You may not even spot the changes at first. You may notice that the word “daß” (that) is now written “dass.” One of the most distinctive characteristics of German – its long compound words – has been somewhat diluted, with many former compounds now appearing as two or three separate words. “Du” and “dir” are no longer capitalized, while the more formal “Sie” and “Ihnen” continue to be. You may also notice that an attempt has been made to make words adopted from other languages follow German spelling conventions.

Why the need for German Spelling Reform – or Rechtschreibreform, as it is called in German? Rechtschriebreform arose out of a series of conferences between a number of German-speaking countries; the goal was to clear up inconsistencies in the way German was spelled from one region to another. Switzerland, for example, seldom used the “ß” character, otherwise known as an Eszett or a scharfes S. This character, which has an unvoiced sibilant sound, is replaced in Swiss German by a double S (“muss”). Other countries, such as Austria, adamantly felt that the Eszett helped to give German its unique character and the language would be poorer without it.

The haggling over German spelling reform across was bitter, protracted, and intense. For this reason, the changes everyone eventually agreed on were more than the traditionalists wanted but less radical than the reformers sought. The rules governing the use of the Eszett versus the double S are extremely confusing and still inconsistent. Another goal was to cease capitalizing nouns, and that didn’t happen either. After several conferences, an uneasy consensus was reached, and in 1996 most German-speaking countries (and a few with significant German-speaking minorities) signed the agreement. Over the course of the next eight years, according to the agreement, the tenets of German Spelling Reform would gradually be phased in, with all schools teaching the new spelling and all government agencies using it exclusively.

It’s one thing to pass a resolution to standardize spelling in education and government; it’s another to get the average person in the street to go along with it. The new spelling is being used in schools and government offices, but few other people have warmed to German spelling reform. It’s too soon to fully assess the effect the German Spelling Reform will have on the German language; for now, students of German should simply be aware that discrepancies exist, and understand why.

You can learn to speak German easy with the Rocket German language course. You might also like to learn German with the audio-based language course Pimsleur German.

Regular German verbs play nicely. The stem of the verb “machen” (to make) is “mach” – suffixes are added to fit various pronouns, so you can say “ich mache” (I make), “er macht” (he makes), and so forth. When a verb changes tense, it really becomes identifiable as a weak verb – if we were to say “he made,” we simply add the predictable suffix “te” to the unchanging stem “mach,” and we have “er machte.”

It’s possible that irregular German verbs are said to be strong because they have a mind of their own, plowing forth without any consideration for linguistic rules or conventions. In the irregular German verb “helfen” (to help), it seems like the stem “helf” should become “helft” when combined with the pronoun “er” – but it becomes “hilft” instead. If the German verb “helfen” were regular, we could take the stem “helf” and add “te” to it and produce “er helfte,” but no! The correct way to say “he helped” is “er half.”

There is also a third German verb class which is neither weak nor strong, regular nor irregular, but mixed – sharing characteristics of both other types. Since irregular German verbs tend to be so common and there are only a finite number of them, you will easily be able to master them with some good old-fashioned rote memorization.

When approaching the study of German verbs, it’s important to remember to relax. No two students learn exactly the same way, so experiment until you find the exact combination of study techniques that best imprints those German verbs into your brain.

If you learn best by reading, you’re probably a visual learner, and you may want to try putting your German verb forms on flash cards and asking a friend to test you on them. Many students find the mere act of writing words on paper combined with reading those words over to themselves serves as a powerful visual trigger, and this should help you master those quirky German verbs.

Many people learn best by hearing or speaking; if that describes you, try saying “Ich gebe, du gibst, er gibt, wir geben, ihr gebt, sie geben” very clearly into your recording device, playing it back, and listening to the sound of your words, sensing the change in sound when you pronounce the irregular German verb forms.

The act of engaging with a computer in a style very reminiscent of video games enables kinesthetic learners to master irregular German verbs in a way that feels more natural to them.

Set a goal of learning two new German verbs per session, as well as reviewing the ones learned in previous sessions. When you feel confident that you can conjugate the irregular German verbs, ask a fellow German student to test your new-found knowledge.

The key to mastering irregular German verbs is repetition, and only you will know whether that entails writing the same words repeatedly, re-reading them, speaking them, or listening to them.

Learning German verbs is easy with the Rocket German MegaVerbs software game. Get your copy of Rocket German now and learn to speak and understand German fast.

Tips

To become skilled at German easily you should keep certain tips in your mind. The main tips are given below.

The first thing to do is make sure that you want to study German. If you are not motivated, you will just be wasting your time. If you are working hard for some days and quitting, you will not get any benefit.

The next thing to do is to pay a visit to the most reputable book store in your locality. You should search for the different books that can help you in learning German easily. You should also try to get a German dictionary.

Organize yourself and make a specific schedule that will help you in spending additional time for learning German every day. You must not take things too lightly or too seriously as making the right steps is the important factor in mastering the language.

Try to cover the simple questions in the beginning so that you can make a slow and steady progression. Finding the answers for general questions will help you in getting everything covered.
You must also take advantage of the Internet. Try to download German lessons that are given by different websites. Practice should also be given ample importance. Keeping these tips in mind can help you in learning German easily.

There are many reasons and benefits to learning German. There are many cultural and historical reasons to visit Germany, and German speaking countries like Switzerland or Austria. Oktoberfest and Bavaria are only two of many well known destinations or events. While those spring to most peoples’ minds first, just think about all the other superb events and locations that are associated with Germany

German is easier to learn for English speakers, due to the origins of each language, which share similar paths. Words like professor, kindergarten and hamburger are German words which have been adopted into English. Be careful however, because not all words which appear the same have the same meaning.

Historically, and to the present day, Germany is a huge publisher. Germany publishes one out of every ten books in the world. As an innovative nation, it is at the leading edge of technology, and ranks third in the world for patent applications. While German is not close to being one of the world’s biggest countries, it has let the world in exports in most recent years.

All work and no play…. While it is true that Germans are hard working, there is another side to them also. And it is, but Germans also enjoy six weeks of vacation per year, and they are the largest spenders of tourist dollars. Accordingly, there is no part of the world where you will not come across German speakers.

In European terms, German is the most prevalent language. For those who learn it, there is a certain prestige, as it is perceived as more difficult to learn than other European languages. This is something of a myth, especially since the spelling reform in 1998, a government mandated initiative which significantly reduced the number of spelling and grammar rules governing the language.

But at the same time, the Germans are a very precise race, and are less likely to show patience for bad pronunciation and lack of vocabulary – not because of any bad feeling, simply because they value precision and exactness very highly.

Beer and Lederhosen, while they jump to mind, are a needle in the haystack of German culture. Germany has a vast and rich cultural heritage. Some of the world’s greatest thinkers, such as Freud and Einstein, were German. Many of the most respected classical composers throughout history came from Germany also. Learning German exposes one to the inside track on German culture and history.

It is easier today to learn German than in the past. n the first place, it is much less complicated than it was thanks to the rule changes of 1998. Second, there are many well-developed on line programs which make grasping basic German and then expanding it very achievable.

The author operates a language website, and you are invited to review his Learning German recommendations. Also, feel free to enroll for a FREE 6-Day German On Line Course.

While there are large pockets of German migration all over the world, which occurred mainly over the last 200 years, to places like Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina (among many other places), many of the migrants no longer speak the native tongue of their ancestors.

And surprisingly to some, people of German ancestry form a larger group in the United States than those of Irish or English descent.

German was the primary official language of most of Eastern and Central Europe for many years during the time when the Habsburg Empire rules most of those regions. Interestingly, until about the mid-1800s, German was primarily a written language, with huge regional pronunciation differences in the spoken language from region to region.

In the mid-1800s the first true dictionary of German was published in over 16 volumes – by the Brothers Grimm.
It was only in 1996 that the Spelling Reform of German standardized and simplified rules of spelling and pronunciation. Immediately upon the reform, schools started teaching the new rules, but a transition period led to confusion and protest, as media outlets used a combination of both old and new.

German derives from the West Germanic sub-branch of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. This is shared with a munber of other languages, including English. There are a large number of English words which owe their existence to German – words like hamburger and kindergarten for example.

As with many European languages there are two styles of address – informal and formal.

For English speakers learning German, pronunciation takes a lot of practice as there are sometimes clusters of three consonants, even in one syllable of a word. In terms of changes, the reform resulted in 112 spelling rules and 9 pronunciation rules, down from 212 and 52, respectively. So if it seems difficult now, learning German is certainly easier than it was before.

There are also many online tools which can help, particularly with vocabulary expansion, pronunciation and verb tenses and rules. Be sure to pick one which does a good job of simulating immersion, this is really necessary to truly grasp the German language in context.

The author operates a language website, and you can view his Learning German recommendations. You can also sign up for a free 6-day learning German online course.

But first let’s have a look at the first two options one at a time. Will you really learn to speak German with a native like accent by enrolling at your local university’s German class? Many people assume that this is the best way to learn a language because of the face-to-face contact with a native speaker. But can you afford to take German language lessons at your local university? Most likely not with a university course, but you can with an online course. Best of all Rocket German give you access to their native German teachers and fellow students with their exclusive German learners forum.

Why not visit your favorite bookstore and pick up a book and CD combo? If you’re a visual learner, you’ll primarily use the book, supplemented by the CD for pronunciation practice. As an auditory learner you’ll prefer the CD audio lessons above the textbook, but will still use the book to learn the correct spelling of the German words you’ve learned with the audio course. But what happens if you’re one of those people who learn best by doing? You’ll have nothing to do with a CD course and German textbook. On the other hand you can learn to speak and understand German by playing interactive computer games provided by some online courses. Nothing can beat learning German like this!

In the first paragraph, you’ll recall I suggested an online German course. The interactive Rocket German online language course is not like anything you’ve used before. It’s completely unique. The conversations are witty, and actually encourage you to vary the script a bit. You can make your own notes about lessons right in your private members area. The games – MegaAudio, MegaVerb, and MegaVocab – are really fun, and there’s even a set of flashcards you can print out for times when you’re away from your computer. You can easily test your progress with their multi-choice quizzes and self tests to see what sections you need to study again. Make use of the private learn German forum and get answers to your questions fast.

Now that you know that Rocket German is the best way to learn German in a fun and interactive way, how can you choose another German learning method? Download Rocket German today or take their free 6-day German language course! You can speak German with a native like accent, starting today…

Learn German Language is fun and empowering. There are so many resources available for anyone that wants to learn the German language. There are several sets of CD’s and videos that will let you learn German from your own home or office. There are many colleges that offer German as a second language and some even offer online courses. You could be speaking the German language in as little as three to four months.

The internet is a great tool to use when trying to learn a second language. There are several sites and even blogs available with people just like you trying to pick up a new language. Did you know that German is the second most used language on the web? Learning the German language may seem like an overwhelming task at first, but you can soon overcome that fear by just taking a beginners course. German is a little more challenging to learn than Spanish or French, but the benefits are worth it.

If you are a college student planning to work in the business industry, then learning German can put you ahead of the class. Employers are crazy about employees that can speak multiple languages. If you are interested in European culture than learning the German language will only enhance your studies. You will also be able to communicate with over a 100 million people throughout the world.

Learning German has been adopted by many as an activity and many High Schools. Those learning by themselves sometimes face many challenges. The problems occur when people without realizing commit basic mistakes hampering their progress. The most basic mistake can be divided into eight different sections:

1.    The first and the foremost mistake is that people translate word after word by thinking it in their mother tongue. In the learning stage all of you should try to think directly in German rather than translating it afterwards.

2.    Figuring out the cases is the next problem and people usually get this part wrong.

3.    In the third place comes the gender recognition. Committing mistakes in this part of the language can lead to serious embarrassment. So learners should not only learn the gender relating words for few cases but should learn differentiating in the genders for all nouns.

4.    Sentence structure is also one of the main barriers in learning German. Unlike other languages like English or others the place of the subject varies according to the case and the endings of the case. So as I said before thinking in German helps in this problem too.

5.    Formality and familiarity also can cause some problem in the learning phase. This is because the words used to address different people are also different. The formal use of you is “Sie” and the familiar use is “Du”. So sentence formation and verb conjugation also prove to be a problem as learning both forms is difficult.

6.     The next mistake in learn german language is the misuse of prepositions and one can spot a non-native speaker by this fault. This is because it is different than other languages. For example: In English medicine is used for something while in German it is to be used against”gegen” some illness.

7.    The next common mistake is the misuse of Umlauts. For beginners it is a nightmare. This is because with the use of them the meanings of words will become entirely different. For example zahlen means to”pay” while the Umlaut form zählen means to “count”. Umlauts are only used on A, O and U so you must always pay close attention for these letters.

8.    Learning German language can sometimes become tricky too.It is required in German to type all the nouns in Capital and many candidates miss this point.

Learning German looks hard but if you try to go slowly and carefully you would understand that it can be learned. So if you are getting ready to go on a German interview or foreign meeting and even if you are trying to impress a German friend, keep all these tips in your mind.

Germany is the most populous European nation and German is the most widely spoken language in Europe. German is the third most popular foreign language internationally and by learning German you are able to connect with 120 million native German speakers. So German will not only allow you to build relationships with people in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein but also German speakers all over the world.  

Germany has the 3rd strongest economy and is the number 1 export nation in the world. Germany’s international trade earnings are proof of the high demand for German goods. Germany’s economic strength means business opportunities not only in Germany itself, but also throughout the European Union as well as in the United States. Germany exports more high-tech products than any other country apart from the U.S. so Germany is a country of innovation.

But all work and no play makes Jake a dull boy and the German’s also know how to enjoy themselves and are the biggest spenders of tourist dollars in the world. Year after year the German’s spend more on foreign travel than any other nation. Tourism companies, airlines, hotels and car rental businesses that can communicate in German will profit from the German tourism industry.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that the German language is dying. In number of books published, Munich is second in the world only to New York. As very few German books are translated into English, the only way to appreciate these books is by learning to speak German.

German speaking countries have a very rich cultural heritage. The Germans are well known for their poets, classical musicians and great philosophers. The world of classical music is inseparable from the names of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Strauss and Wagner to name a handful of the famous German speaking composers. The psychologists Freud and Jung forever changed the way we think about human behavior. Anyone interested in any of these fields automatically expands their knowledge and skill by knowing German.  Whether you’re interested in cultural and intellectual heritage of these countries or not, the fact remains that Switzerland, Austria and Germany all offer a very high standard of living, which make these countries very attractive to many people.

You’re probably thinking that’s all well and good, but German is too hard to learn. If that’s the case, you’d be wrong! I think you’d be surprised to discover just how similar English is to German. Modern German and modern English both evolved from the common ancestor language Germanic. Also convenient is that German words are spelled phonetically. Besides, there are loads of great resources online that will help you learn to speak German and have a lot of fun in the process.