{"id":6328,"date":"2015-05-11T07:26:19","date_gmt":"2015-05-11T07:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=6328"},"modified":"2017-11-20T15:17:23","modified_gmt":"2017-11-20T15:17:23","slug":"write-a-german-diary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/write-a-german-diary\/","title":{"rendered":"German Writing Exercise: Keep A Diary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guten Tag, liebe Freunde!<\/p>\n

One of the things I\u2019m really interested in at the moment is finding ways to integrate language learning into our daily lives, so that it feels more natural and we see progress with it more quickly. Sometimes I get asked \u201cHow can I make faster progress with my German?\u201d and recently I was asked about how to practise writing<\/strong> in German, specifically.<\/p>\n

This had me thinking. Listening, reading and speaking are all pretty diverse. You can use podcasts, audio tapes and films (listening), books, blogs and magazines (reading) and chat to other German speakers or learners (speaking). But writing is a strange one, because the most common options for language learners are rather restrictive: 1) Do some writing exercises from a textbook (which will most likely be tedious exercises like Write about your daily routine!<\/em> or Tell me what you did on holiday!<\/em>) or 2) Find a penpal (e-pal?) to write letters to. Option 2 feels somewhat outdated and reminiscent of middle school German, and option 1 is not very inspiring, let\u2019s be honest.<\/p>\n

Schreib einfach ein Tagebuch!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Zuckers\u00fc\u00df!<\/a>

Tagebucheintrag: Diary entry. Photo by chiemseehotel on flickr.com under CC BY 2.0<\/p><\/div>\n

My suggestion is to write a Tagebuch<\/strong> (diary) in German. Why would this work? Because it\u2019s something you\u2019re emotionally invested in, which makes it engaging, and because it\u2019s privat<\/strong> (private), so the emphasis is on expressing yourself rather than writing things perfectly. You will strive to find the right W\u00f6rter<\/strong> (words) and Ausdr\u00fccke<\/strong> (phrases) to express yourself with, and in doing so you\u2019ll have learnt new words without even realising it. You might not have written everything perfectly, but the feeling of Erreichung<\/strong> (achievement) you\u2019ll have at the end of each Eintrag<\/strong> (post) will inspire you to write mehr und mehr<\/strong> (more and more), and that will, in turn, help to improve your German.<\/p>\n

Think it’s a good idea? If you’re new to diary writing, then here are some ideas to get you started.<\/p>\n

What to write about?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This is a list I found here<\/a>:
\n\u2022 Sie k\u00f6nnen schreiben, was um Sie herum passiert (you can write about what\u2019s going on around you)<\/em>
\n\u2022 was Sie denken, (what you think)<\/em>
\n\u2022 was Sie f\u00fchlen, (what you feel)<\/em>
\n\u2022 was Sie mit anderen Menschen erleben, (what you experience with other people)<\/em>
\n\u2022 was Sie glauben, (what you believe)<\/em>
\n\u2022 was Sie hoffen, (what you hope for)<\/em>
\n\u2022 was Sie sich ertr\u00e4umen, (what you dream of)<\/em>
\n\u2022 welche Ziele Sie haben, (which goals you have)<\/em>
\n\u2022 welche Entt\u00e4uschungen Sie erleben, (what disappointments you experience)<\/em>
\n\u2022 was Sie \u00e4ndern m\u00f6chten, (what you\u2019d like to change)<\/em>
\n\u2022 wor\u00fcber Sie gl\u00fccklich und dankbar sind, (what you\u2019re happy and thankful for)<\/em>
\n\u2022 was Sie gelernt haben, (what you\u2019ve learnt)<\/em>
\n\u2022 was Ihnen gef\u00e4llt, (what you like)<\/em>
\n\u2022 was Sie nicht m\u00f6gen, (what you don\u2019t like)<\/em>
\n\u2022 \u00fcber Ver\u00e4nderungen (about changes)<\/em><\/p>\n

Tipp: Write exactly as you would in your own language, with your own style and your own personality. The challenge is to express yourself<\/span> in German<\/strong><\/em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tipp: If you can\u2019t find the word for something in German, write \u2018around\u2019 it by describing it using words you do know, instead. Then look up the word later on in a dictionary. You won’t forget it again.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

So now you\u2019ve got an idea of what to write about, here are some basic words and phrases to help get you started with your German diary:<\/p>\n

Date<\/strong> \u2013 Das Datum
\n*The date format in German is as follows: Montag, der 11. Mai 2015 or Mittwoch, der 4. Oktober 2015<\/em>*<\/p>\n

Dear Diary<\/strong> \u2013 Liebes Tagebuch<\/p>\n

Today I am…<\/strong> \u2013 Heute bin ich\u2026
\nToday I was…<\/strong> \u2013 Heute war ich…
\nToday I will…<\/strong> \u2013 Heute werde ich…
\nI feel…<\/strong> \u2013 Ich f\u00fchle mich…<\/p>\n

Mood<\/strong> \u2013 Die Stimmung\/Die Laune<\/p>\n

Happy<\/strong> \u2013 gl\u00fccklich, froh \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (Very) good \u2013 <\/strong>(sehr) gut
\nContent<\/strong> – zufrieden \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nervous<\/strong> – nerv\u00f6s
\nSad<\/strong> – traurig \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Angry\/annoyed<\/strong> – ge\u00e4rgert
\nThoughtful<\/strong> \u2013 nachdenklich \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tired<\/strong> \u2013 m\u00fcde
\nBored<\/strong> \u2013 gelangweilt\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jealous<\/strong> \u2013 eifers\u00fcchtig
\nIll<\/strong> \u2013 krank \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Alone<\/strong> – allein
\nLonely<\/strong> \u2013 einsam \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stupid<\/strong> \u2013 dumm\/bl\u00f6d
\nConfused<\/strong> \u2013 verwirrt \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ecstatic<\/strong> \u2013 ekstatisch
\nWeird<\/strong> \u2013 seltsam\/komisch \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Drunk<\/strong> \u2013 betrunken
\nHormonal<\/strong> \u2013 hormonell \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Restless<\/strong> \u2013 unruhig
\nRelieved<\/strong> – erleichert\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thankful<\/strong> – dankbar<\/p>\n

because…<\/strong> – weil…<\/p>\n

So a typical entry might start like this:<\/p>\n

Montag, der 14. Juni 2015<\/em><\/p>\n

Liebes Tagebuch
\n<\/em>Heute bin ich sehr verwirrt, weil…<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Obviously it would be impossible to include everything you might say in a diary here, and all of the ways you could say it, so if you do have any specific requests for phrases, words and other diary-related vocabulary, just leave me a comment and I\u2019ll get back to you. As it’s such a personal thing I don’t want to tell you what you ‘should’ be writing, rather just help you along with it.<\/p>\n

I hope you like this idea, and that you’ll try it as a way of improving your German writing skills. Let me know if you do decide to write a diary in German, or how it\u2019s going if you already are. Do you think it\u2019s a good idea? What other methods do you use to practise writing in German? How could we help you with it via this blog?<\/p>\n

Bis bald!<\/em><\/p>\n

Constanze x<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Guten Tag, liebe Freunde! One of the things I\u2019m really interested in at the moment is finding ways to integrate language learning into our daily lives, so that it feels more natural and we see progress with it more quickly. Sometimes I get asked \u201cHow can I make faster progress with my German?\u201d and recently…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":7438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[95058,257644,376023,375986,10385,2642,12028],"class_list":["post-6328","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language","tag-diary","tag-fluency","tag-language","tag-tagebuch","tag-write","tag-writing","tag-writing-german"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6328"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9219,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6328\/revisions\/9219"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}