Genealogy Forum NEWS
April, 1999
GERMAN FOR BEGINNERS (ONLINE)
Free On-line Beginner's German
submitted by
jbergmann@home.com
I was fortunate enough to have learned German as my first language (and only language) until I started Grade one in the early 1950's. I quickly discovered this was not a language that would endear one to teachers and classmates so conveniently forgot it -until I entered university. I mention this only because I readily identify with the predicament in regard to speaking the German language.
To be "pointed in the right direction" poses an awesome responsibility and one I am almost reluctant to respond to. The safest and most certain direction would be to consider taking formal evening or correspondence courses where a high degree of guidance almost insures success. However, there are alternatives such as FREE, on-line internet assistance and the following is pointing you in that direction - one of many possibilities.
I have spent several hours investigating internet on-line German instruction and have discovered a number which I found rather confusing and wouldn't wish on any beginner! In my opinion (and no doubt there will be numerous others) one of the most user-friendly and offering a tremendous wealth of resources in everything from actual spoken German language to a variety of ways a given word can be used is at:
http://rivendel.com/~ric/resources/trex.html (Historical Link - site not relocated)
From here one can explore numerous dictionaries, translators etc. But if you simply scroll down on the middle of the page to "German for Beginners" and click it you will go directly to:
http://www.germanfortravellers.com/ (Link Updated 7/31/04)
And you'll see the heading "What do you say when you meet someone? Here simply click and you'll hear the simple phrases spoken in German.
The real treasures here, though are accessed through the links at the very bottom of the page where you see:
HOME BEGINNERS GRAMMAR EXERCISES LINKS DICTIONARIES GUESTBOOK HELP
(7/31/04 - In the update, these choices are on the left portion of the frame)
For example, select and click on <DICTIONARIES> which will take you to the page headed "DICTIONARIES":
(DICTIONARIES page) http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de
and finally select the first option: "Deutsch <-> Englisch Wörterbuch"
You can now type in either a German or English word and it will automatically translate to the other language offering numerous contextual examples of how that word may be used.
For example, if you type in "I am" where you are prompted to "Enter a word or words to search for:" you will see the display as follows:
Result of search for "I am": as far as I am concerned -- meinethalben bin -- (I) am
es tut mir ausserordentlich leid -- I am awfully sorry full (I am full) -- satt (Ich bin satt)
I am awfully sorry -- es tut mir ausserordentlich leid
I am cold -- mich friert
I am cold -- Mir ist kalt.
I am cold. -- Mir ist kalt.
I am fond of reading. -- Ich lese sehr gern.
I am sorry -- es tut mir leid
I am tired of being put off -- bin es muede, ueberdruessig vertroestet zu werden
I am very pleased to hear that -- es freut mich sehr zu hoeren, dass
I am warm -- mir ist warm
I think it would be best to -- ich denke, es waere am besten zu
in the articles I am interested in -- in fuer mich interessanten Artikeln
mich friert -- I am cold
Who do you think I am? -- Wofuer halten Sie mich?
Unfortunately no language is learned in a week or a month, but hopefully you find this helpful without having to spend a great deal of money with questionable results. One suggestion as a possible project is take the song Edelweiss and attempt to translate a little more literally than what appears as the English version.
All the very best,
Jake Bergmann
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