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If you pick up a German book that is more than fifteen or twenty years old, you’re likely to notice some spelling discrepancies when compared to German texts today. This is the result of the German Spelling Reform that was initiated in 1996 and has gradually been getting phased in ever since.

In most cases, the changes are very subtle. Under German Spelling Reform, there is a greatly reduced usage of uniquely German characters such as “ß”. You may also see that some verbs with nouns built into them (such as “eislaufen,” or ice-skating) have been separated into two words, as they are in English. Informal pronouns such as “du” and “dir” are not capitalized (as they inconsistently were in the past), while formal pronouns such as “Sie” and “Ihnen” always begin with a capital letter. And words such as Katostrophe (catastrophe) have be changed to something that looks more distinctly German (Katostrofe).

Why was this already heavily-regulated language ripe for Rechtscreibreform, as German spelling reform is known in its native tongue? The very orderly Germans felt that their language was rife with inconsistencies in both spelling and usage. Austria, for example, is passionately attached to the scharfes S or Eszett (“ß” ) – on the other hand, Switzerland had pretty much phased out the letter altogether, replacing it with a simple double S.

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.

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One of the most difficult aspects of learning German is conjugating German verbs. Why are some German verbs harder to learn?

All regular German verbs, also called weak verbs, are composed of a stem onto which a suffix has been grafted. When regular German verbs change tense, they do this in a predictable manner as well, by keeping their stem consistent and adding a consistent suffix or prefix to indicate the tense change.

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 “sprechen” (to speak), the stem “sprech” seems like it ought to become “sprecht” when combined with the pronoun “er” (he) – but it becomes “spricht” 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. Fortunately, there are many more regular German verbs than irregular ones, and newly-created German verbs such as “surfen” are always regular.

Mastering irregular German verbs takes hard work, so put yourself in the best physical situation to do it. There are a vast number of techniques available today that will enable you to tailor your study methods to the precise way you learn.

Experiment with flash cards, figuring out by trial and error the best way for you to use them to memorize your German verbs. Some people actually learn best by writing — copying and recopying the material they’re trying to memorize.

Listening to your own voice repeating the irregular German verbs over and over will powerfully imprint the conjugations on your mind.

Kinesthetic learners, who need physical involvement to maximize their intellectual output, should be able to find excellent computer-based programs to master the intricacies of irregular German verbs.

Trying to learn too much material too fast never works. When you feel confident that you can conjugate the irregular German verbs, ask a fellow German student to test your new-found knowledge.

Regardless of whether you’re a visual, an auditory, or a kinesthetic learner, you’ll need to commit to a program of rote memorization in order to conquer irregular German verbs.

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

Technorati Tags: Conjugate German Verbs, German, german language, German Verbs, learn German, learn to speak German, learning German, speak German

Most of you will agree that learning a new language is not an easy thing to do. It requires you to put lots of efforts and have a certain level of dedication. All these are true for the German language as well. The main advantage you will get when you are trying to learn German is the fact that this language has an ordered syntax. There are many foreign words in its vocabulary too. The most interesting fact is that the majority of these words come from English. This is the main reason why learning German can be a lot easier than you actually think it is.

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. You will be wasting your time if you are not motivated. 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.

Technorati Tags: german language, learn German, learn German language, learning German, learning german language

Some history of the German language can only help with learning German. German is arguably the major “first” language spoken in Europe, and is one of the World’s major languages. In terms of learning German, it is the third most learned language in the world.

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.

Also, who would have thought that people of German ancestry in the USA outnumber Irish and English ancestry groups.

The language of government and commescr of the Habsburg Empire was German – significant as that Empire spread to most of Central and Eastern Eurpoe. But did you know that Germany was mostly a written language until about 1850 – there were really no common spoken rules of pronunciation, rather a connection of loosely related dialects.

In the mid-1800s the first true dictionary of German was published in over 16 volumes – by the Brothers Grimm.
The German government implemented the Spelling Reform Act in 1996, to simplify and reduce the number of riles to be followed in learning and speaking the German language. 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.

The Indo-European group of languages is where German comes from, namely the West Germanic subset of the Germanic branch. This is in common with English, Dutch, Yiddish, and some other languages. If you look hard you will find that many German words have crept into the English language – for example kindergarten and frankfurter.

In German there are two tiers of address, the informal style and the formal style.

With sometimes as many as 3 consonants in even one syllable, those learning German from English can have a particularly hard time with pronunciation. To put the spelling reform in context, 212 spelling rules went to 112 rules after the reform, and 52 rules on pronunciation were slashed to only nine. If you think learning German is hard now – imagine what it was like before the reform.

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.

Technorati Tags: german history, german language, learn German, learning German

The huge array of foreign language software that is out there is one of the reasons why so many people are more interested in learning another language. These programs are an easy way to approach a new language, and the Rocket German language software is no exception. This program is so well put together and is pleasant to work with that learning German this way will be both a pleasure for you as well as a good use of your time.

Superb Audio Features

One great feature of this German tutorial software is the fact that you can use it on the go. It comes with thirteen hours of audio in the form of MP3 files. Thus, you can listen to the audio whether you are at home, at the gym or even in your car. This audio is essential because it lets you hear native German speakers talking in a normal context. This will bring your other lessons to life because it will allow you to gain better understanding of the context necessary to speak with a proper accent, and within the proper, normal usage of the language.

The website also has a forum for people who have a bit of a problem about remembering some rule or want to assimilate some extra knowledge about the language. And when you are getting help from a person who speaks German fluently, it is all the better, is it not? When you want to increase your vocabulary and make sure that the grammatical rules are integrated easily then you will find the grammar guide in the software to be extremely useful.

Great Quality Yet Very Affordable

One of the reasons why the Rocket German tutorial is getting to be more and more popular among people who are looking for a language software where they can learn German easily and properly is because you are not going to spend hundreds of dollars on a program which does not show satisfactory results at the end of the day. Of course, you will have to practice the language again and again, but that holds true with every language course out there! One of the plus points of the German language pack is that you are going to assimilate the language even better through learning games. Not only are you going to pick up the language well, but these games can help you in learning grammatical rules.

The rocket German tutorial software gives you quite the bang for your buck! It provides not only vocabulary and grammar instruction, but it is also infused with cultural lessons so that you cannot help but gain valuable information about German culture, Germany’s history and many German traditions. This immersion approach has proven very helpful in aiding people to learn German more effectively. Since this software program gives you almost everything a total immersion program would, it is certainly a great deal!

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If you desire to learn conversational German pronto and don't have a heritage or background in German then check out some of these tips! Here's a quick guide to learning conversational German without the sugar frosting on top.

Sidebar : Check out my German language review site, it may help you decide on a course to take. Visit purchase Rocket German for comprehensive reviews on some leading home study German courses that can help you to learn German quickly. You will find a Rocket German Reviews and Compare Rosetta Stone German to Rocket German

Despite what adverts or any other sorts of literature (even this article to some extent) may tell you, it is not easy learning a new language. It may be easier as a child but then children only have a few words to master and then they are sort of in the groove and just pick it up.

Adults have a great sense that they have to be responsible and act like an grown up at all times, even when they are completely new to something - don't do it. This is a big mistake in my opinion. Be like a child in your learning. Approach it with enthusiasm and openness. You could get some funny looks when you make an utterance. In that respect, let it be water off a duck's back.

As an adult you are probably going to be a little more sensitive to criticism than a child but try not to be. Whenever you hit a learning roadblock just crystalize in your mind why you are doing this. Think about the benefits that will come when you can speak conversational German. That's your payoff so to speak. That can keep you going.  

As far as practical tips go, try to watch German speakers speak

You don't have to visit Germany to achieve this. Simply watch DVD or television. Watching how people’s lips move is just as important when you are learning to speak because that shows you how to pronounce. DVD's are perfect for that. And are quite versatile in that you can switch between English and German subtitles and audio. In truth there are four settings that will help you improve your speaking, comprehension and even reading and writing.   

Basically use as many media options as you can get your hands on. For example, the internet has altered the way we get information and learning German in no different. Other than the old favorites like watching stuf on video sharing sites like youtube, or plain reading website, you can also go to German language forums. There is even options where you can  have lesson via skype or some other voip service with qualified teachers in Germany. What could be finer.

Above all immerse yourself in the language. That is the only way to go. Let's face it, speed is relative, learning alanguage in 2 weeks is unrealistic, 6 months may be more realistic but it all depends. Some may be quicker whilst others will be slower. The point is how deeply you immerse yourself in it.

Technorati Tags: Learn Conversational German, learn German, Learn to speak Conversational German, Learning Conversational German