German Home Immersion School/Warm-Ups for Beginners (Übungen für Anfänger)
Warm-up #1: Duolingo - head on over to this awesome website, sign up for the German course and do the first lesson!
Then come back here...or stay there a while and keep learning German!
When you're ready, go on to the next exercise or to one of the Immersion Lessons
Warm-up #2: Learn By Listening - use the link below to find a video from a great German learning channel!
Get a pencil and a note card (or computer word program!) and open this video: Easy German Basic Phrases
Write down at least five words or phrases you want to learn, like so: Guten Morgen - Good morning
Say them each out loud (in German) as best you can three times
Listen to the video again if you need help with pronunciation (Aussprache), and don't worry about being perfect! Just do your best!
When you've read all five words/phrases, congratulations! You just taught yourself German by listening!
Warm-up #3: Making your computer a German Immersion environment!
This one is a little more complex but is likely to blow your mind when you realize that this exercise alone could get you to technical fluency in German!
First, pick any computer program you use a lot and are familiar with. I'll use Gmail as an example.
Find the language settings for that program and switch the language to German! Video guide for Gmail here!
Just like the last exercise, find five words/phrases that you think you can figure out the meaning of and write them down.
Create an account on Lang-8 and post your five words/phrases in a journal entry. Intro to Lang-8 here!
Native speakers will come and correct your translations!
If your entries don't get corrected immediately, try correcting some entries for other folks to get some more L-points which makes your entries more likely to get attention!
While you're there, send a few friend requests and see if you start to rub shoulders with folks who can help you learn German!
Warm-up #4: Connect with a Human!!!
There are two relatively easy ways to find a person to help you get started with your immersion school.
If you did the last exercise, go the extra mile and try to connect with someone on Lang-8 by email or skype to help you more directly with your language goals!
Don't worry if at first you don't succeed. Language Partners are relationships that build slowly, but bear great fruit when they are in full flower!
The easiest way of all to get help is...to email the instructor for this project!
I hope every single person who does home immersion tells me about it so I can help them and they can help me make it better!
Please write to me! My email address is on my profile page! You can switch off the German on your Gmail if it makes it hard to write XD
Jon michael swift (discuss • contribs) 01:24, 19 May 2016 (UTC)