Listening to foreign songs is an excellent way to memorize key phrases and expressions – and having fun with German language learning . Sometimes, you may even start humming and repeating the refrains without exactly knowing the meaning.
In an earlier blog post - 6 Tips for Learning a Foreign Language - we had suggested listening to songs as tip #4, as listening to music and songs can also fuel your enthusiasm for learning a new language.
Language Learning with "Guten Morgen, liebe Sorgen...."
This song was written and first performed by Jürgen von der Lippe in 1987.It's his greatest musical successand he sang it for the next 20+ years, with a refrain that is hard to get out of one's mind.For those who don't speak German at all, this YouTube clip provides a (not always correct) translation. You also may understand why the song is still popular in Germany today. And for those who know some German, similar points as above also apply:
• The refrain both with its perfect (Morgen-Sorgen) and partial (da-klar) rhymes is still an ear-worm. • Expressions such as “na, dann ist ja alles klar” (well, then everything is ok) can easily be remembered. • Vocabulary such as “behende” (nimbly), “Schwung” (momentum), “Bettvorleger” (rug beside a bed) you probably won't find in your typical language course. • German has a lot of little words that add meaning to the message, words which often don't translate literally into English. In a song, these may be exaggerated and stressed, and thus be understood more clearly. • For example, "schon" (already) in the line "seid ihr auch schon wieder da"; or "na" (well) and "ja" (indeed), in the line "na, dann ist ja alles klar."
Which brings me to this question: Which, in your mind, are the English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish songs that make great tools for someone learning the language? Songs that have a refrain and lyrics that are memorable? Drop us a line to contact@gamesforlanguage.com.
"Disruption" by Jean-Marie Dru was published in 1996 and is therefore not a new concept. In educational circles, however, it's a new trend and the education blogger Kirsten Winkler often writes about digital disruption in her blog.
It's no surprise that language learners are also being impacted by - and by in large are benefiting from - the ever snowballing movement for "disruptive innovation in education." It affects even those of us who are no longer in school or college.
In order to engage with other cultures, to travel, to live or work abroad, many people are eagerly learning a second or third language. Until a few years ago, our options were mostly limited to slugging through a textbook on our own, attending Continuing Education evening classes, hiring a private tutor, or buying expensive language learning CDs and DVDs.
Now with the Internet as a disruptive force, our choices have mushroomed.
INNOVATIVE WAYS TO START OUT
It means, that we can put the large cookie-cutter style language programs aside and have fun with an array of fresh products created by innovative language learning companies.
Anyone learning a new language has to make a start. One way is to learn a series of relevant words or phrases that will be useful forever. And if you want to stick with it, you have to find a way to really engage.
NEWS BASED LEARNING
Another approach is to practice with content that is time- and place relevant - such as daily news articles that interest you. For example, Voxy.com is a platform that uses daily news to create short lessons that you can access from mobile devices any time during the day. At the moment Voxy only offers English for Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese speakers, but more languages are in the works.
CROWD-SOURCED LEARNING
Because it provides easy access to native speakers, this approach has gained popularity quickly. Ideally, with such a program you can pace yourself, learn from live feed-back, and start creating social contacts in your new language.
For example, besides providing free language-learning, Duolingo.com is also a crowd-sourced learning platform. At the moment Duolingo offers 5 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese.
VIDEO CHAT CONVERSATIONS
Skype, and Apple's video chat app called "FaceTime" provide the tools to have live, face to face conversations with foreign friends and language exchange partners. Various companies provide language services using these technologies, but you can also set up conversations on your own!
Go for it!
Not everybody will feel comfortable with these new approaches. For others, these programs are great additions to more traditional learning materials. Users of Internet-based language programs seem to be mostly a younger crowd (which includes the thirty-somethings).
Is that because they have grown up using computers for learning and like trying out things on the Internet? Whatever the reason, new approaches can take the “chore” out of language learning. That’s a good thing. So go for it: Try one way of learning, or try them all. You can’t lose.
I've been learning Spanish for about eight months now. After a few lessons with Rosetta Stone (see my blog #3) and the initial 6-week boost with our Spanish 1 course, progress now is slow but steady. Learning a new language means building new skills, gradually.
During the weeks before election, one or the other candidate spoke or had ads in Spanish. I could understand most of these, no problem! I feel that I'm ready to add Social Media to my tools for improving my Spanish further.
30 Minutes a Day
Life is busy, but most days I do manage to squeeze in about 30 minutes of Spanish - 10 minutes here, 5 minutes there. My learning "schedule" is scattered throughout the day. Generally, it consists of:
Reading a few pages of my Spanish ebook (at the moment, Zafón’s La sombre del viento) );
Playing a couple of Vocabulary Games with sound;
Reading Spanish newspaper articles online;
Watching a Spanish soap for 10-15 minutes in the evening
Doing a couple of grammar exercises from an old fashioned book with my husband over coffee. We chuckle over some of the weird and useless sentences that come up - such as: ¿Cómo come Juan? (How does Juan eat?) and ¿Dónde beben los animales? (Where do the animals drink?)
Social Media for Learning Spanish
It's easy to add Spanish to your Twitter(left) or Facebook feeds. And, you can read the posts when you have a spare moment or whenever you feel like it.
Choices are endless, but they'll all grow your grasp of Spanish and the culture of Spain and Latin American countries. You'll begin to better understand how opinions are formulated, how regional humor is expressed, how discussions are carried on, etc.
12 Social Media Terms in Spanish
So, if you are ready to participate in Spanish on Social Media, here's a start with some basic social media terms:
Compartir - Share
Conectar - Connect
Comentarios - Comments
Enviar - Send
Escribir - Write
Recuérdame - Remember me
Seguir - Follow
Twittear - Tweet
Usuario registrado - Registered user
Lo más visto en ... - The most seen on ...
Lo más debatido ahora - Most talked about now
Lo que hacen tus amigos - What your friends are doing
Once you have mastered some of the basics of a new language, using your Social Media News Feeds is also a great way to foster your motivation. News Feeds let you connect to the topics that interest you and expand your vocabulary in just those areas. Research has shown that learning new words and phrases in context will help you retain and use them more easily.
During a recent trip to Europe, I realized again that you can "zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen": practice your foreign language skills even while waiting in line. (Can you now guess the translation of the German idiom?)
Waiting has never been one of my particular pleasures, (just ask my sons) but this time I quite enjoyed it!
Grand Place, Moules et Frites, et Gaufres
We were spending a few days in Brussels, marveling at the wonderful “Grand Place” (see image) and city hall, enjoying “moules et frites”, “gaufres” (waffels) with ice cream and strawberries, and hearing all kinds of different languages in the busy streets.
At the end of our stay I needed to get some train tickets for our afternoon trip to Bruges. We were going to meet some of our extended family members there for a family reunion. I was surprised by the long lines at the railway station, both in front of the two ticket machines as well as at the ticket windows.
Getting in line at one of the counters, I asked the man behind me (in French), whether he knew of any other ticket machines in the station. He did not, but we continued our conversation.
British Comedy-Drama set in Bruges
I quickly earned that he was actually French, not Belgian, and had just visited Bruges as well as Brussels. He was now returning to Paris.
As we were talking about our travel experiences – he gave me some good recommendations for Bruges – and waiting in line suddenly became enjoyable.
He also commented that Bruges was really a worthwhile place to visit – and not at all what the somewhat facetious line in the 2008 British dark comedy-drama (“In Bruges”) implied: “Hell is staying in Bruges forever.”
We had both seen the movie and talked about some of the scenes. (On the left, the Bruges tower, where much of the movie's action takes place.)
And when he then complimented me on my French, I remembered a German proverb: “zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen” (literally: to hit two flies with a fly swatter). The equivalent in English is: "to kill two birds with one stone", which seemed to me a very fitting translation in connection with the film.
So, waiting in line, especially in a foreign country, not only lets you exercise your foreign language skills, but it also lets the waiting become more enjoyable – and you may even pick up some good tips and information.
I for one, will start to apply this notion also while waiting in other lines at home.
and he sang it for the next 20+ years, with a refrain that is hard to get out of one's mind.For those who don't speak German at all, this YouTube clip provides a (not always correct) translation.
I've been learning Spanish for about eight months now. After a few lessons with 
