Germany’s many, diverse dialects are a fascinating study in the previous kingdoms  that Germany used to be comprised of–formally. Informally, the regional dialects in Germany provide a beautiful kind of regional patriotism (as they are not likely to call themselves “patriots” or “nationalists” unless their political views are, shall we say, less than tolerant...).

The Deutsche Welle has created a wonderful resource on German dialects, which I highly recommend for intermediate and advanced learners. Click here to see Deutsche Welle's Dialekt Atlas!

Viel Spass dabei!

So many of you have wonderful office suite skills that you can apply to your German learning. If you have a list of vocabulary that you’re learning, go ahead and use a list in Excel and sort it randomly to practice. Click here for a how-to on how to shuffle your vocabulary in Excel.

Because I meet students outside of normal classrooms without large maps on the wall, I’ve been tracking down maps to print out and take with me. Check this out–great maps of Germany!

Print them out, bookmark the page, and learn more about Germany through these maps. They are a great accessory and visual tool for your study sessions and when you're in class.

An "Elfchen" is similar to a Haiku in that it has a set form, however it is unique in that it has 11 words, the lines having 1-2-3-4-1 words, respectively.  Here’s one I wrote for my student’s Valentine’s Day (Valentinstag!) lesson last night:

Liebe

bewegsam

grosse Gefuehle

veraendert das Herz

bringt uns neue Gedanken

innerlich

2-14-12

A great site to help you with your German studies, Toms Deutschseite.

It's worth poking around and looking for some explanations, vocabulary lists, etc. He's updated the format since I first found it, however it's still great information.