| Learning a new language is often considered a | | | | Many websites (such as Internet Polyglot for |
| costly task and people spend tons of money on | | | | example) offer a wide variety of methods to |
| buying books, courses, taking daily German | | | | learn German, ranging from standard |
| lessons or paying for audio tapes, video | | | | basic-to-advanced lessons, to word |
| lessons and so forth. Now, there's an | | | | memorization games, text-video quizzes (like |
| alternative to all of this: free language | | | | the ones that have you attach a specific word |
| lessons online. | | | | to a specific image - sort of like an |
| | | | interactive flashcard game) and so forth. |
| Not all languages can be learnt online. It | | | | Using games to increase German vocabulary or |
| depends on what you're trying to learn and | | | | strengthen your grammar rules is also a solid |
| what your mother tongue is or what other | | | | option. Although many consider these games |
| languages you're already familiar with. For | | | | "childish", they're actually quite important |
| example, learning Chinese online won't be as | | | | and efficient, since you're learning while |
| easy as learning German through the same | | | | having fun and we all know that this is a |
| methods. Chinese requires more careful | | | | major boost to assimilating new words |
| assimilation of grammar rules, vocabulary and | | | | naturally. |
| learning steps whereas German can be learn | | | | |
| more "freely" (and I'm not talking just about | | | | One good tip would be to try and find quizzes |
| the financial costs). If you're reading this, | | | | and games that don't simply use words. Sure, |
| you're either at least moderately familiar | | | | you can easily memorize a few words each day, |
| with English, or English is your mother | | | | but they won't be "printed" in your memory as |
| tongue and this is a good starting point to | | | | strongly as if you would have something |
| learn German online, since there are a lot of | | | | visual attached to them. Our brain holds |
| connections that can be made between the two | | | | visual images much longer in our memory than |
| languages. | | | | simple strings of characters and words, so |
| | | | it's a good idea to associate a picture to |
| With German becoming an increasingly | | | | each word. When learning German, it's even |
| important language on the international | | | | easier to do this since German has a lot of |
| stage, more and more people leave their | | | | cognates with English (words that look or |
| course books behind and seek out websites | | | | sound alike in the two languages and that |
| that can offer free language lessons online. | | | | share a common meaning) so you can stamp the |
| They're faster, more convenient, you can go | | | | English word instead of a visual image to the |
| through them from the comfort of your own | | | | new word. |
| home and most importantly, they are much | | | | |
| easier to assimilate, since an online lesson, | | | | However, watch out for false cognates as they |
| unlike a course book for example, can combine | | | | can be quite misleading. False cognates are |
| visual and audio elements to make your | | | | words that sound or look alike in both |
| learning process faster. In the past, this | | | | languages, but their meaning is completely |
| was not possible as websites were pretty | | | | different, so if you don't learn to spot |
| blunt back then, they were just "clones" of | | | | them, you could be using words in completely |
| course books with text, text and more text. | | | | inappropriate contexts. Fortunately, the list |
| | | | of false cognates is not that high between |
| With the increased interactivity offered by | | | | English and German, but it's still a good |
| many language learning sites out there, you | | | | idea to learn these exceptions by hard. |
| can take online quizzes, play language games | | | | |
| on the Internet, or on some sites, take audio | | | | I'll leave it to you to find the right |
| video lessons like you would from an audio or | | | | websites for learning German online, but know |
| video tape. Forget about wasting time going | | | | that you shouldn't just settle for the first |
| to your local store, buying the tape, buying | | | | one you find. Try learning from two sources |
| a good stereo and a set of headphones - now | | | | and go through several websites before |
| you have all these bundled up for free on the | | | | settling in on these two. In most cases, this |
| Internet. Technology is a blast, isn't it? | | | | will offer you a more complete coverage of |
| | | | the German language. |