German lessons commented in German (but slowly please)

[mpalmier74]

Hi,

Could it be possible to produce German lessons entirely spoken in German at a very slow speed ? I've been studying English for a long time listening on the podcast at www.eslpod.com and I've found this way of teaching very effective on my own.

I know that GermanPod101 already features its "Audio Blog" but this is really too fast for me! For an intermediate learner I think that speaking slowly is a necessary step to keep the attention focused for the whole duration of the listening.

My suggestion would be to read a german story or dialog at a slow speed an then review the words or expression used by still using simple german at a slow speed. This would help to reinforce the new words and understand how to express the same concept with different words keeping the "sound of the language" flowing. Besides this is how babies usually learn a language, I think. Before closing, the entire dialog can now be played back again at a full speed.

What do you think ?

[Sprachprofi]

Some of the season 3 of audioblogs are indeed quite fast, that's why they are repeated at slower speed afterwards. However, as an advanced student, you should also try to get used to faster speeds, because Germans will be talking at you at that speed. Our intermediate lessons feature the same speed in dialogs, so maybe you need to listen to some of those to improve your listening comprehension.

When dealing with the audioblogs, I'd suggest trying to catch as much as possible during the fast reading but not being hard on yourself if you miss something. Then, during the slow reading you can perfect your understanding, and of course the vocabulary helps, too.

To improve your listening comprehension, you could also use the transcript. Try to read the German as the audioblogs plays, and you will soon be accustomed.