Chicago has a long history of German influence. While German Chicago isn’t as prevalent as it used to be, there are still pockets of Deutschland in town. Most of the German stores and restaurants are located in the Lincoln Square neighborhood, along Lincoln Avenue around Lawrence and Western. Here are a few places to check out:
European Import Center, 4752 N. Lincoln Ave., 773-561-8281. This little store contains German gifts, a few magazines (Der Spiegel, etc.), birthday cards, and candy. The proprietors and the customers often speak in German.
Europa Books, 832 N. State St. You can find German novels, dictionaries, grammar guides, magazines, and newspapers at Europa Books.
Merz Apothecary, 4716 N. Lincoln Ave. This place has been around since 1875. It has all kinds of stuff in it, but you can find some German beauty and grooming products and some German candy.
Dank Haus, 4740 N. Western Ave. Dank Haus is the German American Cultural Center. They have language classes, movie screenings, art and music events, historical exhibits, cooking classes.
Chicago Brauhaus, 4732 N. Lincoln Ave. German food and beer, live music. “It is always Oktoberfest at the Chicago Brauhaus”. Closed on Tuesdays.
Phonothek Intensiv Arbeitsbuch is an intensive course for practicing your German speaking pronounciation and accent. It comes with two CDs, each has 99 tracks.
Looking for some German TV to watch? Well, you can watch every episode of South Park in German online, for free!
I got some South Park DVDs in German and have been watching episodes on the subway on my iPod, but being able to watch all of them online for free is a great resource. The slang used is clearly not for everyone. I guarantee you’ll learn:
Oh mein Gott! Sie haben Kenny getötet!
Ihr Schweine!
after just a few episodes. And “Schnauze!” as well…
I don’t like books or courses that claim to teach you a language in only a few minutes a day. German in 10 Minutes a Day is decent: you’ll learn some German with it. There are 24 lessons. It does include 150 stickers that it encourages you to put up around your house. I have to admit that I still have a few stickers from this book around my house. There are also some flashcards that I didn’t bother using.
Author: Kristine K. Kershul
Pages: 132
ISBN: 0944502202
A good monolingual dictionary is a must for learning German. (Monolingual means that this is a German dictionary, and the definitions are in German.) Here are a few to choose from:
Duden Volume 1: A good standard dictionary. 115,000 entries, 800 pages. Available in the U.S. They publish 12 volumes, but volume 1 is the one you want.
Brockhaus Wahrig: Six volumes, 220,000 entries, 85,000 technical terms.
Grimm Deutsches Wörterbuch: 33 volumes, 34,000 pages! This is the German equivalent of the Oxford English Dictionary.
You should probably get the Duden. It’s available in the U.S. (old used editions are very cheap).
Langalot has a “language lab” full of German language learning resources. The have all the Foreign Service Institute German audio courses, for free. You can listen to the first lesson of each one on the website without creating an account. After creating a free account, you can listen to all of the lessons, or download mp3s. They have the following courses:
The United States Government created these courses to teach government officials German. They vocabulary can be a bit embassy specific, but they are good courses and you can’t beat the price!
Just found this video on the Beyond Words blog. Johnny Cash singing “I Walk the Line” in German (Wer kennt den Weg):
Here are the lyrics:
Wer kennt den Weg
Am allerschonsten war es doch zu Haus
Und doch zog's mich einst in die Welt hinaus
Und in der Ferne suchte ich mein Gluck
Wer kennt den Weg, den Weg zuruck
Sie schenkte mir die Liebe und ihr Herz
Doch ich bracht' ihr nur Tranen, Leid und Schmerz
Denn ich verliesie und damit mein Gluck
Wer kennt den Weg, den Weg zuruck
Wer kennt den Weg zuruck in jene Zeit
Den Weg zuruck in die Vergangenheit
Den Weg nach Hause und zum ersten Gluck
Wer kennt den Weg, den Weg zuruck
So this begs the question: Did Johnny Cash speak German?
According to wikipedia, he was stationed in Germany for three years when he was with the Air Force. I’m guessing that after three years, he was pretty good in German.
According to a different wikiepedia entry, his recordings of “Viel Zu Spät” and “Wo Ist Zu Hause, Mama” were his first German recordings, and perhaps the first time a country singer recorded a song in a foreign language.
Author: Joseph Rosenberg
Pages: 384
ISBN: 0486202712
Amazon editorial review:
Filled with dialogues, grammar and idiom studies, and practical exercises, this is probably the most delightful, useful, and comprehensive elementary book available for learning spoken and written German. In addition, the book features 28 sketches of specific scenes with pertinent items numbered and identified in both German and English. Includes 330 photographs and illustrations.
