Vocabulary Is Fun!

Most days lately I have listened to German radio (via the Internet) when I wake up in the morning. It has been a great learning tool. 

The Sky This Morning: High Drama

I also find it amusing to hear a detailed weather forecast for a bunch of cities up to 4,000 miles away.

With respect to other learning methods: after setting it aside for a while, I recently returned to a book called German Vocabulary from McGraw-Hill.

At first it was too hard for me, because my vocabulary was impoverished after so many years of not using my college German, but now the book is a lot of fun.

The content is divided up thematically by chapter. For example, the fourth chapter is “Animals,” while the thirteenth covers “The Human Body.” Some of the text cracks me up.

It’s a Little Goofy, But I Like This Book!

In the animal chapter, I was informed that “wild animals live everywhere in the world and can be found in lakes and oceans, deserts, mountains, forests, and jungles.”

In the chapter “Around the House,” I learned: “A German apartment or house has the same kinds of rooms as found in other European or American homes.”

This kind of information does not seem totally necessary to me. Nonetheless, the exercises are fun, and I love the vocabulary lists. Many of the words are familiar to me from my past life studying German, but I am pretty sure that, as a New Yorker, I will not be retaining words such as Schuppen (“shed for storing tools and equipment”) or Viehstall (cowshed or cattle barn).