A little behind this week, so I just have a couple of videos to practice what we learned on Tuesday. We're working on "Wie geht's?" (How are you?) The class can answer "gut" (good) or "schlecht" (bad).
This video is quick, but goes over most of the introductory phrases we learned last semester (Ich komme aus -- I come from, Ich wohne in -- I live in). It's only 37 seconds long but gives a nice quick review.
And last but not least, some German teenagers greeting people in the streets. Germans aren't the most open to strangers approaching them in the street. I remember trying to complete a survey in Berlin and not being able to find anyone who would answer the questions! Small warning: a group of intoxicated men walk by part way through. They don't do anything other than say, "Hello" but you can definitely tell they've been drinking. It is very good to have a chance to listen to native speakers speaking at a normal rate. Don't worry about understanding everything they say. Just listen for the "hallo" and "wie geht's."
And in our Tro Tro for this week, things aren't going so well for Tro Tro. Teddy has disappeared! He searches everywhere for his little bear.
Welcome to a new semester of Elementary German! We had a great first day of class, reviewed some simple commands, basic introductions and learned names for some different farm animals. I read a short book, Mamas mit ihren Kindern
Then we worked on a mini-book with the names of mother animals and their babies. The older kids did a great job reading it and the younger children in the class worked on identifying the animals while they colored.
We're working on this song which I tentatively am planning to use for the talent show. It is pretty easy to learn and I think will work well for the younger children in class who can do the actions.
We finished up with a game of hotter/colder to practie superlatives. (One student leaves the room while someone hides an object. Then the student is invited back in and the class calls out "heißer" and "kälter" to guide them to it.)
Each week, I try to post three to five videos so students can continue to practice at home. They are usually pretty short (under five minutes), but allow even those students who have no one to practice wih at home to continue hearing and practicing the language. I know weeks are busy, but the idea is to watch one a day for a little practice and to keep hearing the sounds of the language, even if they don't understand everything in the video.
This first video is sort of like video flashcards with pictures of farm animals and their German names. It then repeats with a pause to give students a chance to think of the name.
This video is similar, but with short videos of the animals followed by a sentence describing what the animals are doing (mother pig nursing her piglets, the sheep eating the green grass, the goats playing on the farm, hen and chicks pecking at their food and the cows grazing in the pasture).
This video is mostly a review for returning students, but there are several greetings we haven't covered. Herr Antrim has a whole series of videos for beginning German students. I've linked to his videos before and most likely will again! If you turn on the annotations, there is additional information about
what he is saying, but it moves too fast to read without pausing).
The audio on this isn't as good, but it is an excellent review of the basics we have learned and would be very good for the new students to practice with. It covers "My name is . . . ", counting, colors and some basic vocabulary.
And last but not least, TroTro! TroTro is a brief German language cartoon about a sweet little donkey exploring his world. In this one, he builds a snowman and wants to bring him inside. There are more episodes after that which of course the students can watch if they wish!
