So you want to learn German – So dass Sie wollen Deutsch lernen #10 by K. Williams

July 31, 2015 By Captain Maiel Leave a Comment

It’s that time again! So you want to learn German…

It’s been awhile since I’ve written about my travels in German studies. If you’re new to the series, then you should know that I am teaching myself the German language and learning about the culture. The end goal right now: to teach English to German natives in retirement. Have I looked into relocating? Nope. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The German language can be tough! The grammar gives native speakers trouble, so I am not even going there yet. I have at least 15 years between now and then to prepare, and this series, will hopefully continue through the entire process.

Monschau, Germany

I’m still using the Duolingo app and I’m happy to say that a German friend of mine told me that her American husband is using it to also self-teach. I feel like that is ‘golden’ vetting.

I have two books that I am waiting for my budget to allow me to order:

English Grammar for Students of German: The Study Guide for Those Learning German (English Grammar Series) and Deutsche Wiederholungsgrammatik: A Morpho-Syntactic Review of German

These texts have been recommend through a couple friends, both fluent in the language. The latter is a text was used in college courses, so they’re vetted. Making sure that the books and tools you use are vetted is actually important. You don’t want to teach yourself an entire language and find out you’ve had it wrong this whole time. The Hungarian Phrasebook sketch comes to mind.

So this is where I am at: improved vocabulary, growing practical understanding of grammar. Somewhat of an elementary level.

About Captain Maiel

Born in Saratoga Springs, New York, K has enjoyed more than twenty years professionally writing. K attended Morrisville State College, majoring in Biology, and then continued with English and History at the University at Albany, where she gained her Bachelor’s Degree. While attending UA, K interned with the 13th Moon Feminist Literary Magazine, bridging her interests in social movements and art. Topics of K's writing often include gender and racial disparities, and trauma. In 2014, K graduated from Empire State College (SUNY) with a Masters in Liberal Studies: screenwriting (Film Studies), the politics of film, and adaptations. During her gradute work, K was the recipient of the Foner Fellowship in Arts and Social Justice, a full scholarship.
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Published novels by K include the Civil War drama Blue Honor, the Second World War spy thriller OP-DEC:Operation Deceit, and the controversial dark fantasy, paranormal series The Trailokya Trilogy. In addition to writing novels, K does screenwriting: 8 Days in Ireland and the adaptations of her current novels. A sequel to her second novel, OP-DEC, is in the research phase, while the screen adaptation is being considered for production by film companies.
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In 2015, K. Williams became an official member of International Thriller Writers, but her greatest accomplishment thus far was becoming a mother in 2017. K continues to produce commentary and art pieces on The Blue Honor Blog, publishing twice weekly. A devoted dog mom, K created Shagbottom Theater in which her dogs star as well known literary and stage personas. K is also a visual artist, producing the ZoDuck Cartoon, painting and sketching--digitally or traditionally, as well as an accomplished Photographer. Click here to see more! Whether it's cooking, IVF and Parenting, learning a foreign language, history or dogs, you'll find something to enjoy and for which to come back.
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Excerpts of K's unedited, rough drafts and other scraps of writing can be found at: KWilliamsAuthor on deviantArt.com. You can also sample her books on Wattpad.