Tag Archives: Deutsch lernen

Our Class

Vienna is an international city, and you can see this in the Deutschkurs, too. People are from Romania, Iran, Indonesia, Japan, Spain, Mexico, Ukraine and Hungary (me). Different cultures and habits meet every day. Last month there was a woman from Tanzania. I love to hear the stories from all over the world like what their motivation is, how their hometown is or how they met their loved one.

People are studying at the university, writing their PhD, or just trying to find a better job. German is not an easy language and takes hard work to improve.

This is the second week of the course, it started a week later, but at least we had some time to go over everything again. At B1.1 we practice and talk even more, German started to become the part of our lives. I don’t use English anymore in the city and that makes me feel more confident. Though last time we went to a spa the waiter in the restaurant didn’t understand my „school German“ so I had to ask for help 🙂

Some tips to top up on new languages (Part II)

Hi everyone! Last week, I came up with some tips for students learning German and with some additional reading on the subject, I thought that we could expand the list a bit further for the benefit of my readers. As stated in the earlier blog post, language learning is an extremely personal process, so not all tips will be relevant to you. Its all about experimenting and finding out what can work out!

  1. Find an app that works for you: One can choose from a number of teaching apps that can help you in your quest to learn a new language. Many of them offer a decent amount of quality content including practice exercises and reading material. These will help you practice and consolidate your skills and can be used to keep up with your quest even while commuting.
  2. Make friends with whom you share just this language: The best way to practice is to have real life conversations and to force yourself to dive in headlong. I notice that having friends with whom you just share this new language is quite useful as otherwise, you often tend to default to a language you are all more comfortable with (usually English). This is not as easy as it sounds in Wien, as most people here do speak good English and kind of try to relive you from the blushes of making mistakes in rudimentary Deutsch, but with some searching around, you will find suitable partners. Make sure you chat with them regularly and don’t worry about the mistakes, but try to notice your weak areas and work on them. Also, if you are unable to complete a sentence, try using an online translator rather than switching to your native tongue.
  3. Figure out your study pattern: Some experts recommend that you try to try to saturate your brain with information in study sessions to pick up skills quicker, while others say that you may try making your sessions more fun with imaginative exercises such as trying to translate your favorite rhyme. Try out many methods and with time you will figure out what works for you and then stick with it with a slight amount of further tweaking to optimize you studies with your learning pattern.
  4. Consistency is the key: Ensure that you devote some time to leaning German every day. Taking long breaks from the language can reverse some of the gains you have previously made. Habitual practice will reap rewards over time!

I hope you benefit from reading these tips! Comments are welcome. As noted earlier, I have borrowed and paraphrased a few ideas from these two links that you should definitely check out.

  1. 22 Tips For Learning A Foreign Language
  2. 10 Tips And Tricks To Learn Any Language

Tschüss!

 

Deutsch lernen und studieren in Österreich

Anfang Oktober beginnt das Wintersemester 2008 an den österreichischen Unis. Als ausländischer Student ohne Deutschkenntnisse ist es manchmal sehr schwer, sich in Österreich auf der Universität durchzukämpfen. Im Gegensatz zu anderen Ländern wie zum Beispiel den Niederlanden werden die Kurse zumeist noch in der Heimatsprache unterrichtet. Aus diesem Grund ist es für nicht-deutschsprachige Studenten unablässig, die Deutsche Sprache zu erlernen. Zur Zulassung an Universitäten als ausländischer Student wird ein Nachweis von Deutschkenntnissen vorausgesetzt. Als anerkannte Bescheinigung dient dabei das Österreichische Sprachdiplom Deutsch (ÖSD). Dieses Diplom kann man in anerkannten Prüfungszentren in ganz Österreich erlangen. Darüber hinaus gibt aus auch außerhalb Österreichs anerkannte Prüfungsstellen. Eine Liste dieser Prüfungszentren findest du hier. Jedoch setzt nicht jede österreichische Universität dasselbe Sprachniveau und das damit verbundene Zertifikat voraus. Auf dieser Seite findest du einen Überblick der österreichischen Unis und deren erforderliches Sprachdiplom. Die Kurse an der DeutschAkademie sind besonders gut zur Vorbereitung auf diese Prüfungen geeignet. Viele Studenten aus der ganzen Welt haben bereits von unserem Intensivunterricht Gebrauch gemacht, haben bei uns Deutsch gelernt, haben die ÖSD – Prüfung mit Erfolg abgeschlossen und sind für das Studium in Österreich zugelassen. Unsere Kundenberater würden sich sehr freuen, dir nähere Auskunft über die Zulassung an den österreichischen Universitäten zu geben!