helena Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 My 13yo is wrapping up Getting Started With Latin. She loves Latin, but would like to play around with German before committing to high school Latin studies. She'll have a semester to try it out and see what she thinks. Is there any curriculum or some... thing that could work for such a short period of time. Audio, books, workbooks, dvds? I want to be careful to give her something that'll reel her in, not bore her and quickly turn her off to the language. If she chooses German, my plan is to put her in an online class next fall. Thanks in advance for any ideas. I'm totally lost on this one! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 If she likes games, try Duolingo for a brief exposure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawyer&Mom Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 I would consider Assimil German with Ease. Its a book with 100 lessons and 4 CDs. I personally love methods where you can hear everything read by a native speaker. The product is aimed at adults, but I think it would be accessible to a 13 year old. It's also aimed at self-learners, so she could be fairly independent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandragood1 Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 How about Calvin and Hobbes in German? If you have the same book in English she can figure out the comic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BugsMama Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Middlebury Interactive Languages has a one semester german program Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwmama Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Duolingo is a great app she could use. Have you looked to see if your library has anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 How about Calvin and Hobbes in German? If you have the same book in English she can figure out the comic. oh my goodness I'm ordering this for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helena Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Thanks for all the ideas! I'm going to go through everything tonight. :) I don't speak any German... This is mostly for exposure, not to add massively to her work load. I've been listening to German this weekend and I'm starting to hope she chooses it. I like it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsabelC Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I second the suggestion of Duolingo; it is fun, easy, free and can be done for as little as 5-10 minutes per day or for as long as you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Is there a German school nearby? There is a big nationwide network of them. Our local one offers 3 hour classes on Saturdays during the school year. They accept students at all levels, and use an immersion format. One nice thing about ours is that they celebrate the folk culture holidays of Germany, like St. Martin's Day or Maifest. Another is that they only hire native speakers, so the accents are authentic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnemosyne Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 For plain exposure, nothing beats shows in German - either native German shows or favorite shows translated into German (Disney is great for this). German music is good too. What genres does she like? I can recommend some music. There are also some decent podcasts out there. Personally, I have found I get the most into a language if I really immerse myself into the culture, music, books, and movies before I start with the sit down studying. Course-wise, Duolingo is good for basic exposure, Assimil, German made Simple... Lots of free websites too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyGF Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Deutsche Welle has a bunch of free German learning classes from A1 to C levels. There are videos, audio, and more. Emily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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