more RE: why you should do videos in German

[bauchweh]

Hi, first I'd like to say that I don't like listening to Americans speak German because you don't get your ears tuned to properly hear real Deutsch. No offense, but listening to Chuck is easy, like listening to a fellow student in German class. You understand all of it. Now, turn on a live streaming German radio station & realize you don't understand #@%! and that's how I ended up turning to real Germans only. BUT, we had 15 minute videos we watched in class of real Germans in a staged situation talking at regular speed & then we'd dissect it and go over everthing they said. The DVD's allow you to play it back with the German words at the bottom of the screen for the review until evryone understand it. The visuals make it fun & also give you clues as to what is going on. And Judith, are those your audio books on audible dot DE ?? Will there be any for intermediate wanting to go fully fluent??? thanks, Bauchweh

[cwbeekhuis]

At first I didn't like hearing the American accent either but then I realized the contrast was good - you hear Chuck speak and then Judith speak and it helps to hear the difference and understand where you can change your own pronunciation.

[Sprachprofi]

BUT, we had 15 minute videos we watched in class of real Germans in a staged situation talking at regular speed & then we'd dissect it and go over everthing they said. The DVD's allow you to play it back with the German words at the bottom of the screen for the review until evryone understand it. The visuals make it fun & also give you clues as to what is going on.

I like to watch movies for that, using the subtitles for the hearing-impaired, which usually match what is being said. If I don't understand something, I consult a dictionary, and if that doesn't help, the English subtitles.

I believe that actual German movies are better for this purpose than videos created for students, because a lot of German course writers are unable to script natural conversations, and studies have also shown that if you hire ordinary people to act out a situation (at the train station, at the supermarket, or whatever), they will speak very differently from what is normal.

In order to teach you the German that people actually speak on GermanPod101, I often just go to the place that the lesson is about and take notes on what people say and how. I still eliminate incorrect German - e. g. the Turkish guy at the döner kebab place made tons of mistakes - but the dialogs are very close if not identical to the language you'll actually encounter. The podcast format helps of course, because we can release a lesson a week after I first overheard something, whereas textbooks and DVDs take longer to produce and may be outdated by the time they are published. Then, German teachers in school classes around the world use those same textbooks and DVDs for many years to come... you get the idea.

And Judith, are those your audio books on audible dot DE ?? Will there be any for intermediate wanting to go fully fluent??? thanks, Bauchweh

No, I have not published anything so far, too busy with this job.

[JustinBrady]

I'll admit at first I thought the same thing. But having the two helps to show the difference and I think it's great!

Thank you so much to Chuck and Judith. Except... Chuck... stop complaining about having to work!