Thursday, March 11, 2010

Learning German at Home














German is truly a "foreign" language to us parents.  Fortunately, we have connected with a wonderful woman, Margaret, who is teaching us German in exchange for spinning lessons!  We love bartering.












On Fridays, we venture over to Steiner College where Margaret goes to school.  We enjoy a healthy biodynamic lunch and learn German from her.  She reads to us and we plan to sing songs in the future. 


















The older children write German phrases in their Main Lesson Books, and Mommy reads the same book that Margaret reads to us after circle time.

















As we've mentioned in our eBook, learning a foreign language is all about speaking, singing, moving, and repeating!  The more we do it, the easier it gets.  And, we get more confident along the way. 















We are enjoying finding the similarities between German and English words, just as we've done with Greek and Latin.  One new resource that we love is http://www.alphabet-garten.com/Bob & Nancy's has a few books in German, as does Steiner College Bookstore. Now, it's time to make a puppet that we can use for German conversations at home!

Frohliche Weihnachten: Learning Songs & Traditions in German Book & Audio CD (Teach Me) (Teach Me...) (German Edition)

15 comments:

Little Acorn Learning said...

My grandfather came from Germany... my mother told me when she was a little girl he would sing to her in German and speak to her with such a lovely accent. He passed when she was only 11. It would have been so lovely to have him here now to teach my girls German. I love your blog. Such beautiful work you do with your children. xoxo Eileen ~Little Acorn Learning

Joy said...

That's so wonderful that you have someone you can barter lessons with! I can't wait to hear more about your adventures learning German.

Patzi said...

Viel Spaß und Erfolg beim deutsch lernen :-)

Truffula said...

Wunderbar! Ich wuensche Euch viel Spass dabei!

Gabriele Kubo said...

Oh, you joined my language!
Viel Spass beim Tanzen und Singen!

Viele Gruesse an Margarete!
von
Gabriele

love your approach!

Unknown said...

What a lovely, joyous approach you have to German! I'm so glad you are enjoying my website.

Viele Gruesse,
Sarah
http://www.Alphabet-Garten.com

cari said...

How wonderful! I live in Switzerland and am married to a German speaker. Wondering what I could offer from here as barter for one of your charming sprites. :-) hehe
We really enjoy your beautiful blog...thanks for sharing!

Rose said...

hallo gibt mein Freund,
dieser mir eine Wahrscheinlichkeit, mein Deutsches zu üben! Sie werden sehr gesegnet, um eine nette Frau Ihren Kindern die deutsche Sprache beibringen zu lassen.
Kinder erlernen sehr schnell, wann Sie sie sprechen, die, everyday~or sie singen.
Gott segnen,
Rose

Rick Tan III said...

Der Wunsch ist der vater das Gedankens! (I'm not sure if the spelling is right on...)

Anonymous said...

That is so exciting that you are learning German! Where are you in the US/where is the Steiner College Margarete goes to? What is she studying? I´m German as well, just moved to Stuttgart and started Waldorf Teacher Training (grades 1-8 elementary school, with English language ["Fachunterricht"] -as additional subject to the main lessons ["Hauptunterricht"] at the beginning of each day- and German as a foreign language as additional qualification...Would LOVE to learn spinning as well...
If you need any special German Waldorf book, we could maybe arrange something (I might need some English books later on as well), IF you want...
All the best from Stuttgart, Germany (my Waldorf teacher seminary here, the very first established, is on "Uhlandshoehe", right next to the very first Steiner school, which was founded as a cooperation between Rudolf Steiner and Emil Molt, the owner of the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory - for the children of the factory workers- just after WWI. It´s still running and I really enjoy the "founder spirit" still feelable there, together with a nowaday´s approach to Waldorf pedagogics...).

Viele Grüße an Margarete,viele schöne Geschichten und Lieder auf Deutsch und viel Freude an der Sprache,
ich hoffe, der Frühling kommt bald, hier und bei Euch,
herzliche Grüße,
Viola.

Tan Family said...

Thank you everyone for the beautiful comments (in both English and German!).

Viola, we are located in Fair Oaks which is near Sacramento, California. Steiner College is down the street from us: www.steinercollege.edu. Margaret is in the teaching program there for grades 1-8, just like you. My husband also attends there and you can see his blog at: www.thewaldorfway.blogspot.com. I love your blog! Email us, any time: info@syrendell.com. I would love to travel to Germany and teach you how to spin. Yes, let's talk more about trading books! We would love some Waldorf books in German.

Simona Inserra said...

that's wonderful!
My son goes to the Swiss school here in Italy and learn german. We also want to learn...

ciao!
simona

nocton4 said...

wonderful inspiring post x

Stephanie said...

Lovely!
But I can't say even that in German, alas. :)

Lawendula said...

Deutsch ist sehr schwer zu lernen, aber es lohnt sich. Steiner irgendwann im Original zu lesen, ist sicher der Traum eines jeden Anthros außerhalb von Deutschland (Schweiz, Österreich).

(To learn German is very hard, but it's worth it. To read original Steiner books is for sure the dream of every Anthro outside of Germany (Swiss, Austria).)

Liebe Grüße aus Nord-Deutschland von LaWendula