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Team Rätsel TAC’15 - TEAM THREAD | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| liammcg Senior Member Ireland Joined 4400 days ago 269 posts - 397 votes  Speaks: English* | Message 41 of 225 23 December 2014 at 1:02pm | IP Logged | ||
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This post by Randwulf has some interesting resources which may interest you all, he records everything he did to get to C2 German:
Randwulf's post Two well known sites that I like a lot are slowgerman.com and schlaflosinmuenchen . Another site which I haven't (yet?) tried is easydaf.de. I found them through their YouTube channel. Their videos seem very good at giving you a taste of everyday German life with lots of useful phrases/idioms. Edited by liammcg on 23 December 2014 at 1:24pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4329 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 42 of 225 23 December 2014 at 2:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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Books:
I have read quite a few books, but mostly translations. Partly because I like hard-scifi and this is not something that Germans are that into - +99% of the scifi books on the market here translations. On the other hand if you like crime novels this is the land of plenty. As my German is getting stronger I would like to try tackling some of the books long-listed for the German Book prize this year, in particular the winner, Kurso that is set on a East German Baltic island shortly before the fall of the Wall. Other books that I have heard good things about: Vor dem Fest by Saša Stanišić, Pfaueninsel by Thomas Hettche, Am Fluss by Esther Kinsky, and Koala by Lukas Bärfuss. Movies: Over the last couple of years I have seen a lot of films. When I started I watched a fair few German films, but after a while decided I wanted to wait until my German was stronger, so I could really enjoy some of the classic directors, so the list of films I've seen below contains some pretty obvious gaps (e.g., no films by Werner Herzog). I aplogize if this list is a bit long, but as people seem to list the same German films (Goodbye Lenin, Lives of Others, Run Lola Run etc) when asked for recommendations I thought it might be helpful to have a list of some other films, mostly recent, that I have seen in the cinema over the past couple of years. They are listed in the order seen. Über uns das All (2011). Mubi. Interesting, but ultimatley confusing film set in Köln about a woman dealing with the death of her husband, and her subsequent (imaginary?) relationship with a new man. 7/10. Fenster zum Sommer (2011). Mubi. Nina Hoss is great in this. The cinematography was beautiful, but the overall storyline didn't grab me as much I had hoped. 6/10. Stereo (2014). Kino. Nice to see Germany making a non-comedy/non-krimi thriller. Jürgen Vogel and Moritz Bleibtreu deliver strong performances. My only real gripe was the difficulty in understanding due to strong Austrian accent of the main bad guy. 8/10. Schwarze Schafe (2006). Mubi. Very cheaply shot Berlin film with five different storylines, which I am glad I finally got around to seeing. Captures a certain sense of the city. Stand out from the satanists doing a ritual on oma and loved the Turkish Jungs looking for sex. Ranges from cutting satire to idiocy. ; Definitely not for all tastes. 6/10 Das Finstere Tal (2014). Kino. Cool German-Austrian western in the Alps. 7/10. Hannas Reise (2013). Kino. Deutsch. Romantic comedy about a 20s German woman who finds love when traveling to Israel for work experience. Some interesting digs at young German's going to Israel to pad their CVs, but relatively bland film. 6/10. Finsterworld (2013). Flight with subtitles. Interesting German film - difficultly to ignore English subtitles on small screen, but enjoyable film. Would like to watch it again properly once I'm back in Berlin. 7/10. Der Blaue Engel (1930). NS. 6/10. 00 Schneider (2013). NS. Kino. Despite a likable main character and decent cinematography, I just didn't get the humour. 4/10. Zum Geburtstag (2013). NS. Kino. 5/10. Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen (2013). NS. Kino. 5/10. König von Deutschland (2013). NS. Kino. Interesting, somewhat Truman-like premise. Find average German man and use him as a perfect barometer for public opinion - including creating a new political party from scratch that matches everyone's opinion perfectly. The start and especially the middle where he starts turning the tables on his observers were fine, but the ending was a bit too silly. Olli Dittrich was good in the title role. 6/10. Feuchtgebiete (2013). NS. Kino. Not sure what I think about this film. The book, of which the film is based, was controversial with it's frank depictions of teenage female sexuality and bodily functions (e.g., two girlfriends swapping bloody tampons as a sort of bonding experience) when it was published in Germany. Can't get around the idea that a lot of this is more to shock, than to really say very much, but given the sexism that is apparent in Germany (e.g. all TV talk shows seem full only with older white men - even if the topic is something like teenage pregnancy) perhaps it is radical and taboo breaking as claimed. At the same time if this is feminist screed it would sit better with me if the main character was clearly a little less psychologically disturbed. I think the actor Carla Juri did a good job with the role, but her accent (she's Austrian putting on a Hoch Deutsch accent) sounded so young and weird than I think was intended. Certainly the film it was something different, which was good, but I am glad to have seen it. 6/10 Herr Lehmann (2003). I like this a lot more now that my German has improved. It's amazing how much the feel of this film would fit into the Fitzroy of the late 1980s. 8/10. Quellen des Lebens (2013). Story of a troubled German family told through the eyes of the grandfather, father and son. Would have liked something a little more believable. Still interesting attempt. 6/10. Oh Boy (2012). Lost 30ish man wondering around Berlin for the day. 7/10. Gegen die Wand (2004). This, along with Kurz und Schmertzlos, is my favorite Faith Akin film. 8/10. Halbe Treppe (2002). A Dogma (or Dogma-like?) film set in the East German city of Frankfurt am Oder, by the director Andreas Dresen. Nice film, with very naturalistic acting. The bleakness of the urban environment is very well captured, but with enough light touches that things never become too oppressive. Liked the running gag with the Balkan music by the 17 Hippies. Winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlinale in 2002. 6/10. M (1931). x2. Fritz Lang's classic hunt for a child murderer by both the police and the Berlin criminal underclass (with a criminal leader who dresses like a Nazi). Fascinating early debate about free will and guilt near the end. Found the German difficult here at times, and watched it a second time with subtitles so I could really appreciate this really fine film. Amazing how good the use of sound is here, considering this is the first German talkie. 8/10. Dreiviertelmond (2011). Interesting film about the unexpected relationship between an older taxi driver in Nuremberg, and a young Turkish girl. Parts of the film stretch the imagination as a young child is apparently abandoned/forgotten by authorities after her grandmother suffers a stroke, but overall I enjoyed the performances by the central characters. Directed by Christian Zübert, who's last major film was the 2001 stoner comedy Lammbock. 6/10. Solino (2002). Turkish/German director Fatih Akin's story of a Italian family that move as guest workers from the small town of Solino to the industrial mining town of Duisberg in 1964, and open the first Italian restaurant in town. There are apparently two versions of this film about: the first, Italian/German, has actors switching between languages where appropriate, the second dubbed entirely in German. I watched the bi-lingual (?) one, which clearly is better, but not very useful for the challenge, as it seemed to be mostly Italian, hence my score remains at 20. It was a good topic, but I found the execution a bit heavy handed. Apparently Duisberg was picked because the film scouts found many parts of the town that had not changed since the 1960s. 6/10. Kurz und Schmertzlos (1998). Fatih Akin's first feature film. Quite different from the other's I have seen (Soul Kitchen; Im Juli). A sort of multicultural Mean Streets set in the immigrant community of Hamburg, which follows three friends (one Turkish, one Greek, one Serbian) who navigate the crime scene and get sucked in ever deeper. Some difficultly following the dialogue, but definitely worth watching. I keep a notebook next to me as a watch so I can write down phrases or words that I don't understand. I got quite a few good idioms out of this, like 'du bist ein kleiner hosenscheißer' (lit. you are a small boy who still shits in your pants - perhaps roughly translated as 'you are a pussy'), 'quatsch mit soße' (literally 'crap with sauce' - perhaps 'that's bullshit') and 'das ist so abgefahren' (literally 'this is so departed' but as an idiom 'this is so crazy'). This came out in the same year as Lola Rennt - which I like a lot - but this is definitely the superior film. Not sure why it was released with the English title "Short, sharp, shock"; when the title would literally and more reasonably be translated as "Short and Painless". Recommended. 8/10. Im Juli (2000). A romantic comedy, by Fatih Akin, with a very straight Moritz Bleibtreu traveling overland from Hamburg to Istanbul to meet his true love. Not bad, but a little too implausible for my liking. Still I always like a good road movie across Europe, and the Balkans look particularly nice in Summer. 6/10. Soul Kitchen (2009). Sweet film, about the trials and tribulations of a Greek guy trying to run a restaurant in Hamburg. I really like Fatih Akin's films - it's very interesting to get a Turkish/migrant perspective on Germany, and plan to work through his other films for this challenge. I had difficulty following the language though. Might be worth re-watching when I have a bit more German under my belt. 7/10 Lammbock 2001. Classic German stoner comedy. I really liked the chemistry between the lead actors Lucas Gregorowicz and Moritz Bleibtreu who run a pizza business, and who deliver dope on the side. It's very funny trying to understand the logic of stoner monologues in a language you are not comfortable in. I generally don't rewatch films, but I did with this one because Kristina hadn't seen it. I was amazed at how much more I understood the second time around, so perhaps I should rewatch films more often. 7/10 Herr Lehmann (2003)- Later film by Leander Haußmann, set in Kreuzberg shortly before the Wall fell. Great to see images from Berlin from the before the fall of the Wall. I liked the film and would recommend it. When my German is a bit better I intend to read the book of the same title; which I have heard it's a lot better than the film. 6/10 Lola Rennt (1998) - Amazed at how much I could follow. This was the first film I watched where I started thinking I really could get by without subtitles. Definitely recommend it. 7/10 Bedways (2010) - German - with subtitles. Arty low-budget film about making an arty low-budget film about sex/relationships, mostly filmed in an alt-bau in Berlin. Think 9 Songs. I liked it, but it's probably not for everyone. Not kid friendly from the sex. 6/10 Music I don't listen to a lot of German music, but some groups I like that also have good lyrics to listen to are: Peter Fox: Schwarz zu Blau, Alles Neu, and Haus am See Seeed: Dickes B - "dickes - thick - slang cool; B - Berlin" Wir sind Helden: Nur ein Wort - most others are blocked by Gemma from watching in Germany :( Die Toten Hosen: Paradies Edited by patrickwilken on 23 December 2014 at 2:48pm 7 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| liammcg Senior Member Ireland Joined 4400 days ago 269 posts - 397 votes Speaks: English* | Message 43 of 225 23 December 2014 at 2:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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Was fuer eine tolle Liste! Danke vielmals fuer die Empfehlungen!
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| Via Diva Diglot Senior Member Russian Federation last.fm/user/viadivaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4030 days ago 1109 posts - 1427 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German, Italian, French, Swedish, Esperanto, Czech, Greek | Message 44 of 225 23 December 2014 at 4:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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patrickwilken, just awesome. I have only seen 3 movies from this list - Über uns das All - 6/10,
Zum Geburtstag - 9/10 - well, when I like something I am not any close to being objective, but the flaws of this movie did make me put 9 instead of 10, and, surely, Lola rennt -10/10 and I don't think this is too much. If I were to list not quite famous movies I've seen (the good ones): Manipulation - 10/10, Die Tür, Helden wie wir, - 9/10, Das Bernstein-Amulett, Der Chinese - 8/10, Hotel Lux, Epsteins Nacht, Harodim - 7/10. And there's a movie I would recommend to everyone I meet which I didn't mention before because I don't remember when have I first seen it. Mephisto. Now you know why I like Manipulation so much. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4329 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 45 of 225 23 December 2014 at 4:48pm | IP Logged | ||
I agree that Lola rennt is really great. Some of my scores might be a bit low because I saw the films before my German was strong enough to get some of the subtlety - I agree that Zum Geburstag is definitely worth a look. For lighter, interesting comedies I would recommend Herr Lehrmann, Soul Kitchen, Lammbock and Oh Boy! - the last being my favorite film for 2014. Edited by patrickwilken on 23 December 2014 at 5:41pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Nieng Zhonghan Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member Antarctica Joined 3467 days ago 108 posts - 315 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Japanese*, Spanish, Galician Studies: Finnish, Icelandic, Armenian, Mongolian Studies: Old English, Russian, English, German, Korean, Mandarin | Message 46 of 225 24 December 2014 at 6:09pm | IP Logged | ||
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Does anyone starting from the scratch can join the German team?
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| Via Diva Diglot Senior Member Russian Federation last.fm/user/viadivaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4030 days ago 1109 posts - 1427 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German, Italian, French, Swedish, Esperanto, Czech, Greek | Message 47 of 225 24 December 2014 at 10:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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Sure, why not? If you're motivated enough to study German all next year long your current level really doesn't
matter. It might (not sure it actually will though) cause troubles with the challenges, but this is not of the first importance. So, jump in :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Nieng Zhonghan Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member Antarctica Joined 3467 days ago 108 posts - 315 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Japanese*, Spanish, Galician Studies: Finnish, Icelandic, Armenian, Mongolian Studies: Old English, Russian, English, German, Korean, Mandarin | Message 48 of 225 24 December 2014 at 10:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have just read the what Josquin wrote on TAC ’15 (http://how-to-learn-any-
language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=39717&PN=1&TPN=1) and some language teams from this year such as the German and the Russian ones. I am aware that there are monthly challenges and I will need to report whatever task the captain or the leader proposes. I am okay of not being able to do all of them, but still it will be motivating to see how you guys improve. I have just signed up for Wikia page as Josquin asked to. Before I subscribe to a team, I also need to understand the main differences between team and individual TAC. Another thing I didn’t understand is what the “Guardian Angels” and “observers” actually do. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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