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 :)
Friday, August 26, 2016
Thursday, August 25, 2016
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.
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.
Monday, August 8, 2016
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.)
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.)
Thursday, June 16, 2016
How did I get a B1 for the Deutsche Welle German placement test?
So I took the German language placement test [http://einstufungstest.dw.de] from Deutsche Welle today for CEFR Level B1. It had 30 questions that covered listening comprehension, reading, and controlled writing sections. Answers were true/false and gap fill. You could listen to the spoken parts for a maximum of three times. Only speaking wasn't tested.
I scored 76% overall. Took about an hour and twelve minutes to finish the test. Passing mark is 60% overall, if you score 80% or more it recommends you go for B2. For me, it said, "If you would like to continue improving your German, you should enroll for a format that is now starting towards the B2 level."
What does this mean? What implications does it have for me?
Up to now I've never taken any formal classes in German. Everything I've done has been through self-study. I rely a lot on Internet resources although I do have hardcopies of books and some reference material. I've never been to any German-speaking country, I don't have a German girlfriend, and I have no exposure to actual use of the language. All I have is the Internet, YouTube, reference text and audio, plus whatever I can get from online media.
Not being an auditory learner, I only listen to stuff if I have to, and I did a lot of listening otherwise I wouldn't understand the spoken language. Listening comprehension in any language is one of my weakest points and I really have to work very, very hard to stay "alive". Speaking also, because I'm a very quiet person by nature and don't talk unless I have to.
I'm more of a visual learner - I have to see the written text to understand and remember better. That's why I'm more towards reading a lot. Reading has been one of my hobbies since young, specifically in English. So I use my strength in this area to improve my German through reading as much as I can. I choose topics of interest which are the same things I'd read in English, except hardcore technical or classical literature. Normally I don't read entertainment or celebrity stuff in English but I do so in German.
Let's see what I've done to come this far. What worked for me, and what I could have done better?
I got hold of a wordlist with about 2400 German words (the DTZ = Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer.) [http://www.goethe.de/lhr/pro/daz/dfz/dtz_Wortliste.pdf] Available for public use, it's aimed at integration courses for immigrants to Germany and its level is around A2-B1. Every word has several example sentences in simple German to show its meaning in context. And this book is entirely in German - 100% Deutsch. No English or any other language at all.
So what I did was, I copied out every sentence by hand. Yes. I handwrote them all. About 10,000 sentences. Filled in two A4-size exercise books in two or three weeks, I think. At first I wrote English translations in the wordlist printout. As I reached the halfway point, I realised I didn't have to write English words anymore because the repeated exposure had gotten the German words into my mind. I wore out a couple of ballpoint pens in the process. Discovered through trial and error that it's well worth spending a few extra dollars on pens that are comfortable to hold and have better quality ink.
I went to Memrise and found two wordlists:
http://www.memrise.com/course/44392/zertifikat-deutsch-wortliste/
Zertifikat Deutsch Wortliste
The official word list from the Zertifikat Deutsch B1 exam. (About 2400 words)
http://www.memrise.com/course/920/5000-german-words-top-87/
5000 German Words (top 87%)
Then I used the Goldlist Method to learn them.
Summary explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixxq8moh4pg
Detailed explanation: http://berrjod.no/goldlist/
Explanation from the originator: https://huliganov.tv/goldlist-eu/
Luckily I had bought several 200-page A4-size exercise books from Popular bookstore with 35 lines per page for Goldlisting the German vocabulary. I did this intensively over a period of three months from January to March 2016. Yeah, I probably wrote too many words in some days, but I feel it's better for me to cram whenever I can because when I get busy with things later I won't have time.
I opened up the grammar book from Teach Yourself: "German Grammar You Really Need to know" by Jenny Russ. I copied out by hand the "Ten things to remember" for every chapter in the book, and also example sentences, texts, and dialogues into my pocketbook which contains all my German language learning notes compiled from various sources.
I went to https://www.youtube.com/user/smartergerman on YouTube and watched all the videos in Michael Schmitz' A1-B1 German Grammar Course. Highly recommended! Michael has the ability to explain the complexities of German grammar in an easy-to-understand way. He also introduces memory techniques to remember those key concepts and knows what's important at which level. I took down notes for every video and recopied the notes by hand into another exercise book.
I went to About.com and checked out their articles on learning German.
http://german.about.com/
I checked out http://germanforenglishspeakers.com/ for their grammar explanations.
I also checked out http://www.thegermanprofessor.com/ for its presentation of important areas such as the top 500 German words and top 100 German verbs.
I looked up the preview pages of Glossika's German Fluency 1, 2, and 3 and hand-copied whatever sentences they had in the preview. If you buy their package, you have 3000 sentences in audio and text format to listen and refer to.
I transcribed several Helene Fischer interviews sourced from YouTube. Helene has a very beautiful voice, both in speaking and singing, and I believe it's a good model for language learners in terms of accent, intonation and refined presentation.
I made use of Google Translate, German Wiktionary, online verb conjugators, and good old hardcopy dictionaries.
I read the tabloid newspaper Bild [www.bild.de] every day on my mobile phone. At least a few German news articles a day to keep my reading skills alive.
I went to YouTube and searched for Helene Fischer, Carolin Kebekus, Luke Mockridge, and other celebrities. Songs, interviews, comedies. Documentaries like Die Sendung mit der Maus. Dramas like Tatort, Hilf mir - jung, pleite, verzweifelt!, Das Traumschiff ...
If the people talk too fast I either use Audacity to slow down the speed or just rewind and playback until I get that part right. Else I turn on the subtitles in German if available.
Deutsche Welle [www.dw.de] has a lot of good stuff in their Video-Thema but I haven't gotten to that yet. I've yet to check out talk shows.
I might have missed out some websites or things I did, but this is what I can remember off the cuff for now.
What should I do now?
It would be good to look at the B2 and C1 levels. I've sought out advice on how to study for the B2 and C1 levels respectively, and some people on the Internet have given very helpful information on what to expect and how to study for them.
I would also need to find someone to speak with, otherwise my speaking will never improve. In the meantime I'll just have to do much more active, intensive listening and transcription exercises. Reading is no problem for me so I'll continue doing what I've been doing.
I scored 76% overall. Took about an hour and twelve minutes to finish the test. Passing mark is 60% overall, if you score 80% or more it recommends you go for B2. For me, it said, "If you would like to continue improving your German, you should enroll for a format that is now starting towards the B2 level."
What does this mean? What implications does it have for me?
Up to now I've never taken any formal classes in German. Everything I've done has been through self-study. I rely a lot on Internet resources although I do have hardcopies of books and some reference material. I've never been to any German-speaking country, I don't have a German girlfriend, and I have no exposure to actual use of the language. All I have is the Internet, YouTube, reference text and audio, plus whatever I can get from online media.
Not being an auditory learner, I only listen to stuff if I have to, and I did a lot of listening otherwise I wouldn't understand the spoken language. Listening comprehension in any language is one of my weakest points and I really have to work very, very hard to stay "alive". Speaking also, because I'm a very quiet person by nature and don't talk unless I have to.
I'm more of a visual learner - I have to see the written text to understand and remember better. That's why I'm more towards reading a lot. Reading has been one of my hobbies since young, specifically in English. So I use my strength in this area to improve my German through reading as much as I can. I choose topics of interest which are the same things I'd read in English, except hardcore technical or classical literature. Normally I don't read entertainment or celebrity stuff in English but I do so in German.
Let's see what I've done to come this far. What worked for me, and what I could have done better?
I got hold of a wordlist with about 2400 German words (the DTZ = Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer.) [http://www.goethe.de/lhr/pro/daz/dfz/dtz_Wortliste.pdf] Available for public use, it's aimed at integration courses for immigrants to Germany and its level is around A2-B1. Every word has several example sentences in simple German to show its meaning in context. And this book is entirely in German - 100% Deutsch. No English or any other language at all.
So what I did was, I copied out every sentence by hand. Yes. I handwrote them all. About 10,000 sentences. Filled in two A4-size exercise books in two or three weeks, I think. At first I wrote English translations in the wordlist printout. As I reached the halfway point, I realised I didn't have to write English words anymore because the repeated exposure had gotten the German words into my mind. I wore out a couple of ballpoint pens in the process. Discovered through trial and error that it's well worth spending a few extra dollars on pens that are comfortable to hold and have better quality ink.
I went to Memrise and found two wordlists:
http://www.memrise.com/course/44392/zertifikat-deutsch-wortliste/
Zertifikat Deutsch Wortliste
The official word list from the Zertifikat Deutsch B1 exam. (About 2400 words)
http://www.memrise.com/course/920/5000-german-words-top-87/
5000 German Words (top 87%)
Then I used the Goldlist Method to learn them.
Summary explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixxq8moh4pg
Detailed explanation: http://berrjod.no/goldlist/
Explanation from the originator: https://huliganov.tv/goldlist-eu/
Luckily I had bought several 200-page A4-size exercise books from Popular bookstore with 35 lines per page for Goldlisting the German vocabulary. I did this intensively over a period of three months from January to March 2016. Yeah, I probably wrote too many words in some days, but I feel it's better for me to cram whenever I can because when I get busy with things later I won't have time.
I opened up the grammar book from Teach Yourself: "German Grammar You Really Need to know" by Jenny Russ. I copied out by hand the "Ten things to remember" for every chapter in the book, and also example sentences, texts, and dialogues into my pocketbook which contains all my German language learning notes compiled from various sources.
I went to https://www.youtube.com/user/smartergerman on YouTube and watched all the videos in Michael Schmitz' A1-B1 German Grammar Course. Highly recommended! Michael has the ability to explain the complexities of German grammar in an easy-to-understand way. He also introduces memory techniques to remember those key concepts and knows what's important at which level. I took down notes for every video and recopied the notes by hand into another exercise book.
I went to About.com and checked out their articles on learning German.
http://german.about.com/
I checked out http://germanforenglishspeakers.com/ for their grammar explanations.
I also checked out http://www.thegermanprofessor.com/ for its presentation of important areas such as the top 500 German words and top 100 German verbs.
I looked up the preview pages of Glossika's German Fluency 1, 2, and 3 and hand-copied whatever sentences they had in the preview. If you buy their package, you have 3000 sentences in audio and text format to listen and refer to.
I transcribed several Helene Fischer interviews sourced from YouTube. Helene has a very beautiful voice, both in speaking and singing, and I believe it's a good model for language learners in terms of accent, intonation and refined presentation.
I made use of Google Translate, German Wiktionary, online verb conjugators, and good old hardcopy dictionaries.
I read the tabloid newspaper Bild [www.bild.de] every day on my mobile phone. At least a few German news articles a day to keep my reading skills alive.
I went to YouTube and searched for Helene Fischer, Carolin Kebekus, Luke Mockridge, and other celebrities. Songs, interviews, comedies. Documentaries like Die Sendung mit der Maus. Dramas like Tatort, Hilf mir - jung, pleite, verzweifelt!, Das Traumschiff ...
If the people talk too fast I either use Audacity to slow down the speed or just rewind and playback until I get that part right. Else I turn on the subtitles in German if available.
Deutsche Welle [www.dw.de] has a lot of good stuff in their Video-Thema but I haven't gotten to that yet. I've yet to check out talk shows.
I might have missed out some websites or things I did, but this is what I can remember off the cuff for now.
What should I do now?
It would be good to look at the B2 and C1 levels. I've sought out advice on how to study for the B2 and C1 levels respectively, and some people on the Internet have given very helpful information on what to expect and how to study for them.
I would also need to find someone to speak with, otherwise my speaking will never improve. In the meantime I'll just have to do much more active, intensive listening and transcription exercises. Reading is no problem for me so I'll continue doing what I've been doing.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Anni Perka - Bitte melde dich lyrics & video
Anni Perka - Bitte melde dich (offizielles Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS-15hSpp2E
[Length: 3:44]
[I couldn't find the lyrics anywhere so I listened to the music video a couple of times and typed out the song text. It should be 90% accurate, but I'm sure I missed out something somewhere. Let me know about any mistakes and I'll correct them. Thanks.]
Ich hatte niemals gedacht das wieso was passiert
Das mein koolest Herz die verstandt und die kommt verliert
Ich weiß nicht vorhin das so führt
Große Gefühl taeg gefällt ist iniert
Was heiterem hier mö verliebt
Verrückt nach dir
Ab dich hat zu Augen verlor in der Hitze der Rat
Der Wai ja die ich alles der schönes gedacht
Der heb und mittags und gelacht
Die Feuer gespielt und ist angefahrt
Von Flugel in mir nach gelacht
Zusammen aufgewacht
Bitte melde dich
Hörst du mich
Wo bist du
Ich suche dich
Bitte melde dich
Melde dich bei mir
Bitte melde dich
Hörst du mich
Wo bist du
Ich suche dich
Bitte melde dich
Melde dich bei mir
Ich für dich wiedersehen und immer verliert
Ein Stunde lang ohne ein dir ich die Strasse gehört
Mit Tränen in Augen verlor ganz allein nur verführt
Suche nicht und ein Million
Ich find nie ich nur allein mit du dir
Mein Herz hat es polymution
Die hypnotisiert
Bitte melde dich
Hörst du mich
Wo bist du
Ich suche dich
Bitte melde dich
Melde dich bei mir
Bitte melde dich
Hörst du mich
Wo bist du
Ich suche dich
Bitte melde dich
Melde dich bei mir
Ich für dich wiedersehen und immer verliert
Bitte melde dich
Ruf mich an
Damit ich wieder schlafen kann
Bitte melde dich
Melde dich bei mir
Bitte melde dich
Hörst du mich
Wo bist du
Ich suche dich
Bitte melde dich
Melde dich bei mir
Ich für dich wiedersehen und immer verliert
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS-15hSpp2E
[Length: 3:44]
[I couldn't find the lyrics anywhere so I listened to the music video a couple of times and typed out the song text. It should be 90% accurate, but I'm sure I missed out something somewhere. Let me know about any mistakes and I'll correct them. Thanks.]
Ich hatte niemals gedacht das wieso was passiert
Das mein koolest Herz die verstandt und die kommt verliert
Ich weiß nicht vorhin das so führt
Große Gefühl taeg gefällt ist iniert
Was heiterem hier mö verliebt
Verrückt nach dir
Ab dich hat zu Augen verlor in der Hitze der Rat
Der Wai ja die ich alles der schönes gedacht
Der heb und mittags und gelacht
Die Feuer gespielt und ist angefahrt
Von Flugel in mir nach gelacht
Zusammen aufgewacht
Bitte melde dich
Hörst du mich
Wo bist du
Ich suche dich
Bitte melde dich
Melde dich bei mir
Bitte melde dich
Hörst du mich
Wo bist du
Ich suche dich
Bitte melde dich
Melde dich bei mir
Ich für dich wiedersehen und immer verliert
Ein Stunde lang ohne ein dir ich die Strasse gehört
Mit Tränen in Augen verlor ganz allein nur verführt
Suche nicht und ein Million
Ich find nie ich nur allein mit du dir
Mein Herz hat es polymution
Die hypnotisiert
Bitte melde dich
Hörst du mich
Wo bist du
Ich suche dich
Bitte melde dich
Melde dich bei mir
Bitte melde dich
Hörst du mich
Wo bist du
Ich suche dich
Bitte melde dich
Melde dich bei mir
Ich für dich wiedersehen und immer verliert
Bitte melde dich
Ruf mich an
Damit ich wieder schlafen kann
Bitte melde dich
Melde dich bei mir
Bitte melde dich
Hörst du mich
Wo bist du
Ich suche dich
Bitte melde dich
Melde dich bei mir
Ich für dich wiedersehen und immer verliert
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Ich geb nie auf (Am Anfang war das Feuer)
[English: I Never Give Up (In the Beginning was the Fire)]
German lyrics and English translation from
Music Videos: [Singer: Helene Fischer]
Am Anfang war das Feuer
In the beginning was the fire
so heiss wie ein Vulkan
so hot as a volcano,
in deinem Blick war pure Zärtlichkeit
in your look was pure tenderness.
und als die Sonne aufging
And as the sun came up
war alles um uns her
all around us
als ob die Welt neugeboren wär.
was as if the world was reborn.
Deine Nähe ist mir heute so vertraut
Today being near you is so familiar to me,
aber wo ist dieses Kribbeln auf der Haut
but where is that tingling on the skin?
Ich geb nie auf
I never give up,
und ich glaub an grosse Träume
and I believe in great dreams,
denn oft ist in der Asche
because often in the ashes,
noch immer etwas Glut
there is always some glow yet.
wenn du es willst
If you wish it
fangen Rosen an zu blühen
roses start to bloom,
komm fang mit mir noch einmal an
come begin with me again,
weil ich an uns noch glauben kann
because I can still believe in us
komm flieg mit mir noch einmal hoch hinauf
Come fly high with me yet again,
ich geb nie auf
I never give up.
Am Anfang war das Feuer
In the beginning was the fire,
nicht nur für eine Nacht
not just for one night
was haben wir für Pläne oft gemacht
What kind of plans did we often make?
wir suchten neue Sterne
We searched for new stars,
die keiner vor uns sah
which no one saw before us
daß so ein Glück für immer hält, war klar
that so a happiness stays forever, was clear
wenn ich heute Nacht in deinen Armen frier
if I freeze in your arms tonight,
bin ich einsam und ich such den Grund dafür
I am lonely and I search for its reason.
Ich geb nie auf
I never give up,
und ich glaub an grosse Träume
and I believe in great dreams
Monday, May 9, 2016
Of gossipers and toxic people
You know what? Gossipers never ask me about things, but they tend to ask those who interacted with me before. And from there they jump to their own conclusions.
-----
M's advice on this topic and related stuff:
Meet new people.
See if you like.
Get out of the old zone of people if you are no longer happy.
No, no, don't think like that.
Don't say that about yourself.
Don't care what other / some / [fill in the blank] people think.
Take up a new hobby, forget [fill in the blank].
Never mind. Move on.
Leave the old. Start fresh.
Start a new life.
Prove the stupid [fill in the blank] people wrong.
If you know who the gossipers are, then stay away from them. These people are 小人。("Xiu Yan")
I never liked the people there actually.
I don't like the vibe there.
Then move away from it.
Do something new.
Forget the past, enjoy your [fill in the blank] and move on.
Before you can (find back some part of your old happy self, the part that can be carefree and accepting of who you are), you have to let go of the unhappiness.
You move on to live happily.
Forget about [fill in the blank].
[Pronoun] doesn't deserve you at all.
[Pronoun] doesn't deserve your compassion.
If [name] had been through that much then [subject pronoun] should know that it is not right to put you down.
If [pronoun] had really been through so much, anything that comes to [object pronoun] should be heaven.
[Subject pronoun] won't be fussy.
If [subject pronoun] is a survivor, [subject pronoun] will work with you to make both your lives better. Not make you feel miserable.
[Name] doesn't deserve your time.
And you definitely should not feel bad about what [pronoun] said. Because [pronoun] is the [adjective] one here.
Just ignore [object pronoun].
Move forward with a positive mind.
-----
M's advice on this topic and related stuff:
Meet new people.
See if you like.
Get out of the old zone of people if you are no longer happy.
No, no, don't think like that.
Don't say that about yourself.
Don't care what other / some / [fill in the blank] people think.
Take up a new hobby, forget [fill in the blank].
Never mind. Move on.
Leave the old. Start fresh.
Start a new life.
Prove the stupid [fill in the blank] people wrong.
If you know who the gossipers are, then stay away from them. These people are 小人。("Xiu Yan")
I never liked the people there actually.
I don't like the vibe there.
Then move away from it.
Do something new.
Forget the past, enjoy your [fill in the blank] and move on.
Before you can (find back some part of your old happy self, the part that can be carefree and accepting of who you are), you have to let go of the unhappiness.
You move on to live happily.
Forget about [fill in the blank].
[Pronoun] doesn't deserve you at all.
[Pronoun] doesn't deserve your compassion.
If [name] had been through that much then [subject pronoun] should know that it is not right to put you down.
If [pronoun] had really been through so much, anything that comes to [object pronoun] should be heaven.
[Subject pronoun] won't be fussy.
If [subject pronoun] is a survivor, [subject pronoun] will work with you to make both your lives better. Not make you feel miserable.
[Name] doesn't deserve your time.
And you definitely should not feel bad about what [pronoun] said. Because [pronoun] is the [adjective] one here.
Just ignore [object pronoun].
Move forward with a positive mind.
Saturday, April 23, 2016
Extensive Reading and Vocabulary Range
[From a presentation by Dr Alexander Arguelles]
Types of Reading
Types of Reading
. Intensive reading - assisted reading of relatively
short, relatively difficult texts, usually for instrumental purposes - initial
comprehension is less than 98% vocabulary coverage
. Extensive reading - unassisted reading of long and
relatively easy texts, usually for pleasure [and vocabulary growth] - initial
lexical comprehension must be around 98%
Non-lexical factors that affect reading comprehension include:
. Grammatical constructions
. Idiomatic constructions
. Reading
speed
. Knowledge of content or familiarity with the subject
matter
. Knowledge of cultural or historical references
. Stylistic considerations (clarity, sentence length,
use of complex clauses etc.)
Defining the word "word"
. "Word" in the sense of the absolute number
of units of letter combinations in a text = a "word token"
. "Word" in the sense of the number of
different combinations of letters among the tokens in a text = a "word
type"
. Example: The sentence, "The cat ate the
mouse," contains five word tokens but four word types as the word
"the" occurs twice.
. "Word" in the sense of something that you
can look up in a dictionary = "headword" or "lemma".
Lemmata include not only their base form, but also their inflexions. Thus, most
lemmata contain several word types.
. Example: "Book" contains
"books," "man" contains "men", "be"
contains "am", "is", "are", "was",
"were", "been", and "being".
. "Word" in the sense of a fundamental unit
of lexical knowledge that allows you to recognize and understand not only
inflected forms of a headword, but also related derived forms = a "word
family". Many if not most word families contain several lemmata:
. Example: "accept" includes not only
"accepts", "accepted", and "accepting", but also
"acceptance", "acceptability", "acceptable",
"unacceptable", "acceptably", and "unacceptably".
Knowing a word
. Active knowledge = a person speaks or writes a word
naturally and spontaneously
. Passive knowledge = a person recognizes,
understands, and may even be able to explain a word, but does not use it
spontaneously
. Guessing knowledge = a person derives the meaning of
a word from contextual clues
. Reading vocabulary knowledge = active + passive +
guessing
How many words does a person know?
. Take the vocabulary size test: http://my.vocabularysize.com
Word Frequency Lists
. Breaking vocabulary into 1000's
. The 1st 1000 word families of most common words give
~80% text coverage
. The 2nd 1000 word families provide additional ~7%
. The 3rd 1000 word families provide additional ~3%
. ∴ the first 3000 words provide ~90% coverage
. Thereafter, the percent coverage provided by each
thousand decreases rapidly and geometrically:
. the 4th thousand family provides an average 2%
. the 6th, 1%
. the 8th, 0.50%
. the 10th, 0.36%
. the 12th, 0.25%
. the 14th, 0.14%
Considerations
. With 3000 words, one can begin to function;
. With that plus a specialized list such as the
570-word Academic Word List (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~alzsh3/acvocab/index.htm),
one can begin specialized studies
. With ~6000, one has 98% coverage of spoken language
and with ~8000, close to 100% conversational coverage, but
. Written comprehension only begins at 8000-9000: http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/staff/Publications/paul-nation/2006-How-large-a-vocab.pdf
. ∴ obviously, lower frequency words are much more common
in writing than in speech, and so they can be acquired only by reading
Learning Lower Frequency Words
. The lower the frequency of a word, the harder it is
to learn.
. While 98% textual comprehension of books may be
provided by the first 9000 words on average, the remaining 2% for 100% coverage
is made up of lower frequency families.
. While the 98% textual comprehension provided by
higher frequency lists is relatively homogenous, the 2% provided by the lower
frequency families is much more diverse.
. In other words, while one may be able to read a
given individual book with 99% comprehension at 12,000-14,000 families, in
order to be able to pick up and read a variety of different kinds of books at
that level, one needs a native range vocabulary (17,000+)
. ∴ the only way to develop an extensive vocabulary is to
engage in the systemic extensive reading of progressively more challenging
texts.
. As graded readers rarely go past a few thousand
words, a language resource learning center for continued advanced development
ought to have lists if not actual libraries of books organized by levels of
word families that make them appropriate for vocabulary growth through
extensive reading.
[Extracted from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbYMZZISPrU]
On entitled and demanding people
I think this is what I experienced with certain people. Whatever I do or did for them is never good enough. Somehow there will be a fault somewhere and I'll get hammered into the ground regardless.
Quote from Jade Joddle:
http://jadejoddle.com/how-and-why-i-help-people-with-boundaries/
"I discovered through my own life experience that when you go out of your way for entitled and demanding people, what you do for them is never enough. Either they come back the next day and ask for something more, or they complain that what they received was not good enough. You could give them the earth, but yet they would feel hard done by and cheated."
=====[END of quote]=====
-----
B's response:
This being the case, it's better to find out sooner than later how nasty someone can be, and clean break away from them so this will limit the damage rather than keep being in the toxicity. People like this are a cancer in a community and relationship. In the beginning maybe people don't know, but later it's definitely not necessary to associate with them after knowing what they're all about.
-----
F's response:
Well, good that you can recognize this type of destructive character. While they're destructive towards themselves, they're even more destructive towards others. Let go and move on. I still feel the pain but time will heal.
-----
Joe: The sadistic voice pops up from time to time, but if I'm busy, it usually doesn't hurt as much. Flashbacks do occur. Some thoughts or dreams trigger it. I feel that a refresher, a "restart" in a friendly setting (remember Tioman diving 2014) can help with healing.
F: You have to have the belief that people are good. Generally people are good. Not everyone is out to put you down.
Joe: I really hope so. Been exposed to too much "reality + pragmatism" school of thought doses.
F: It can be draining but you gotta get refreshed emotionally, mentally, and whatnot.
Joe: Yup, yes, I'll keep that in mind.
-----
K's opinion:
Ask yourself, are you thinking straight? Whose words do you choose to listen to? Are you living a life true to yourself?
=====
Quote from Jade Joddle:
http://jadejoddle.com/how-and-why-i-help-people-with-boundaries/
"I discovered through my own life experience that when you go out of your way for entitled and demanding people, what you do for them is never enough. Either they come back the next day and ask for something more, or they complain that what they received was not good enough. You could give them the earth, but yet they would feel hard done by and cheated."
=====[END of quote]=====
-----
B's response:
This being the case, it's better to find out sooner than later how nasty someone can be, and clean break away from them so this will limit the damage rather than keep being in the toxicity. People like this are a cancer in a community and relationship. In the beginning maybe people don't know, but later it's definitely not necessary to associate with them after knowing what they're all about.
-----
F's response:
Well, good that you can recognize this type of destructive character. While they're destructive towards themselves, they're even more destructive towards others. Let go and move on. I still feel the pain but time will heal.
-----
Joe: The sadistic voice pops up from time to time, but if I'm busy, it usually doesn't hurt as much. Flashbacks do occur. Some thoughts or dreams trigger it. I feel that a refresher, a "restart" in a friendly setting (remember Tioman diving 2014) can help with healing.
F: You have to have the belief that people are good. Generally people are good. Not everyone is out to put you down.
Joe: I really hope so. Been exposed to too much "reality + pragmatism" school of thought doses.
F: It can be draining but you gotta get refreshed emotionally, mentally, and whatnot.
Joe: Yup, yes, I'll keep that in mind.
-----
K's opinion:
Ask yourself, are you thinking straight? Whose words do you choose to listen to? Are you living a life true to yourself?
=====
The difference between sympathy, pity, and empathy
As defined by the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
I don't want sympathy or pity. I appreciate empathy.
=====
The difference between sympathy, pity, and empathy
from
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/
sympathy (noun)
BrE /ˈsɪmpəθi/ ; NAmE /ˈsɪmpəθi/
(pl. sympathies)
1. [uncountable, countable, usually plural] the feeling of being sorry for somebody; showing that you understand and care about somebody’s problems
: to express/feel sympathy for somebody
: I have no sympathy for Jan, it's all her own fault.
: I wish he'd show me a little more sympathy.
: Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the victims of the war.
: (formal) May we offer our deepest sympathies on the death of your wife.
-----
pity (noun)
BrE /ˈpɪti/ ; NAmE /ˈpɪti/
1. [uncountable] pity (for somebody/something) a feeling of sympathy and sadness caused by the suffering and troubles of others
: I could only feel pity for what they were enduring.
: He had no pity for her.
: a look/feeling/surge of pity
: I took pity on her and lent her the money.
: (formal) I beg you to have pity on him.
: I don't want your pity.
-----
empathy (noun)
BrE /ˈempəθi/ ; NAmE /ˈempəθi/
[uncountable]
the ability to understand another person’s feelings, experience, etc.
: empathy (with somebody/something) the writer’s imaginative empathy with his subject
: empathy (for somebody/something) empathy for other people’s situations
: empathy (between A and B) The empathy between the two women was obvious
=====
I don't want sympathy or pity. I appreciate empathy.
=====
The difference between sympathy, pity, and empathy
from
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/
sympathy (noun)
BrE /ˈsɪmpəθi/ ; NAmE /ˈsɪmpəθi/
(pl. sympathies)
1. [uncountable, countable, usually plural] the feeling of being sorry for somebody; showing that you understand and care about somebody’s problems
: to express/feel sympathy for somebody
: I have no sympathy for Jan, it's all her own fault.
: I wish he'd show me a little more sympathy.
: Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the victims of the war.
: (formal) May we offer our deepest sympathies on the death of your wife.
-----
pity (noun)
BrE /ˈpɪti/ ; NAmE /ˈpɪti/
1. [uncountable] pity (for somebody/something) a feeling of sympathy and sadness caused by the suffering and troubles of others
: I could only feel pity for what they were enduring.
: He had no pity for her.
: a look/feeling/surge of pity
: I took pity on her and lent her the money.
: (formal) I beg you to have pity on him.
: I don't want your pity.
-----
empathy (noun)
BrE /ˈempəθi/ ; NAmE /ˈempəθi/
[uncountable]
the ability to understand another person’s feelings, experience, etc.
: empathy (with somebody/something) the writer’s imaginative empathy with his subject
: empathy (for somebody/something) empathy for other people’s situations
: empathy (between A and B) The empathy between the two women was obvious
=====
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