Skip to Main Content

Language Studies

Grammar

Modal Particles

Video for Halt, Doch, Mal, Eben, und Ja - this video describes the rules, meanings, and usages of these five modal particles, easier for advanced learners

Prepositions

This video helps with the three prepositions, zu, nach, and in, which can all mean ‘to’

Time

This video explains the rules for using her vs vor to mean ago. After 0:40 the video only consists of examples, so you can watch as many as you want

Articles

https://www.clozemaster.com/blog/german-definite-articles/ - This website gives some rules on what word endings and what categories of meaning call for what articles. Website is in English.

https://www.beste-tipps-zum-deutsch-lernen.com/deutsche-artikel-lernen/ -This website gives some rules on what word endings call for which article. Website is in German.

https://mein-deutschbuch.de/grammatikuebungen-artikeltraining-nahrungsmittel.html -This is a website to practice your articles.

Pronouns

https://deutsch.lingolia.com/de/grammatik/pronomen -This website lists the different types of pronouns and shows how they are declined in each case (Nominativ, Genetiv, Dativ, Akkusativ). 

The 4 Cases

https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/learn/german/german-tips/german-cases-explained -This article (which is completely in English) explains when to use what case (Nominativ, Genetiv, Dativ, Akkusativ) and direct vs. indirect objects. 

https://www.clozemaster.com/blog/german-prepositions/ - This article explains what prepositions call for which one of the four cases.

Sentence Structure

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/german/learn-german-word-order/ -This article explains German sentence structure and when the sentence structure is inverted. Article is in English. 

Pronunciation Videos

German R Pronunciation - unorthodox method but could be helpful 

  • This video doesn’t have the best audio quality but gives a good breakdown of when to use which r sound.

“Ch” sound - two types, soft and hard

  • This video is really good for the soft “ch,” used in words like ich. 
  • This video is really good for both forms of “ch,” as well as a few other similar sounds (“chs,” “sch”)
  • This video is also good for both forms of “ch”

This video has several interesting tips for 5 things that learners often have trouble with.

Umlaute Pronunciation

TV Channels

News, sports, crime dramas and other series available to watch for free, all in German. However, the websites are completely in German and may be hard to navigate at first.

https://www.zdf.de/

http://www.daserste.de

 

Radio

http://www.deutschland.fm/ - a comprehensive list of German radio stations (some of the music will be in English, some in German, and the talk shows or news might be hard to understand when you are first beginning).

Sports

Fußball (or soccer) is one of the most important sports in Germany.

http://www.bundesliga.com/de/bundesliga/ - the German Fußball league’s website in German (though there is also an English version).

Other Media/Videos

http://www.dw.com/en/learn-german/s-2469 - this site is in English which is great for beginners. Look out for Top-Thema which has videos in German that is spoken slower, included with each video is a transcription of the entire video, a list of vocabulary and questions to test your understanding of the video.

If you find that the video is too fast, try read the transcription while watching

http://www.scola.org/ - log on with Oxy credentials, offers some current German television programs from both Austria and Germany for a variety of accents. The website is in English and easier to navigate for beginners but for advanced learners, I would recommend going directly to one of the channels, as they will have a wider variety of shows.