Using Google Translate
to Learn Languages by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
I
do have some tips for learning how to listen and respond and ask questions in
German that I used when I lived there.
This is not all there is to learning another language obviously, but
many students memorize rote dialogs that fail them when they are in real life
situations.
I
did not have a German class when I was in Germany and all of my neighbors in
Stuttgart were Italian or Croatian. So, I
devised a method for learning how to speak German using Google Translate and
its microphone function.
Basically,
I would write out a question I needed to have an answer to and brainstormed several
responses. I would type the questions
and responses into Google Translate one by one and write out the German
sentence. Then, I would get the
pronunciation from the Google Translate microphone and practice saying the
questions and responses.
I
used this method to develop questions and responses for the following 31 real-life
situations:
1
– making reservations at a restaurant by telephone
2
– listening to see if a plane, train, bus, or boat is late or has changed gates
and asking to verify if you have correctly understood
3
– making and canceling appointments by phone at the doctor, dentist,
manicurist, and hair stylist
4
– ordering in a fast food restaurant (very high pressure situation)
5
–ordering at a restaurant
6
– buying train and bus tickets
7
– ordering items in a grocery store such as fish, cheese, and deli items
(getting a store advertising newsletter helps with food and drink vocabulary)
8
– getting gas at a gas station
9
– asking for directions
10
– listening to weather broadcasts and asking about the weather
11-
asking to set up a post office box in Germany
12
– asking to open up a bank account
13
– calling emergency services to report a problem
14
– describing medical conditions
15
– asking for a floor on an elevator
16
– taking a phone message
17
– asking for items at a pharmacy
18
– describing what you want at a clothing store
19
– getting a cab and giving your home address and preferred route home
20
– buying movie tickets
21
– changing airline reservations
22
– making airline reservations and cancellations
23
– asking where items are in a grocery store
24
– ordering items at a bakery
25
– asking for a restaurant bill
26
– asking for a wi – fi code and/or password
27
– asking where the bathroom is
28
– ordering a drink in a restaurant or bar
29
– asking for items at an outdoor market
30
– making arrangements for service people to come to your home by phone such as
plumbers, electricians, and painters
31
– ordering items at a butcher
I
used this method to learn to speak Spanish, when I was a youth services
librarian in California as well, so I knew it would work with German as well
when I lived there for five years.
If
you have a language-learning partner, you can role-play these situations and
think of how to generate vocabulary for more extensive conversations.
By
Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
