GERMAN VOCABULARY AND PRONUNCIATION WORK

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  • What is German? Where does it fit in in the European family of languages?. Language tree
  • Fremdwörter - Bedrohung oder Bereicherung: discussion with related topics from Duden
  • More Duden articles: Anglisierungen, politische Korrektheit, Fachbegriffe, Sprachspiegel, Links, Rechtschreibung

    BASIC VOCABULARY AND PHRASES

  • Basic Phrases featuring native speakers
  • BBC audio and video http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/lj/
  • Cool vocab with audio and images arranged by topic by LanguageGuide.org
  • Scroll down to Listening Practice for German - Audio, pronunciation, tongue twisters, vocab, phrases from German.about.com
  • German Language Course and CD much vocab with audio files.
  • Great vocab categories from About.com: colors, food, family, clothing, sports, animals, etc.
  • Good exercises on basic vocab - greetings, family, descriptions, etc.
  • You! Du, ihr or Sie? Explanation and exercise from About.com.
  • Challenge board with basic vocab from Quia.com
  • My Challenge board with Family, Numbers, Days, Months
  • Answer the basic questions from IMSA.
  • Quiz with basic phrases and questions by Jennifer Harrison.
  • General phrases and exercise from David Nutting in Australia.
  • Hello/Goodbye and other basic vocabulary from Susan Bradley.
  • Unscramble the basic phrases and sentences.
  • Useful phrases for the classroom from Deutsch Online.
  • Questions: Fragewoerter from Deutsch im Netz.
  • Examples from Cyber German with RealAudio.
  • "Socializing": Conversation and useful phrases from Fodor's.
  • The Good Wishes Page: Wishes, congratulations, occasions, formalities from About.com.

    LEARNING SITES

  • Compare English vocab with German, French, Spanish, and more. Which is most similar to English?
  • 11/18/01 Down with Denglisch and the use of English in Germany
  • Lizz Caplan's useful phrases. Cool interactive Vocab of the Week.
  • Tom Richardson's Wie sagt man...? Trouble vocab.
  • Alphabetized list of vocab in context and sayings
  • Everyday terms, slang, commonplaces and phrases compiled by Brian Zahn.
  • Vocabulary games, dictionaries and links from About.Com
  • Useful tips on the German language and culture from the Mining Co.
  • LearnPlus German language course with a German Idiom of the Week.
  • Numerous examples of problem vocabulary and usage from Training-for-Germany.
  • Games and tips for vocabulary practice and learning.
  • Problems in vocabulary and usage. All beginners WILL make these mistakes. I did!
  • Embarassing mistakes you might make if you don't translate correctly. Cultural confusion.

    CATEGORIES

  • Classroom Expressions and School-related Vocabulary
  • NEW: master verb list with Past and Pres. Perfect
  • Adjectives. Describe people, objects and emotions. List plus exercises.
  • Here's an improved version of the adjectives describing Personality.
  • German Names: list of first names, popular names and surname research.
  • Zungenbrecher-Tongue Breakers. Print out and try with your class.
  • Train your dog in German. Animal-related items
  • What things bring luck and what superstitions are there in German?
  • What are some ways to say "You're crazy!"
  • Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache: Wörter des Jahres und beliebteste Vornamen.
  • Computer and communications terminology in German.
  • Computer-related and other acronyms and abbreviations.

    LISTS, DICTIONARIES and TRANSLATION

  • Great vocab categories from About.com: colors, food, family, clothing, sports, animals, etc.
  • Lengthy (172K) list of idioms with translation.
  • Huge list (805K) of basic vocab E-G and G-E. No genders noted unfortunately.
  • The 200 Most Frequent Words in German - learn these!
  • Frequency lists - lists of the most commonly used words in German from About.com
  • Official list of the "Zertifikat Deutsch als Fremdsprache" (ZDaF) of the Goethe-Institut.
  • Wortschatz für das Zertifikat Deutsch als Fremdsprache
  • German Dictionaries and Online Translation - many resources
  • English-German Picture dictionary - click on the letters to look up words
  • Problems with Machine Translation

    INTERESTING TOPICS and ISSUES

  • Compound nouns where the whole is greater than the parts: e.g. Staubsauger: dust + sucker = vacuum cleaner
  • Teekessel: words that can have two or more different meanings. e.g. Steuer.
  • Common German Words used everyday in America.
  • Grammar Tips: plurals and determining the gender of nouns (der, die or das?).
  • Einwortdeutsch - short words as opposed to notorious Long words
  • Cognates and False Friends: detailed discussions by Charles J. James
  • Iron Chef vocabulary - how would you state opinions, describe their cooking and their dishes
  • Palindromes? What are they? Ex. Otto. Claudia's Palindromes.
  • Anagram-Generator in deutscher Sprache and other German text Generators (poems, names, etc.)
  • JFK's Ich bin ein Berliner. Correct usage or not?
  • Dialects and Pronunciation examples from Bayerisches Archiv für Sprachsignale
  • Pro und contra Englisch - GI questions and texts on using English in modern German.

    MISCELLANEOUS

  • IDS: dictionaries, grammars, texts, Sprachspiele, Anagramms, Palindromes.
  • Tree of Germanic Languages with descriptions and examples.
  • Yiddish and general Jewish resources.
  • Prof. Wolfgang Hempel's Etymology Series is available from the AATG materials center.
  • The Institut fuer Deutsche Sprache is the place for any and all technical questions.
  • Verein zur Wahrung der deutschen Sprache. No English version - bummer!

    Return to Germany page. Last updated November 1, 2000.

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