Thanx to everyone on german periodicals!
Christopher Lane
I'd like to thank everyone for their posts, and mail about my question.
As an afternote, several people suggested trying my library and local book
stores. Unfortunately, our school is having a financial bind right now
(NC STate is a state funded school) and has discontinued ALL german magazines
and newspapers. (I am depressed to say the least, since the same school also
has about 50 subscriptions to japanese cultural magazines that have remained)
Not only that but local book stores here refuse to special order foreign magazi
nes and news papers. (or make it prohibitively expensive)
It is unfortunate that every city in the US doesn't carry major european
newspapers and magazines like every major european city does for the US.
However, the suggestions give have been very helpful and I'd like to thank
everyone one! Danke Schoen!
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Christopher Lane
Neto...@ncsuvm.cc.ncsu.edu Raleigh,NC,USA
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katherine.e.fagan
>Okay, enough! :)
>I'd like to thank everyone for their posts, and mail about my question.
Oh no! Am I too late with the following?
My husband and I are studying German as a hobby and have done our best to
surround ourselves with the language. Denn wir beide deutsch lernen, koennen
wir zwanghaft sein. Gott sei dank!
For listening comprehension, we subscribe to "Schau ins Land", a monthly
audio magazine of German news, music and cultural information. It's a
1-hour cassette with stories by correspondents from various German-speaking
regions. It provides us with an opportunity to try and understand different
speaking styles and voices (formal, conversational, fast, slow, male, female,
regional accents, etc.) What's more, each tape comes with a transcription
(not a translation), a vocabulary list and cultural background notes. For
an additional several dollars per tape you can also get a study supplement
with exercises based on the articles and songs. The basic subscription for
a US resident is $118/year. (Save money by talking your school's language
department into subscribing!) For more information:
Telephone:
In the US: 800-824-0829
In Japan: 092-711-7151
In other countries (dial collect): 615-383-8534
Mail:
Japan: US and other countries:
I.B.A. Schau ins Land
Terukuni 2-16-30-111 P.O. Box 158067
Chuo-ku, Fukuoka Nashville, TN 37215-8067
BTW, a great way to listen to these tapes is in the car. By the third time
around, some of the articles start making sense. I also like to practice
imitating the pronunciation while driving alone. Other drivers probably
think I'm a mumbling loony but at least they can't hear me... my exaggerated
attempts to copy sentence fragments are probably pretty comical!
For non-periodical reading material (books), we visited Mary S. Rosenberg's
bookstore in NYC (thanks to Ed Lieser and the newsgroup for the address)
and picked up lots of reading and a Duden (a German dictionary, NOT German-
English).
From Ed's posting:
Mary S. Rosenberg, Inc.
1841 Broadway
New York, NY 10023
Tel: (212) 307-7733; Fax: (718) 857-7163
mail order, but no credit cards! However, checks do not need
to clear your bank before they send merchandise. Prompt service,
nice catalog. Recommended.
There was a thread recently concerning recommendations for middle-level
reading. I can email you the summary, if you're interested. My husband has
just finished "Die Unendliche Geschichte", which he enjoyed.
Another great tip from this group: The German Language Video Center. We're
working our way through the German TV series "Das Erbe der Guldenburgs".
It's like Dallas but instead of oil it's beer, and instead of Dallas it's
Hamburg. No subtitles!
From Ed again:
German Language Video Center
7625-27 Pendleton Pike
Indianapolis, Indiana 46226
Tel: (317) 547-1257
Nice catalog, and it's free.
Now for the *really* obsessive stuff...
Whenever we go to Germany or Austria, we buy as many pop music CDs as we
can afford. There's nothing like an "Ohrwurm" to cement idiomatic phrases
firmly into your gray matter...and most pop tunes are loaded with idomatic
expressions! Be careful, though. Some groups sing in dialect, which is not
so easy to figure out. Of course, if you're interested in all aspects of the
German language (we are) it doesn't matter. Again, make a mixture of songs
on cassette and wear it out in the car! BTW, almost all of our CDs include
the printed lyrics.
We have let all our non-German-speaking friends in on our obsession (well,
OK it's no big secret). Even though their eyes glaze over when we start
talking about our latest discoveries, they also think of us when they run
across something that might interest us. They arrange for us to meet
German-speaking acquaintances, tell us of German-language films, TV programs
and events at area colleges, etc.
Some of the Germans we have met this way have become friends. They allow
us to practice our letter-writing skills (one of our friends sends us
corrected copies of our letters -- at our request) and they bring us reading
material, etc. when they come to the US.
If you get the chance to go to Germany, Austria, or Switzerland make the
most of it! We spent our last two vacations at a total immersion school
in the Alps. Our school (Deutsch Institut Tirol) was informal, had small
classes (3-7 people) and left plenty of latitude to be as studious or
relaxed as we desired. The only strict rule was : speak German! We
also met people from all over the world (England, Finland, France, Italy,
Japan, etc.) with a common interest in the German language.
Finally, we put an ad in the "personals" column in our local paper. In
German. We requested a native-speaking tutor. We figured that readers,
dying of curiosity, would contact their German-speaking friends to find out
what we wrote (thereby passing the word on to them that we were looking for
a tutor). It worked -- that's exactly what happened! We now meet with
a tutor regularly for conversation practice. (We both work during the day
and have progressed beyond the level of any night courses available in this
area.)
I'd like to reiterate my thanks to this group. I'm a lurker who only reads
when I can (about once a week), but I've gotten lots of good information here
about creative ways to keep the studies going.
Kathy