What are /r/LANL_German's favorite Products & Services?

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http://translate.google.com/#

Pretty obvious, I know, but I find it indispensable. Audio can be made from any translation, and plus, it's pretty "smart". For instance, the word "einfach" (simple, straightforward) is used like we use "Just" as in, "Just do it" for example. If you type in "einfach kommt zuruck" for example, instead of translating it as "simple come back", it says "just come back".

I've been very pleasantly surprised, and I recommend it heartily.

Oh, and this subreddit is alive, but only just! Please feel free to use it :)

i'm still trying to get the pronunciation of the letters right. not sure if these are correct but listening to friends speak it sounds like:

j = y sound

s = z

v = f

w = v

z = ts

st = sht

sch = sh

sp = shp

just starting to get used to those and pronounce them like that when i look at words.

(correct me if i'm wrong) :)

Ankidroid. It's the android implementation of Anki. Basically, Anki is a flashcard program that repeats flashcards according to a clever schedule that has been designed to ensure that what you learn stays in your long-term memory. I have found the program to be very effective.

The Anki website also has a large number of flashcard decks that you can download for free; many among them are German/English flashcards.

For some more German TV streams, check zattoo.com (may or may not work depending on where in the world you are).

Next to Deutschlandfunk there is DRradio Wissen and Deutschlandradio Kultur on the same website. And if you don't mind commercial breaks and screaming hosts, check Einslive.

Playing video games in German is a good idea, but as a native speaker I have to say the translations are pretty bad in general and often too literal. That's the reason I play my games in English.

Guten Morgen turbotorsk, I have plenty of study tips and have already written them down on my homepage as well as mention a few in the videos recapitulating the project. While you can learn German without spending a dime nor having any teacher I would strongly recommend that you took individual lessons at least once a week with one simply for guidance, pronunciation feedback and having to report your progress to someone. You can find those on google helpouts or italki among a few others. If you learn on your own, I can recommend the Assimil course "German with Ease" but make sure that you get the Audio to it. Listening is tough and crucial for your success.

I hope that helped you a bit. Have a good day and viel Erfolg with your German.

Check this out: http://readlang.com

They have articles and books submitted by the community. You read through their 'web reader' which allows you to click words to translate them. It keeps track of which words you translated and you can later go back and train those words, flashcard style, or even export to Anki.

And my favorite thing: youtube videos with full scripts in a separate pane and the currently spoken word being highlighted. Also full translation.

I'm not a native speaker either, but I think the difference between sondern and stattdessen is just that -- similar to the difference between but rather and instead of that. There are some example sentences here that might help: http://tatoeba.org/eng/sentences/search?query=stattdessen&from=deu&to=eng (this site is great, if you haven't seen it.)

Stattdessen seems to often be used in the sense of actions, i.e. "instead of doing that".

Sure, here's what I have now:

http://www.filedropper.com/deutsch-jayzer (Anki file format)
http://www.filedropper.com/test-de (.txt)

I share with the caveat that I feel this method works better when you're using your deck as a "save game" function, mining your own sentences, etc. IMO it should serve as your own personal record of knowledge.

Also note that it was created with only my own use in mind, so there may be mistakes, mistranslations, etc., and also that these cards constitute about 2 weeks of a beginner's efforts.

The text export is somewhat messy because Anki exports the HTML it uses for formatting as well, apparently.

Viel Vergnügen!

Would it be possible to incorporate features of google goggles?

Specifically this.

This probably is proprietary as well, huh?

Nope, "ich sehe wie ein Junge aus" = 8 Ergebnisse.

You forgot the "";)

EDIT: Andere Beispiel:

• "Ich sehe aus wie Jesus" -> 2690 Ergebnisse
• "Ich sehe wie Jesus aus" -> 3 Ergebnisse.

Yeah, but when you say 'Ich sehe wie ein Junge aus' and take care to use the correct gender for "Junge" you get 27.8 million results....

I asked my german gf, who has been teaching me, and she says that both sentences are fine, actually! Both 'Ich sehe aus wie ein Junge' and 'Ich sehe wie ein Junge aus' are ok, but she said " ich wuerde wahrscheinlich eher sagen "ich sehe wie ein junge aus". (No, I didn't tell her which sentence was "mine"! :)

I'm glad to know both sentences work. I didn't know that! Sorry for the confusion.

Ja, dein Räsonnement kann ich natürlich verstehen. Es ist jedoch richtig mit ein Adjektiv (z.B Er sieht sehr gut aus). Leider geht das Verb "aussehen" nicht auf diese Weise mit "wie".

Probiere mit Google:

Ich sehe aus wie ein Junge. = 22'500 Ergebnisse

"Ich sehe wie ein Junge aus" = 8 Ergebnisse.

Ich habe es viele gesehen, und ehrlich gesagt kann ich nicht es erklären. Vielleicht brauchen wir ein Deutscher hier.

Aussehen ist ein speziales Verb.

Edit: Korrektur eine>ein und Link hinzugefügt.

The guy behind fluent-forever.com did a (very) successful kickstarter campaign to raise money to produce ear training decks for Anki. The German one should be the first released sometime this month. His approach makes sense to me.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gabrielwyner/fluent-forever-foreign-language-pronunciation-trai

Could that be translated in English to a "Swiss army knife"? (Swiss-German "Sackmesser" / German "Schweizer Offiziersmesser")

It's more specific to a collection of tools than as a general phrase. For example, a collection of minimal utilities for Embedded Linux (BusyBox) calls itself "The Swiss Army Knife of Embedded Linux".

Just in case none of you guys know of "Forvo", it's a wonderful website where natives go on and pronounce words from their language. I looked up "eine" and "einer" and there were pronunciations for both that were clear as day. It's a wonderfully helpful tool when learning a language. http://www.forvo.com/ Also, as a quick side, note if you end up using it, make sure to listen to the accent you want to learn! It'd be horrible to have a half Austrian/half Northern-German accent if you didn't look where someone is from on their map.

I'm using Forvo which is a website that provides spoken versions of a whole bunch of words in German. It seems to have proven quite useful so far, because it means that I can just find out the words that I want to hear. This way I can follow along with the book and make sure I'm pronouncing it fine. I figure that a audio version would work well but I tried the free lesson on YouTube and it didn't grab me, I've always been a reader and I'm not so much a fan of hearing it and guessing the spelling. Thanks for the advice either way :)