Germany: I need you! (That means you, the reader!) February 8, 2004

Howdy, all. Since the only educational requirement I currently have i n Germany is my language class, I want to improve my language skills. Also, I want to improve my language skills so I look less like a silly foreigner. My UConn German teacher sent me a nice attachment about co nversational German, here is the introduction:
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"Guten Tag, Frau Schmidt. Wie geht es Ihnen?"
"Gut, Herr Müller. Und Ihnen?"
"Danke. Sehr gut."
This is how you learned German. Then you moved to Germany, only to di scover that the conversations you practiced in your language class mad e you sound like a 1950s B-movie.
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That is very true.

I think I am picking up on the slang and everyday language decently ( there is a growing set of words in my vocabulary which I have never lo oked up in an English-German dictionary, but words that I simply know how to use). However, that is not enough. I want a [wicked] strong voc abulary.

I recently wrote a computer program to drill vocabulary into my head (I had previously written a program, but I don't have Internet access on my computer, so I cannot access it!). This program also saves me to ns of money on flashcards (at a cent per flashcard, increasing the voc abulary by 2000 words would cost 5 days of food).

So, this is where I need you! I need you to think of conversation top ics for which I should learn some vocabulary. If you know any websites that have a list of words about this topic - even better (note: the w ebsite does not have to be an English-German translation. All I need i s a list of English words, I can do the translating myself).

So, I thought of some topics, which I will list, but please add more:
Sports
Religion
Computers
Mathmetics
Cars

I'm too lazy to think, so I am forcing you to think for me. If you ha ven't registered yet, feel free to register and post! If I could get 2 0 topics, and 100 words per topic, or 25 topics and just 80 words per topic, that would be a 2000 word increase in my vocabulary (2000 words is a lot of words). Maybe I'll give a special prize to people who pos t. Then again, probably not:-)

~Mole (I think I'll stick to that name)

Archived comments:
crewchild2000:
www.toothpastefordinner.com this is a site that has a whole lot of jokes (about one or two updates per day) i bet this would be great cause it is really saticrical (is that a word?). anyways, check it out. it might help, if not, you get a good dose of humor.

Mom:
Music. Food. Movies. Sorry, I don't know any websites listing words about the above, but I bet you can make your own lists. Or, if you're really feeling lazy, I can make lists for you. (But I probably don't know all the right terms, even in English, for some of the music you listen to!)

Katherine:
And you can't forget those situations which guidebooks never quite prepare you for...

Thanking people politely but explaining that you're really not lost, you're just trying to get [x] by way of [y].

Bargaining

Inquiring about local history. How to explain that it's a different sort of information you're looking for, and not the particular kind that you're getting.

Dealing with servants and waitstaff. How to ask questions without sounding accusatory. How to make requests without being rude.

And in general

Sex
War
Philosophy.

and

Poetry - its content, history, and devices. Great poets in German and English. Their influence on the language.

Cars. How they work. What sort of people drive what sort of car. Expressions of glee or distaste. Oops, you already said cars, but I'm too lazy to backspace.

Linguistics. How languages work. What languages you know. How much of them you've studied, and under what circumstances.

Travel. Where you've been. How you got there. What the toilets were like. WHy you went there.

Plans for the future. Will you marry and have children? Will you become a scientist and make things? Do you harbor optimism or pessimism about your course of life in general?

Anna:
Well, I found this site, which doesn't exactly have lists of words, but it has quizzes of English words in different categories.
http://a4esl.org/q/h/vocabulary.html
Oh, and I just found this website too:
http://www.better-english.com/vocabulary.htm which is similar to the one above.
Paula:
Topics:

15th century medicine
The Hope Diamond
The artist formerly known as Prince
Jane Austen
Retirement
Headphones and their uses
Go-carts, scooters, and riding lawn mowers
Underwater basketweaving

I hope this helps.

Paula