In the spirit of using this blog as a forum for sharing ideas, opinions and resources, this week’s post continues the topic of how to maintain your language skills with a selection of resources that I find useful for my own language combination, German to English. I’d also like to invite you to share your favourite resources for your languages in the comments section.
German resources
ARD Tagesschau video podcast - daily television news programmes available from the Tagesschau website or you can subscribe to them using iTunes.
Der Spiegel - quality weekly news magazine, available on subscription or online at http://www.spiegel.de/
Die Zeit - quality weekly newspaper with in-depth analysis and comment on the week’s news. Available on subscription or online at http://www.zeit.de/index
New Books in German - twice-yearly journal with reviews of new books published in German. It primarily aims to promote the translation of German literature into English but is often a great place to find out about the latest German books to read. Available online.
Goethe Institut - regularly hosts exhibitions and workshops and screens German films. It is also a great source of information about Germany and the German language. Find your local Goethe Institut here.
English resources
The magazines and newspapers that I read regularly to ensure that my English stays up-to-date, to keep abreast of current affairs and to help improve my writing/translating style are The Economist, The Guardian and The Times. I’m particularly fond of the Sunday papers, notably The Observer and The Sunday Times, which provide more in-depth analysis of current affairs and also cover topics such as lifestyle, fashion, culture and sport in their supplements.
The BBC is a fantastic news resource and many of its television news programmes can be accessed online. Newsnight is one of my personal favourites for current affairs analysis, as is Channel 4 News.
Over to you: what are your favourite resources for maintaining your language skills?
(Photo courtesy of Suchitra Prints)
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
skills
Apart from the various suggestions made above, many of which I use myself, here’s another take on the issue.
Working alone can be quiet. I can’t handle music ‘in my face’ when I am working, but like to hear it in the background. Solution? Internet radio beamed down from the router to a device which links into my hi-fi .
This also means that I have a choice of hundreds of stations in Germany alone and tune in when not tied to the desk.
There is also Deutsche Welle TV on Sky.
These are good suggestions. Listening to the radio in a foreign language is fabulous - and thanks to the internet, it’s possible for a lot of languages - you can just leave it playing in the background, like Chris, above, suggested. I think I’ll use this to brush up on my long, lost Russian skills!
Julie @ Learn Basic Italian´s last blog ..KeywordLuv, CommentLuv and Top Commentator Blog
Great ideas here for keeping your language skills going. I use a satellite dish in the UK to pick up German TV. I get hundreds of German TV programs and I find it helps me learn. You can start with the childrens programs and move up from there
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Great idea. It will really really widen you vocabulary when you listen to foreign speaking media. With this, you will learn how to communicate effectively with others. When you attract foreigners, your site’s traffic will also increase! I know of a tool that drives traffic effectively. Try offline advertising. For example, I’ve had great luck with postcards, display ads, classified ads and recently radio advertising, which I am finding very interesting for driving qualified leads to my business.
Absolutely right. I have exchange student German friend, he also recommended a lot of online resources that I can touch with German Media progroms.I didn’t understand German from the TV show that I found quite interesting. Few weeks past now and I start hearing vocabs and sentences that I understand quite often.
I’m so happy about it!