Hello everyone,
and welcome to this year’s German Learning Advent Calendar.
Today is Saturday, which is traditionally a “slow” day for the calendar, and it’s also the 6th of December, which means it is Nikolaus-Tag.
Nikolaus is a sort of mini Christmas in Germany and many other countries, where kids get some little goodies and coworkers bring self-made Plätzchen to work.And so today is the perfect day for a little
Give-Away
Hooray!
Now, usually when I do a give-away, it’s for a language learning tool or app that I review. And we’ll have at least one of those too later in the calendar.
But this year for the first time, I can actually raffle out something I have made myself and that is:
Many of you already know about this, but if you don’t:I have made an actual real card game for prefix verbs. With physical cards that you can touch. The core idea of the game is to combine a base verb like haben and a prefix like an or auf and know or infer or guess a meaning for the resulting prefix verb, which you can then quickly check in the dictionary I made for the game, and which is not just a dump of translations without any context or order, as so many other dictionaries usually are.
You can play against or friends or just in single player mode by yourself and I think it’s a nice tool to practice. At least it’s much more fun than going through a list or even a flashcard deck.
Here’s a picture of how the cards look:
Each set has 72 cards plus a little rule book with all the explanations you need to get going.
So that’s the game and today, I’ll give away 2 of these.That includes the game itself as well as a 6 months account for the prefix verb dictionary AND of course shipping, which will go worldwide.
So if you need a present for someone, or if you want to practice the prefix verbs yourself but you couldn’t really afford to buy a set, today’s your chance!
All you have to is write a little poem, an ode to prefix verbs. Why they’re great, why they suck, why they broke your heart. Whatever.
It can be in English or in German and it doesn’t have to be long. 2 or 3 lines.
But it shall not be made with AI. I will know. Do you know these dogs that can smell the traces of explosives from like hundreds of yards away? I’m that dog with AI writing. AI Hound they used to call back in my days at the department.
So yeah, please do write it yourself. It doesn’t need to be perfect or correct, it just needs to be you.
I’m actually really looking forward to reading what you come up with, and I’ll pick the winners randomly after a few days.
And for those of you have already HAVE the game, either because you supported the project on Kickstarter or you bought one since… I’d actually love to hear from you what you think.
Did you try it? Did you play alone or with friends? Was it enjoyable? And did it make any difference at all for your learning?
Please be honest, no need to sugarcoat anything. If you tried it out and you didn’t really vibe with it, or if you found it boring or difficult or whatever. I suspect that many of you didn’t really actually end up properly because that’s how things often go. Heck, I signed up for a language learning app this year, for a paid account no less, and do you think I used it much? No, of course not.
For many of us who do language learning as a hobby, that’s the reality of things.
But yeah, if you did try the game, please share your thoughts, impressions and ideas.
You can of course also participate in the competition if you want to, or you just write a poem for the fun of it. Like I said, I do like to read these.
Anyway, that’s it for today, have a terrific Saturday and I’ll see you all morgeeeeeen!!
Links:
- “angehen” in my Prefix Verb Dictionary
(as an example) - Prefix Card Game – Info Page (my old landing page for it)
Audio Speed
Dark Mode
I have to remember to move them around
and sometimes they just make me frown.
Each language I study has some little thing
that never before had I known I must bring
But I study and learn and I hope that I might,
once in a while get all of them right.
Wow, this is really nice!
I open the book–it’s Barron’s
501 German Verbs, and the page is
gehen, and suddenly I can see how to do things
specifically, precisely, just this and not
something else, because of these tiny additions,
clinging to a few lumbering lumps of verbs,
and I’m speechless with awe at how
easy it was to illuminate all the varieties
of human motion.
I couldn’t resist playing around with a poem- though I know it’s… well…yeah…I can only get better, ah… right?
Prefix and verbs I’ll learn by heart,
The advent calendar is my place to start.
Attach a prefix to verb, like lego bricks
Separate and shuffle- just like card tricks.
On the train I- einsteige, umsteige and finally steige ich aus.
Ach, halte ich mich an den Kalender und gehe nicht raus…
I think you can get a lot worse :). Meaning, it’s quite good already.
hehehe -that made me laugh! I’m really enjoying the advent calendar!
ein trennbares Präfix
und sein untrennbares Freund
trotz Unterschiede und Angst
Hand in Hand
um alle Gefahren fahren
durch alle Zaüne umfahren
für immer unzertrennlich
Mein Versuch:
Was meine Liebe für dich sanft ausweckt
Ist nicht, o Deutsch, die Aussprache allein;
Mein angestecktes Herz, es findet fein
Bedeutungen in Wortpaare versteckt.
Wenn einst zu dir ich kam, nicht abgeschreckt
Bekam ich gut vorkommende Wörtlein.
Sie faßen abgefaßte Sätze ein
Wie Armen in dem Umarm ausgestreckt.
Dein glänzelnd goldner Funke in mir ruht
Doch langsam tritt nach mich stiller Verdacht
Dass Wahnsinn drinnen liegt, in deinem Blut–
Die Wortschaftsehnsucht in der frühen Nacht
Führt mich zu der verführerischen Glut.
Wenn du mich umarmst, bin ich umgebracht.
Mein Präfix-Gedicht
Ich gebe dir eine Nachricht.
Mit deutschen Präfixen bin ich durch.
Sie sind aber nützlich gibst du an?
Egal! Ich gebe zu! auf! aus!
Ach!
I’m writing an ode
About german prefix verbs,
They seem a heavy load,
Getting on your nerves.
Weird, random, and annoying,
Ich gebe auf – need some rest
Overall not enjoying,
Man.. sounds like my ex.
Oh, how the Germans love to play with verbs,
Separable and Inseparable or both,
You have just got to get with the vibe,
Want the opposite, just add a Prefix,
Want to change direction or an action, just add a few letters
Auf, ein, an, ab, aus, mit, vor and the rest,
Why not try be, ent, er, ge, ver, and zer for some variation,
And remember, the coolest of the Ambivalents: durch, uber, um and unter,
When you want to play with German verbs,
Yes, ……you know what to do.
I love the cards! I haven’t used them more than a couple of times, but I want to in the future. I played it in “stack mode” with my native speaker partner, where I turn over a verb and prefix and try to determine if it’s a word and what’s the meaning, and he would check me. Sometimes I made up a cool new word, sometimes I guessed definitions correctly for words I didn’t remember hearing before.
It’s funny when my partner checked me. Sometimes he’d say, “I *think* that’s a word that means x?” or “I’m pretty sure that’s not a word, but it might be.” Usually he was right though. Then I would show him entries from your dictionary and he would say, “Oh yeah, that is another meaning, I didn’t think of that!” If I didn’t know better I would question if he was really a native speaker. Words are hard :D
Oh, this happens to me too that I forget a side meaning of them. They’re sometimes so detached from each other that the brain just doesn’t fire unless it has a certain context. Like… let’s say three meanings or on the left side of the field and one is on the right, then you won’t think of the one on the right if you’re currently on the left. It’s really strange :)
Das trennbare Verb bemüht sich sehr,
Seine Position am Satzende zu behalten,
aber die Grammatik bemüht sich stärker, länger
und eventuell reißt der Verbstamm ab,
um in der Position der Schande zu sitzen:
dem gefürchtete, abgeneigte zweite Platz.
Die Grammatik strahlt vor stolz, ein weiterer Sieg!
Inzwischen blutet Das Präfix am Ende des Satzteils sanft.
Einsam, aber trotzig. Eine Schlacht gewonnen, einen Krieg verloren.
Das ist ein sehr sehr sehr deutsches Gedicht! Jetzt muss das Präfix einfach noch verhungern und dann von Raben die Augen ausgestochen kriegen, und dann kriegst du 10/10 auf der Bruder Grimm Skala :).
“Position der Schande” … love it!! Second place is the WORST of all places.
You’re right, I definitely missed a trick there: the grim(mer|mest) parts of Kinder- und Hausmärchen are my absolute favourites, even more so when contrasted with the ridiculously pasteurized, sanitised, and saccharine versions that poured forth from Disney and swamped the English speaking world.
((Along similar lines, but considerably more stylised, I’m also fond of the gory (etc etc) parts of Edward Gorey: I’m never quite sure how well known his work is, but a brief taste is always refreshing!))
Gorey – Der Name ist Programm.
A flavour for German verbs
If a German verb were an entrée,
its prefix would be the garnish, or a seasoning.
A prefix adds flavour, and (like most new things)
at first it just tastes kinda strange.
Especially the spicier ones:
die Untrennbaren,
die AmbiPräfixe,
die Oppositionellen,
und so weiter.
But then you get used to it, and sometimes
you actually start to enjoy it.
Bonne (Präfix) Appetit!
Bonne Apprätit :)
Genau!
Roses are red,
so poems do go.
Prefixes they say –
in English are dead.
Violets are blue,
Not much to do, so
let’s make glue.
Valient effort!!
Do you haben it auf, do you haben it an?
These separable prefixes sure aren’t much fun.
They hang at the end, they lack an invite
to that second position, and try as I might,
I always forget it.
I wish German were easy like English, you see-
An easier tongue-
with its through and its threw.
Or its sea and its see
Or its too, to and two.
Oh now I can see, I shouldn’t complain
that English is hard, our spelling’s a pain!
So I suppose overall that prefixes aren’t worse.
Maybe send me the cards, so I can rehearse?
(Love the calendar, Emanuel! And I also love that the posts are bite-sized… this is a really busy season, and a quick German nugget is something to look forward to!)
Ich bin ein echter Fan der Präfixverben,
Üb‘ die alle nur wenn ich glücklich bin,
Est gibt zu viel
Fällt mir schwer das Ziel,
Ich hoffe ich lerne genug bevor das Sterben
Mein Schatz ist schön unter dem Baum
Der weiße Schnee der langsam fällt
Ist wie Zucker auf Lebkuchen
There once was a verb with a prefix
That people learned just for their kicks.
They tried really hard
But ’til there were cards
Their results were mostly just nix.
Fabulous!
Ab und zu hast Du
Angst vor ab und zu?
Hättest Du nur ein Spiel,
das freigebig kommt von Emmanuel!
I was a Kickstarter supporter and I love the game, even though I play it by myself! Highly recommended!
and a slightly longer one in German:
Wenn ich morgen wandern geh
begehe ich währenddessen Klee,
die Blätter sich auf Millionen belaufen,
man kann sich da ganz schnell verlaufen.
Eine Fee da wird gesucht,
und wenn gefunden, wird besucht
um von ihr Wünsche zu begehren,
weil Feen zu ‘Fabelwesen’ gehren.
I’ve got a short one in english:
if i breakfast in the past
i breakfasted or i broke fast
if you stand up and i stand down
i guess i understand you now