I want to brushup on my German, which has been dormant for about 15 years. I'd like to be able to read French as well. I've never taken French. The purpose of both is to read horological texts that have not been translated into English. Does anyone here have experience with Rosetta Stone sufficient to offer advice? If so, your input is much appreciated.
I know some soldiers who used it quite a few years ago when it was free for the army on their official AKO learning portal. Seemed like a very efficient system but like anything, it all depends on how you apply yourself.
You might try the Duolingo smartphone ap. It actually works surprisingly well. Rosetta Stone can be expensive and my understanding is that they bombard you with excessive marketing.
Da kann ich helfen. Das deutsche Wort for tick lautet Tick; Tock dagegen heißt etwa so viel wie tock. Drrrring drrring ist schwer zu übersetzen, aber rrring rrrring bedeutet in etwa das gleiche, auch wenn es natürlich viel weniger Poesie hat.
Tick und tock, tick und tock, Geht die Uhr die ganze Nacht, Tick und tock, tick und tock, Endlich klingelt sie um acht. My first German poem. Be kind. (Edit: fixed the pronoun)
Very good on metre! And impressive on idiom (geht die Uhr) and non-standard but correct syntax (non-NP pre-verb). Minor grammatical mistake in the last line: should be sie, not die.
Thank you! I'm never clear on when one can or should use die instead of sie. I hear this done in spoken German, but not sure what the rule is.
Die comes in three functions: as an article, as a relative pronoun, and as a shortened demonstrative pronoun, where the latter is either obsolete or colloquial. The latter is the same as using this (one)/that (one) instead of he/she/it. You tried to use it in the last function here, and in theory, a sentence like "Endlich klingelt die (!) um acht" would work, but only where a demonstrative pronoun would be used: Finally, that one rings at eight. But in the context given, there is neither a change in subject nor a special demonstrative turn or emphasis on the alarm clock -- it's not as if you are saying "This alarm clock stays silent, but THAT ONE rings." Compare with this, which would be fine (though colloquial, which I prepare with 'bekloppt'): Mit zwei Weckern bin ich bedacht, die mich oft um den Schlaf gebracht: Der links macht tick, der rechte tock, Doch beide Uhren sind bekloppt: Werktags reißt die mich aus der Nacht, Und sonntags klingelt die -- um acht!
Ah, got it! I think... Sie hätte gern die Rolex Armbanduhr, aber die ist sehr teuer. ("She prefers the Rolex watch, but that one is very expensive.") Does that work?
Precisely. That sentence implies that a choice between several watches (or other things, such as different gifts or treats or...) went before. Hat sie sich für eine Uhr entschieden? -- Sie hätte gern die Rolex Armbanduhr, aber die ist sehr teuer.
Duolingo is a good free alternative to Rosetta Stone. Rosetta Stone is too expensive--you may as well sign up for foreign language classes at a local junior college and you'd get much more value. Pimsleur is good because the focus is listening, understanding, and synthesizing sentences with the language. But again, pretty expensive. It's all about the effort you put into it. I would play the Pimsleur Spanish mp3s on my way to work (30 minutes at a time) to help communicating with my Spanish-only employees. It did the trick, but once I left the job, I didn't keep up with it.
I often travel with co-workers down to Mexico, and a couple of them have been doing the Duolingo Spanish for some time, and their improvement has been quite impressive (probably helps if you had high school Spanish or somesuch).
I am truly enjoying this. I a long way off from conversational German or really even reading outside this program, but it is really fun to spend a few minutes each day.
