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.