Guten Tag!
You’re probably wondering how my German lessons are coming along. Well, I was really faithful… for a while.
Since my first post on learning German for the sake of ancestry, I continued taking at least two lessons every day, sometimes more. I had a streak of over 120 days going! Amazing!
Then one day I was talking to a friend about learning German using the Duolingo app, and they expressed the opinion that that app wasn’t a very good one for learning German. With that my motivation went pfft!
However, I haven’t quit. I admit it though, my studying has dropped to a couple of times a week rather than every day. What I need is a new boost of motivation. To achieve that, I’ve decided to turn this article series into a language app review series to help other aspiring genealogists find the best apps for learning languages for the sake of ancestry!
Duolingo Review
As of this point in my German learning journey, the only app I’ve tried is Duolingo. It’s free with ads, which makes it a very affordable way to learn a new language. I’m cheap, so this is great! (There’s also a paid ad-free version.) The app also offers some friendly competition and achievement awards to keep you motivated.
Cons
The way I am learning is definitely not great for building my conversational skills.
“Hallo, wie geht’s?” (Hello, how are you?)
“Mir geht’s gut.” (I’m fine.)
“Das Essen ist lecker.” (The food is delicious.)
I guess you could have a conversation with that. It would be short, polite, and pretty boring. Then there are phrases Duolingo likes to use like this:
“Ich bin eine Frau und du bist ein Mann.” (I am a woman and you are a man.)
Yeah, like I’m going to go up to someone on the street and say that. I’d probably get arrested for harassment. Or stupidity. Oh well, I know you get what you pay for, and so far I haven’t paid a cent. I’m cheap! If we ever decide to go back to Germany, however, I’d better fork it over for an app with stronger conversational lessons or I’ll make a fool out of myself.
Pros
What I am learning with Duolingo is how to read German. This was my primary goal from the start. I find that I can pick out more words now than just “ist” and “und”. Progress!
German doesn’t translate word for word to English. Sometimes one word in German is a phrase in English, and the words are often in a different order. I still don’t have the hang of that, but now I am looking for that when I try to read these old letters.
I’m also finding that my husband’s ancestors who immigrated to “Amerika” sometimes wrote with a mix of German and English. It’s never straightforward, is it? Knowing that helps me to pick out the topics, but it can also be more frustrating. I feel like I should know what it says and I don’t. Argh!
As for the letter I mentioned in my last post that I am trying to translate, I have now deciphered enough of it to know that most of the letter is about the price of crops and what is growing well in the garden… Kind of a yawner. But it is a correspondence between two old farmer brothers, so what was I expecting?
For now, I will keep trying! New glasses and maybe a new German app might help. But I’m still going to try to study for free and let you know which apps give me the most progress!
Bis späder! (See you later!)
Image Credit:
Header image by Greg Montani from Pixabay
German letter and envelop image by Janet Meydam
