#languageoclock

Hallo!! I started learning German in October and I’ve found that listening to music is a great way to pick up new vocab and get some extra exposure to the language, so I decided to compile a list of songs & artists I love (I’ve marked my faves with two asterisks**). Feel free to add any of your favs in the comments! There are so many incredible artists I’ve left out, so feel free to check out my German playlists on Spotify as well: indie/alternative and pop/rap 

Cro

Cro combines rap and pop and is one of the first German artists I started listening to! Faves: Traum; Bye Bye; Einmal um die Welt

Drangsal

Not sure how to describe this aside from “angsty rock” but I do love their songs! Turmbau zu Babel, Magst du mich, Laufen lernen

Kraftklub**

A+ indie rock group with some elements of rap mixed in. I just think all their songs are incredibly catchy, especially Sklave!  Other favourites:  Hallo Nacht; Chemie Ya; Schüsse in die Luft

Madsen

An amazing alt rock group! I love listening to Du schreibst Geschichte and Mein erstes Lied when I need something to pump me up

Namika

Namika was one of the first pop artists I listened to when I started learning German! While I don’t really listen to this genre of music as much, she’s definitely still worth mentioning, as her songs are so catchy! Lieblingsmensch; Je ne parle pas Francais

Steiner & Madlaina**

I’d say this Swiss folk/pop/indie duo (not quite sure how to describe them but hopefully this is close enough) are my absolute favourites at the moment! Das schöne Leben; Wenn du mir glaubst; Ich werd nie gehen

Von Wegen Lisbeth** 

Can you tell that I’m really into indie pop? Faves: Wenn du tanzt; Meine Kneipe; Bärwaldpark

Wir Sind Helden** 

This alt pop group has become one of my favourites lately! Nur ein Wort;  Gekommen um zu bleiben; Denkmal

Miscellaneous songs!

99 Luftballons and Rette Mich by Nena are my guilty pleasures

Geile Zeit by Juli (my German teacher actually recommended this one and it’s angsty af but I love it)

Lisbeth by Die Höchste Eisenbahn

Alles was ich sehe by Luisa Babarro

Hinterher by Mine

Berlin an der Spree by Emilio

Molotow by Moop Mama

Astronaut by Sido

Keine Maschine by Tim Bendzko

Hope you enjoy these songs! Liebe Grüße and also thank you @everyone who responded to my previous post asking for music recs!

`roh boy get ready for a long post! :-)

Short answer: YES! I have never had a formal course in german, und ich spreche gut deutsch. I’m not a pro, grammar is so hard to teach yourself, but it’s doable. It’s also taken me three years to get to the point where I feel comfortable having conversations with people, reading news articles, etc. but it also hasn’t been a priority in my life and it is not something I practice daily (or even weekly at this point, as I work on my Spanish para mis dos semanas en Guatemala en mayo!). Nonetheless, here are some tips:

two years ago, I made this post. it has some great (and mostly free!) resources

something that really helped me is Duolingo, and it’s free and getting better everyday. what I did on Duolingo to start learning german was complete the language tree in your native language, so for me: english > german. THEN complete the tree as a german speaker learning english: german > english. It’s a good review and because DL builds on itself you learn some foundational grammar and gender rules and the major words like the, it, is, days of the week, food items, how to reserve a table, etc. as well as other things, like idioms. DL has the discussion board too where you can talk with native speakers about other or less formal ways to say the same thing.

other small changes I made in my life:

the setting on my email, Facebook, Instagram, and cell phone were all changed to german. that helped me learn some words I probably wouldn’t have encountered in a class, but would have wanted to use anyway.

I bought Grimm’s Fairy Tales, in german, and actually read them. Because they’re stories almost everyone knows in their native language, it was really easy to use context clues and the pictures to figure out what an unfamiliar word was, and I could always translate phrases I was uncomfortable guessing.

I spoke out loud… a lot. it’s so hard to learn pronunciation in your head, please push through the awkward feeling and record yourself speaking as you study german or any other language. go back and critique yourself and then re-record until you get it right. save the times you get it right and delete the times you don’t. now you have a reference in your own voice and understanding of what popular words and phrases sound like!

if you feel like you would benefit from the structure of a class but can’t pay the tuition to take one: edx.org and coursera.org are favorites of mine and sometimes they have active language classes you can audit (sadly no german at this exact moment, but check in the future!).

also on this note: if you’re in uni or college and can’t afford to take a lang. you can audit classes for free. you won’t get a grade but you would get all of the assignments and get to attend lectures and participate in the class as a normal student would

the number one teaching-myself-a-language tip is always to hold yourself accountable. if you say you’re going to practice for 30 minutes a day, then actually practice for 30 minutes each day. you will simply not wake up one day fluent, it takes time and practice and patience with yourself as you learn to crawl, and then to walk, even if your goal ultimately is to run.

oh god another tip: I spent $30 on a “Learn German in 10 Minutes a Day” book and completed it in 10 days instead of the month or so it recommends. It came with stickers to label everyday stuff like comb, toothbrush, tv, etc. and flashcards. Very much worth the money for me

also tumblr is great, german langblr is my second home, and here are some amazing blogs (and bloggers) who have helped me learn german unbeknownst to them!

@languagetrash

@willkommen-in-germany

@suplanguages

@ucz-lenia

@languagesandshootingstars

@studyblrsubjects

@languageoclock

@athenastudying

I hope this helps and I’m sorry it’s so scattered! hopefully it helps, feel free to message me anytime!

Hey, guys! I hadn’t seen anyone post a langblr accent tag (from the wonderful @languageoclock) in forever so I wanted to get it started up again. Here it is in my native language, English. I plan on doing a Russian, Spanish, and French one soon.

Native Language Langblr Accent Tag Questions:

What is your name?

How old are you?

Where are you from?

What is/are your native language(s)?

What is your favorite word in your native language(s)?

How would you describe your accent (in terms of regionalism/etc.)?

What is your favorite thing about your native language?

What is your least favorite thing about your language?

I don’t want to tag anyone specifically, but I want as many of you as possible to do it. So if you see this and want to make your own, consider yourself tagged!

the goal: starting a new language on the 1st of january (or at least in early january), and sticking with it and working with it consistently for the rest of the year to see how far it gets you

why: personally, i think it will make it easier to track my progress, which is a good motivator for me. also ! it will be fun 

who: i’m making this challenge for with my own goals in mind, but anyone who wants to join is encouraged to do so! i’ll be using the tag #nynlchallenge to track my progress, if anyone wants to do the same!

now, finally... the rules (more like ~guidelines~ but whatever) 

choose an entirely new language (or one you know very little of)

learning methods can be whatever but (at least for me) the goal is to get a daily average of 15 minutes (but ofc, the more, the better) 

by that i mean: life happens, so if there is a day or two a week with no learning/revision, that’s cool. however, try to compensate for this lost time, so that it averages out 

before starting the challenge, create a (tentative) list of goals. these can be weekly and/or monthly, and should be as specific as possible – mine is here, if anyone wants some inspiration

keep track of your progress! i recommend using the app mastery (only available for android, i think) or something similar to log every session so you can easily see how much time you have amassed!

write updates when you can! preferably at least once a month! 

most importantly (cliché but very true): have fun!!!!! 💖💕💞

present tense conjugations of three common verbs in Greek! also don’t forget that in the present tense for Greek “_ing” takes the same conjugations!

to have - έχω

i have, i’m having - έχ-ω

you have, you’re having - έχ-εις

he/she/it has, is having - έχ-ει

we have, we’re having - έχ-ουμε

y’all have, y’all are having - έχ-ετε

they have, they’re having - έχ-ουν

to do - κάνω

i do, i’m doing - κάν-ω

you do, you’re doing - κάν-εις

he/she does, is doing - κάν-ει

we do, are doing - κάν-ουμε

y’all do, are doing - κάν-ετε

they do, they’re doing - κάν-ουν

to see - βλέπω

i see - βλεπ-ω

you see - βλεπ-εις

he/she sees - βλεπ-ει

we see - βλεπ-ουμε

y’all see - βλεπ-ετε

2.10.2017

Hello! My name is Sadie, and this is an introduction to my new studyblr. I’ve been planning to start a studyblr for at least a few months, and here it is!

About me:

I’m 14 years old (a wee baby)

I’m a Slytherin

I just started my freshman year in highschool

I play the clarinet

Favorite Subjects (least to most): History, English, Math, Science, Languages

I have a cat named Opal

Open to a conversation! Come say hi!

Some Interests:

 I love video games and my favorite is a tie between Pokemon HeartGold and Breath of the Wild

Planning to make my own game by March 2018

I love succulents and I have an instagram dedicated to them

 @precious.plant.babies 

I self-study a few languages, but I’m focusing on French

@langblrintraining

Study Blogs that I follow and inspired me: