Benny Lewis's Blog, page 56

12 German Bands To Help You Learn German Through Music

Are you on the hunt for German bands? Then look no further!

Germany has some great bands on offer; from hip-hop to punk rock, and heavy metal to country, there is so much to choose from. And better still?

Listening to German music is a great way to improve your German language skills.

How Can German Bands Help You Learn German?

Don’t worry, you don’t need to fork over lots of money for language lessons with any rock stars!

German music can help you to improve your listening skills and grow your vocabulary. It’s also a fun way to study, especially if you’ve had your head in your books for a long time.

To do this you need to make use of a skill called active listening.

Active listening means listening to these German bands with intent. You pay close attention to what they’re saying and try to figure out the message they’re putting across.

This is often done with the lyric sheet in front of you, so you can sing along and make a note of any vocabulary or sentences you don’t understand. (I’ve provided these in the band list below!)

While listening to music in the background can be great and help you get used to the sounds of German, the passive listening won’t get you any closer to having a conversation. So, make use of active listening while you check out some of these new bands!

In the sections below I’ve outlined 12 German bands for you to listen to, from lots of different backgrounds and genres. There’s a bit of backstory for each band, too, so you can understand their cultural significance and talk about them with your German-speaking friends.

Ready to dive in? Los geht’s!

1. Die Fantastischen Vier

German hip-hop is one of the great wonders of learning German.

The language lends itself well the hard percussion sounds needed for rap music, and there is an eclectic mix of backing tracks you wouldn’t find in the American equivalent.

Die Fantastischen Vier (The Fantastic Four) are German hip-hop royalty and released the first ever complete German-language rap album back in 1991.

Although hip-hop can be intimidating to listen to as a beginner, Die Fantastischen Vier have some pretty accessible songs. The trippy “Tag am Meer” (“Day at the sea”), is rapped slowly and clearly, to ease you in:



I’d highly recommend you listen along with the lyrics, which you can find here.

And if you’re looking for more of a challenge you can check out their hit single, “Zusammen” (“Together”), which also featured as the TV song for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.



You can follow along with the lyrics to “Zusammen” here.

2. Wir Sind Helden

Wir Sind Helden (We Are Heroes) are a pop-rock band that started in Berlin. Their lead singer, Judith Holofernes, has one of my favourite voices in German music.

We’re really in intermediate territory here; the lyrics can be a little testing and her accent is, sometimes, a little hard to get into. But if you’re looking to improve your German listening skills, they’re a great band to listen to.

I’d recommended starting with their song “Nur Ein Wort” (“Just one word”), which comes with a lyric video to help you follow along and boost your vocabulary:



It’s also super catchy and you’ll probably still be singing it three hours from now.

If you want another challenging song which is pretty well known throughout Germany, “Denkmal” (“Monument”) is worth a listen:



It’s best to have the lyrics for this (I know I needed them)!

3. Die Toten Hosen

Die Toten Hosen (The Dead Trousers) are a punk band from Düsseldorf who came to fame in the German punk movement in the early 1980s.

They’re one of the most successful bands to come out of that movement. In my experience, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone over the age of 25 who can’t sing one of their songs all the way through.

Some of their songs are slow and melodic which make them a great place to start for a beginner. You don’t need to get caught up in all the Johnny Rotten screaming to understand what they’re talking about.

“Tage wie diese” is a cool song to begin with and talks about collective joy and never wanting a moment to end:



The lyrics are quite easy to follow and contain lots of everyday words.

And for a bit more of a challenge you can try listening to their classic song, “Alles aus Liebe” (“All out of love”), which is a bit of a household ballad (at least in my house):



Here are the lyrics so you can follow along, too.

4. Spider Murphy Gang

Neue Deutsche Welle (New German Wave) was a West German movement in the 1980s with its roots in the punk movement you read about in the last section.

Many of the hits are still played to this day, and whenever I mention my knowledge of Neue Deutsche Welle it’s often met with surprise and respect. So it’s definitely a cool part of the culture to get to grips with.

One of my favourite bands for this is the Spider Murphy Gang. If you’ve listened to much English punk, their sound will be familiar, but it’s easy for a beginner to understand.

Their song, “Wo bist du?” (“Where are you?”), has really simple lyrics and you can learn lots of new vocabulary to help you describe the people around you:



Take a read through the lyrics and jot down any words you don’t know!

“Skandal im Sperrbezirk” (“Scandal in the Sperrbezirk”, which is an area where prostitution is illegal), is a little bit more challenging, but one of the most famous songs from the period:



These lyrics from Genius provide a little more context for the more abstract lyrics. Just click on a line of verse to read the annotation explaining that part of the song.

5. Rammstein

Rammstein probably don’t need an introduction. They’re a favourite among rock music fans, regardless of whether you speak German or not.

Their songs and texts are pretty simple, which is done on purpose. They’re left open to interpretation, with lots of potential meanings, to allow people to project their own meanings onto the songs.

This is great news for you as a German learner because you can learn simple vocabulary and ideas, and begin to see how different words can be interpreted.

I recommend starting with “Ich Will” (“I want”) which is an easy-to-follow song, and one of their more, erm…family friendly hits.



Here are the lyrics for you to follow along with.

Another great song to try is “Amerika” which is about America’s influence on the world. It’s intertwined with bits of English and household figures which make it easy to follow.



There are only two verses you’ll really need the lyrics for, but it’s always good to have them to follow along with.

6. Tic Tac Toe

Tic Tac Toe are Germany’s most successful female band. But, like lots of hyper-successful bands, they struggled to stay together and disbanded for good in 2007.

Their music was met with much controversy in the 1990s because of their aggressive style and their explicit song titles. It’s also a bit, well… assi , but in a cool way.

Their slower songs, like “Warum?” (“Why?”) are easy for a beginner to get into:



Here are the lyrics if you want extra support to follow along.

If you want to test your German and head towards the higher intermediate levels, “Ich Find’ Dich Scheisse” (“I think you’re shi”t) is a funny song to learn from:



As you’ve probably picked up on the pattern by now, here’s a link to the lyrics.

7. Truck Stop

Truck Stop blew my mind when I first stumbled across them.

It’s traditional country music as you know it, with some musical styles reminiscent of old Kenny Rogers or Dave Dudley. Just, you know, sung in German.

The band originally sang in English and then swapped to their mother tongue back in the 1970s. They probably have the clearest and easy to understand music of any band on this list, especially for a beginner. You can hear clear breaks between each word, and there are few abbreviations or slang terms.

My favourite song from Truck Stop is “Wenn es nacht wird, in Old Tucson” (“When night falls in old Tucson”) which is about as country as you can get:



You can follow along with the lyrics here, but they might be hard to read if you’re line dancing.

Another great song from these guys is “Tausend Meilen” (“Thousand Miles”):



You’ll probably need the lyrics for this because there are a few unusual words.

8. Culcha Candela

If you’re into more mainstream pop music, Culcha Candela might be up your street.

They’re a little like if Pitbull has chosen to sing in German and not English. Although they’re a German band, they have a lot of Latin and Spanish influences, and sometimes mix Spanish into their songs.

“Berlin City Girl” is an easy-to-understand party hit which can often be heard in German clubs and bars:



It’s annoyingly catchy and has simple lyrics. (But what pop song isn’t and doesn’t?)

“Eiskalt” (“Ice cold”) follows suit as a dancey, club-style number to bop your head to:



You can sing along with the lyrics here.

9. Tokio Hotel

Tokio Hotel are a German pop-rock band that grew to worldwide fame in 2007 and 2008, when they won an MTV Video Music Award for their English-language song “Ready, Set, Go!”.

Although they became internationally famous with their English music, they’ve also had great success at home with their German music, hitting the top of the charts multiple times.

For a beginner-level song I’d recommend you listen to “Durch den Monsun” (“Through the Monsoon”), which is quite slow and melodic:



The lyrics contain lots of everyday words and come across more as a conversation than a poem, with lots of German phrases you can use in day-to-day life.

“An deiner Seite” (“On your side”) needs a little more of an intermediate understanding, but shouldn’t be too hard to follow with the lyrics in hand:



10. Querbeat

Querbeat are a band straight out of the Köln (Cologne) carnival scene.

They’re a large band playing lots of different types of instruments to create a real party atmosphere. Carnival is a big deal in Cologne, and much like Michael Bublé at Christmas, Querbeat find themselves doing lots of performances over that period.

Their song, “Guten Morgen Barbarossaplatz” (“Good morning Barbarossaplatz”) is about a large square in Cologne where people who have been on long nights out tend to find themselves in the early hours. It’s a great example of carnival music which is designed to get you dancing and singing together.

Here’s a lyric video for you to enjoy and sing along with:



If you’re interested in some of the regional German languages and culture, they have songs in Kölsch, the language unique to Cologne. “Tshingderassabum” shows you some of the similarities between the two languages:



But you’re definitely going to need a lyric sheet to understand this one.

11. Silbermond

Silbermond (Silver Moon) are another great German band with an incredible frontwoman.
After a couple of false starts under different names with different languages, Silbermond started to focus on German songs and their careers took off. They’ve won MTV awards and found themselves placing well in the charts across German-speaking countries.

“Das Beste” (“The best”) is a soft-rock ballad easy for any beginner to get to grips with:



The song’s lyrics follow quite a simple pattern so you can keep time quite easily.

And for a slightly tougher listen check out “Unendlich” (“Never ending”) with the lyrics:



12. Die Beatles

You’ve heard of the Beatles, right?

While still young musicians their label, Odeon Records, convinced them to record some of their songs in German to sell more songs there. A singer from Luxembourg translated the songs “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You” into German and taught Paul McCartney and John Lennon how to pronounce them phonetically.

These songs are cool for any beginner because they’re sung in a non-native accent, and they’re tunes you’re familiar with.

You can listen to “Komm gib mir deine Hand” below with the lyrics here:



And you can listen to “Sie liebt dich” here with the lyrics as well:



It’s Time To Sing And Dance Your Way To Fluency…

I hope by now you’ve got some new ideas of German bands to listen to. But I want to hear from you.

Do you have any favourite bands you think we should have featured? Or, did one of the bands on this list become your new favourite German language band?

If so, let me know in the comments!

The post 12 German Bands To Help You Learn German Through Music appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

Learn to Sound like a Native and Pronounce Words in Any Language

Here’s a scenario that you may be familiar with:

You’ve learned the basics, and you’re ready to start speaking. You meet a native speaker, and you greet them in your target language. And… they can’t understand you. You know you said the right words! So what went wrong?

If that sounds like you, then you may need to work on your pronunciation.

Poor pronunciation gets in the way of sounding like a native speaker. Sometimes language learners feel like pronunciation will come naturally with time. So many don’t take the time to focus on it.

This is somewhat true. The more you speak and hear the language, the more you will adapt and pronounce words properly. But that’s assuming you’re actually speaking and listening all the time. Many beginners don’t do enough speaking or listening in their target language.

Instead, they depend on learning from reading. They learn from textbooks, Google Translate or transcripts. These can be helpful resources...but too much dependency on them can keep you from mastering pronunciation. You don’t want to fall into that trap.

By focusing on pronunciation first, you'll be easier to understand right away. It can also help you feel more confident in your language skills and sound more impressive to native speakers.

No matter what language you’re learning, there are ways you can study to improve your pronunciation!

Tactic #1: The Mimic Method

The Mimic Method, created by my friend and fellow polyglot Idahosa Ness, is a way to get over the dependence on reading to learn. With this method, you switch how you learn, and learn faster by training your ear. Think of it as Sound Rehab.

As a musician, Idahosa applied the same concepts of learning music by ear to language learning. The method breaks down languages into sounds, syllables, and sentences. You put them together to create rhythm and intonation, and effortless, native-like pronunciation. You first learn the Basic Elemental Sounds of your target language so you’ll have the building blocks of good pronunciation. Then, you focus on learning to pronounce words by ear instead of reading through a textbook.

For instance, English has about 43 elemental sounds, while Spanish has 39. So when learning Spanish pronunciation, I need to focus on which sounds are different and master those first. I also need to remove the extra sounds in English from my speech when speaking Spanish. It’s important to master the basic sounds because otherwise, you’ll struggle with the language as a whole.

Learning by ear allows for faster recall, better listening comprehension, and near-native pronunciation. After all, that's how babies acquire their native language with little to no accent.

Take a look at our review of the Mimic Method for more info.

Tactic #2: Master Listening & Shadowing

To learn a language, you must learn how to listen well. In our native language, we have a tendency to passively listen quite often. But we can’t get by doing this in our target language. We don’t have a deep enough understanding of it in the beginning to absorb what we hear. So, we can’t learn from passive listening.

To pronounce words correctly, you need to learn how native speakers pronounce them. The best way to do this is to actively listen. Pay close attention to exactly how the language sounds and flows. If you’re watching a video or chatting in person, notice the way the native speaker moves their mouth to form the sounds.

Let’s look at the way we use our mouth to create these sounds across languages. For example, the Japanese “r” sounds nothing like the English “r”. In Japanese, the “r” is between an “l” and “r” sound. It's created by flicking the tongue to the spot on the roof of your mouth where it starts to curve upward. But in Spanish, the “r” sound rolls when it’s doubled. When it’s a single “r”, it sounds like a quick “d” sound created by tapping your tongue on the ridge in your mouth just behind your front teeth. It’s very similar to the “tt” sound in “butter” when you say the word quickly.

Think about how different that is from the hard English “r”. The English “r” comes from pursing your lips and drawing your tongue back towards your back molars. Your lips don’t play much of a role in forming that sound in Spanish or Japanese, and you don’t push the tongue back at all!

By listening closely, and observing how the mouth moves, you can greatly improve your pronunciation.

You can take it a step further by shadowing. Shadowing is a learning technique that relies on ear training and mimicry. You listen to the speaker and repeat what they said, either at the same time or immediately afterward. It helps you to not only remember the vocabulary and sentence structure, but also the pronunciation. Plus, it helps you get over your anxiety of speaking! The more you shadow and follow along, the better you will be able to copy the native speaker’s rhythm and tones.

Tactic #3: Learn the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an excellent learning tool for pronunciation. Although a given letter can vary in sound across languages and dialects, the IPA standardises these sounds by giving each one its own unique letter or symbol. It breaks them down in a nuanced way so you learn every small difference. By learning IPA, you can really improve your pronunciation.

When you read a word written in IPA, you read how the word should sound in its original language. It's uninfluenced by your native language or writing system. Thus, you learn how to pronounce it right the first time. You’ll catch even subtle differences that distinguish learners from native speakers.

It can take a bit of effort to learn IPA, but it'll help increase your language learning speed and pronunciation in the long run. You don’t even have to master the entire IPA – just learn the sounds used in your target language.

George Millo wrote a fantastic, in-depth article for learning IPA, which you can check out here.

Tactic #4: Record Yourself Speaking

One of the best things you can do to improve pronunciation is to record yourself. This can be intimidating at first! But when you record yourself, you can accurately hear how you sound. You’ll be surprised how much more you notice about your speaking habits when you’re listening to yourself on a recording rather than just hearing yourself speak in the moment.

Is your rhythm off? Which sounds are you struggling with? The recording will allow you to hear the truth. Not only will you be able to catch vocabulary and grammar mistakes, but you can analyse your pronunciation. Then you can see where you need to improve.

This is why so many people find the Add1Challenge helpful. The goal of the Add1Challenge is to have a 15-minute conversation in 90 days. A big part of that is learning to speak the language with good pronunciation. During the Add1Challenge, you record videos to analyse your own progress at different points in the journey. And when you share your video with others in the community, you’ll get encouraging feedback on your progress as well. It’s a win-win!

Once you know what you need to work on, you can go back and assess how native speakers would say it. Then try it again!

Tactic #5: Speak from Day 1

All of the previous tactics have helped me in past language missions, but my most preferred tactic will always be to speak from day 1 .

The more you speak and converse with others, the better your pronunciation will become.

Why? Because you’re getting consistent practice. When you converse with native speakers, you’re training your ear to pick up on the nuance of your target language. You become used to those sounds, and you start to adjust to them.

You also hear the natural way a native speaker would say things. It’s usually very different from the written form – spoken words can get clipped or smushed together, such as “going to” becoming “gonna” in spoken English, or “what do you mean” becoming “whaddya mean”. The more you take part in conversations, the easier it is to naturally copy those sounds and improve your own pronunciation.

You will make mistakes along the way, of course. But embrace those mistakes! When you make mistakes, and you practise speaking to correct them, you’ll internalise that information better than you would if you only read it over and over.

While good grammar and vocab depend mostly on your brain’s long-term memory, good pronunciation is more a question of muscle memory. It’s that muscle memory that lets you have easy, fluent conversations. So you need to practise having conversations to grow.

Over to You!

Which of these tactics will you use to master your pronunciation? Will you try a mixture of them? Do you use any other methods to improve your speaking skills that I didn’t mention? Let me hear about them in the comments.

The post Learn to Sound like a Native and Pronounce Words in Any Language appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

121 French Words & Phrases to Talk About Your Job

When you talk to someone for the first time, one of the questions you’ll most likely get asked is, “so tell me, what do you do for a living?”

Or in French, “Dis-moi, qu'est-ce que vous faites dans la vie?”

I work in the music industry, and I find myself running into French speakers surprisingly often. Many of the saxophone manufacturers, reed makers, and even audio companies are based in other countries - one of which is France. And guess what? I almost always get asked how I’m involved in music (or about what I do).

In short, I’ve learned to master talking about what I do in French, and now, I look forward to helping you do the same.

The Many Ways to “Work” It in French

In French, as in many languages, there are tons of different words you can use to say “work”, “job” or “career”. Here are just a few of the most common you might refer to your career in French:


Le métier (occupation)
Le boulot (work - casual)
Le travail (work)
L’emploi (employment)
Le poste (post, position)
La carrière (career)
La vocation (vocation)
L’opportunité d'emploi (job opportunity)
Le stage en enterprise (internship)
Le taffe (work - slang)


If you want to talk about working as an action, on the other hand, French offers up a nice selection:


Bosser (to work - casual)
Travailler (to work)
Gérer (to manage)
Bosser comme un âne (to work like a dog - don’t say this one to your boss!)
Travailler dûr (to work hard)
Bien travailler (to work well)


French Work Questions: Asking What Someone Else Does

One of the best ways to keep the conversation going - in French - is to turn things around and ask your conversation partner questions about themselves. Here are a few different ways you can ask someone else what they do for a living:


Qu’est-ce que tu fais dans la vie ? - “What do you do for a living?”
Dans quel domaine travailles-tu ? - “What field do you work in?”
Quelle est ta profession ? - “What is your profession?”
Quel est ton métier ? - “What is your job?”
Que fais-tu comme travail ? - “What do you do for work?”
Tu bosses dans quoi ? - “What do you work in?”
C’est quoi ton boulot ? - “What’s your work?”
Vous travaillez comme ... depuis longtemps? “How long have you worked as a …?”


If they’ve already asked you what you do, after replying, you can simply follow up with, “Et toi ?”

Vocabulary for Different Jobs in French

Job positions in the French language often have two forms - feminine and masculine. There is some debate (by the French) over whether two forms should exist, or if the masculine form alone should be used, so you’ll likely encounter French people who sit on both sides of the fence. In Quebec, however, it’s almost universally accepted that both masculine and feminine forms should exist for all job titles.

I’ve included both the feminine and masculine forms for each of the jobs below (when available), and will leave it to you to decide which you feel is best.

Creative Fields


acteur/actrice (actor, usually in film/television)
comédien/comédienne (actor, usually on stage)
humoriste or comique (comedian)
artiste (artist)
blogueur/blogueuse (blogger)
chanteur/chanteuse (singer)
charpentier/charpentière (carpenter)
coiffeur/coiffeuse (hairdresser)
couturier/couturière (dressmaker)
dessinateur/dessinatrice (designer)
écrivain/écrivaine (writer)
musicien/musicienne (musician)
peintre (painter)
producteur/productrice (producer)
réalisateur/réalisatrice (filmmaker or film director)


Medical & Health


dentiste (dentist)
docteur/docteure (doctor)
infirmier/infirmière (nurse)
médecin (doctor)
psychologue (psychologist)


Education


enseignant/enseignante (teacher)
instituteur/institutrice (teacher)
professeur/professeure (professor)
tuteur/tutrice (tutor)
vacataire (part-time lecturer)


Food


boulanger/boulangère (baker)
brasseur/brasseuse (brewer)
bucher/buchère (butcher)
charcutier/charcutière (pork butcher)
pâtissier/pâtissière (pastry chef)
serveur/serveuse (waiter/waitress)


Business & Other Fields


agent/agente de change (stockbroker)
agent/agente immobilier (real estate agent)
architecte (architect)
avocat/avocate (lawyer)
caissier/caissière (cashier)
diplomate (diplomat)
directeur/directrice (company director)
entrepreneur/entrepreneure/entrepreneuse (entrepreneur - both feminine forms are acceptable in French)
expert-comptable/experte-comptable (CPA)
fonctionnaire (civil servant)
gérant/gérante (manager)
homme d’affaires/femme d’affaires (businessman/businesswoman)
ingénieur/ingénieure (engineer)
mécanicien/mécanicienne (mechanic)
ouvrier/ouvrière (laborer)
plombier/plombière (plumber)
politicien/politicienne (politician)
pompier/pompière (firefighter)
physicien/physicienne (physicist)
travailleur/travailleuse (worker)


How to Make a Good Impression on Your French Boss

Do you work (or want to work) for a French company? Here are a few useful expressions for making a good impression with your French boss:


Oui, je vais le faire tout de suite. Yes, I’ll do it right away.
Je l'ai déjà fait. I did it already.
J’ai terminé mon travail. I’ve finished my work.
Je pense que c’est une idée incroyable ! I think it’s an incredible idea!
Vous l'aurez sur votre bureau avant vendredi. You’ll have it on your desk before Friday.
Voici le résumé du rapport. Here’s the report brief.
J'ai pris la liberté de préparer cela pour vous. I took the liberty of preparing this for you.
Je serais heureux/heureuse de venir samedi. I’d be happy to come in on Saturday.
Cela ne me dérange pas de rester plus tard ce soir. It doesn’t bother me to stay late this evening.
Je vais prendre un déjeuner de travail. I’ll take a working lunch.


More Work-Related Terms in French

Beyond the above, there are a few other work-related terms in French that you may find useful. Here are just a few:

The People You Work With


l’acheteur (buyer)
l’associé (partner/associate)
le chef/le patron (boss)
le client (client)
le collègue (colleague)
le concurrent (competitor)
la société (company)
le vendeur (seller)


Watercooler Talk


une pause café (a coffee break)
les points (gossip)
une rumeur (a rumor)


Workplaces


la boîte (workplace)
le bureau (office)
la cabine (cubicle)


“Good Job” in French


bon travail (good job)
bravo ! (well done!)


You Work Hard for the Money


une augmentation de salaire (a raise)
un bosseur (a hard worker)
un congé (leave/day off from work)
une formation (training)
un salaire (salary)
gagner argent (to earn money)


You’ve Got Your Work Cut Out for You


un contrat (contract)
un dossier (file)
mettre à jour (to update)
une réunion (meeting)
une tâche (a task)
un voyage d’affaires (business trip)


Moving On


démissionner (to quit/resign)
embaucher (to hire)
l’entretien (interview)
le chômage (unemployment)
vous êtes viré (you’re fired)
licencier (to dismiss from work)
lourder (to fire - slang)


Over to You

Whether you work in France or want to discuss your work with French speakers, there’s a lot of ground to cover, but this list can serve as a launching point before getting into more industry-specific vocabulary.

If I’ve missed your vocation, let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear about your work in French!

The post 121 French Words & Phrases to Talk About Your Job appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

37 Cool Japanese Words and Phrases To Start Using Now

Ready to level-up your Japanese and sound めっちゃおしゃべ (meccha o-shabe, “super fashionable”)?

Then start adding some cool Japanese words to your vocabulary!

Japanese may seem like a serious language with layers of formal speech patterns. But Japan boasts tons of fun, slangy words and beautiful concepts only captured in their language and culture! After all, this is the country that gave us 絵文字 (emoji, “emoji”), taken from the Japanese word for “picture characters.”

Keep in mind that many of these cool Japanese words are only used in informal situations with people you’re close to. This would be family, friends of the same age, and sometimes coworkers at the same level of seniority. You wouldn’t use these words with strangers, your boss, or anyone with senpai-status or higher seniority.

Using these cool Japanese words with friends will help keep you from sounding too stiff. They'll add more natural, casual language to your Japanese conversations.

行こう！(Ikkou, "Let's go!")

Cool Japanese Words Unique to Japan

While every language has unique words that don’t translate well, I’m partial to those in Japanese. The Japanese capture concepts and images in life and nature, summing them up beautifully in one word. Because you may not have these words in your own native language, you may never have thought to learn them in Japanese before. But, learn these and you’ll show your “insider” knowledge of the culture!


木漏れ日 (Komorebi) means “sunbeam through the leaves." It describes the beautiful scene when the light and wind flutter through the leaves and shadows dance on the ground.
浮世 (Ukiyo) means "floating world." It describes the feeling of being present and mindful of the current moment, unbothered by stress. You may recognize this word as it’s used to describe the most famous style of Japanese art: 浮世絵 (ukiyo-e) paintings, such as those by Hokusai and Utamaro.
森林浴 (Shinrin-yoku): "Forest bath.” It describes the feeling of soaking in the green light within a forest. A peaceful image, right?
積読 (Tsundoku) means “accumulate,” but refers to someone who keeps buying books. They pile up, but they’ve yet to be read. That said, the kanji 読 (“to read”) gives the idea that the owner does intend to read them someday! There are so many memes about this for bookworms, but the Japanese captured it in one word.
食い倒れ (Kuidaore): “Topple over” is the exact translation. It's used to say you've eaten yourself to bankruptcy! If you’re a foodie, I’m sure you can relate.
渋い (Shibui): As an adjective, this word means “bitter.” But as a noun, it means “retro cool.” It’s used to describe something that is old-fashioned but cool because it’s retro. It often refers to the traditional minimalist Japanese style. But you can say it about anything retro cool.
取り戻す (Torimodosu): Summed up in one word, it has the same meaning as the famous English saying, “When life knocks you down, dust yourself off and get back up again.”


Cool Japanese Phrases For Everyday

There are many set phrases in Japanese that have no real equivalent in English. But these are prominent in everyday life in Japan. Knowing these and how to use them will help you sound more natural and respectful.


おつかれ (Otsukare): Short for お疲れ様でした (otsukaresama deshita), it means “You’ve worked hard!” It’s often said between coworkers or friends as a greeting or goodbye, or to express gratitude for their hard work and contribution. It can also replace 乾杯 (kanpai, "cheers") to toast drinks after a long day's work.
お邪魔します (Ojama shimasu): Whenever you enter someone’s home, you should say お邪魔します. It means “I’m sorry for intruding” or “I’m sorry for bothering you.” The noun, 邪魔 (jama), means “hindrance” or “intrusion,” so saying this when you enter someone’s home shows respect. You say this every time you enter someone's home, whether planned or unexpected. When you leave, you repeat the phrase but in the past tense: お邪魔しました (ojama shimashita).
いただきます (Itadakimasu): Whenever you eat, you start by saying いただきます, which literally means “to humbly receive.” It's often translated as “bon appetit” or “let’s eat.” It’s rude to begin eating before you say this!
ごちそうさまでした (Gochisousama deshita): After you’ve finished eating, you say ごちそうさまでした, which means “Thank you for this meal.” You always say this to the person who provided the food. Even if you paid for the food yourself, but enjoyed it with friends, you’ll say it to express gratitude for their company.
よろしくお願いします (Yoroshiku onegai shimasu): Or, to sound more casual, say よろしく (yoroshiku). It’s one of the most important and respectful phrases in Japanese and has many meanings. When you say it to someone you just met, it means “Nice to meet you” or “Looking forward to working with you.” But it can also mean “Please take care of me” or take care of something special. For instance, to take care of your luggage when you drop it off at the airport check-in.


Cool Japanese Slang Words

Adding slang to your vocabulary is a sure-fire way to sound more like a native speaker! These are some common, fresh and everyday slang terms you should know:


やばい (Yabai): Hands down one of the most common slang terms said today. やばい means both “awesome” or “amazing,” and “awful” or “crappy,” depending on the context. Try watching any episode of Terrace House without hearing this at least a dozen times!
すごい (Sugoi): You may know this one, but if you don't, you should! This is the catch-all Japanese word. It means "great," "awesome" or “amazing,” but is also used as an exclamation like “wow!” It’s often used in response to others, even when it’s not truly amazing. It’s sometimes shortened to すげー (suge-).
ウケる (Ukeru) means "that's funny," "hilarious," or "haha!" In fact, if you use Facebook in Japanese, the "Haha" reaction is labeled as “ウケる.”
なう (Nau) comes from the English word, "now," and it means the same thing. It’s often used on Twitter, to say something is happening at that very moment.
ちょ (Cho) means “very” or “super.” It’s more commonly heard in the Tokyo area, and it's often used in the context of ちょかわいい (cho kawaii, "super cute"). If you've ever listened to Harajuku Girls by Gwen Stefani, you might have heard this one.
めっちゃ (Meccha) has the exact same meaning and usage as ちょ, but is more common in Kansai dialect. You’ll hear the two used often, so it’s good to know both!
まじ (Maji) or まじで (Majide) means “seriously” or “for real.” You say まじ when you're using it as an exclamation like "Seriously??" You add で when you use it to describe something, like このケーキまじでおいしい! (Kono ke-ki majide oishii!, “This cake is seriously delicious!”)
テキトー (Tekito-) describes someone’s or something’s actions as lazy or careless. If someone is being too lazy to do the job right, you would use this word.
KY: Yes, this is an English abbreviation for a Japanese word: 空気読めない (kuuki yomenai, “not reading the atmosphere”). More accurately translated, it means someone “can’t read the mood” and often says the wrong thing. It's used to describe someone who is socially awkward or insensitive to other people's feelings.


Cool Japanese Idioms Using Yojijukugo

Yojijukugo (四字熟語) are idioms expressed in four kanji. These can be a bit tricky to learn, but they have a lot of meaning and add depth to your conversation.


一石二鳥 (Isseki ni chou): “One stone, two birds.” It means the same as “to kill two birds with one stone.”
朝飯前 (Asa meshi mae): This one has only 3 kanji and is not technically yojijukugo... Still, I wanted to include it because it’s common and has a direct English correlation: “a piece of cake.” The literal meaning is “before eating breakfast.” As in the task is so easy, you could do it before you even enjoy your coffee and food.
悪戦苦闘 (Akusen kutou): Combining the kanji for “fighting hard” and “agonizing,” this idiom means “an uphill battle.”
以心伝心 (Ishin denshin): For this idiom, “heart-to-heart” is the best translation. It's also used to describe understanding someone on a deep, intimate level. Because you’re so close, you even know what the other person is thinking.
一期一会 (Ichigo ichie) means “once in a lifetime." You can say it about things, situations, or people, similar to its English equivalent. For example, 一期一会の機械 (ichigo ichie no kikai, “once in a lifetime opportunity”) or 一期一会の友達 (ichigo ichie no tomodachi, “once in a lifetime friend”).
*一刻千金 (Ikkoku senkin): The literal meaning is “One moment, 1,000 pieces of gold.” Or, as in English, “time is money.”
*自画自賛 (Jiga jisan*): “Self-portrait, self-praise.” Or “to toot your own horn.” This kind of behavior is viewed negatively in Japanese culture, but it’s a fun expression to know!


Cool Japanese Onomatopoeia Words

Onomatopoeia play a big role in everyday Japanese speech, and it’s not limited to the “bang!” and “pow!” in comic books. Onomatopoeia express both sounds and emotions in Japanese. Knowing how to use them will make you sound more natural and improve your listening comprehension.

ドキドキ (Doki doki): Used to express excitement or nervousness, and often paired with the verb する (suru, "to be"). You'll see this one in 少女 (shoujo*, “young girl”) comics a lot, when the young heroine is feeling nervous around her crush!


ぞっと (Zotto): If you get a cold chill, or you have a chill go down your spine from fear or seeing something gross, you can say ぞっとする (zotto suru).
ムカつく (Mukatsuku): From the onomatopoeia むかむかする (muka muka suru), this means “disgusted.” But ムカつく has a stronger meaning, as in “pissed off.”
ぐっすり (Gussuri): This means “to sleep like a log.” It's used to describe your own sleep, or to ask others if they slept well. You can ask,夕べはぐっすり眠れましたか (Yuube ha gussuri nemuremashita ka, “Did you sleep soundly last night?”).
ガツガツ (Gatsu gatsu): If you’re ravenously hungry and devour your food, you could say ガツガツする (gatsu gatsu suru, “devouring”) or ガツガツ食べる (gatsu gatsu taberu, “eating ravenously”).
ペコペコ (Peko peko): "Starving.” You may know the phrase お腹が空いた (onaka ga suita, “I’m hungry”), but why not change it up? You can express that you’re hungry by saying お腹ぺこぺこ！ (onaka peko peko, “I’m starving!”)
キョロキョロ（Kyoro kyoro): If you visit Japan for the first time, you may look around curiously like tourists! Whenever you describe looking around curiously (or nervously), you say キョロキョロ見る (kyoro kyoro miru, "curiously looking around").


Cool Japanese Adjectives

By now, you might have learned several Japanese adjectives to describe situations or people. But why not learn some cool, popular adjectives to add a bit more color than the generic きれい (kirei, “pretty” or “clean”) and かわいい (kawaii, “cute”)?


うまい (Umai) means “wonderful,” “nice,” or “splendid.” It’s often used to say that something is delicious, too. Change up that ol’ standby 美味しい (oishii, “delicious”) and say うまい！
うざい (Uzai) means “annoying.” You often hear うるさい (urusai) for both “noisy” and “annoying,” but you can also use this one to describe an annoying situation or person.
怠い (Darui) means lazy, sluggish, or even comatose. You can use it to describe the feeling of being completely worn out, burnt out, or even very sick.
めんどい (Mendoi): A more slangy form of 面倒くさい (mendokusai, “bothersome”). めんどい means "a pain in the neck."
吞気な (Nonki na) means cheerful and easygoing. Use it to describe someone's cheerful personality: 吞気な人 (nonki na hito, “a cheerful person”).
*感情的な (Kanjou teki na) means “emotional.” It's another word to describe a personality, as in 感情的な人 (kanjou teki na hito*, “an emotional person”).
複雑な (Fukuzatsu na): “Complicated.” Need to change your Facebook status to “It’s complicated?” Here’s how you say it in Japanese: 複雑な関係 (fukuzatsu na kankei, “complex relationship”) or 複雑な心境 (fukuzatsu na shinkyou, “complicated feelings”).


A Note About Making Words “Cool” in Japanese

One thing to know about making words “cool” in Japanese: Almost any word can be made cooler or more slangy by combining or shortening it. For instance, おしゃかわ (oshakawa, “stylish and cool”) combines the words おしゃれ (oshare, “stylish” or “fashionably cool”) and かわいい (kawaii, “cute”). A lot of words like this frequently pop up to save time while texting.

Plus, words can be shortened by leaving off the last syllable. While this is more masculine and usually heard from guys, some girls use this, too (though it’s very informal). Words like すごい (sugoi, “amazing”) and やばい (yabai, both “incredible” and “horrible” depending on context) are often shortened to すげー (suge-) and やばっ (yaba). The small っ “clips” the word with a glottal sound in the throat, while the long ― means the sound gets dragged out. Both make the words sound more slangy.

You’ll hear this last example a lot in everyday casual speech. The い at the end of い-adjectives is often omitted, and may even change the last syllable to the え row of the kana chart (as seen with すごい to すげっ). Don’t know what that means yet? Then check out this article about understanding Hiragana and Katakana.

What Are Your Favorite Cool Japanese Words?

What cool words do you like to use in your language? Have you learned the Japanese equivalent? Or, what are your favorite cool words in Japanese? Let me know in the comments.

The post 37 Cool Japanese Words and Phrases To Start Using Now appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

25+ Top Language Learning Tools to Use During an Add1Challenge

I often get asked “Is the Add1Challenge a course? Will it teach me a language?”

The short answer is: no. The Add1Challenge isn’t a course. We don’t tell you what to learn, or how to study.

The Add1Challenge is a group of language learners who get together in our private community website for 90 days to learn a language. We go shoulder-to-shoulder, cheering on one another’s successes, keeping each other accountable, and supporting one another when things are difficult.

Alongside that, we provide study groups, mini-missions, prizes, accountability check-ins and personal email support.

It’s such successful formula for learning languages that at the end of the 90 days you’ll have a 15 minute conversation in your new language. We guarantee it!

The Add1Challenge isn’t a course -- so it’s up to you to find the learning resources that are right for you.

That said, there are a few resources that most Add1Challengers use again and again. We see these come up in every challenge. So I thought it’s worth sharing them here.

I’ve organized the resources around the common challenges that language learners face:

Speaking
Listening
New Words
Building Sentences
Feeling Confident

Resources to Improve Your Speaking Skills
The focus of the Add1Challenge is having a 15 minute conversation after 90 days. So speaking your new language is a really important skill to have!

Yet for some reason, it’s the skill many language learners leave for last. They tell themselves things like:

I’ll start speaking when I know more vocabulary.
I need to study grammar before I can speak.
I am not fluent yet, so I can’t speak.
First, I need to learn the language on my own before I can speak it with someone.

Do any of these sound familiar?

But when your goal is to have a conversation, you’ll need to start speaking sooner rather than later.

Here are the best tools to help you with speaking a new language:

Speak in a Week . Don’t believe you can start speaking before you know the language like the back of your hand? I recommend taking Benny Lewis’s free course Speak in a Week. It’s a great way to prove to yourself that you can start speaking today.
Conversation Countdown shows you how to have your first conversation with a native speaker in just seven days. It’s the ideal way to get started during the Add1Challenge.
italki is the best place to go to find people to speak with in your new language. You can find tutors (paid) or language exchange partners (free). All major languages are covered, as well as many less commonly spoken languages. italki also has a journal feature where you can write short entries in your language for corrections by native speakers. Check out our italki review here.
HelloTalk is a messaging app that puts you in touch with native speakers of your target language. They’ll help you learn their language in exchange for you helping them with English (or your native language). You can use the app to send them text messages, leave voice messages, or make voice or video calls. Take a look at our HelloTalk review here.
YouTube . As part of the Add1Challenge you’re required to make four videos of yourself speaking your target language (on Days 0, 30, 60 and 90), and share them on YouTube. This is a great way to get speaking practice! Many Add1Challengers find a lot of value in creating more than four videos.

Resources to Improve Your Listening Skills
With a 15 minute conversation in a new language, learning to speak is only half the work. You’ll also need to understand what your conversation partner is saying.

So while speaking is the main focus of Add1Challengers, listening comprehension should be #2 on your list.

Here are the listening resources that get a lot of love in Add1:

Innovative Language podcasts are a firm favorite among the Fluent in 3 Months (Fi3M) team, and they’re popular with the Add1 community too. They have a wide selection of languages with material for nearly every level. They regularly release new audio and video lessons, and teach languages as they’re used in the real world. Check out our Innovative Language podcast review here.
Glossika uses the “mass sentence method” and spaced repetition to help you master your new language. It has flexible settings so that you can learn through any combination of reading, speaking, and listening. They provide resources for a lot of different languages.
Michel Thomas is a popular audio language course available for most major languages. It uses “call and response” where the teacher asks you to translate a phrase and you’re given a moment to respond before two other students – who are in the recording studio with the teacher to make you feel like you’re learning in a group – chime in with the answer. Michel Thomas is geared towards absolute beginners, so it’s a great tool if you’re just getting started. Read our Michel Thomas review here.
Coffee Break . The Coffee Break series is available for Spanish, French, German, Italian and Chinese. It’s produced by the Radio Lingua network and is a more structured course when compared to some of the other podcasts on the market. Beginning with the absolute basics of the language, the course progresses to more advanced material. It’s taught by very knowledgeable and encouraging teachers, and you learn alongside another student/co-host featured on the podcast.
Pimsleur is one of my personal favorites. I have a full time job with an hour commute each way, so I like to make the most of the time I spend in the car. When I’m at the beginning stages of learning a language, Pimsleur is my go-to. It helps me with my pronunciation and helps me build a strong foundation in my language, even if the vocabulary is geared towards a demographic that I don’t fit into. And the pace is one that I can keep up with when I’m driving.This product is on the pricey side, but the digital version of the course is much more reasonable.
Rhinospike allows you to submit a piece of writing in your target language and get back a recording of it read by a native speaker. The best part is, if you help another learner out by recording a passage for them, this tool is free to use.
TuneIn Radio lets you listen to radio shows from around the world, with channels for nearly every language.
ABRSM Speedshifter  is a free app that allows you to change the speed of audio tracks and play sections of audio on a loop. It’s perfect if you’ve found a good audio resource that’s too quick or doesn’t repeat material enough for you.

Resources to Learn New Words and Build Your Vocabulary
Many beginner language learners make the mistake of trying to learn grammar too early. Instead, they should focus on learning new words.

Grammar is tough to wrap your head around until you have the vocabulary you can plug in and work things out. Plus, at the early stages, you can get away with the Tarzan approach to speaking. It’s coarse, but it gets your point across and is an easy way to get speaking.

Here are some good resources to build your vocabulary:

Forvo is an online pronunciation dictionary. When you look up a word in your target language, you get to hear it pronounced by a native speaker. It’s available for all major languages as well as dozens of less common languages. If the word that you’re searching for isn’t yet in the Forvo database, you can request it.
Anki is a spaced repetition flashcard app and the preferred tool for many polyglots, including Fi3M founder Benny Lewis. “Spaced repetition” means it prompts you to remember words when you’re on the verge of forgetting them, and research shows this is the most efficient way to learn. With Anki you can add images and audio to your flashcards.
Memrise is another flashcard app that uses spaced repetition. I prefer it to Anki. You can use it to study premade vocabulary lists from other learners, or create your own. Each day you study, you get to maintain your streak and earn points to stay ahead of your friends.
LingQ is one of the best places to do reading in your target language and is popular with intermediate learners in the Add1Challenge. It’s also an audio resource and vocabulary learning tool. As you read in your language, you have the option of reviewing new words through flashcards. Check out our LingQ review here.
Mosalingua is a flashcard app that’s a little more guided than either Memrise or Anki, though it only has a limited selection of languages. You can read our review of it here.
Drops is an app that helps you pick up new vocabulary in a just a few minutes a day. You can choose from a range of word lists, so you can focus on learning words that are relevant to you.
Reverso Context allows you to search for words within sentences, so you can see them in context.

Resources to Help You Build Sentences in a New Language
Building sentences is how you make the vocabulary and phrases you’re learning your own. Here are the resources you need:

Duolingo is one of the most popular language learning apps, and many Add1Challengers have found great success using it. The app is a great way to review your language on the go, and you’ll want to maintain your streak so you’ll come back to it every day.
Clozemaster is one of my favorite ways to learn new vocabulary in the context of a phrase or sentence. They have a huge selection of languages to choose from. Available as a web and mobile app.
Lyrics Training is a fun way to use music to learn languages. You listen to songs, while doing fill-the-blank on the lyrics, so you get to enjoy music in your language and develop your listening comprehension.
Language Hacking . The Language Hacking books by Benny Lewis show you how to learn a language by speaking it. They are available for French, Italian, German, and Spanish.
FluentU takes videos from YouTube and gives them interactive subtitles. While the video is playing you can hover over the subtitles to get translations, and boost your reading and listening comprehension at the same time. After the video is over, FluentU tests you on the vocabulary you learned.
Lang-8 lets you post articles or lists of phrases in your target language for correction. It’s free to use for two languages, and it’s a great place to help other learners with their languages as well.

Resources to Help You Feel Confident Speaking Your Target Language
During the Add1Challenge, you’ll be speaking your target language in conversation with native speakers, and you’ll be making videos of yourself speaking too (on Day 0, Day 30, Day 60 and Day 90).

Understandably, some people at the start of the challenge feel apprehensive about creating videos. So why do we ask challengers to create videos? Because videos:

Give you the chance to speak the language and observe yourself speaking, so you can see both your strong and weak points in the language
Are something to share, so you’ll get encouragement from other Add1Challengers
Allow you to see just how far you’ve come

Often, it’s the people who feel most apprehensive about making videos that get the most out of the video part of the challenge.

How can you feel confident about taking part in language exchanges and making videos of yourself?

Ultimately, your confidence will build as you do these things. You will likely feel nervous the first few times, and that’s okay (I often still feel nervous when I’m meeting a new language exchange partner).

But if you want an extra helping hand, I recommend these resources:

Mimic Method is a pronunciation system and course. You may be wondering why I placed a pronunciation course under confidence and not under speaking, but a huge reason many language learners lack confidence is because of their accent or pronunciation. Mimic Method gives you the opportunity to train your accent and help you sound more like a native speaker. Check out my Mimic Method review for more details.
Courage to Speak is a video course that helps language learners gain the confidence to speak their target language in real conversations. With Courage to Speak you’ll take small steps outside your comfort zone. It’s a good match with the Add1Challenge because it helps you conquer any hesitations or fears you have surrounding the creation of your videos during the challenge.

What Language Learning Tools and Resources Do You Use?
Using these resources will help you focus and improve the skills necessary to succeed in the challenge. They’re the perfect starting point. But...

The resources in this post are just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many tools and courses that Add1Challengers have found success with over the years. It would be impossible to include them all in a single post (it would be overwhelming!).

What about you? Have you taken part in the Add1Challenge? What resources worked for you? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below.

Got questions about the best way to use any of these tools and resources? Come and join us for an Add1Challenge! We’re friendly folks and we’re happy to help.

The post 25+ Top Language Learning Tools to Use During an Add1Challenge appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

47 Funny, Inspiring and Motivational German Quotes To Help You Learn German

Are you looking for German quotes?

Well, you’ve come to the right place.

Whether you’re looking to use quotes to help you learn German or you want some beautiful words to brighten up your day, you’ll find them right here.

Below is a list of 47 funny, life-affirming and motivational quotes from some of our favourite German speakers.

How German Quotes Can Make You a Better Language Learner

Want a powerful new weapon in your German learning arsenal?

Quotes can make you laugh, cry, or think. They can help you find your mojo. In other words, quotes evoke emotion. And when you have an emotional connection to something, you’re more likely to remember it.

Quotes can also help you:


Learn new ways of speaking: You can see how German is used, moulded and shaped to express ideas and concepts
Learn more about the culture: Quotes often give a direct cultural insight to people, places and points of view within a culture
Find new vocabulary and turns of phrase: You can analyse quotes to fine new vocabulary you may not learn in your day-to-day speech


If you want to become a better conversationalist and learn more about German people, studying the quotes can be a great use of your time.

That being said, here are your 47 funny, inspiring and motivational German quotes…

I’ve organised them into categories:


Funny German quotes
German quotes about life
Motivational German quotes


Funny German Quotes

Think Germans aren’t know for the sense of humor? Think again! These quotes will have the entire Brauhaus chuckling in no time.

“Milch ist für Babys. Wenn du erwachsen bist, musst du Bier trinken.” - Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-American actor / The Terminator

Translation: “Milk is for babies. Adults drink beer.”

“Dumme Gedanken hat jeder, aber der Weise verschweigt sie”. - Wilhelm Busch, German humorist

Translation: “Everyone has stupid thoughts, but the sage keeps quiet about them.”

“Zwei Dinge sind unendlich, das Universum und die menschliche Dummheit, aber bei dem Universum bin ich mir noch nicht ganz sicher.” - Albert Einstein, German scientist

Translation: “Two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity. Although I'm not yet sure about the universe.”

“Für Fußball würde ich einfach alles tun, für Sex nicht ganz so viel.” - Sebastian Schweinsteiger, German football player

Translation: “I’d do anything for football. For sex, not so much.”

“Babys sind nun mal Alkoholkonsumverhinderungsmaschinen” - Carolin Kebekus, German comic

Translation: “Babies are alcohol-abuse-prevention-devices.”

“Ich habe ein einfaches Rezept, um fit zu bleiben. Ich laufe jeden Tag Amok” - Hildegard Knef, German actress and singer

Translation: “I have a simple recipe to keep fit. I run amok every day.”

“Kein Mensch ist so beschäftigt, daß er nicht die Zeit hat, überall zu erzählen, wie beschäftigt er ist.” - Robert Lembke, German television presenter

Translation: “No one is so busy that he does not have time to tell everyone how busy he is.”

“Die Eintagsfliege wird bereits zwölf Stunden nach ihrer Geburt von ihrer Midlife-Crisis erwischt. Das muss man sich mal klarmachen“ - Loriot, German comic

Translation: “The mayfly [which lives for one day] goes through its midlife crisis after twelve hours! That’s hard to comprehend.”

“Ich geh‘ mit dir durch dick und dünn, aber nicht durch dick und doof.” - Udo Lindenberg, German rock legend

Translation: “I’ll go with you through thick and thin, but not through fat and stupid.”

“Wenn ein Mann sofort macht, was eine Frau will, bekommt er nicht mehr Liebe, sondern mehr Aufträge.” Stefan Schwarz, German actor

Translation: “When a man immediately does what a woman wants, he doesn’t receive love, but more orders.”

"Der Vorteil der Klugen besteht darin, dass sie sich dumm stellen können. Das Gegenteil ist schon schwieriger." - *Kurt Tucholsky, German writer *

Translation: “The advantage of the wise is that they can be stupid. The opposite is more of a challenge.”

“Fast jede Frau wäre gern treu. Schwierig ist es bloß, den Mann zu finden, dem man treu sein kann.” - Marlene Dietrich, German actress

Translation: “Almost every woman would like to be faithful. It is difficult to find the man to whom you can be.”

“Sei mir gegrüßt, mein Sauerkraut, holdselig sind deine Gerüche.“ - Heinrich Heine, German poet and essayist

Translation: “Greetings my sauerkraut, sweet are your smells.”

“Es ist ein Brauch von Alters her, wer Sorgen hat, hat auch Likör.” - Wilhelm Busch, German humorist

Translation: “It is a tradition for the elderly: whoever has worries also has liqueur.”

"Wussten Sie schon, dass der Walfisch das kleinste lebende Säugetier sein könnte, wenn er nur nicht so groß wäre?" - Loriot

Translation: “Did you know that the whale could be the smallest living mammal if it were not so big?”

German Quotes About Life

Germany is home to many of the world’s great philosophers and thinkers. Here are some of their best thoughts.

”Wir denken selten an das, was wir haben, aber immer an das, was uns fehlt.” - Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher

Translation: “We rarely think of what we have but always what we lack.”

“Wenn die Menschen nur über das sprächen, was sie begreifen, dann würde es sehr still auf der Welt sein.” - Albert Einstein, German scientist

Translation: “If people only talked about things they understand, then it would be very quiet in the world.”

“Man reist nicht, um anzukommen, sondern um zu reisen.“ - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and statesman

Translation: “You do not travel to arrive, but to travel.”

*”Gegen Angriffe kann man sich wehren, gegen Lob ist man machtlos.“ - Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist

Translation: “One can resist attack, but one is powerless against praise.”

“Glück entsteht oft durch Aufmerksamkeit in kleinen Dingen, Unglück oft durch Vernachlässigung kleiner Dinge.” - Wilhelm Busch, German humorist

Translation: “Happiness often comes from attention to small things, misfortune often from neglecting little things.”

”Die große Chance des Älterwerdens ist, dass es einem Wurscht sein kann, was die Leute sagen“ - Udo Jürgens, Austrian-Swiss composer

Translation: “The best part of getting older, is that you don’t have to care what people say”

*”Wenn ich mein Leben noch einmal leben könnte, würde ich die gleichen Fehler machen. Aber ein bisschen früher, damit ich mehr davon habe.” - Marlene Dietrich, German actress

Translation: “If I could live my life again I’d make exactly the same mistakes. Just a little earlier, so I have more of them.”

“Jeder, der sich die Fähigkeit erhält, Schönes zu erkennen, wird nie alt werden.” - Franz Kafka, Czech-Austrian novelist

Translation: “Anyone who has the ability to see beautiful things will never grow old.”

“Man muss sein Glück teilen, um es zu multiplizieren.” - Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian writer

Translation: “You have to share your luck to multiply it”

”Glücklich allein ist die Seele, die liebt.“ - *Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and statesman

Translation: “Happy alone is the soul that loves.”

”Nicht alles, was zählt, ist zählbar, und nicht alles, was zählbar ist, zählt.” - Albert Einstein, German scientist

Translation: “Not everything that counts is countable, and not everything that can be counted counts.”

”Sage nicht alles, was du weißt, aber wisse alles, was du sagst.” - Matthias Claudius, German poet and journalist

Translation: “Don’t say everything you know; but know everything you say.”

”Je älter ich werde, desto intensiver lebe ich und desto mehr registriere ich, was ich erreicht habe.” Steffi Graf, German tennis player

Translation: “The older I get, the more intensely I live, and the more I realize what I have achieved.”

”Schön ist eigentlich alles, was man mit Liebe betrachtet." - Christian Morgenstern, German author and poet

Translation: “Beautiful is everything one looks at with love.”

”Tatsachen gibt es nicht, nur Interpretationen.“ - Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher

Translation: “There are no facts, only interpretations.”

Motivational German Quotes

Looking for a kick-up-the-butt to get stuff done, and learn some wonderful new vocabulary? Then look no further than these German motivational quotes!

“Aus den Steinen, die Dir in den Weg gelegt werden, kannst du etwas Schönes bauen.” - Erich Kästner, German poet

Translation: “From the stones that block your way, you can build something beautiful.”

”Arbeit ist schwer, ist oft genug ein freudloses und mühseliges Stochern; aber nicht arbeiten - das ist die Hölle.“ - Thomas Mann, German novelist and social critic

Translation: “Having a job is hard, and is often enough a joyless and laborious game; but to not work - that's hell.”

*“In uns selbst liegen die Sterne unseres Glücks.” - Heinrich Heine, German poet and essayist

Translation: “Within ourselves lie the stars of our happiness.”

”Nicht in die ferne Zeit verliere dich! Den Augenblick ergreife. Nur er ist dein.“ - Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, German writer

Translation: “Don’t lose yourself in distant times! Seize the moment. Only that is yours.”

"Der Langsamste, der sein Ziel nicht aus den Augen verliert, geht noch immer geschwinder, als jener, der ohne Ziel umherirrt." - Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German poet

Translation: “The slowest plodder who does not lose sight of his goal is still faster than the one who wanders without a goal.”

"Man muss das Unmögliche versuchen, um das Mögliche zu erreichen." - Hermann Hesse, German writer

Translation: “You have to try the impossible to achieve the possible.”

“Für das Können gibt es nur einen Beweis: das Tun.“ - Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian writer

Translation: “There is only one proof of skill: doing.”

*“Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker.“ -Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher

Translation: “What does not kill me makes me stronger.”

*”Die Gewohnheit ist ein Seil. Wir weben jeden Tag einen Faden, und schließlich können wir es nicht mehr zerreißen.” - Thomas Mann, German novelist and social critic

Translation: “A habit is a rope. Weave a thread into it every day and eventually it becomes unbreakable.”

"Der Schlüssel zum Erfolg ist Kameradschaft und der Wille, alles für den anderen zu geben.” - Fritz Walter, German footballer (also the name behind Fritz Walter weather)

Translation: “The key to success is companionship and the will to give everything for the other.”

”Die guten sind immer umstritten.” - Boris Becker, German tennis player

Translation: “The good ones are always controversial.”

*”Man lernt nirgendwo so viel, wie in den eigenen Fehlern.“ - Udo Jürgens, Austrian-Swiss composer

Translation: “You learn nowhere so much as in your own mistakes.”

”Wenn du die Phase der Euphorie nicht erlebt hast und die Phase der Traurigkeit, dann wirst du nichts Bedeutendes schaffen.” - Udo Jürgens, Austrian-Swiss composer

Translation: “If you have not experienced the phase of euphoria and the phase of sadness, then you will not accomplish anything significant.”

*”Es ist nicht deine Schuld, dass die Welt ist wie sie ist, es wär' nur deine Schuld, wenn sie so bleibt.“” - Die Ärzte, German band

Translation: “It is not your fault that the world is what it is, it would only be your fault if it stays that way.”

”Jedes Problem, das man bewältigt, bringt einen in der Zukunft weiter. Und gibt auch neue Kraft.” - Steffi Graf, German tennis player

Translation: “Any problem you overcome will carry you forward in the future and give you new strength.”

What’s Your Favourite Quote?

Phew! That was a long list of quotes. I hope you found them useful and insightful.

But I want to know. Which of these quotes was your favourite? Or are there some which should be on the list but aren’t?

Let me know in the comments!

The post 47 Funny, Inspiring and Motivational German Quotes To Help You Learn German appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

New Language in 90 Days: My 7-Step Formula

I want to share what I do to learn a language during the Add1Challenge so I’m ready for that 15-minute conversation in my new language once I hit day 90.

In case you’re unfamiliar, the Add1Challenge is Fluent in 3 Months (Fi3M)’s three-month program to learn a new language, and at the end of the challenge we guarantee that participants will have a 15-minute conversation in their new language.

I’ve now completed three challenges (with Croatian, Japanese, and Korean), so I’ve tried a few different approaches and found what works for me.

The key point is that this is what works for me. There’s no one right way to do the Add1Challenge.

In fact, there are as many ways to succeed over the 90 days of the Add1Challenge as there are challengers who take part!

But what’s great about the Add1Challenge is that you can see how others learn and get inspired.

So here’s how I learn best during Add1. Take what works for you, and happy language learning!
My 7-Step Formula for Success in the Add1Challenge
My seven-step approach is extremely simple, works incredibly well, and is easily adaptable.
Step 1: Find a Tutor or Language Exchange Partner (and Start Speaking Right Away)
When I start out with an Add1Challenge, the first thing I do is find a tutor or language exchange partner on italki.

I try out a few different tutors before I settle on one who really clicks with me. Sometimes this takes several weeks. I’ll start with six to eight that I’ll have one lesson with, then narrow it down to two or three that “get” me. With two to three tutors on rotation, I get to practice the same material more than once, and I also get more diverse speaking practice.

I aim for two to three lessons per week, so one lesson per tutor. On busier weeks I sometimes have just one or two lessons.
Step 2: Prepare for Every Lesson
For each lesson, I prepare a short script on a topic I want to talk about. For my first lesson, this is a self-introduction. In later lessons, I’ll prepare scripts about what I’ve done over the weekend, a TV show I’ve enjoyed, or about something important going on in my life.

During each lesson, I go through the script with my tutor. He or she asks questions about what I’ve shared, and I aim to reply in my target language.

I look out for when I want to say something, but can’t quite say it. I ask myself “What words do I need to know so that I could say this thing?” These are the words I need to learn, so I note them down.
Step 3: Look Out for Useful Sentence Structures
When a particular sentence structure comes up more than once during a lesson, I pause and go over it with my tutor.

For example, if I realize that I am trying to say, “When [x], then [y]” I hit pause. Whenever I come across a useful structure like this, I drill it with my tutor to get comfortable with it before moving on.

As I drill with my tutor, I might try to say things like:

When I drive to work, I listen to Japanese podcasts.
When I get home, I make dinner.
When my son takes his nap, I study Japanese.

As I create these sentences, it’s guaranteed that I’m going to make mistakes. I might not know all the words I need and as I try to formulate more complicated sentences, I tend to get ahead of myself.

This is where the tutor steps in. After I try to construct a sentence, he or she offers me corrections and then types the error-free sentence into the chat. I also ask him or her to add any words that I don’t know into the chat.
Step 4: Put Everything New Onto Flashcards
At the end of each week, I open up the chat from my previous lessons and copy every single new word and phrase into virtual flashcards.

For long phrases, I’ll pick out keywords, entering them as single entries. And with sentences, I divide them into two or three parts so that I can study smaller chunks before working on more complicated structures.

For example, take the sentence: “When I drive to work, I listen to Japanese podcasts.” In this instance, I might have the following flashcards:

podcasts
Japanese podcasts
I listen
I listen to Japanese podcasts
work
I drive to work
When I drive to work
When I drive to work, I listen to Japanese podcasts

As I get further along in my studies, I don’t have to divide my sentences up as much as I do at the beginning.
Step 5: Review Flashcards
Between my lessons, I study my flashcards every day. They’re my primary study material.

This way, I learn vocabulary that’s actually come up in conversation and sentence structures that I use regularly.

By the time my next lesson rolls around, I’m pretty comfortable with the previous lesson material. If there’s anything I’ve got questions about from the previous lesson, I’ll bring it up with my tutor at the start of the lesson. Once that’s done, my tutor and I move on to the topic for the lesson (which I’ve prepared in a script -- see Step 2).
Step 6: Input! Input! Input!
Around my flashcard study, I work with other material so I’m getting lots of input in my target language.

This material is usually audio, like a podcast or radio show. For Japanese, I sometimes watched a TV show that my tutor knew, which gave us something extra to talk about.
Step 7: Create Extra Videos
In the Add1Challenge, you’re required to make four videos in your target language: on Day 0, Day 30, Day 60 and Day 90.

I’ve found I do even better if I create more videos! The more videos I create, the more comfortable I get speaking my new language.

I’ve found this to be so effective that I even created a new section in the Add1Challenge community to share these videos. Now, other challengers have started creating and sharing extra videos, too.

I find that sharing my videos is a great way to get support and to prepare and practice speaking.
What’s Your Approach to Success in the Add1Challenge?
The Add1Challenge is an intensive 90 days of language study, and if you do the work, you’ll have that 15-minute conversation at the end -- guaranteed.

If you’ve already taken part in an Add1Challenge, what did you find worked for you?

Would you like to take part in an Add1Challenge? Follow this link to sign up and find out more.

The post New Language in 90 Days: My 7-Step Formula appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

101+ German Animal Names (with English Translations)

If your childhood was anything like mine animals played a huge role in your language development.

You’d read brightly coloured books with vivid pictures of farmyard animals. You’d watch shows like Sesame Street that took you on constant “trips” to the zoo. And you’d even sing songs about animals people owned. (Old Macdonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O)

They played a crucial role in learning how to read, write, pronounce words, use nouns and apply descriptive adjectives to what you could see.

But learning about animals is something many adult German learners overlook. Which is a shame, because the benefits of learning this vocabulary don’t just apply to children.

Learning about German animals can help you:


Discover how “der”, “die” and “das” are applied to different words
Improve your pronunciation
Find a better understanding of how long German compound words work
Sound more fluent (especially if you’re visiting a zoo)


If that sounds like enough reason for you to start learning German animal words, let’s get straight into your new vocabulary list. Then we’ll explore how you can remember them, the articles, and learn some German idioms.

101 German Animals for You to Learn (and Their English Translations)

German Pets

There are more than 34.3 million pets in Germany, so it’s safe to say they’re a big part of German culture. But how do you talk about pets in German?

Here’s a list of the most common “Haustiere” you’ll find in German households and how they translate to English:


der Hund (the dog)
der Welpe (the puppy)
die Katze (the cat)
der Kater (the tomcat)
das Kaninchen (the rabbit)
der Fisch (the fish)
der Hamster (the hamster)
das Meerschweinchen (the guinea pig)
die Schlange (the snake)
der Vogel (the bird)
der Papagei (the parrot)
die Eidechse (the lizard)
die Maus (the mouse)
der Gecko (the gecko)
die Schildkröte (the turtle)


German Farmyard Animals

Farmyard animals will pop up a lot in your German conversations.

Whether you’re taking a walk through the German countryside, or you’re looking to order at a restaurant, you’ll no doubt find these animal names useful to know.


das Huhn (the chicken)
das Küken (the baby chick)
die Kuh (the cow)
das Schwein (the pig)
das Schaf (the sheep)
das Lamm (the lamb)
die Ziege (the goat)
das Pferd (the horse)
der Esel (the donkey)
die Ente (the duck)


Common German Wildlife

Germany has an abundance of wildlife with over 50,000 different types of animals inside its borders. I couldn’t quite get them all into this list, so here are the key ones to learn:


der Hase (the hare)
das Eichhörnchen (the squirrel)
die Biene (the bee)
die Spinne (the spider)
der Wolf (the wolf)
das Frettchen (the ferret)
die Fledermaus (the bat)
der Igel (the hedgehog)
der Otter (the otter)
der Hirsch (the deer) - usually describes the male of the species
das Reh (the deer) - usually describes the female of the species
der Bär (the bear)
der Elch (the moose)
die Spitzmaus (the shrew)
das Wildschwein (the wild boar)


German Safari Animals

Are you a fan of the animals you’d usually find in warmer climates? Then maybe you’ll want to learn about safari animals.

Learning these can be a significant confidence boost for your learning because there are lots of words that are similar to English, as well as direct loan words you already know!


der Löwe (the lion)
die Giraffe (the giraffe)
der Tiger (the tiger)
der Elefant (the elephant)
das Zebra (the zebra)
der Leopard (the leopard)
der Panther (the panther)
der Affe (the monkey)
der Gepard (the cheetah)
die Antilope (the antelope)
das Flusspferd (the hippopotamus)
der Pavian (the baboon)
das Nashorn (the rhinoceros)
der Gorilla (the gorilla)
das Erdmännchen (the meerkat)
das Warzenschwein (the warthog)
der Mungo (the mongoose)
das Kamel (the camel)
das Erdferkel (the aardvark)


Unfriendly Encounters: Animals that Bite or Sting

You may want to be prepared to describe the cause of your pain in case you get bitten or stung by of the following animals:


die Ameise (the ant)
die Biene (the bee)
die Wespe (the wasp)
die Hornisse (the hornet)
die Qualle (the jellyfish)
der Skorpion (the scorpion)
die Giftschlange (the poisonous snake)
die Spinne (the spider)
die Zecke (the tick)
die Mücke (the midge)
der Moskito (the mosquito)
die Bremse (the horse fly)
die Bettwanze (the bedbug)
der Käfer (the beetle)
die Küchenschabe/die Kakerlake (the cockroach) – admittedly, they may not typically bite, but also be something you’d want to report if you ever encounter them


German Sea Life

Are you amazed by the wonders of the deep blue sea? Then this portion of the list is for you! You’ll also be able to see lots of the German compound words in action.


der Wal (the whale)
der Hai (the shark)
die Robbe (the seal)
das Walross (the walrus)
der Delfin (the dolphin)
die Krabbe (the crab)
der Hummer (the lobster)
die Garnele (the shrimp)
der Seestern (the starfish)
der Seeigel (the sea urchin)
der Tintenfisch (the squid)
der/die Krake (the octopus)
die Grüne Meeresschildkröte (the green sea turtle)
der Stachelrochen (the stingray)
der Seelöwe (the sea lion)


German Cold Weather Animals

Brr! In my opinion, cold weather animals - like polar bears and penguins - are the coolest on the entire planet (pun intended).

In this list, you’ll see how simple some compound words can be used, as well as see some easy to learn English loan words.


der Eisbär (the polar bear)
der Pinguin (the penguin)
der Schneeleopard (the snow leopard)
der Narwal (the narwal)
das Karibu (the caribou) - der Karibu is also considered correct


German Birds

If there’s one thing I love, it’s walking through the German countryside while my girlfriend’s brother tells me about all of the different types of birds we can see. There’s nothing like seeing a hawk on the hunt to show you how incredible nature is!


die Taube (the pigeon)
die Elster (the magpie)
der Spatz (the sparrow)
die Schwalbe (the swallow)
die Amsel (the blackbird)
die Weiße Taube (the dove)
die Eule (the owl)
die Seemöwe (the seagull)
die Krähe (the crow)
die Gans (the goose)
der Falke (the falcon)
der Wellensittich (the budgie)
der Geier (the vulture)
der Pfau (the peacock)


German Pond Life

Ponds and lakes make up the centrepieces of many German parks and countryside hikes, so it pays to be able to point out what you can see!


der Frosch (the frog)
die Kröte (the toad)
die Kaulquappe (the tadpole)
der Karpfen (the carp)
der Wassermolch (the newt)


German Animal Parts

Want to talk about the specific parts of an animal? Then this final chunk of the list is for you!


der Schwanz (the tail)
die Schnauze (the snout)
die Pfote (the paw)
die Pranke (the paw of a lion, tiger or bear)
der Pelz (the animal fur)
die Feder (the feather)
das Gefieder (the plumage/feathering)
der Stoßzahn (the tusk)
das Horn (the horn)


Language Hacking: How to Remember German Animal Words

After reading that list, you’re probably wondering, “how the heck am I going to remember all of those words!?”

But don’t fret; it’s a lot easier than you think. With these simple language hacks below you’ll be able to remember all of these words, and their articles, without much effort.

Learn the “Cognates” that English and German Share

There are already lots of words for German animals know from speaking English.

Finding which words these are means you don’t need to learn any new vocabulary, and you just need to say them in a German accent!

You’ll find this to be quite common with animals that aren’t native to Germany and have picked up their names in Europe over the last few hundred years. Some of them are even direct loan words and finish with the English plural “-s” at the end.

For example, if you were to take an African safari, you’d be able to talk about:


gorillas (die Gorillas)
zebras (die Zebras)
elephants (die Elefanten)
antelopes (die Antilopen)


I recommend you spend your first study session picking out these cognates and committing them to memory. You could pick up lots of news words in very little time!

Learn These “Everyday” German Animals To Make Future Learning Easier

German has a great way of pushing two or three words together to make a new word. This is no different when it comes to naming animals, either.

When this happens, the final word in the sequence is usually a normal everyday animal that you could find in German.

This is excellent news for a language hacker. Why?

Because if you learn these common animals and their articles, you can make learning some of the more complicated and rare animals much more comfortable in the future. Let me show you what I mean.

Let’s take the German word for pig, “(das) Schwein”. It’s one of the most commonly used ways to describe less common animals like:


Guinea Pig (das Meerschwein)
Porcupine (das Stachelschwein)
Wild Boar (das Wildschwein**)
Warthog (das Warzenschwein**)


Because the last word in a sequence is always connected to the article used before the word, you know that every word that ends in “-schwein” starts with “das”.

Here are some other common animals you can learn to maximise this language hack:


das Pferd (the horse)
die Maus (the mouse)
die Kröte (the toad)
der Bär (the bear)


“-chen” is Always Neutral

The end of a word in German is a standard indicator of whether a word needs “der”, “die”, or “das”. This can be a huge time saver and help you remember which of those pesky articles belongs where.

One of the most common animal word endings is “-chen”, like das Eichhörnchen (“squirrel”) or das Kaninchen (“rabbit”). Germans use this to signify an animal is small or cute. But in this case, it’s just ingrained into the everyday word for that animal.

When you learn a word that ends in “-chen” it is always neutral and will need the article “das”, to go before it.

If you’ve seen an animal that you think is small and cute, you can also add “-chen” to the end of any of the animal words you’ve learned. For example, “der Bär” would become, “das kleine Bärchen” to show its small size and fluffiness.

“-e” is Almost Always Feminine

Sticking with articles. If the word ends in “-e” there’s a good chance it’ll use the feminine article, “die”, like:


die Katze (the cat)
die Eidechse (the lizard)
die Ente (the duck)


This rule can also be applied to most nouns in the German language, too.

Guess The Article Based On Your Perceptions

This is a little language hack I created when learning German to help me remember the different articles for the words.

When you think of an animal which gender do you think it is? Take a look at this list and see what you think:


Lion
Bear
Duck
Cat
Mouse
Rabbit


If you’re like me you probably thought it was:


Male
Male
Female
Female
Female
Male


This is based on what I’ve seen in movies, TV and how these animals were described to me as a child. If you ever read “Peter Rabbit”, for example, you might be inclined to think a rabbit is a boy.

Funnily enough, if your list were like mine, you’d have matched five of the animals up to their genders in German too. The only one that was wrong is Rabbit (das Kaninchen) which is neutral. So if you were guessing these perceptions would have helped you make an educated guess!

Germanic languages - like German and English - often use the male or female form of a word to describe an entire breed of animal. For example, die Katze is used to describe all cats. But a male cat is really called der Kater. The same as how die Ente is used to describe ducks, but the male of the species is actually der Erpel.

Not everyone’s perception will be the same, but it’s worth a try if you’re really not sure what to use!

German Animal Phrases and Idioms

German is an excellent language for turns of phrase and idioms. And, by learning to use them, you can sound more fluent to a native speaker.

Here are seven familiar and fun to learn idioms German idioms to help you boost your vocabulary and understand some of those tricky sayings that sound weird out of context.

Die Katze im Sack kaufen

This phrase literally translates to, “To buy a cat in a bag”, and it refers to buying to something without first looking at it.



The best way to bring this phrase to life is to think of buying one of those mystery boxes from eBay, where you pay a certain amount for an unknown item!

Einem geschenkten Gaul schaut man nicht ins Maul

If you’re a native English speaker you probably already know this saying. It translates to, “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”.

It really means if someone is offering you something for free, or a better price, don’t try and ask for more on top of it!



Gaul is an older German word for “Pferd”

Einen Vogel haben

This phrase translates to, “Have a bird”.



It’s a term used to describe someone who is crazy, doing something out of the ordinary, or is just a bit, well...weird.

Du Fuchs

Another phrase we share between German and English. This translates to, “you fox”, and it used to describe someone who is sly, cunning or clever.

Da steppt der Bär

This is one of my favourite sayings. It literally translates to, “There is where the bear is tap dancing”, which makes zero sense in any language.



But it’s used to describe a good party, festival or event that lots of people want to attend or are having a good time at.

If you’re trying to convince a friend to join you at a party, you could also tell them, “Hier steppt der Bär”, to tell them where you are is great.

Hier sieht es aus, wie im Schweinestall

If you’ve let a room in your house get dirty or untidy, you might hear a German use this phrase to describe how it looks.



It means, “It looks like a pigsty in here!”, and means that everything is a mess and needs tidying up (quickly).

Bei diesem Wetter schickt man keinen Hund vor die Tür

Stormy outside? Then you might want to use this phrase!



It means, “In this weather, you wouldn’t send your dog outside”, and means the weather isn’t good enough for anyone to go out in. You could also compare this to, “It’s too wet for ducks” in English.

Hungry (For Vocab) Like The Wolf…

Phew! That was a huge list. Well done for making it through.

I hope by now you feel more comfortable with German animals and that you’ve already increased the words in your vocabulary. But now I want to hear from you.

Did I miss anything? Is there anything you’d like to know about German animals? Let me know in the comments!

The post 101+ German Animal Names (with English Translations) appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

K-Dramas: The Best Korean Dramas to Learn Korean

K-Dramas -- they’re so addictive! Especially if you’re learning Korean.

The stories are riveting, the characters are dynamic, and you really get an inside look at the Korean language and its culture. There’s just so much to take away from every episode.

But is it possible to use Korean Dramas to learn Korean? Can they be something more than your reward for a productive language study session?

The answer is “yes!”, and in this article, I’ll show you how to use your favorite shows to learn Korean. That way, you no longer need an excuse to sneak away to binge watch Oh My Ghost or Descendents of the Sun. And before you know it, you’ll be able to immerse yourself in your TV time without the need for subtitles.
Can You Really Learn a Language by Watching TV?
Before we get into specifics, let’s tackle the age-old question. Can you really learn a new language by watching TV?

The short answer is “yes”.

However, if you plan on pressing play and sitting back, this isn’t going to work for you.

Think of it like this. Let’s say you have a bunch of lumber, a hammer, some nails, and a ton of other house-building essentials. You’ve even gone as far as picking out some fancy new curtains. Owning those things - those tools - won’t build a house for you. They’ll just sit there. It’s up to you to pick them up and put them to use.

Language learning resources - including TV shows - work the exact same way.

You have to pick them up and use them to build that house.

TV is a language learning tool like any other. But in comparison to other more “traditional” tools, there’s more danger. The risk with TV is that it’s easy to use passively. But passive learning, while it has its purposes, isn’t the best use of your time.

Plus, there’s not a lot of guidance out there about how to use TV or movies as a way to learn languages, so most language learners just don’t know where to start.

When you know how to use it, however, television can be an effective way to pick up a new language. And it’s not just new words and grammar that you’ll learn. When you watch TV, created in a country that speaks your language, you get a peek at the culture. This includes body language, mannerisms, gestures, facial expressions, personal space, and so many other elements that all add up to steering you towards becoming a successful speaker of your language.

What’s more, TV is fun! That means you’re much more likely to stay engaged so you can wave (most) other boring language methods bye-bye.

So how do you make sure that your TV time doesn’t become passive?
Learning a Language Through Television: The Active Approach
Movies are long.TV series are even longer. Especially if you watch more than one episode per sitting. To learn from television, you need to make sure that you’re paying attention and not just passively listening. That means you need to break them down into something more digestible.

Benny illustrated his steps to making use of TV as a language learning tool in another article, but I want to touch on them again here.
1. Focus
It’s easy to leave the TV on in the background, especially when it’s in Korean and you don’t understand everything that’s going on. It’s also easy to miss a lot of what’s happening on screen if you’re busy trying to catch all the subtitles as they appear.

Unless you focus on what’s happening and what’s being said, you won’t learn much of anything.

At the end of a television learning session, you should feel a bit tired. After all, you’re studying! And while using your favorite TV show to learn Korean is a fun way to study, it still involves a bit of work to stay focused.
2. Segmentation
In order to keep your focus, it’s best to watch a Korean movie or TV show in segments, rather than trying to watch it in a single sitting. That way, you can fast forward or rewind as many times as you need to make sure you really understand what you’re hearing. nd have the chance to write down any useful vocabulary or phrases.
3. Repetition
Once is never enough. If you really want to make the material your own, you’ll want to watch each segment more than once. Watch it once without subtitles, then again with English subtitles, then again with Korean subtitles. Write down the phrases you find useful in Korean, and then watch it again with English subtitles to check your translations. Finally, watch it once more without subtitles. Mix it up and dive deep.
4. Engagement
When using a movie or TV show as a resource, engaging with the material is a good way to make your study time active rather than passive. Mimic the actors, fill in parts of the dialogue with your own responses, or even copy their body language.
5. Don’t Be Afraid of Subtitles
As the Language Encourager at Fluent in 3 months, I’m often asked about whether or not it’s okay to use subtitles when watching TV in a target language. My answer is always: “yes!” There is a time when you should turn the subtitles off to test your comprehension and to focus on listening, but that doesn’t mean that subtitles need to be off all of the time. If the subtitles are available to you, by all means -- use them!
Is It Worth the Work to Learn Korean from K-Dramas?
If you can’t sit back, relax and watch your favorite TV show and just absorb Korean, is it worth all the extra effort to use TV and movies?

Definitely. Here are just a few of the benefits:

You likely watch TV anyway, so why not watch something in Korean? That way you get exposure to the language at native speed rather than the learner speed of most other resources. And you make better use of your TV time.
You’ll pick up on repetitive words and vocabulary. And unless those words are unique to the TV series, there’s a good chance that they’re “high frequency” in day-to-day Korean conversations, too.
You’ll give what you’re studying a new context. The more places you see or hear what you’re learning, the better chance it has of sticking.
You’ll want to learn. Especially if you’re dying to know what happens next in that new K-drama series you started.
You get to more fully enjoy the Korean TV shows and movies you watch because you begin to rely less on the subtitles. You get to pay more attention to the show itself rather than the words flashing across the bottom of the screen.

How to Use K-Dramas to Learn Korean
Step 1: Learn to Read Hangul
Some of the later steps in this process require that you use the Korean subtitles for whatever you’re watching. These are written in Hangul and this means that you’ll need to be able to read Hangul in order to complete this step.

But don’t worry! The Korean writing system is very intuitive and easy to learn. Plus, it will give you access to far more Korean learning materials down the road.

If you’re not sure where to go to learn the writing system, this is the Memrise course that I used to get started.
Step 2: Choose Your K-Drama Show or Movie
There are dozens and dozens of high-quality K-Dramas that you could watch. There are several that are really popular, but you don’t need to watch something just because it’s popular. Instead, I recommend finding something that truly interests you. Korean Dramas include everything from period dramas to comedy, romance, action, or even crime, so you’re sure to find something that’s right up your alley.

Here are just a few recommendations:

Oh My Ghost - Oh My Ghost is a show about a woman who is possessed by a ghost. She works in a kitchen with a famous chef, so there’s lots of vocabulary about food and cooking. 맛있어요 (masisseoyo, “delicious”)!
Heirs - This series is about a group of high school students who are preparing to take over their family businesses.
Running Man - This variety show features Korean celebrities who compete in tests of strength and endurance. They get up to a lot of hilarious hijinks along the way.
Black - This TV series shares the story of a grim reaper who investigates cold cases.
Descendants of the Sun - A romantic tale about a doctor and a soldier who fall in love.

Step 3: Read Up on the K-Drama You’ve Chosen
Before diving in and watching your newfound Korean Drama online, be sure to read a summary of both the episode you’re about to watch and the show in general. That way, you’ll have a little context before you get started.
Step 4: Watch the First Episode in Whole (Or the Movie in Whole)
Watch the first episode of the K-Drama you chose, or the film you’ve chosen, in whole before breaking it up into segments. That way you get a sense of continuity. It will also help you pick up a lot through context.
Step 5: Break It Up Into Segments and Watch Again (and Again)
Repetition is key. The more times you watch a movie or an episode, the more time the material has to sink in. You’ll not only better understand what’s being said, but how it’s being said.
Step 6: Put It Into Your Own Words
One of the best ways to internalize what you’ve worked on is by putting it into your own words. I’ve found that if I summarize an episode I watched in Korean within a day of watching it, I’m much more likely to remember any keywords or phrases I learned during that study session.
Bonus Tip: Get Fancy with Subtitles
I’m a jazz musician, and jazz musicians improvise. We make up what we play on the spot.

When a jazz soloist does an amazing job improvising, other musicians transcribe the music. They write it down so they can play it, too. That way, they can bring some of that magic into their own improvisation later on.

I like to think of using subtitles as being the same as using transcriptions in jazz. A lot of what we do with transcriptions can also be done with subtitles. For example jazz musicians:

Listen all the way through to get an overall picture of what we’re working on before sitting down to work.
Find someone else’s transcription and read along. That means we find what someone else wrote down and play along with the music. In language learning, this would be when you have the subtitles on in English and you’re following along so you understand what’s being said. This is very similar to a language learning technique called shadowing.
Find a chord chart and read along. This is about the same as when you read a summary of the movie or episode in English, then turn on the Korean subtitles. You have an outline of what’s going on and then you try to deduce the rest from the context that you’re given.
Use a chord chart as a prompt. Rather than copy what someone else did, we use it to create our own responses. This means that when a dialogue happens in the show you’re watching, you can pretend you’re one of the characters and create your own responses to what the other person is saying. If, for example, one of the characters asks: “Let’s go for kimbap.” and the other replies, “That sounds delicious.” You can instead reply, “No, it’s hot, so I feel like having naengmyeon.”
Transcribe the music ourselves. That means that we listen to the album and write down what we hear as best as we can, note for note. Or, with learning a language from a TV show, word for word. This is done without the subtitles.
Pick out key phrases. If we don’t really want to learn every part of a song, we learn to isolate key passages or phrases we think will be useful and learn only those.
Have our work checked. Often this is done through a tutor or mentor -- we show them (or perform) our transcription. In the case of language learning, it’s easier. If there are any phrases you’re unsure of, you can share them on the italki notebook feature and get corrections. I recommend capturing the audio segment you’re struggling with and sharing it along with your transcription.

Where to Find K-Dramas
There are lots of places you can watch Korean shows online. Here are just a few:

Netflix
DramaFever
Viki
AsianCrush
Hulu

Tools to Help You Take Learning with K-Dramas Further
If you’d like to use video as a key source for learning Korean, but you need a little extra help, there are two fantastic tools you can use to do exactly this:
FluentU
FluentU is a language learning app and web-based system that uses videos sourced from YouTube to help you learn Korean (and other languages). You watch videos with interactive subtitles, then study the new vocabulary that you learned
Viki Learn Mode
If a TV show or movie has subtitles in Korean on Viki, you can use Viki Learn Mode to study Korean while watching your favorite series. This feature includes replay mode and interactive subtitles.
Over to You
Do you enjoy watching K-Dramas? If so, how have you used them to improve your Korean? I’d love to hear about your methods and the shows you enjoy in the comments below.

The post K-Dramas: The Best Korean Dramas to Learn Korean appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

How Rodylyn had a 15-Minute Conversation in Japanese — After Just 90 Days of Study

One of the inspiring things about working at Fluent in 3 Months is all the success stories we see in the Add1Challenge .

You may already know that in the Add1Challenge, language learners aim to have a 15-minute conversation with a native speaker after just 90 days. It sounds like a big goal, but we know it’s realistic (in fact, we guarantee it).

I love seeing the 15-minute conversations on day 90, but what I find really inspiring is all the small wins that happen in the 89 days leading up to that. Challengers begin to strike up random conversations with native speakers. Or, they watch their favorite drama in their new language without subtitles. Or they create a new deck of flashcards and share it with other challengers. It’s great to see, and in the challenge, we celebrate every win.

Rodylyn is someone I found particularly inspiring in a recent Add1Challenge. She signed up to learn Japanese, and she smashed her goals. Her growth was incredible, and she was always cheering on others. She did so well in the Add1Challenge, she was one of the finalists for the grand prize at the end of it.

So, I interviewed Rodylyn about her experience with the challenge. We talked about her struggles, her strengths, and what she learned during Add1:

httpvh://youtu.be/BFh1B4BVMj4

Here’s what I learned from chatting with Rodylyn:

Rodylyn’s Starting Point with the Add1Challenge

Rodylyn had some experience with Japanese before Add1Challenge. She knew how to greet someone, basic introductions, and vocab. She could also read kana (the Japanese alphabet).

Rodylyn could do this because had taken a few Japanese classes. However, she found didn’t like the set structure of classes, which dictated what to learn and how to learn it.

So, going into the challenge she couldn’t understand much or say more than a sentence or two. She had trouble stringing sentences together without long pauses and wanted to learn Japanese words relevant to her life.

This is actually pretty typical. Most Add1Challengers have some experience of learning their target language, even if all they can do is say “hello” and count to ten.

Key takeaway: You can take on an intensive language learning challenge whatever your current level in the language you want to learn.

Here’s Why Rodylyn Wanted to Learn Japanese

Rodylyn wanted to learn to speak Japanese after visiting Japan. She loved the culture and wanted to understand it on a deeper level. Plus, she wanted to watch her favorite anime and dramas, such as Sailor Moon, in the original language. So, she decided to work towards those goals and be able to have a 15-minute conversation in Japanese. Having specific goals in mind kept her motivated. When your goal always in front of you, it’s easier to stay committed when things get tough.

Key takeaway: Motivation matters. At Fluent in 3 Months we often get asked: “What’s the easiest language to learn?” Our answer is that the easiest language to learn is the one you most want to learn.

How Much Time Did Rodylyn Spend Studying Each Day?

Rodylyn set her study goal for the smallest commitment that’s allowed in the Add1Challenge: 30 minutes, 4 days a week.

Once she jumped into the challenge, she realized she wanted to do more than that. Rodylyn consistently doubled her study time: An hour every day, taking a break for one day every other week or so. She worked hard to fit in study time whenever possible. On her commute, during her lunch break, waiting in line for coffee, and in the evenings.

There was a good reason not to miss her goal. She decided if she missed the minimum for the day, she would double up the next day and not get a favorite food or treat (like pizza!). That kept her reaching for her goal, as well.

Key takeaway: Start small. Easy wins build up momentum and quickly become big wins.

Learning Techniques: Home Immersion and MeetUps

Rodylyn pushed herself out of her comfort zone by immersing herself in her target language. She used the tactics Benny Lewis, founder of Fluent in 3 Months, suggests for home immersion to get the most out of her study time.

Every week, Rodylyn went to local meetups for speaking practice with native speakers. Even though it was intimidating to start speaking, everyone was learning. She was able to make new friends and get feedback from the others in her group. As a result, her language skills grew massively from Day 0 to Day 90.

Key takeaway: Feeling a little awkward is a good sign, it shows that you’re learning and growing.

How the Add1 Community Helped Rodylyn

The Add1 community is great about supporting each other. Lots of people in the group encouraged Rodylyn as they saw the rapid progress she was making. In fact, other language learners asked her several times for her tips for growing in their target language. Even if they weren’t studying Japanese, they still learned from her strategies and mindset.

Rodylyn was always quick to share her tips or answer questions. She participated in the community, her mastermind group, and the study group. She encouraged others who were struggling to keep going and try their best until the end. She learned about new resources or language hacking tricks from others.

Key takeaway: The community helped keep Rodylyn motivated, and the more she put into it, the more she got out of it.

What Rodylyn Struggled With During the Add1Challenge

The Add1Challenge requires each challenger to make five videos, and Rodylyn struggled with these at first. She felt shy talking about herself and being the focus of the videos. That’s understandable! Making videos of yourself can feel scary in any case, let alone when speaking another language.

To address this fear, throughout the challenge, Rodylyn continued to push herself. She even began to make extra videos for speaking practice. She would use the extra videos to practice new grammar or words.

In her Day 30 video, she went exploring in her city to speak Japanese in public. Making the videos, instead of staring at her computer screen or textbook at home, helped her gain the confidence to speak Japanese.

By Day 60, Rodylyn had learned to embrace mistakes. She felt comfortable with basic conversations and talking about her interests. She had settled into her daily language learning routine, and getting faster at creating sentences on the spot. She loved having the accountability and loose schedule to make it work for her. But she also enjoyed having a deadline for assignments and mini-challenges.

When Day 90 came around, Rodylyn already felt confident enough to chat with a native speaker on video without worrying about preparation. She spoke for more than 15 minutes, and ended up doing a second 15-minute video!

Rodylyn says that having the Add1 community to share the videos with helped her overcome her nerves. Because everyone shares little updates between the Day 30, 60, and 90 videos, it made it less intimidating.

Now, Rodylyn can chat in Japanese for as long as an hour or more with her Meetup group and enjoys getting to know others in Japanese.

Key takeaway: Filming videos in a foreign language can be scary at first, but they’re really helpful for tracking your progress and getting feedback. This is actually the “secret sauce” of the Add1Challenge.

Rodylyn’s Tips for Learning Japanese

When I asked Rodylyn what helped her learn so quickly, she shared her top tips for learning Japanese.

Learn Kana

The #1 thing she said helped her in her studies was knowing the kana. Romaji (Japanese words written in the English alphabet) can often be inaccurate and cause you to mispronounce sounds. It also limits your resources you can use. Knowing the kana helped Rodylyn find tons of native resources in Japanese. This was important for changing up her routine as she needed to and finding entertaining material.

Need help learning Kana? Check out this article all about Hiragana and Katakana.

Get Full Immersion

Rodylyn started her day in Japanese and ended it in Japanese. She took Benny’s tips for immersion at home and began spending any spare minutes she had learning Japanese. Even if it was only passively listening, she was getting used to the sounds. She tried to think, do, and just be in Japanese all day. The more she pushed herself, the more she learned. And she put extra focus on listening, her weakest area. She listened to many podcasts and the news in Japanese every day. So as she learned more, she was getting used to hearing it spoken and understanding how a native speaker would say it.

Rodylyn’s Progress from Day 0 to Day 90

But don’t just take our word for it. Check out Rodylyn’s progress for yourself!

Rodylyn’s Japanese Day 0 Video

httpvh://youtu.be/PGodiTbgnjU

Rodylyn’s Japanese Day 90 Video

httpvh://youtu.be/C80l9zvyRbs

(A note about her Day 90 video. Rodylyn completed her 15-minute challenge twice with two different language exchange partners. This video says “second attempt” only because the first video had internet connection issues. So she asked me to use this one.)

Rodylyn loved taking the Add1Challenge, so she returned the following challenge for Add1Advance. She’s increasing her Japanese skill level even more with our intermediate challenge. Add1Advance challenges learners to develop their skills with weekly tasks, videos, and challenges. It's aimed to push them outside their current knowledge with vocabulary, grammar, and listening skills.

See Rapid Results with Add1Challenge

Rodylyn’s progress is super impressive, and she’s only one of hundreds of success stories. The community is full of passionate language learners encouraging each other to reach that 15-minute conversation in 90 days. If anyone is struggling, it’s easy to find someone who can relate and offer advice. And every day, challengers are sharing their victories.

And that could be you, too! What language have you dreamed of speaking? Are you ready to finally have a conversation in your target language like Rodylyn did? Find out more about Add1Challenge here!

The post How Rodylyn had a 15-Minute Conversation in Japanese — After Just 90 Days of Study appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.