You've all been waiting for it -
and now it's back again

Thanks to the advertising power of the GerManiaConnection the H2G2 Community has become aware that we have lots of really nice German speaking people on H2G2.

At present, no conversation in German is possible, because it cannot be moderated, but we live in hope that this situation will be changed soon.

Many thanks to xyroth for asking the original question which sparked off this page.

Please go to the bottom of the page (in Classic Goo) or the left hand side (in Alabaster) and follow the threads for our daily "German Lessons".

How else can you learn German from the German experts on H2G2?

Apart from the lessons - one a day in the year 2001 (at least, that's the plan!) there are several ways you can use the site to improve your German, and we are pleased to help. Try one of the following, depending on your level of competence:

1. You can go to GerManiaConnection Who's Who and click on a member you maybe already know, or whose name you think looks nice and go to their page and ask for help. You may find someone this way with similar interests who could then talk to you about car maintenance or fire-fighting, for example, and tell you the system in Germany, give you the vocabulary, name you some links. Unfortunately, many of the earlier members have not come back since H2G2 re-opened, or they have not re-activated their entries.

2. You can try and look things up in the following entry

   Some German Phrases

3. You can join the GerManiaConnection and ask, ask, ask.

When you're not on the web

Reading is the best way of learning, take a weekly news magazine like "Spiegel" or "Focus" - should be available where you can get foreign newspapers - or try the books of Heinrich Böll. Mainly for women: light modern women's literature is being written by Gaby Hauptmann, Amelie Fried and Hera Lind. Or try a German translation of a book you know well, or a magazine on a theme you are familiar with (computers, chess, cookery).

External links

There is a very useful collection of links on this page

Particularly relevant for those having problems with the German colloquial forms used in the forums on H2G2, this page explains the terms in English.

The [broken link] IDS (Institut für Deutsche Sprache) is the definitive authority on points of grammar, spelling and usage, for advanced students and not to be scorned by native speakers, either!

For help and information regarding the German way of life, go to GerManiaConnection What's What(presently being updated, as many contributors have not reactivated their entries), or try this page which we have discovered: "Training for Germany"

And how do I pronounce it?

Well, that's a difficult one. We assume that you have a fairly good idea already and are improving on at least GCSE German. So try and remember what you learnt so far. If you have regular contact with Swiss, Austrian, Bavarian or Rheinland people you will probably have picked up their accent. Good for you! It doesn't matter.

German Hiphop seems to have a very bad reputation in the UK. Well, let this old woman tell you it is very good if you understand what is being said. The kids that do it articulate very well and have written some mind-blowing lyrics. The first generation (Die Fantastischen Vier are the best-known) are now established granddads of the pop world here and are always asked for their opinions on things. At least one of the groups consists of no less than five guys who studied German at University and really have a very good command of the language, as well as using it in a brilliantly original way.

It's a long road from the American style, where every second word is m****f**** and they are always going on about how terrible life is if you're black and broke. So, if you can get hold of it, listen to some.

And - listen to the radio. Our local radio station is webcast 24 hours a day: LISTEN HERE (button "Webradio hören"). Many others also have this service, links will be added later.

So - fire away with your questions.

Trillian's Child or Bossel and co are pleased to be of help.

German Lessons 2001

So now you can follow the threads to the lesson of the day, or if you see a point of grammar that interests you, you can go to a previous date.

Before H2G2 closed down in February, we had covered the following:

1. Pronunciation of the consonants(1-2 Jan)
2. Pronunciation of the vowels (4-7 Jan)
3. The alphabet (9 Jan)
4. The cases(10 Jan)
5. The masculine gender (11 Jan)
6. The feminine gender (12 Jan)
7. The neuter (16 Jan)
8. The indefinite article(17 Jan)
9. Declining adjectives, in conjunction with the definite article (18 Jan)
10. Nouns, adjectives and the indefinite article (19 Jan)
11. The plurals and the definite article (22 Jan)

So try us out - and don't be mean with the feedback!