Posted on by Peter Rettig

Quick German: "Ich bin ein Berliner!"

Berliner Pfannkuchen - Gamesforlanguage.comQuick German: Do you know the meaning of "Berliner"?

Actually there are two meanings:

(1) A man from Berlin, the German capital (A woman from Berlin is a "Berlinerin")

(2) A Berliner Pfannkuchen (in short called Berliner) is a traditional North German pastry similar to a doughnut (without a central hole) made from sweet yeast dough...

John F. Kennedy declared in his famous speech in Berlin on June 26, 1963:

"Ich bin ein Berliner!"

It caused German speakers (especially young teenagers, like me!) to chuckle slightly - not because they did not understand the point Kennedy was making, but because in German indefinite articles are not used in front of a person's place of origin/birth, nationality, profession, occupation, etc., e.g. "ich bin Hamburgerin"; "ich bin Deutscher"; "ich bin Arzt"; "ich bin Studentin." (Note, however, that you do use "ein/eine", when you add an adjective, e.g. "ich bin ein guter Arzt".)

(You might also chuckle, if a German were to tell you: "I'm a Hamburger", meaning that he is from Hamburg.)

Someone reminded us, however, that we should point out the following: In the context of Kennedy's speech, the use of "ein" was quite appropriate as he did not mean to define his origin, but rather his being "Berliner-like", i.e. he used "Berliner" as a predicate adjective, as in "Ich bin ein Berliner Mann".

Let us know any comments or questions you have and - keep learning.

Posted on by Ulrike Rettig

3 Reasons for Learning German in Context

Grammar topics - Gamesforlanguage There's nothing wrong with Flashcards, I love them for practicing vocabulary and we use them in our games as well.

But learning only with traditional flashcards - or sticking only to list learning, for that matter - is bound to keep you in the rank of beginner.

To bust through the beginner ceiling, you have to learn to use phrases and sentences as part of communication. That's where context learning comes in. Here are three simple reasons for learning German in context.

Pronouns

German consistently uses pronouns with specific verb forms (as opposed to Italian or Spanish, for example). But because some of the German pronouns are multi-functional or are part of an idiom, you need the context to understand what's going on.

A perfect example is “sie/Sie”:
• Wann kommt sie? - When is she coming? [she - subject]
• Wann kommen sie? - When are they coming? [they - subject]
• Und kommen Sie auch? - And are you also coming? [you(formal) - subject]
• Ich kann Sie nicht sehen. - I can't see you. [you(formal) - direct object]
• Ich kenne sie nicht. - I don't know her/them. [her/them - direct object]

The word "sie" can also refer to a "feminine gender" object or animal:
• Die Hütte dort, siehst du sie? - The hut over there, do you see it? [it(f) - direct object]
• Die Katze dort, sie wartet auf ihre Milch. - The cat over there, it's waiting for its milk. [it(f) - subject]

And the German “ihr/Ihr” could mean in English: “you” [plural familiar], “her” [indirect object], “their” [possessive pronoun], “your” [formal] or also “to her” in various German idioms.

When learning the various uses of “sie/Sie” or “ihr/Ihr,” it is useful to have specific phrases or sentences in mind.

Articles and Cases

In German, articles and noun cases are matched – often in mysterious ways for beginners:
• “der” is not only the masculine article, as in : [der See] Der See ist .... - The lake is .... [m – subject), • "der" can also can precede a feminine noun, as in:
• [die Frau] Ich gebe der Frau ... - I give (to) the woman ... [f, indirect object]
• [die Kirche] Das Tor der Kirche ist .... - The door of the church .... [f , possessive]
• [die Stimme] Die Anzahl der Stimmen ... - The number of votes ... [f pl, possessive]

Similarly, “die” is not only the feminine article, "die" is also the plural form for all nouns that are a subject or a direct object, as in:
• [das Haus] Die Häuser sind ... - The houses are ... [neuter, pl subject]
• [der Baum] Die Bäume sind ... - The trees are ... [m, pl subject]
• [die Straße] Die Straßen sind ... - The streets are ... [f, pl subject]
• Ich sehe die Häuser, die Bäume, und die Straßen. - I see the houses, the trees, and the streets. [direct objects]

Idiomatic meanings

Some words change their meaning, depending on the context. For example (as shown by a post circulating on Facebook), the word “Bitte" has multiple meanings.

As a simple statement, “Bitte” basically means “Please”.  But it can also mean “Go ahead.”;  or “I don't mind”; or “You're welcome.”; or “Here you are.”; or “Not at all.” In addition, the question “Bitte?” is often used as “Pardon me?” 

While “Danke” simply means “Thank you,” in a specific context, it can mean: “Yes, thank you.” or “No, thank you.”

And, the much-used word “gut” (good) can change its meaning in idioms such as:
• “Gut, das machen wir.” - Okay, we'll do that.
• “Mir geht's gut.” - I'm feeling great.
• “Mir ist nicht gut.” - I'm not feeling well.
• “Jetzt ist es aber gut.” - That'll do.
• “Schon gut.” - That's enough.

Learning vocabulary is clearly necessary – and Flashcards are a great tool for that – but simply knowing groups of words is not enough to really understand and speak German. It's best to learn those words in the context of a topic that interests you.

You will better remember the words when you recall them as part of meaningful phrases and sentences. Moreover, when you use them in new sentence combinations, applying the grammar rules will be much easier.

And we certainly agree with author Andy Hunt (co-author of “Pragmatic Thinking and Learning”) whom we had quoted in My Rosetta Stone Blog - 3: “Always Consider the Context ... because it is important for understanding the world around us."

Posted on by Peter & Ulrike Rettig

GamesforLanguage August 2013 Newsletter

old homepage - Gamesforlanguage

If you have been back to our site lately, you may have noticed several changes.

- Vocabulary Lists - On the Playing Page, with your completed or Scenes in progress, you can now download the vocabulary lists of the words, phrases, and sentences of such Scenes. While online learning has many benefits, many users apparently feel that having a vocabulary list available both on screen and as a hard copy is helpful.

- Mp3 audios - Once you have started the first Scene of each Level, you can now also download the mp3 audio of all six (6) Scenes of that Level (Except for Level 1, where the audio is available with Scene 2) By hearing “The Story” at the beginning of each Level you'll guess the meaning based on the context and on what you have learned so far – a valuable skill to use in "real life" when you want to understand a foreign speaker.

- Reduced Score Targets - We have reduced the score targets you need to advance to the next Scene. As iPad users can't score with "Record It" and "Recall & Record", moving to the next Scene became difficult.

- German Scene "0" - A new "Scene 0", added to our German 1 course, makes it easier for beginners to start a new language and we are inviting further comments from beginners of German.

- Memory Game Splits - We are splitting the "Memory Game" and some "Snap Clouds" into 2 parts to make it easier to navigate and replay. Users with some background in the language often skip directly to "Snap Clouds" or "Shooting Gallery" to test their memory.

- Students' Monitoring - Responding to teachers' and parents' requests we can now give them access to more detailed information about their students' or children's progress. Contact peter@gamesforlanguage.com, if you'd like to set up and start monitoring multiple accounts.

You can now connect with us on gamesforlanguage image Facebook. We continuously add links, tips, and mini lessons to our Facebook page and you can easily stay in touch with our Blog posts and the latest progress in language learning.

Let us know, if you like the changes and we don't mind answering any and all of your language questions!

Posted on by Pablo Montoya and Ulrike Rettig

3 Ways to Better Engage in a Spanish Conversation (2)

Games-for-Spanish-ConversationAfter you've initiated a conversation (see Part 1), you'll want to have a few topics up your sleeve to sustain it and, finally, to close your conversation in a gracious way.

(2) SUSTAINING A CONVERSATION

Know some basic information about the city and have a few phrases ready so you can introduce the topics that interest you:

Know also a few interesting historical facts about the country. This means that you should learn how to say dates. Remember that in Spanish, dates follow this format: day, month, year.

Say something about your stay in the country, where you're going, or where you've been, etc.

Learn to listen as well as talk. Be able to ask questions and make comments to show your interest in what the other person is saying:

Obviously, the old stand-by, if you did not understand:

  • "¡Eso ha sido un poco rápido de más!" (That was a little too fast!)
  • "¡Podría repetir eso por favor!" (Could you, please, repeat that!)

(3) CLOSING A CONVERSATION

It's always important to find a way to close a conversation gracefully. Spaniards are a little more formal about getting ready to go than Americans. Have a few exit lines ready!

a) Signaling the end:

  • -"Muchas gracias por las recomendqaciones." (Thank you for the tips.)
  • -"Ha sido un placer hablar con usted." (It was nice to talk with you.)
  • -"¡Vaya, que tarde es! Todavía tengo que ..." (Darn, look how late it is! I still have to ...)
  • -"He quedado con unos amigos." (I'm meeting some friends.)

b) When you're leaving:

  • -"Por desgracia me tengo que ir ahora." (Unfortunatley, I have to go now.)
  • -"Lo dicho: muchas gracias/he estado muy bien." (Again: many thanks/it was really nice.)
  • -"¡Que pasen una buen tarde/noche!" (Have a nice afternoon/evening!)
  • -"¡Adiós!" (Goodbye!)

Practicing some of these conversational phrases and expressions ahead of time will be quite helpful and impress your Spanish speaking contact. While such phrases will obviously not be sufficient for an intensive discussion, they will boost you confidence in speaking. The next step will be to add a few more topics and strategies to your conversational skills.

Posted on by Peter Rettig

The Story-Approach for Effective Language Learning

vocabulary topics - GamesforLanguage Many language courses - be they books, CDs, online programs, or apps - are structured around learning particular vocabulary topics: “survival words & phrases,” such as greetings, numbers, directions, shopping, time, days, months, etc., or "categories," such as colors, food items, parts of the body, animals, objects found in the home, etc.

Clearly, these words and phrases are important to learn and know. However, if they are just introduced as a list and without context, they are difficult to retain.

That's why GamesforLanguage.com has chosen a “Story-Approach”: Each new word is introduced as part of an ongoing story – a young man traveling to the country of the foreign language that is to be learned: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the U.S, the last one for speakers of Spanish.

Will this young man use all the vocabulary contained in the various topics mentioned above? Probably not.

But the 700 words that make up the many phrases and sentences in each GamesforLanguage course will not only be more useful, but also easier to remember and apply. That is what's important to most learners: acquiring vocabulary that they can use in daily life.

For learners who already have some background in one of the four languages, GamesforLanguage provides a fun and effective way to “brush up” on their foreign language.

They can skip the “Memory Games” and immediately focus on “Snap Clouds,” “Shooting Gallery,” or “Word Hero” to test their vocabulary; practice translation and sentence building with “Word Invaders” or “Shoot Out”.

Interacting repeatedly with the elements of “The Story” - hearing, saying, writing, and recording words, phrases, and sentences in context - is an effective way to memorize, retain and learn to apply the language you're learning.

This YouTube clip for French shows how all the new words of "The Story" are playfully being learned in various easy games. Learning with a story that continues from Scene to Scene keeps up one's interest more than the often unrelated dialogues so many language programs are using!

Posted on by Peter Rettig

Free vs For-Pay Language Programs

sign with free Many programs for learning a foreign language still rely on books, records, tapes, CDs, videos, films, and are being used in classrooms and by private tutors alike. Such materials are typically purchased (or may also be obtained through your local library).

The advent of the Internet has made large numbers of language learning materials available for free. And so companies and organizations that produce such materials find themselves in a similar position as newspapers and news organizations: Provide free content to attract readers/users, but also find revenue sources that allow for the development, marketing, and distribution of such content.

There is no mystery about the revenue sources for online language programs:
- Product sales or subscriptions
- Sales of ads on site
- Grants/philanthropy/donations
- A combination of the above

Examining the PC/mobile or online language programs that exist today, one finds that English speakers have a wide range of choices. Truly free programs such as DuoLingo.com, GamesforLanguage, or MOOCs (massive open online courses), low-cost programs, “Freemium” programs, (programs with free lessons that “up-sell” and/or have ads), and high-cost programs, with Rosetta Stone being the best-known in that group.

For language learners price may be a deciding factor, but quality, effectiveness, and a fit with one's personal learning style are not always proportional to price.