Practicing German with Grimms Fairy tales

I think Grimms Fairy Tales are pretty good for practicing German once you get into level 3. The langage is fairly simple and the vocabulary is limited. The german is a bit old fashioned but I didn't find that mattered.

There is a great site with all the stories with translations in more than 20 languages.

https://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/index

I tried translating English versions back into German (with a dictionary) to see how close I got to the German.

I also got an audio book from Audible - 50 Kinder und Haus Märchen

If you get a trial subscription you get 2 free books to keep.

HI sfpugh

Thanks for that inf. Haven't got to that leavel yet, but do listen tochildren's stories. Simple ones that is, all bits help. I will get to level 3 eventually and it is good to have those resources available. As a child loved the Grimm's fairy tales. Never stopped to think how macabre and “Grimm” they could be. 

Happy learning

Sebongela

Yes some of the Grimms stories can be pretty gruesome :) These days the English translations for children are usually very sanitised, not like the ones I had has a child.

The Grimm Stories website is good as you can open the German and English versions in different windows and have parallel text, if you don’t want to take on the German by itself.

Hi All

Another hint to help with comprehension. My Austrian friend suggested I read recipes to improve my understanding. Well, Geman bakeries are fabulous, so try some German baking recipes. I have made a German cheesecake. Turned out really well. Now am going to look for a german one and see how much I understand. German cheesecake uses Quark, not always easy to find and can be pricey, I believe you can use ricotta too. I did use quark though and it was perfect.

Happy baking all, especially at this time of the year

Sebongela

I hadn't thought of recipes, and you learn a lot of useful food words. I had a look at Lebkuchen and Käsekuchen.

Quark is not easy to find in the UK but I understand that Greek Yoghurt or a mixture of Greek yoghurt and ricotta works.

Hi sfpugh 

Here on Vancouver Island we find it on a rare occasion. We do live in a smaller town. According to my Austrian friend ricotta works, but I'm fairly sure that yoghurt and ricotta would work too. I found it quite different to a baked cheesecake. The pastry goes right up the sides and my recipe suggested just pressing in the party, not rolling it out. Was really good. Have not made lebkuchen, but want to make stollen this year. The apple strudel is also easy and really good. 

Have a great build up to Christmas

Sebongela

Hallo sfpugh und Sebongela,

Using German recipes is such a great idea, plus you get something delicious out of it! If you like cheesecake, you could also try making a German “Käse-Sahne-Torte” “cheese cream tart” which uses quark as well. Any protein-rich yoghurt can be used as an often cheaper substitue and even though it doesn't taste exactly the same, it gets pretty close. I haven't used ricotta in a cheesecake myself but it sounds yummy too! You can even make quark yourself which is not as difficult as it may seem.

Happy baking!

Julia