German for Beginners Learning Tips

Here are some study tips and practical advice to help make your learning of German more effective: Use Your First Language to Learn the Second German and English are both Germanic languages with a lot of Latin and Greek thrown in. There are many cognates, words that are similar in both languages. Examples include: der Garten (garden), das Haus (house), schwimmen (swim), singen (sing), braun (brown), and ist (is). But also watch out for false friends — words that appear to be something theyre not. The German word bald (soon) has nothing to do with hair! Avoid Language Interference Learning a second language is similar in some ways to learning your first, but there is one big difference. When learning a second language (German), you have interference from the first (English or whatever). Your brain wants to fall back on the English way of doing things, so you have to fight that tendency. Learn Nouns With Their Genders German, like most languages other than English, is a language of gender. As you learn each new German noun, learn its gender at the same time. Not knowing whether a word is der (masc.), die (fem.) or das (neut.) can confuse listeners and makes you sound ignorant and illiterate in German. That can be avoided by learning das Haus rather than just Haus for house/building, for example. Stop Translating Translation should only be a temporary crutch! Stop thinking in English and trying to do things the â€Å"English† way! As your vocabulary grows, get away from translating and start thinking in German and German phrases. Remember: German-speakers dont have to translate when they speak. Neither should you! Learning a New Language Is Learning to Think in a New Way Das Erlernen einer neuen Sprache ist das Erlernen einer neuen Denkweise. - Hyde Flippo Get a Good German-English Dictionary You need an adequate (minimum 40,000 entries) dictionary and you need to learn how to use it! A dictionary can be dangerous in the wrong hands. Try not to think too literally and dont just accept the first translation you see. Just as in English, most words can mean more than one thing. Consider the word â€Å"fix† in English as one good example: â€Å"fix a sandwich† is a different meaning than â€Å"fix the car† or â€Å"hes in a fine fix.† Learning a New Language Takes Time Learning German — or any other language — requires a long period of sustained exposure to German. You didnt learn your first language in a few months, so dont think a second one will come any faster. Even a baby does a lot of listening before talking. Dont get discouraged if the going seems slow. And use all the resources at your disposal for reading, listening, writing, and speaking. The United States is the only country where people believe you can learn a foreign language in two school years. - Hyde Flippo Passive Skills Come First A period of listening and reading is important before you can expect to use the active skills of speaking and writing. Again, your first language was the same way. Babies dont start talking until theyve done a lot of listening. Be Consistent and Study/Practice on a Regular Basis Unfortunately, language is NOT like riding a bicycle. Its more like learning to play a musical instrument. You DO forget how to do it if you get away from it too long! Language Is More Complex Than We Realize Thats one reason  computers are such lousy translators. Dont worry about all the details all the time, but be aware that language is much more than just stringing a bunch of words together. There are subtle things we do with  language  that even linguists have difficulty explaining. Thats why I say, Learning a new language is learning to think in a new way. Sprachgefà ¼hl You have to develop a feeling for the language to master German or any language. The more you get into German, the more this hard-to-describe  Sprachgefà ¼hl  should develop. Its the opposite of a rote, mechanical, programmed approach. It means getting into the languages sound and feel. There Is No Right Way German has its own way of defining words (vocabulary), saying words (pronunciation), and putting words together (grammar). Learn to be flexible, to mimic the language, and to accept  Deutsch  the way it is. German may do things differently from your point of view, but it isnt a matter of right or wrong, good or bad. Learning a new language is learning to think in a new way! You dont really know a language until you can think (and dream) in that language. Dangerous! - Gefà ¤hrlich! Some things to avoid: Avoid the most common beginners mistakes.  Dont be overly ambitious. Set realistic goals and take things one step at a time. Our lessons are designed that way.Dont try to pretend you are a native speaker of German (Muttersprachler) when you arent. That means avoiding jokes, swearing and other linguistic minefields that can make you sound and look foolish.One more time: Stop translating! It gets in the way of real communication and should be left to skilled professionals.Also one more time: A dictionary is dangerous! Verify meanings by also looking up the word or expression in the opposite language direction. Recommended Reading How To Learn a Foreign Language  by Graham Fuller (Storm King Press)German Grammar Book: Deutsch  macht  Spaß by Brigitte Dubiel Special Resources Online Lessons:  Our free  German for Beginners  course is available online 24 hours a day. You can start with Lesson 1 or select any one of the 20 lessons for review.Special Characters:  See  Can Your PC Speak German?  and  Das Alphabet  for information about typing and using uniquely German characters such as à ¤ or ß.Daily German 1:  German Word of the Day for beginners​Daily German 2:  Das Wort des Tages for intermediate, advanced learners

Essay about The Cause of Hatred and Distrust in the Middle...

The Cause of Hatred and Distrust in the Middle East The war in Iraq is further poisoning the already noxious political atmosphere between Arabs and Americans. It has intensified and increased dangerous feelings of humiliation and outrage among the Arab public, while paranoid rhetoric about Western attacks against Islam elsewhere is spreading from the religious fringe to the mainstream. It is simplistic and self- serving for political leaders in the West to tell us that the terrorists attacks happen because they hate freedom, or hate our democratic values or they despise our love of liberty. Many, in fact, hate what they perceive as materialistic Western values, but this is not what leads them†¦show more content†¦This means that about 20% of the worlds population is Muslim, 18% Christian, and 2.1% Jewish. Of the 13 million Jews in the world, about 5.8 million live in the United States and about 4.8 million live in Israel. This boils down to the fact that about 80% of the population in Israel is Jewish and about 20% (or 1.1 million) is Arab Muslims. The population in the West Bank (a dry, land-locked area of about 5,860 square miles right smack in the middle of Israel) is about two million, of which Palestinian Arabs comprise 83% (1.7 million) and Jews comprise about 17% (340,000). The predominant religions in the West Bank are thus about 75% Muslim and 17% Jewish (with the balance being mostly Christians). Basically there are about two million Arab Muslims surrounded by about 4.8 million Jews. The Arabs and the Jews hate each other and have been fighting since the United Nations had the brilliant idea of partitioning the country in this insane manner in 1947 (CIA par.3). Also, U.S. aid to Israel has played a major role in tension between Arabs and America and between Arabs and Israel. On Ted Koppels (NIGHTLINE), Henry Sigman said: The U.S. is seen as a sort of an insensitive hegemony, with arrogance that seeks to impose its own values on the rest of the world. It is seen as an uncritical supporter of the State of Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians and theShow MoreRelatedThe Islamic Republic Of Iran1426 Words   |  6 Pagespolitical revolutions have inspired new waves of government control, tyrannical and benign leaders, and great cultural change over time. The strong religious beliefs expressed by the people of this nation are both a form of unity and disunity that cause widespread schisms within this state. As a theocratic republic, the intermingling of religion and government within the state has caused a very controversial history for this nation. 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Self Discpline Free Essays

All successful people have self-discipline as it is this quality that aids you to reach your goals. Developing self-discipline for success means you are giving yourself and your goals true and proper respect. It affects your ability to see a project through. We will write a custom essay sample on Self Discpline or any similar topic only for you Order Now It allows you to stay focused on your goal. We are given magnificent ‘birth gifts† – talents, capacities, privileges, intelligences, opportunities – that would remain largely unopened except through our own decision and effort. The pillars of self-discipline is acceptance, will power, hard work, persistence. Self-discipline becomes powerful when combined with passion, goal-setting and planning. Self-discipline is to do the right thing because you want to, not because you have to. Self-discipline is the ability to get yourself to take action, regardless of your emotional state or how you feel about it. Self-discipline is to accept responsibility and do what is expected of you. It is the ability to exercise control over one’s behaviour or emotions. It is organised resilience. It is the ability to control unnecessary and harmful impulses. It is inner power to overcome the desire to indulge in unnecessary and useless habits and an inner strength. Self-discipline is to act with integrity. To choose between what is right and what is wrong, to balance individual needs with the needs of others and to understand moral values and follow rules. Self-discipline is also to manage time, thoughts and physical actions to reach your goal. It is a type of selective training, creating new habits of thought, action, and speech toward improving yourself and reaching your goals. Self-discipline is the active agent that drives inspiration into reality. It gives you the will power to reject immediate satisfaction for something better. How to Become Self-Disciplined Be quick to break habits that can break you. Hasten to adopt practices that will become habits to help you succeed. Everyone wants more self-disciple as it gives us control over our lives. We do want to take charge of ourselves, control our temper, appetite, laziness and more. No one is born with self-discipline, it is learnt through practice. Building self-discipline is like building a muscle. The more you train it, the stronger it becomes. As it takes muscle to build muscle, it takes self-discipline to build self-discipline. The more self-disciplined you become, the easier it gets. We use progressive weight training to build muscle. This means lifting weights that are close to your limit. Similarly, to build self-discipline, is to tackle challenges that can be successfully accomplished but which are near your limit. It is not trying and failing; it is not staying in your comfort zone. You will gain no strength trying to lift a weight that you cannot budge, nor weights that are too light. Learn how to lift the right weight for your life through a home business that specializes in self-development. As a home business opportunity, Empowering Lives help parents achieve the goal of raising contented, confident and compassionate children through our bully prevention and self-development programs while setting the example of parents whom are successful and can reach their goals! How to cite Self Discpline, Papers