German Language
& Culture Institute
Links 'n Things
Links 'n Things

is a collection of interesting, fun, and useful websites. It is work in progress and will be
periodically updated. Its purpose is to provide online German resources primarily for
adult German learners and teachers of German. Parents, whose children learn German,
might find some good and fun family activities here.  In short, there should be something
for everybody who is interested in the language and culture of German-speaking
countries.

If you have a site that you would like to see added or you notice a broken link, please
send an e-mail to: A.Carlson@German-in-Anchorage.org

Thank you!
  • Slow German Podcast: Annik Rubens (see also: Schlaflos in München ) reads articles
    about all things and matters of German life in slow German. Listeners can download a
    podcast and / or print out the script to read along.  
  • International Children's Digital Library has a nice selection of German children
    books that can be read online. The books have been scanned and displayed to make it
    look like a book.
  • I-catcher online: Video clips portraying an interesting array of themes. Each clip runs
    about 19 minutes. A script can be printed for reading along. Little exercises check for
    comprehension.
  • Grimm Grammar: The primary audience for Grimm Grammar is the beginning language
    learner. This is an irreverent revival and shameless exploitation of 19th-century Grimm
    Fairy Tales for honorable pedagogical purposes.  Thirty-six characters from these fairy
    tales have returned to 21st century Germany  to model all things grammatical ...
    anything the most eager language learner may wish to know about the German
    language.

Reading / Literature
  • Die kleine Eule: A delightful  children's story about a young owl that leaves its nest to
    discover the world. Linked to a PDF-document
  • Schokobär und Marzihäschen: This is a winter fairy tale about a little chocolate bear
    and a marzipan rabbit, who are sold from the bakery to a home of a bad girl far away.
    The adventure begins when both hatch a plan for an escape. Available for reading and
    listening.
  • Märchen und Sagen: An enormous list of fairy tales and legends.
  • Tierrätsel: Cute little riddles about animals. Can you guess?
  • Familie Mausekatz: Family Mouse-Cat lives in the storage room in Apfelborn (apple
    core) ... read about the family in the 30 short stories.
  • The Local: Germany's news in English
  • Project Gutenberg: first and largest single collection of free electronic books, or
    eBooks; this link takes you to the German section in alphabetical order.
  • Projekt Gutenberg-DE: This is a German  version of free eBooks which are hosted on
    Der Spiegel website. It comprises more than 4,800 books, ( more than  1,500,000 book
    pages), about 20,000 poems, 1,800 fairy tales, 1,200 fables, and 3,500 legends--all in
    German. Read you heart out!
  • Märchenstube: Lots resources about fairy tales, fair tales from many different
    countries, meaning of fairy tale figures and and and .... check it out
  • Literatur zur deutschen Einheit / Wendeliteratur: An collection of German literature
    addressing the reunification. Compiled by the Goethe-Institut Bordeaux.
  • German Fairy Tale Road: Read a fairy tale and complete some of the activities from
    the ACTIVITIES PAGE  or create your own activity. Both the fairy tales and activities are
    available in German and English.

Listening
  • Radio Tatort: Crime plays on radio produced by Germany's public broadcast
    companies ARD. Eleven cases are available for download.
  • Surfmusik.de: Listen to music, news, and information in all German speaking countries.
  • Locopodia: An audio-guide to many German, Austrian, and Swiss cities, including
    narratives to fairy tales and legends. Download as podcast and / or print out for reading
    along.
  • Deutsche Welle: Deutsche Welle (DW) is Germany’s international broadcaster: online,
    on-screen and over the air. It provides a European perspective to audiences around the
    world and promotes intercultural dialogue.
  • News in German: DW slowly reads  international news daily.  Also available as MP3
    and script.
  • LibriVox: provides free audiobooks from the public domain. The German version is not
    quite as big as the English.
  • Märchenpodcast; Fairy tale podcasts most of them just little short stories. Dont' forget
    to also look under "Österreich" there are some more . Read by native speakers.

Writing

Strictly Grammar
  • Canoonet: If you have a grammar question, you will find the answer here. In English
    and German.
  • Grimm Grammar:  See above under "Especially for Beginners".

Online dictionaries and encyclopedic resources:
Seasonal
Spring

Summer
Fall
Winter
    Fastnacht

Learning games and curious other things & activites
  • Schlemmerstadt: All you need to do is click and pretend-shop for groceries. Nice
    illustration of food products.
  • Geheimschriften im Mittelalter: Secret code writing in the medieval ages and beyond
  • ToonDoo: Ever wanted to create a comic strip, perhaps in German? Here is your
    chance.
  • Memo-Lingua: Play an online memory game on a variety of topics.
  • Landkarten.de: Test your geography knowledge about Germany and Europe on this
    interactive website
  • Sprachlernspiele.de: Grammatical learning games, such as memory, vocabulary
    match,
  • Word clouds: Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide.
    The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source
    text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The
    images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like.
  • Bücherwurm: Bookworm--connect the letter tiles and create words in German. The
    longer the word the more points you get. Watch it: Addictive!
  • Bubblr: Create you own comic strip using photos from flickr.com. Search for images
    and add bubbles.

Learning German Online
  • Deutsche Welle: Whether you're a beginner, can already speak German, or just need
    some business vocabulary, Deutsche Welle's individualized German language courses
    can help you to improve your skills. Its multimedia offer including audios, videos and
    texts cover all aspects of language learning from listening comprehension to speaking
    and pronunciation. The links below take you directly to the site:
  • Interactive Course: ideal for both beginners and those who have some
    previous knowledge of German. The 30-part self-study course covers levels A1
    and B1 of the Common European Frame of References for Languages. Authentic
    videos, slideshows and audio texts convey a vibrant picture of life in Germany,
    Austria and Switzerland. Accompanying worksheets, exercises and tests have
    been designed to complement your personal study program. The course also
    includes a grammar chart, a 7,000-word dictionary and a pronunciation guide.  
  • Mission Europe: Click on Mission Berlin and immerse yourself in the world of
    languages with three exciting Mission Europe adventures. Mission Berlin, Misja
    Kraków and Mission Paris offer an interesting approach to language learning in
    26 episodes. You experience three missions from the perspective of a computer
    player who joins virtual heroines in France, Poland and Germany. In Mission
    Berlin, the player and the virtual heroine Anna fight against the enemies of re-
    unified Germany.
  • Radio D: geared towards beginners who have no or very little previous
    experience with German. Emphasis is placed on listening comprehension and
    each of the audio episodes is accompanied by a text manuscript. The course was
    developed in cooperation with the Goethe Institute and covers levels A1 and A2
    of the European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF).

Children's Corner
  • Sandmännchen: A lovable little figure, Sandmann still brings little children in Germany
    to bed. Here is the homepage
  • Brokolino's Kinderwelt: A lovely website for children activities, including listening to
    fairy tales, German children songs, poetry, and more.
  • Zzzebra: A web-magazine for children, very educational.
  • Hamsterkiste: Especially the "Kinderseiten" are useful and informative and loaded with
    lots of activities. Other categories on the site include learning resources for teachers,
    and hints and information for parents.  
  • Grimm's Märchen: For reading
  • Hüpf- und Springspiele: Jumping and hopping games. More for toddlers.
  • BR-Kinderinsel: An interactive website where children have to discover the corners of
    an island.
  • Blinde Kuh: A education-based website with lots of instructional resources.
  • Kinderreime: A substantive collection of children poems, fairy tales, fables, and songs
    for the children age 4-14.
  • Detektei Suni & Partner: Online detective story
  • Kindernetz.de: A safe website for younger children with focus on activities and
    education.
  • Switcheroo Zoo: Make your own animal, give it a name and write a story. In English but
    story can be written in German of course. Also check out "Build your own beast" put
    together by the San Diego Zoo. Fun!

Teacher Resources
  • Literaturrecherche: Free research data bank with 50,000 entries. Registration
    required.
  • Dadalos: Free teaching material for political education in German; it is part of the
    international UNESCO education server.
  • Clipart: Free clipart in b&w for your classroom.
  • Hofbräu Haus Tageskarte: Get the daily menu delivered to your computer.
  • Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (BpB): An enormous wealth of teaching
    materials for social and cultural studies, and film resources for analyzing and discussing
    films.
  • ArmoredPenguin.com:  This site contains a number of resources  to make puzzles of
    various types.
  • Teacher's Pet: Created by a teacher, the toolbar can create crosswords, word search
    puzzles, bingo cards, jumbles, flashcards, pair-matching puzzles and much more.
  • Kinder- und Jugendliteratur im Deutschunterricht:  Anne Green and various other
    teachers put this site together and stocked it with ready to use materials for teachers
    who want to use children literature in the classroom.   
  • DaF-Blog:  A blog convened by Cornelia Steinmann. It offeres excellent resources and
    interesting links for teachers.
  • DaF-DaZ: The incredible website put together by Irmgard Graf-Gutfreund, 229
    downloadable PDFs.
  • The Language Menu: Created by language teachers for language teachers. You have
    a host of exercise and activity generators at your fingertip. They can also be embedded
    in your personal webpage.

About Germany and other German-speaking countries
  • The German Way: Daily life and customs in German-Speaking Europe
  • AboutGerman.net: designed to meet the needs of travelers, business people, and
    students of German. Information collected and arranged by Hyde Flippo, who is also the
    author of "The German Way" and the website above.  
  • Tatsachen über Deutschland: is a reference book offering all sorts of up-to-date and
    reliable information about Germany. In the course of ten chapters, renowned authors
    offer insights covering all aspects of modern life in Germany  
         
                                        
German Addresses in Anchorage

  • German Consul General: Bernd Guetschow
    Tel: 274-6537
          Location: 425 G Street, Anchorage, AK, 99501

  • German Club of Anchorage
Contact: Erika Nowka, Tel: 346-2542
Address: P.O.Box 100934, Anchorage, AK 99510-0934
Tel:  907-561-7002   Website: n/a
Membership: Annual fees $30 for family with children up to 18 years of age;  $20 for                 
any person 18 years or older.