The 5000 most used German words and memrise, a website for remembering almost anything
I would like to write a little bit about a new website that has been brought to my attention in the past week or so. The website is called memrise (www.memrise.com) and the purpose is to help you learn, or remember anything. I have spent perhaps 10 hours on this website trying to improve my German vocabulary. It has many free courses (more being added all the time) on a variety of topics. Language is only one of many. I have also added a course that teaches and helps you to remember all of the capital cities in the world.
It works by teaching you only a few words at a time, so perhaps it will tell you that Paris is the capital of France, then it will tell you that Berlin is the capital of Germany and that Moscow is the capital of Russia. Then it will test you on them, at first letting you choose the correct answer from multiple choice but after more time getting you to write the answer from scratch. It builds and builds up over time adding more words and eventually moves words over to a long term memory place when they have presumably been correctly recalled enough times. From then on it gets you to recall them a bit less often at this point, perhaps because they consider it to be learnt so it is more a case of memory maintenance. They use the imagery of plants and growing, harvesting and watering plants to illustrate the memory process.
It may sound a little ridiculous. But it is actually very good. I have studied memory to some extent in my academic past as part of reading Psychology. It is clear that they have designed this system based on current understanding and research of how best to remember. They introduce only a few new items at a time, so not to overwhelm the average capacity of working memory (7 plus or minus 2 items) and they use a lot of repetition to solidify the memory. Another part I like is the ‘mems’. This is that they often write a passage (that the community can vote up or down) which best helps you remember the word. Association is a very powerful tool for remembering. I learnt the word “Albern” in German which means “silly”. For a mem someone had uploaded a photo of Damon Albarn from the band Blur with something ridiculous on his head and a silly expression, and they had written “Damon AlbErn, is very silly”. A strange method perhaps, but I still remember the word.
Some mem’s leave more to be desired than others . . but still seem to help . .
For me, the best thing that I have seen on this site is 5000 words of German. This comes from research that I believe was done in Leipzig University a few years ago. They analysed a lot of newspaper articles, books etc and generated a list of the 5000 most used German words. They are thought to cover 87% of spoken German. There are a lot more than 5000 words in any language but it makes sense to be intelligent with your learning and to focus on the most used words. <.p>
this week's German vocab list for my quiz in the morning (again, combining my tumblr addiction with my studies!)
1. die Ausgabe- expense
2. das Benzin- gasoline
3. der Bleistift- pencil
4. die Computerdiskette- computer diskette
5. die Einnahmen- income
6. die Ernährung- nutrition
7. der Haushalt- household
8. das Heft- notebook
9. die Heizung- heat heating system
10. der Kugelscheiber- ballpoint pen
11. der Müll- trash, garbage
12. die Nebenkosten- utilities, extra costs
13. das Papier- paper
14. die Reparatur- repair
15. das Sparkonto- savings account
16. der Strom- electricity
17. die Studiengebühren- tuition, fees
18. die Versicherung- insurance
19. das Bauernhaus- farmhouse
20. das Dach- roof
21. das Dachgeschoss- top floor, attic
22. die Diele- front hall
23. der Eingang- entrance
24. die Etage- floor, story
25. der Flur- hallway
26. die Frühstücksniche- breakfast nook
27. die Garderobe- wardrobe, closet
28. das Gästezimmer- guest room
29. das Gerät- appliance, device
30. die Mikrowellenherd- microwave oven
31. der Neubau- modern building
32. die Spülmaschine- dishwasher
33. der Staubsauger- vacuum cleaner
34. der Teppichboden- wall-to-wall carpeting
35. die Treppe- staircase
36. die Umgebung- area, neighborhood, vicinity
37. die Waschmaschine- washing machine
38. der Wäschetrockner- clothes dryer
39. sich ärgern über (+ acc.)- to be annoyed about
40. ausgeben- to spend (money)
41. bauen- to build
42. bitten um- to ask for, request
43. denken an (+ acc.)- to think about, of
44. einrichten- to furnish, equip
45. einziehen in (+ acc.)- to move in
46. sich freuen auf (+ acc.)- to look forward to
47. sich freuen über (+ acc.)- to be glad about
48. jobben- to work (at a temporary job)
49. mieten- to rent (from someone)
50. sparen- to save
51. unterstützen- to support
52. vergleichen- to compare
53. vermieten- to rent out (to someone)
54. verzichten auf (+ acc.)- to do without
Today's German lesson. My vocab quiz tomorrow will be on this Wortschatz:
die Altstadt- old city center
der Außenbezirk- suburb
bauen- to build, construct
die Bevölkerung- population
der Bezirk- district
die Brücke- bridge
das Bundesland- federal state
die Bundesrepublik Deutschland- Federal Rep. of Germany, West Germany
der Einwohner/ die Einwohnerin- resident
die Fläche- area
der Fluss- river
das Gebäude- building
die Geschichte- history
die Grenze- border
die Gründung- founding, foundation
die Grünzone- green space
die Hauptstadt- capital city
die Parkanlage- public park
das Schloss- castle
die Sehenswürdigkeit- sightseeing attraction
der Staat- state, country
die Stadt- city, town
das Stadtbild- appearance of the city
der Stadtplan- city map
der Stadtteil- part of a city, neighborhood
das Umland- surrounding region
das Viertel- neighborhood (in a city)
das Wahrzeichen- symbol
die Wiedervereinigung- reunification
der Wohnort- place of residence, hometown
zerstört- destroyed
der Zweite Weltkrieg- World War II
Casual space race anyone?
It’s Sunday night, I’ve got a glass of sparkling wine (Mother’s Day special?) and I’m playing space race on quizlet.com, testing my German vocab skills (I know right, awesome.) I got 95,010 points this time, but I’ve not beat my score of 126,830. How did I ever get that? Once you get past 90,000 it’s so difficult. It must be the wine, slowing down my reaction time. Anyway, I should probably shut up now, before I start to sound like more of a weirdo than I actually am.
JUST IMPROVED IT!
This Score:139,440 points
Your Previous Record:126,830 points (improved by 12,610 points)
Exciting or what?!
