Sebastian Meise’s 2021 feature film, Große Freiheit (Great Freedom) is an exhilarating, though heartbreaking account of one man’s relentless refusal to adhere to the norms of a system without mercy, no matter the cost.
Continue reading ““Große Freiheit” Review: A Defence of Liberation for its own Sake”“Einschlafen Podcast” – A German Podcast to Help You Fall Asleep
Subliminal learning, the idea that you can learn a new language just by listening to an audiobook while sleeping, is probably a myth at best. However, there is some evidence that you can gain, or at least reinforce, new vocabulary by listening to something in a foreign language while asleep.
Even if subliminal learning isn’t effective, that doesn’t mean that listening to podcasts in bed isn’t a good idea! My recommendation for this week is the “Einschlafen Podcast,” which is available on Spotify, on its website, on YouTube, and on iTunes.
“Einschlafen Podcast” (German for “Falling Asleep”) is an excellent German podcast, featuring the relaxing voice of Toby Baier. Each week, Toby starts out by talking about the news, his recent life, and any other random facts, and then eventually starts reading excerpts from books in a calming, slow voice. The books range from Alice im Wunderland to Kant’s Kritik der reinen Vernunft.
The point of “Einschlafen Podcast” is to fall asleep. For those trying to learn German, this is a great way to increase your daily input, simply by falling asleep. Although “passive learning” is still fairly controversial, I feel like I’ve benefitted from listening to a little extra German every day, especially in listening comprehension.
German.net
German.net is a language-learning website with numerous exercises. Levels range from approximately A1 (beginner) to B2 (advanced). This could be a very helpful tool for those looking to brush up on German skills or trying to advance their language.
German.net has a number of grammatical exercises, including ones on verb tenses, case and declension, nouns, adjective endings, prepositions, and the passive voice. These exercises are neatly categorised and are easy to find on the website.
These textbook-like exercises require the user to fill in missing information, and the solutions give the correct answer. 
It also has “vocabulary builder,” which quizzes the user on words which grow progressively more difficult. 
Perhaps most unique to German.net, and also most useful, is the “reading” tool, which presents short texts and then quizzes the user on the content. 
German.net also features a verb conjugation tool, which is especially useful when reviewing for a test or trying to learn more irregular conjugations. 