do you want to see more German on Pinterest? Follow the LearnGermanOnline with Nicole boards!