66 Fluency Boosting Phrases for German

Inspired by Olly Richards' list for Spanish. Please feel free to look through it and let me know if there's any mistake. These are aimed at intermediate learners but I think they'll be useful to all who want to practice conversation.

1. Talking About German
1. Über Deutsch reden

#1 I've been learning German for ... (1 year/2 years).
Seit ... (einem Jahr / zwei Jahren) lerne ich Deutsch.

#2 How long have you been learning German?
Wie lange lernst du schon Deutsch?

#3 Pronunciation / Grammar / etc. is the most difficult part for me.
Die Aussprache / Die Grammatik / usw. ist die schwierigste für mich.

#4 How do you say ... in German?
Wie sagt man ... auf Deutsch?

#5 I have forgotten the conjugation for the verb ...
Ich habe die Konjugation des Verbes ... vergessen.

#6 I cannot remember ...
Ich kann mich nicht an ... erinnern.

#7 I prefer to speak only in German, please.
Ich spreche lieber nur auf Deutsch, bitte.

#8 Do you understand what I'm saying?
Verstehst du, was ich sage?

#9 It's difficult for me to understand when you speak very fast.
Es ist schwierig für mich zu verstehen, wenn du sehr schnell sprichst.

#10 I feel like I'm improving every day.
Ich denke/finde/meine/bin der Meinung, dass ich jeden Tag Verbesserung habe.

2. Language Exchanges
2. Sprachaustauch

#11 Can you explain to me how to use the word ... in a sentence?
Kannst du mir erklären, wie benutzt man das Wort ... in einem Satz?

#12 Can you repeat that please?
Kannst du das bitte (noch einmal) wiederholen?

#13 Can you speak a little more slowly please?
Kannst du bitte ein bisschen langsamer sprechen? / Langsamer, bitte?

#14 What does ... mean?
Was bedeutet ...?

#15 Can you write it down / spell it, please?
Kannst du das bitte aufschreiben / buchstabieren?

#16 Can we speak/talk about ...?
Können wir über ... reden?

#17 Can you give me another example?
Kannst du mir ein anderes Beispiel zeigen / geben?

#18 I don't feel comfortable talking about this topic. Can we discuss something else?
Ich bin nicht bequem/angenehm, über dieses Thema zu reden. / Ich möchte nicht über dieses Thema reden. Können wir über etwas anderes reden?

#19 Sorry, I don't understand.
Entschuldige, ich verstehe nicht.

#20 Did I say it correctly? / Does that make sense?
Habe ich es richtig gesagt? / Macht das Sinn?

#21 Can we practice that question / conversation again?
Können wir diese Frage / dieses Gespräch nochmal üben?

#22 Does it make sense?
Macht das Sinn?

#23 What is it about?
Worüber handelt es sich? / Worum geht's?

3. Connecting Phrases
3. Verbindungssätze

#24 Be that as it may.
Trotzdem / Immerhin ... (Nevertheless / Anyway)

#25 I doubt that would happen.
Ich glaube nicht, dass das passieren würde.

#26 So, what happened was ...
Also, was passiert ist, war ...

#27 You don't need to be an expert but ...
Du musst nicht ein Experte / Fachmann sein, aber ...

#28 It only lasts ...
Es dauert nur ...

#29 I forgot to ...
Ich habe ... vergessen.

#30 I'm going to have problems if ...
Ich werde Probleme haben, wenn ...

#31 At the end of the day / In the end, ...
Endlich ...

#32 As soon as possible.
So bald wie möglich.

#33 That's what I thought.
Das ist was ich dachte.

4. Making Conversation
4. Gespräche führen / Sich unterhalten

#34 What type of music do you like?
Was für Musik magst du gern?

#35 How does it sound to you? / How does it seem to you?
Was denkst du daran? / Was hältst du davon? / Wie hat es dir gefallen?

#36 What did you do last weekend?
Was hast du letztes Wochenende gemacht?

#37 Can you help me?
Kannst du mir helfen?

#38 Can you recommend some songs to me?
Kannst du mir einige Songs empfehlen?

#39 What do you like to do in your free time?
Was magst du gern in deiner Freizeit?

#40 What do you do? (What do you work at?)
Was machst du beruflich?

#41 Have you been here / there before?
Warst du schon mal hier / da?

5. Phrases for Responding
5. Sätze für die Beantwortungen

#42 Oh, that's awesome!
Wunderbar / Herrvorragend / Ausgezeichnet / Toll / Super / Geil!

#43 That is all there is to say.
Das ist alles, was man sagen will.

#44 Tell me what you think.
Sag mir, was du denkst / findest / meinst.

#45 I don't care.
Das ist mir Wurst.

#46 Really, is that so?
Ist das so? Wirklich?

#47 Whatever / It's all the same to me.
Das ist mir egal.

#48 No way!
Das geht doch nicht! / Auf keinen Fall!

6. Making Arrangements
6. Verabredungen

#49 I'm in a hurry.
Ich beeile mich. / Ich bin in Eile.

#50 I'm sorry, I'm arriving late.
Entschuldige / Tut mir leid, ich bin zu spät.

#51 I have another engagement / appointment.
Ich habe (schon) einen anderen Termin / eine andere Verabredung.

#52 Today I can't, another day would be better.
Heute kann ich nicht. Ein anderer Tag wäre besser.

#53 Where do you want me to drop you off?
Wo willst du, dass ich dich absetzen / aussteigen lassen / abladen?

#54 What are you going to do today?
Was machst du heute? / Was hast du heute vor?

#55 (At) What time do you have to go?
Um wieviel Uhr musst du gehen?

#56 We're going to go out for a few beers.
Wir gehen aus, Bier zu trinken.

7. Daily Life
7. Alltagsleben

#57 See you!
Auf wiedersehen / wiederhören / wiederschauen!

#58 This weekend was not long enough.
Das Wochenende war zu kurz.

#59 See you later!
Bis später! / Bis bald!

#60 You called the wrong number.
Sie haben sich verwählt.

#61 It's very hot today!
Was für eine Hitze heute!

#62 I had a fun time.
Ich hatte viel Spaß.

#63 How far is it?
Wie weit ist es?

#64 I should have looked more carefully.
Ich hätte das aufpassen sollen.

#65 The balance to pay is ...
Der geschuldete Restbetrag ist ...

#66 I have to apologize.
Ich muss mich entschuldigen.

Transcript: IWTYAL #096 on Learning German

[Olly Richards] This is the I Will Teach You A Language Podcast Episode 96.

[Music jingle]

[Female voice] Welcome to the I Will Teach You A Language podcast. Weekly motivation and language learning tips to help you become fluent in any language. Now, it's your host, Olly Richards.

[Jingle ends]

[Olly Richards] Hello, welcome back to the podcast. Now, I've got a confession to make about a big secret to tell you. [Wheezy giggle] Which is, I've started to learn a new language. I've started to learn German a few weeks ago. And in this episode I wanted to talk a little bit about, my experience it's like what's what I've could have felt what I've discovered over the last two weeks, of learning German.

And before we get into that I'd like to thank the sponsors of the show iTalki where I will be getting my German lessons from when it comes time to speak and you guys get a free lesson, with the teacher of your choice, in the language of your choice. You simply go to I Will Teach You A Language dot com forward slash free lesson and you can sign up there.

[1:00]

So yeah, I decided to learn, to start learning German and there's a lot of reasons behind this and I'm gonna try not make this so too long but I did just want to put this out there cos you know like it's gonna be interesting to lots of people. Because obviously as you know I'm learning Cantonese, which has been my long-term project and I know that I always say, you know, don't learn two languages at the same time.

But with German the thing is for me that it's been years now that I've wanted to learn, and I also go to Berlin every year throughout May for the Polyglot Gathering, and oh by the way you want to come to the Polyglot Gathering. You absolutely sure it's in, it's in May it's in a few weeks' time.

So if you are living near Berlin and you'd like to come and hang out with a load of language enthusiasts and, meet me and a bunch of other people, then you definitely should go. You just google "polyglot gathering" and you'll find it there. So I've had this you know I've been wanting to learn German for a long time, and

[2:00]

I've kind of felt okay, look, it's time now just to learn a bit of the language. Also, at the same time, with my Cantonese I have been kind of running up against a brick wall. I've kind of been, like I felt like I've hit a bit of a plateau and often one of the best things to do when you're struggling with a language is simply take a break. Do something different.

And so I thought, well, why not just dedicate one month to German. I can learn German in April and not make it this long project which say, in April the month of April from the beginning to the end I'm going to learn German, and then, I'm going to stop and I'm going to go back to Cantonese.

And then, the reason I decided to do that was because I thought it would be, I like the fact that it's defined. Because so often people ask when do you stop learning a language. When do you move on, when do you know it's the right time. And the truth is that it's,

[3:00]

For me it's always a gut feeling. You learn a language for some reason in your life, and then eventually, your life changes and your languages change. That's always been the case for me. But I do know that if I get into German I'll take it seriously and that's gonna become a big project and I don't want that because I want to keep focusing on Cantonese.

But at the same time, I thought like a month, one month learning German would be cool because it would gonna satisfy that desire that I have to learn German and also give me a bit of a mental break from Cantonese. And also it would have a good effect when I go to Berlin in a few weeks' time and I'll be able to use a bit of German.

So, I intentionally didn't mention this on a probable podcast before because it's just a very kind of small project, it's not like my aim is not to speak really good German, my aim is just to learn about the language. Yeah, as much as I can in one month, that's it.   

[4:00]

So it's very kind of low-pressure thing. And my strategy really for this one month, was to get as, a good foundation in the language. I'm actually not speaking. I am just using textbooks to study by myself. And the reason I'm not speaking is simply because it's a one month project and I don't, like, it's not my aim to speak.

My aim is simply to get to know the German language. And so in this one month I'm aiming to kind of cover the foundation of German and, just get a good understanding of the language. And to do that I chose two books to help me. And I went to Foyles which is (unintelligible)

An amazing one of the best language bookstores in the world here in London and I looked through all the German books and, you know it's really important to find books that you like, that you want to use yourself. That's so important and I looked through all these German books. And I just didn't want to use any of them. I thought they were far too like, I don't know, like the,

[5:00]

The way that the books were were not interesting to me. Often what happens is that they just, they try to, like textbooks try to simulate lessons. They say "Do this! Now do that and now do this then..." Which can be cool but the problem is that often these exercises, they're just, they're too inconsequential. I don't know. They say do this exercise to practise the days of the week and it's like "Oh yeah that's great." But I don't want to spend half an hour practising the days of the week cos I'm gonna learn it naturally anyway.

And so I ended up choosing one book that I thought was really good, and since I've started using it now, I can confirm that it's really good and it's Colloquial German from Routledge. And yes it's called Colloquial German: The Complete Course for Beginners. And the reason I like this book is because, they have in every chapter, two really good long dialogues with fairly natural language. And so that, it provides the real

[6:00]

basis for the study. So many of these other books, they have these tiny short dialogues, and which are just, you know, nothing to sink your teeth into.

But of all else, in the case of Assimil, which is another popular series, long dialogues but very, with who am I supposed to use this language, you know, very kind of literary language. You're not gonna want to use what you're not likely to hear.

So I find the Colloquial German really, really good. I'll put a link to this and one of the other things I mentioned in the show notes by the way, which will be at iwillteachyoualanguage dot com forward slash episode 96.

And I also chose a, I wanted to balance that out, with a, the grammar book. Because German grammar is, I know it's quite tricky. So I wanted to get a good grammar reference book. So I chose another Routledge book. I really like Routledge books in general. This one is called Basic German: A Grammar and Workbook. And, there you go, Basic German: A Grammar and Workbook.

[7:00]

And again, that's just it's exactly what I wanted. It's a kind of an overview of German grammar for beginners without being too complex. Just giving the main rules and references and anything that one should look up at hand.

So I chose these two books to go to be complementary. So the Colloquial German has got loads of dialogues which I can use to learn, and then the grammar is for quick reference where I can look up rules when I need them.

And so what I've been doing is very, very simple. Every morning, when I wake up I sit down and do forty-five minutes of German practice. German study, I should say. And I use the Colloquial German book for that.

My routine is, what I do is, I simply, I go through a dialogue. And, there is, I've released a bunch of posts recently all about my core language time. Core language routines. How I, how exactly I use textbooks, and how I study dialogues.

[8:00]

So I'll put a link to those in the show notes as well. You'll definitely check those out. And that's basically what I've been doing. So I open up a textbook. I go to the dialogue I was looking at before. I revise that, and then I move on to the next one.

And what I'll do is I'll listen to the dialogue many times, trying to understand as much as possible. And then I'll listen and read at the same time. Many times. Then I'll look up any new words that I don't know and then I'll close the book and I'll listen to the dialogue again without the text so I can kind of test myself to see how much I've understood.

That's the foundation of it. Now in the Colloquial German book, like in lots of textbooks, there's a lot of exercises. Well, I tend not to do that. And the reason is, if you're gonna do it, every exercise in the book, it really slows you down. And obviously they're useful. But what I found with German is that

[9:00]

there is so much in common with English that you've got a different opportunity with German. Now for me I think there's a different opportunity, learning opportunity here, than what I've found in other languages.

So the major thing, for me personally, is that with the last few languages I've learnt, I haven't been able to read. Japanese, Cantonese, Arabic. Very, very difficult to read especially at the beginning. And so what I've found is that all of my learning has been based on oral work. It's all listening and speaking.

Now the huge thing with German is that finally I can read again. So I can just sit and read through these texts and understand. It's amazing. But there's also a massive similarity with English and this is a big opportunity. Because when I kind of looked over the one month that I'm gonna be studying, I think about how I can make the most out of this month. 

[10:00]

And like for me the big opportunity here is not to like really understand the grammar or really learn all the difficult cases or prepositions, all those things. I could do that, but for me the big opportunity is the fact that German is so similar to English.

And so my aim is kind of what I'm just gonna go over the last couple of weeks is that because it's so similar and there's so much that's mutually intelligible, with a bit of help obviously, that the big opportunity for me is to just read and listen to as much as possible over the month. And by doing that, you kind of, you get exposed to all these different parts of the language. This different core vocabulary, all the different main grammar.

And I kind of feel that over the course of the month, by just reading and listening to as much as possible, I'm gonna really get a good understanding of the language and how it works and so, that's what I'm trying to exploit most of all. And so in order to

[11:00]

do that, consciously ignoring most of the exercises in the textbook, and instead aiming to just cover all the dialogues and the text. And so basically my aim for April is, has become, to simple cover all of the dialogues in the Colloquial German textbook. Now I think that's gonna give me the biggest bang for my buck as in the biggest use of my time.

The only other thing that I would do is actually I do read the grammar explanations because they are pretty important to raise your awareness of the language. Like I'm not trying to learn all the grammar rules and do all the exercises, but I find that when you read the grammar explanations, later on then you can recognize those things in the texts, in the dialogues when you read them. That's a very, very good way to help you notice different parts of the language. So there we go.

[12:00]

I hope that was gonna be interesting to you. It's been very, very interesting for me to start learning a new language from the beginning after all these years. It's been a long time and I'm definitely gonna talk more about this right, a bit more about this experience on the blog.

And, but yeah, if you've got any questions about that, come over to the show notes and let me know what questions you have, I'm very happy to come and answer and then you can get there by going to iwillteachyoualanguage dot com forward slash episode 96.

Now, as you know, I keep hanging on about coming up to episode one hundred of the podcast and I'd like to do something very special which is to go come a compilation of those of you guys talking. Because you've heard enough from me and I'm sure you're sick to death of listening to me talking. So I would like to hear what you have learnt from the podcast. From me or from the blog or anything like that. I would like you to tell me what it is.

[13:00]

And you can go to iwillteachyoualanguage dot com forward slash ask, and you can leave me a quick message on there. You can give me your name, where you're from, and then tell me one thing you've learnt from listening to the podcast. That would be really, really cool.

And what I'm gonna do for Episode 100, if we get enough submissions, hint hint hint, is to put everything all together in a collage and that's gonna be really cool to listen to everybody from around the world talking about things that they have learnt and things that have effect on them. So I hope that was helpful and that was interesting for you, and I'll see you in the next episode of the podcast.

=====[ENDS]=====

SOURCE: http://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/olly-strategy-learn-german/

Transcript: IWTYAL #066 on CEFR levels and speaking

[Male voice] This is the IWTYAL language podcast, episode 66.

[Female voice] Welcome to the I Will Teach You A Language podcast. Weekly motivation and language learning tips to help you become fluent in any language. Now, it's your host, Olly Richards.

[Olly Richards] Everyone, welcome back to the show, thank you ... for listening. I've ... sound quality is a bit different today, I'm actually not in London, I'm staying with a friend ... recording is here, this kitchen is a little bit echo-ey. So apologies for that.

We've had a fantastic weekend of language learning in London, and then last week we had the first ever polyglot pub event on Friday at a fantastic pub nearby Waterloo Station. Twenty-five, thirty language learners come down, people come from all over the world especially for that event. We had people from lots of different countries. Fantastic thing going on.

We also had the polyglot workshops on Saturday and Sunday, where we took about a hundred and fifty people each day to get them through this fantastic programme of language learning stuff that we put together.

[1:03]

On the topic of virtual immersion, like how to learn a language from home when you're living in your home country and not abroad. But anyway let's get onto the topic of today's show. Before we do that I'd like to thank the sponsors of this show, iTalki where I get my language lessons every single week. If you'd like to get a free lesson, you can go to iwillteachyoualanguage.com forward slash, whatizzit... forward slash free lesson. Yeah I've got it right eventually. So, let's dive into today's question from second-time questioner Andy. 

[Andy]

Hi Olly, Andy here again from the centre of England. Thanks for answering my question about extensive listening back in Episode 57. One of the things you've mentioned is your level in a language, and not maybe ... to think about when you're starting out, it's very difficult to know what the next level should look like, and what you should be able to achieve.

For instance when you start anew, you achieve that A1 level, what would you be able to do there? Then with A2, is it really a big achievement in terms of talking to native speakers, B1 B2, C1 C2, and onwards ...

[2:14]

What is your experience having gone through this process many times? I wonder if you could give us an idea about what each of these different steps along the way look like to you. Thanks a lot, Olly. Bye.

[Olly]

Okay Andy. Thank you very much for a great question. I really like this one, "What does it actually feel like at different stages of the process of learning a language?" And yes, it's something that, I guess when you're doing it, you're learning a language for the first time, you don't really know, right? I mean, what should it feel like? How do I know that I'm there or when I'm not?

And yea, I've got a, I've got a really good ... of this and, erm, what it does feel like. So I'll talk through my experience about that. Now Andy mentioned a few different numbers there, A1 A2, B1 B2. To someone who's not familiar with that, it's something called the Common European Framework of Reference.

[3:01]

And this is a framework, it's a very good framework that describes different levels of language proficiency. I'll put a link to this in the show notes. Andy wants to check it out, which will be at iwillteachyoualanguage dot com forward slash Episode 66.

And it's very well-documented actually, you know, the CEFR levels and what they mean. So I think what I'll do instead, instead of just reading off in those different many descriptors, I'll just tell you what it's like for me and how I identify the different levels.

First thing that I'll say is that, you know, I never mention my progress according to these CEFR levels. They, I mean, it's useful in the sense of, kinda you know, being able to describe your level and being able to analyze different levels of proficiency. But personally, you know, I've never really judged myself on these terms, because I generally have one goal when learning a language, which is to learn how to speak.

[4:02]

And I see it as one very long organic process. And it is outlined and described in the CEFR so you can have a look at that. Interesting. But instead for me, I like to think of the different levels of proficiency in a language in terms of what you're capable of doing. Right.

So starting from the very beginning, you know, you have a zero, and I don't think you can have, ... this isn't an official level ... A0 is essentially when you're a complete beginner. Maybe you've learnt a couple of phrases you can say "Hello," "Goodbye," like that. Essentially you're not able to use the language at all.

After that, around the A1 level, this way you've studied for a bit, maybe a short course, or half a textbook or something like that. And you're able to kind of give very basic self-introductions. But you can't really use the language yet at this point. You know, when you first start learning a language, you're like in the honeymoon period at the beginning when you first learn how to say "Hello, my name is ..." and to ask basic questions. And you feel pretty pleased with yourself, right?

[5:10]

And there comes a point fairly quickly, when you realize, that "I don't know anything, I can't actually interact ... There's so much I don't know." That to me is the A1 level. You really can't do much. You can say some things. Just trying to get an idea of what the language is.

Now moving on from that to A2, this is for me the most frustrating stage of a language. This is where a lot of people get stuck. And this is where you have studied through a fair bit, you've, you can't really speak yet. You can't hold a conversation because there's too much you don't know. Communication is difficult. You might be able to express yourself to say a few things, but you probably can't, there's a lot that you can't understand so that makes a conversation difficult.

The problem with this stage, the reason that this stage is so tricky is because you've got this greater, heightened awareness. You realize how much you don't know.

[6:06]

And so it can be very, very frustrating. It can be you lack vocabulary for this and that, the grammar is just not up to speed. And that's the stage that I dislike the most. And it's also the hardest to break through because the next step is gonna be one level, and this is where you're gonna be able to hold a conversation.

B1 is the point where you can actually functionally start to use the language for good, reliable communication. So at B1 you can hold a conversation and it's kind of cool. But the problem is that you can't, your range of expression is really restricted. There's, you've still got a big hole in your vocabulary. There's lots you can't do and really, the things that you can talk about, they're very limited to concrete things.

[7:00]

You can't really handle any kind of abstract thought, abstract concepts. It's all stuff, very functional. So you can have a conversation and it only serves as the basis of ... good communication. And if you've got into that stage you know really well that a lot of people don't actually make it that far.

Now moving on from there we get to B2. And this is where, B2 is where you can kind of hold conversations on a variety of topics. And, and, that includes things like more abstract topics, things that are more difficult to explain, and also less common things ... things that you don't encounter that often.

Now how long to get to the B2 level, erm, it's kind of difficult to say how long it'll take. It really depends on the language. But for me B2 is where you can really, it's where you really have ownership of ... You're not speaking perfectly, making a bunch of mistakes.

[8:00]

But your vocabulary and knowledge of grammar is about that, you know, you can communicate without too much difficulty. Now there's a kind of nice rule of thumb that I have for B2, which is this.

If you can go to the pub with someone and enjoy time in the pub with someone, they're at B2 level. Okay, that's my, that's the bar that I put at ... If you could go to the pub with someone, they've probably got a B2 level. At anything less than a B2, and you just can't, you can't really interact enough to have an enjoyable conversation.

Now after that comes C1. And C1 for me is where really for all intents and purposes you fit in naturally in any or all social situations. You can express yourself perfectly well, you can understand most things, you won't make ... You will still make mistakes but not that many. And conversation is just generally easy.

[9:01]

This can only really come from spending, you know, a lot of time in the company of native speakers. It's a fantastic stage to reach because you've just, you can just really have fun with the language, enjoy every bit of it. You no longer get those headaches that are associated with trying to hold longer conversations.

And that's for me if I can get to C1 in a language, I'm happy. I don't generally need to go beyond that. The next level of course is C2 which is where you've got a strong command of the language. You've got almost all situations. That includes academia as well.

One of the things that really separates a C1 from a C2 is your ability to function in academic topics. Things like literature, academia, you know, stuff that you kind of specialize in knowledge, in order to really be fluent in that kind of, those kind of topics. This is only something that really comes at C2 level.

[10:01]

And it's important to know that there are really plenty of native speakers who don't necessarily have a C2 level. You know, if you're someone who never really studied much in school, maybe you've dropped out of school or you've never really read at all, then you probably won't pass a C2 exam. Because there's just too much academic language you didn't learn.

So for me, I wouldn't, it's really difficult to say whether a language level is a C1 or C2. It kind of fluctuates as well. I'd certainly be at B2 level. But it's ... I think for me I probably wouldn't confidently say that I have a C2 in languages at the moment simply because most of the way that I use my language is just conversational. With friends in social situations. I've never used a language in a university, in an academic context, you know.

[10:58]

So the lines do begin to blur, and it's important to note that because all of these different spectrums. And the lines are very, very blurry, you know. You could look at what I've just said. What you need to be C1. To be fluent, whatever that means.

But then you know, I've known people to be very low level, A1 A2, still being able to make lots of friends and have a really good time. So it's very kind of blurry. My main benchmark is that of B2, going to the pub, you know. A B2 is also really the level that you have to be at in order to get into a university.

So I hope that kind of gives you an idea of the command of what you need to be able to prove in that language. I also hope that gives you an idea of what to expect and what's to come for you in your languages if you haven't already got there yet.

If you'd like to ask me a question, please do. I love to get voicemail questions. You can go to iwillteachyoualanguage dot com forward slash asktodothat  … I've also really appreciate a star rating and review on i2 because that helps other people like you to find the podcast.

[12:08]

And if you'd like to do that, then you can go to iwillteachyoualanguage dot com forward slash review.

Now I'd like to thank once more the sponsors of the show. iTalki where without iTalki I wouldn't be able to get these high levels in a language because they just make conversation practice so easy. iwillteachyoualanguage dot com forward slash start speaking is the place to go for a free lesson.

And at the end of every episode I'd like to leave you with a resource of some kind on the topic of the show. And what I thought I'd do this time is leave you with an interview that I did in Portuguese with Jimmy Mello who's a guy who runs mypolyglot, which is another great language podcast.

And the reason I'm linking you to this is because we have this very long conversation in Brazilian Portuguese. It's pretty long, you won't have to listen to all of it. But this topic came up, you know, "What Level Are You in a Language?" And I would say to him, you know, I don't consider myself to be a C2 in Portuguese because I've never really used that academically.

[13:15]

And he kind of responded with "No, I agree with you, but you definitely have a C1 level in Portuguese." So if you'd like to check that out, have a listen to that. That gives you an idea of what a C1 level would be in a language. Obviously you'd have to speak Portuguese to ... But then again it's just another way to give you a guideline, an idea what a C1 level might sound like. I'll put the link to this in the show notes.

iwillteachyoualanguage dot com forward slash episode 66

And thank you so much for listening. I'll see you in the next episode of the podcast.

[13:50] ENDS

SOURCE: http://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/feel-like-at-different-levels/

How to prepare for the German B2 proficiency exam

German (language): How should I study for the Goethe Institut's B2 Zertifikat exam?
Answered by various Quorans, pay attention to Michael Sieler, Michael Schmitz, Thomas Novella, and Alex Alvaro's answers
https://www.quora.com/German-language-How-should-I-study-for-the-Goethe-Instituts-B2-Zertifikat-exam

My Experiences with the Goethe-Zertifikat-B2 Exam at the Goethe-Institut Sydney
by Crno Srce
http://yetanotherlanguage.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-experiences-with-goethe-zertifikat.html

The following blog entries by Jameel Khaleel Hijazeen give extremely detailed explanations on taking steps towards B2 proficiency:

Ten months from zero to B2 Goethe Certificate outside Germany: My German Language Leraning Experience
[Updated link:
https://amanfrommoab.wordpress.com/2014/07/23/experience-ten-months-zero-b2-goethe-certificate-outside-germany/]

http://amanfrommoab.com/2014/07/23/experience-ten-months-zero-b2-goethe-certificate-outside-germany/

A 10 JD Sample B2 Test in Geothe Institut Amman: My Experience (B2 Probeprüfung, Goethe-Institut Jordanien)
[Updated link:
https://amanfrommoab.wordpress.com/2014/03/24/a-10-jd-sample-b2-test-in-geothe-institut-amman-my-experience-b2-probeprfung-goethe-institut-jordanien/]
http://amanfrommoab.com/2014/03/24/a-10-jd-sample-b2-test-in-geothe-institut-amman-my-experience-b2-probeprfung-goethe-institut-jordanien/

The Most Interesting and Quiskest Way to Learn a Lot of German Vocabulay and Pass Goethe’s B2 Exam
[Updated link:
http://amanfrommoab.wordpress.com/2014/07/23/interesting-quiskest-way-learn-lot-german-vocabulay-pass-goethes-b2-exam/]
http://amanfrommoab.com/2014/07/23/interesting-quiskest-way-learn-lot-german-vocabulay-pass-goethes-b2-exam/

How to prepare for the German C1 proficiency exam

Preparing for the Goethe C1 Zertifikat
by Matt
https://postcardsfrommatt.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/preparing-for-the-goethe-c1-zertifikat/

How to prepare for an advanced language exam. Lessons from my Goethe-Institut C1 success
by Gareth Popkins
https://howtogetfluent.com/how-to-prepare-for-an-advanced-language-exam-lessons-from-my-goethe-institute-c1-success/

How I passed German Goethe C1 German exam
by Sansar Choinyambuu
[Updated link:
https://medium.com/@sansar.choinyambuu/how-i-passed-german-goethe-c1-german-exam-7912a193f83e]
http://chsansar.blogspot.com/2015/05/how-i-prepared-for-goethe-c1-german.html

Lost in Papua: Excerpt Transcript in Indonesian, English, German, and Mandarin

I'm practicing my listening comprehension and translation skills by transcribing dialogue from movies or video clips. Here's a two-minute section from the Indonesian movie "Lost in Papua". Dialogue in Indonesian without subtitles. First I transcribed the dialogue and then translated it into English, German, and Mandarin. 

=====

Lost in Papua

[around 34:00]

Papuan man:

Apa benar kalian akan pergi ke sana?

[Is it true that all of you are going there?]

{Ist es wahr, dass ihr dort fahren werdet?}

你們要去那裡，真的嗎？

Ebie:

Betul, bapa. Saya sendiri yang akan dampingi Nadia, Meri dan Zabo untuk pergi ke hutan itu.

[Yes, "father". I myself will accompany Nadia, Meri and Zabo to go to the jungle.]

{Ja, "Vater". Ich werde Nadia, Meri und Zabo in den Dschungel begleiten.}

對，叔叔。我會陪 Nadia, Meri 和 Zabo 進去森林。

Papuan man:

Saya mengajari kamu tentang etnografi Papua. Juga tentang bahasa dari suku-suku yang ada di pedalaman sana. Tetapi itu tidak berarti bahawa saya juga, yang menyuruh kamu harus pergi ke sana.

[I taught you about Papuan ethnography. Also about the languages of the tribes that exist in the interior. But that doesn't mean that I, am saying that you have to go there.]

{Ich habe dich die Papua-Ethnographie beigebracht. Gleichfalls über die Sprachen der Stämme, dass im Innern wohnen. Aber dann sage ich nicht, dass du dort fahren musst.}

我教過你 Papua 的民族志。還有住在內部的民族語言。但是我沒有說你須要去那裡。

Ebie:

Saya tahu itu, bapa. Tapi sekarang saya sudah cukup dewasa. Saya bertanggungjawab terhadap satu keluarga. Dan kali ini, saya sudah putuskan bahawa saya harus pergi ke sana untuk cari tahu khabar tentang saya punya "Omjohn". Apa lagi sekarang Meri juga ingin pergi ke sana. Saya tidak mungkin biarkan Meri pergi sendiri.

[I know that, "father". But now I'm already an adult. I'm responsible for a family. And this time, I've decided that I must go there to find out news about my "Omjohn". What more now Meri also wants to go there. I can't possibly let Meri go alone.]

{Es weiß ich, "Vater". Aber jetzt bin ich genug erwachsen. Ich bin für eine Familie verantwortlich. Und diesmal habe ich entschieden, dass ich dort fahren muss. Weil ich die Nachrichten über mein "Omjohn" herausfinden will. Außerdem Meri auch dort hinfahren will. Ich kann nicht sie alleine fahren lassen.}

叔叔，我知道。不過現在我夠大了。我對家庭有責任。這一次，我決定要去那裡找我的 Omjohn 的消息。還有 Meri 也要去。我不甘心給她自己去。

Papuan man:

Di dalam hutan Boven Digul itu masih ada mitos. Ada perkampungan yang seluruh penghuninya itu terdiri daripada kaum perempuan. Dan sampai saat ini tidak seorang pun yang pernah lihat mereka. Seperti apa aktivitas hidup mereka, tidak ada yang pernah tahu. Tapi yang pasti, bahawa mereka itu masih hidup sangat primtif. Jadi kalian harus hati-hati apabila kalian pergi ke sana dan bertemu dengan mereka. Sebab, saya tidak tahu apa yang akan terjadi. Sebaiknya kalian tinggal di perkampungan suku Korowai. Kerana di sana kalian akan lebih aman daripada kalian harus hidup di hutan yang masih liar dan misteri ini. Saya pun tidak tahu apa yang akan terjadi. [Pauses, shakes head, stands up and leaves.]

 

[In the Boven Digul jungle there are still myths. There are villages where all the inhabitants are women. And until now (until this second in time) nobody has ever seen them. Such as what their life activities are, nobody has ever known. But for sure, they still live a very primitive life. So all of you must be very careful when you go there and meet them. Because, I don't know what will happen. Best if you stay at the Korowai tribal village. Because there you will be safer (more peaceful) than if you have to live in the wild and mysterious forest. I also don't know what's going to happen.]

{Im Dschungel von Boven Digul gibt es noch Mythos. Es gibt Dörfer, wo alle Einwohner weiblich sind. Niemand hat bisher schon mal gesehen. Zum Beispiel, was sind ihre Lebensaktivitäten, niemand weiß. Aber sicher leben sie immer noch ein sehr primitives Leben. Also müsst ihr vorsichtig sein, wenn ihr dort fahrt, und mit ihnen trifft. Weil ich weiß nicht, was passieren wird. Am besten bleibt ihr im Dorf von die Korowai-Stamm. Weil dort ihr mehr sicher seid als im wilden und geheimnisvollen Dschungel wohnen. Ich weiß nicht, was passieren wird.}

在 Boven Digul 森林還有神話。有鄉村，居民全部是女性。到現在沒有人看過她們。不過好限定，她們的生活還是很落後。所以你們去那裡認識她們一定要很小心。因為我不知道什麼會發生。最好你們住在 Korowai 族的鄉村。因為哪裡你們會比較安全過住在野蠻和秘密的森林。我不知道什麼會發生。 

German essay: Meine Probleme

[Corrections based on feedback received on Saturday, 5 November 2016.
Story originally told in Cantonese, which I translated to English and then to German. I'm sure there are grammar and idiomatic errors in the text. So if anyone reads this and finds errors, please let me know and I'll correct them. Thanks.]

Meine Probleme

Ich fühle mich sehr, sehr gestresst. Zu viele Probleme. Zu viele Drücken Druck/Stress. Es ist kompliziert. Ich bin müde. Bitte, bitte sei nicht zu streng mit mir im Klasse Unterricht, weil ich mich dann nicht konzentrieren kann. Wie schläfrig ich bin, kannst du sehen. Ich konnte nicht ausruhen. Ich habe nicht gut geschlafen.

Das Finanzielle. Die Beziehung. Die Familie. Die Arbeit. Diesen Sachen machen stressen mich gestresst. Am schwersten ist das Finanzielle. Nach dem die Tod meines Vaters, musste ich meinen jungen Geschwistern unterstützen. Es gibt fünf von ihnen und sie brauchen Geld. Dafür muss ich mich beim Arbeiten sehr viel anstrengen. Sie brauchen Geld für das die Lebenskosten. Über die Beziehung? Du weißt schon, was passiert mit meinem Freund. Ich habe es dir erzählt. Die familiäre Probleme sind mit dem Finanzielle verbindet verbunden. Die Arbeit auch. Manchmal gibt es Zahlungsverzug oder eine Absage in letzter Minute. Manchmal ist es so schwer, einen Deal zu abzuschließen.

Du kannst mich über nach meinen Problemen fragen. Ich kann dir mehr erzählen. Es ist okay mit mir für mich. Wenn ich mir nicht sicher bin wie es sagen bin soll, frage ich dich. Ich weiß, dass du mir den mit Worten helfen wirst. Glücklicherweise kannst du Kantonesisch und Mandarin. Du kannst es übersetzen.

Mach dir keine Sorgen! Mir wird es gut gehen. Ich werde okay sein. Ich kann es schaffen. Ich kann meine Probleme lösen. Egal was passiert, ich werde überleben.

My German placement test experience at Goethe-Institut Kuala Lumpur

Einstufungsprüfung @Goethe-Institut Kuala Lumpur:
Reading comprehension & grammar: Borderline A2-B1
Speaking: A2
Test date: Thursday, 30 June 2016

So I signed up for the Goethe-Institut placement test for A2 level during the last week of June 2016. I had studied German on my own, alone, without a speaking partner since January this year. I wanted to know where I stood and how much I've achieved.

I'm glad. The examiner, Tim was impressed. He said that very few people reach this stage studying on their own alone.

I was nervous. I stumbled and made mistakes in speaking. Sometimes I couldn't find the right word in time, sometimes I used the wrong tense, but when it was pointed out I could rephrase it in the correct tense form.

So speaking is definitely at A2 level. On par with students who have taken four months of intensive, full-time group classes. What I did on my own in five months gave me the results I expected. If I had someone to practice speaking with, I'd have gone even further. The results could have been better.

That means what I did was right. All the Goldlisting for vocabulary, reading authentic texts, building up from the basic blocks, isolated pronunciation practice followed by reciting sentences, hand-copying out 10,000 sentences, active, intensive listening to content I'm interested in, paying attention to words, all those stuff ... :)

Tim told me that my reading comprehension and grammar is somewhere between A2 and B1. But from the test results alone it's not clear exactly which area I didn't do so well. In my opinion it's most probably conditionals, complex sentences and adjective declination with definite and indefinite articles. He said it would be good if I were to strengthen up those weak spots in A2.2 grammar before starting B1.

Before I left, he gave me the URLs of websites I can use, such as the Goethe-Institut's online library and learner community where I could find people with the same interest in learning German. Very helpful :)

I'm just a language learner, not polyglot or multilingual

If I say "polyglot", most likely people in Malaysia will think it's a Korean pop song, the latest K-pop hit. They'd understand "multilingual" better but I'd avoid this term too. I'd just say "I'm a language learner" or "I'm learning [name(s) of language(s)]" and leave it at that. Otherwise people will have all sorts of high-level expectations as if I'm able to function flawlessly in many languages like an expert. As if I can speak like a native with no accent, no mistakes, on any topic using all the technical terms and idiomatic expressions. Come on, even a native speaker would not be able to speak smoothly on unfamiliar topics, right?

Neither do I like using the word "fluent" because it's so loaded with subjective meanings. Many equate it to high proficiency in everything. I personally think it means being able to speak without pausing too much, that's it. So in my opinion one can be fluent at beginner, elementary, intermediate, advanced levels. But to avoid confusion and subjective definitions, I'd stick to proficiency as a measurement tool. Proficiency is what you can do. A beginner can do less, an expert can do much more.

For me, I'm comfortable claiming English, Bahasa Malaysia, Cantonese and Mandarin as languages I'd put on my CV or résumé. That's because I can maintain conversations in these languages at an intermediate to advanced level. Two of these I can read and write at a high level of proficiency.

English is my main spoken and written language. I've used it in an academic setting up to university level and lived in an English-speaking country for four and a half years. With Bahasa Malaysia I have full working proficiency, having learnt it in eleven years of national school (Sekolah Kebangsaan + Sekolah Menengah) where it's the medium of instruction. For Cantonese, my heritage language, I can hold conversations comfortably on a variety of topics, including abstract and less common ones. However, in Mandarin my range of spoken expression is limited to concrete, straightforward matters.

I prefer the term "main language" because that's what it means. "Mother tongue" or "first language" can be misleading especially in my case. People look at me, see that I'm Chinese and assume my main language must be Mandarin and that I'm able to speak it like a native. No, no, no. Take it easy, man. Assumptions, ass-ump-tions can kill. I'm lost if you speak rapid-fire Mandarin and use all those idioms and alliterations that a high-level speaker would know. I'm just intermediate, for goodness sake. Keep it simple and straightforward.

I've also learnt some other languages to varying extents, such as Hakka, Penang Hokkien, Vietnamese, Thai, Tamil, Japanese, Portugese, Russian and French, but can't maintain a conversation so I wouldn't say I speak them. My mileage varies though, as I'm able to read French and Portuguese to some extent and speak enough Hakka to surprise people for a couple of minutes.

Other languages that I can speak at an elementary level (CEFR A2) are Spanish and German. For German I took a placement test (Einstufungsprüfung) for A2 at the Goethe-Institut Kuala Lumpur, so it validated my estimation of my speaking ability (although I'm sure my reading comprehension is better than A2). I wouldn't put them on my resume until I can speak them at the same level as my Mandarin which I reckon to be at intermediate level (B1 on the CEFR for those who know what the heck it is).

Spanish I haven't spoken for years so it's quite rusty, but can be revived quickly with some practice. I do have problems understanding Spain Spanish because my exposure has been primarily to American Spanish. I'm surprised that I remember so much vocabulary, so I must have done something right when learning the language thirteen years ago.

Yet I can read German and Spanish much better than Mandarin. I understand books and newspapers in German and Spanish, and can speed-read in both. But I read very slowly and struggle with deciphering the language of Chinese newspapers. Any book written in Chinese makes me fall asleep. Give me anything in the Roman alphabet and I'll digest it fast. Give me a non-alphabetic or complex writing system and I'll dump it into the slow cooker.

At the moment I'm learning German at full speed. That's what I'm focusing on now for language learning. Somehow German appeals to me because of the things I can read in it. Their open attitude towards certain matters, their variety of topics, their cultural advancement, and a rich library of content available on the Internet provide strong motivating factors for me to dive into it. The only difficulty I have now is finding real people to talk to, but in the meantime I'm doing intensive listening and transcribing to get used to the spoken language.

I'd like to learn more languages, but there are only 24 hours in a day and I have other things to do as well. So I'm just concentrating on one to bring it up to at least an upper intermediate level. Once I reach that point, I'll start learning another one. The rest are on maintenance or storage mode.

Malaysian Street Names: What do all those strange words mean?

Usually we see Jalan (Road) and Lorong (Lane). But what about Changkat, Solok, Pesara, Gat Lebuh, Regat, or Selasar?

Answers below. 

-----
In Penang you find the greatest variety of street names other than Jalan and Lorong. Here's a primer from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_streets_in_George_Town,_Penang



[Extract begins here] 

In translating the English words for street, road, lane, etc., the city authorities follow a fairly regular system to avoid confusion between many streets of similar names. There are exceptions to this rule where the historic Malay usage is different and there is no chance of confusion, e.g. Hutton Lane has always been known as Jalan Hutton (see e.g. the Mesjid Jalan Hatin (mosque) there) rather than *Lorong Hutton.

Avenue - Lebuhraya (e.g. Peel Avenue/Lebuhraya Peel; context usually prevents confusion with the normal meaning of lebuhraya, viz. highway/expressway)
Circus - Lilitan (e.g. Hargreaves Circus/Lilitan Hargreaves)
Close - Solok (e.g. Scott Close/Solok Scott)
Court - Halaman (e.g. Cantonment Court/Halaman Cantonment)
Crescent - Lengkok (e.g. Jesselton Crescent/Lengkok Jesselton)
Cross - Lintang (e.g. Burmah Cross/Lintang Burma)
Drive - Persiaran (e.g. Gurney Drive/Pesiaran Gurney)
Gardens - Taman (e.g. Western Gardens/Taman Western)
Lane - Lorong (e.g. Prangin Lane/Lorong Perangin)
Place - Pesara (e.g. Claimant Place/Pesara Claimant)
Quay - Pengkalan (e.g. Weld Quay/Pengkalan Weld)
Road - Jalan (e.g. Perak Road/Jalan Perak)
Square - Medan (e.g. College Square/Medan Maktab; also used for some new square-shaped roads that are not open squares, e.g. York Square/Medan York)
Street - Lebuh (e.g. Campbell Street/Lebuh Campbell)
Street Ghaut - Gat Lebuh (e.g. China Street Ghaut/Gat Lebuh China)
Terrace - Tingkat (e.g. Erskine Terrace/Tingkat Erskine)

The word "Ghaut" at the end of some street names reflects the fact that they are extensions of the original streets beyond the original waterfront at Beach St with the reclamation of the Ghauts and the construction of Weld Quay, ghat being a Hindi and Bengali word meaning a flight of steps leading down to a body of water.




[Extract ends here]
-----
In Ipoh you can find Hala, Regat, and Selasar.

Crossing - Regat (e.g. Canton Crossing/Regat Canton, Maxwell Crossing/Regat Maxwell)
Extension - Selasar (e.g. Chateau Extension/Selasar Chateau, Rokam Extension/Selasar Rokam)
Way - Hala (e.g. Pari Garden Way/Hala Taman Pari, Wah Keong Way/Hala Wah Keong)

In Kuala Lumpur you can find Changkat.

Heights - Changkat (e.g. Bukit Bintang Heights/Changkat Bukit Bintang, Semantan Heights/Changkat Semantan)

Meanings sourced from Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu @DBP
http://prpm.dbp.gov.my/Search.aspx?
(Meanings of those "rare" words given in Malay only. I translated them based on what I know of the language.)