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#Post#: 3--------------------------------------------------
Learning German
By: StircrazyReality Date: July 15, 2017, 1:10 am
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Learning German seems to be a goal of a few people in our group.
I thought I'd share my method, and I'd be interested to hear how
others are progressing.
A goal would be to reach a place where we could learn together
by holding basic everyday conversations.
As a motivator for my learning of German, I have been exploring
some German Culture.
Der Panther was recommended to me by Dalia. Poetry gives me a
sense of how the German language is used.
[pre]Sein Blick ist vom Vorübergehn der Stäbe
so müd geworden, dass er nichts mehr hält.
Ihm ist, als ob es tausend Stäbe gäbe
und hinter tausend Stäben keine Welt.
Der weiche Gang geschmeidig starker Schritte,
der sich im allerkleinsten Kreise dreht,
ist wie ein Tanz von Kraft um eine Mitte,
in der betäubt ein großer Wille steht.
Nur manchmal schiebt der Vorhang der Pupille
sich lautlos auf -. Dann geht ein Bild hinein,
geht durch der Glieder angespannte Stille -
und hört im Herzen auf zu sein. [/pre]
There is a website that shows a lot of alternative English
translations.
HTML http://www.thebeckoning.com/poetry/rilke/rilke3.html
I have also really been getting into Tannhauser. I found the
overture first, and loved it, but as I explore it more I realise
I love the themes of the entire work as well; The tension
between the finite and the infinite, gods and mortals, the
eternal and the impermanent, and the realisation that man cannot
survive in absolute pleasure, that in the midst of pleasure man
craves pain.
This is act One, which I have been reading in English, and then
following along with audio in German, while reading in German.
HTML http://www.rwagner.net/libretti/tannhauser/e-tannh-a1s2.html
Homepage:
HTML http://www.rwagner.net/libretti/tannhauser/e-t-tannh.html
I've found duolingo to be a good way to understand some of the
fundamentals of German. It can be a bit dry however. I was
learning how to say types of food in German today, which is
tangental to what I am actually interested in. It's quick and
easy if you spend a little time on it however, and it is
building my confidence. I've realised that a lot of German
sounds so similar to English, that I can just transcribe from
German audio, straight into English - obviously this is only
with simple sentences however.
Back to Kindergarten!
Note: I not sure how this forum will take shape, so I am just
starting various threads and putting in various content to seed
discussion. It feels a little strange just writing without a a
guiding aim. Hopefully such will come later.
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