How To Practice Your German When School Is Not In Session
One of the simplest methods — and one that we have recommended earlier — is to make use of all of the free educational sites on the internet. Parents can supervise their children as they go to youtube.com to look up: German for children, German songs for children, the ABC in German, Counting in German. Another site is called Duolingo. Yet another one is Deutschewelle.tv For children with more advanced knowledge of German, Deutsche Welle TV also offers “Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten” (News spoken slowly.) All are worth exploring and these activities can even be enjoyed by the entire family.)
Another activity the whole family can enjoy is going to a German festival — many of them are held throughout the summer at Plattduetsche Park Restaurant at 1132 Hempstead Turnpike (visit their website; they have a calendar of all of the German festivals from now til autumn). Some of the most popular are the Schuhplattler festivities. And, don’t forget the gigantic German Festival at Hunter Mountain (German Alps Festival), which takes place early in August at Hunter Mountain.
And, let us not forget the grandparent factor: If you have grandparents or friends or next door neighbors who speak German, why not ask them to speak German to your child? If you are going to Germany or Austria — or another German-speaking country — we hope you enjoy your vacation and get to practice some German in the bargain.
Best Regards and Herzliche Grüße,
Dr. B.
