Make up Blog 3

Speaking and pronunciation are probably my biggest obstacles to overcome in German right now.  My love of writing and reading have motivated and facilitated my ability to learn the visual aspect of German, but when it comes to speaking...I definitely have some catching up/practice to do.  When it comes to reading aloud, I usually have to concentrate and really pay attention to ensure that I say them correctly (or as close to correctly as possible).  If I simply read aloud without thinking about the pronunciation, the way I typically do with English because it comes so naturally to me, I will revert to pronouncing German words with an English pronunciation.  For example, yesterday in class I had to read a sentence aloud, and did it somewhat absentmindedly because I was more concerned with whether or not I had used the correct pronouns.  So, while reading it I pronounced the word "besucht" as "bee-such-t."  Logically, I knew that the word would not be pronounced that way in German, but on a subconscious level I always revert to pronouncing words in English.

An effective way to improve speaking and pronouncing is listening, so upon Sarah's recommendation, I decided to check out some German radio and television shows, and movies.  The movie I ended up watching is called Der Wettbewerb, which translates to The Competition.  I tried to follow the movie, but obviously I don't know enough German to know exactly what the specific issues in the movie were.  I primarily just listened and tried to pick out words I recognized.  The conclusion I arrived at was that it might be advantageous to supplement this sort of listening exercise with interactive exercises, to really test and challenge my ability.