German OnlineGerman III

Unit 4: Fun with Words

Plan on finishing one lesson per day. If you are on a block schedule you should be finishing 1-2 lessons per day.

Material you will need for Unit 4:

- paper and glue for your Gedichtbuch (explained below),- a German/English dictionary.

Whenever you see this symbol please go to your course to complete an online assignment.

Lektion 1 - Introduction

This unit is about

- having fun! Since learning a foreign language with all those lists of vocabulary can be pretty dull and dreary sometimes, I thought we'd have some fun with the language.

- being creative. I want you to look at words in a different way. For some of you that might mean that you will have to stretch your imagination and give some little-used parts of your brain a work-out.

- drawing pictures. I know that some of you are convinced that you cannot draw. If that applies to you, drawing stick persons is o.k., copying pictures out of books is, too.

There will not be a final test for this unit. Instead, there will be a graded project: I want you to prepare a "Gedichtbuch," a book of poetry. The project is described on page 2 of this handout.

You may also complete your Gedichtbuch electronically. If you do this option, please follow the Table of Contents.

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Einheit 4: Spaß mit Wörtern

Your project for this unit will be to prepare a Gedichtband, a booklet with your poems. The poems I want you to put in this booklet will be described on different pages in this handout. Your completed booklet will contain the following items:

Page in your Described on this page booklet: of this handout:

1 Cover Page 22 Four Graphic Words 33 Two Word Pictures 44 One Concrete Poem 55 One Vowel Poem 7 6 One Illustrated Poem 97 One ABC Poem 108 One Poem of your Choice 10

Your booklet should look like this: use construction paper for the pages. On the title page, write Gedichte and your name. On the next pages, write/type/draw your poems on regular white paper, then cut them out and glue them onto the construction paper, one poem per page. When you are finished, punch three holes in the construction paper (use a three-hole or a one-hole holepunch). Get some yarn or string and tie your pages together, like this:

Mail your finished Gedichtband to us, together with this handout.

Please go ahead and get 8 pages of construction paper (or 4 pages of large construction paper, folded in half). Prepare the cover page of your booklet.

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A. Graphic Words

Wouldn't it be nice if we could tell what a word means just by looking at its shape? It would take all the hassle out of learning the vocabulary in a new language. But unfortunately there is no compelling reason why, let's say, the letter combination h-a-m-m-e-r should describe a certain tool.But how about if we try to represent the thing named by the very shape of the word?Like this:

1. What do these words mean? Write the English word next to the German:

     

KNOPFE     

he en       

2. You get the idea? Try to do the same thing with these words: *fallen, *Loch, Treppe, *Unordnung:

3. Now try this on your own: pick four German words and write them in a way that would show their meaning. Glue those words on page 2 of your Gedichte booklet.

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Lektion 2 - Word Pictures

1. With a little more effort, you can use words to paint pictures, like this:

Try this with these words: Giraffe, Kamel, Sonne, Haus:

2. Now pick two other German words and turn them into "word pictures:" Glue them on page 3 of your Gedichte booklet.

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Lektion 3 - Konkrete Poesie

1. Some poets and writers like the idea of using shape to show the meaning of words:

Ist das nur ein Apfel?

Nein, da ist auch ein      

Reinhard Döhl

Was hat der Mann im Kopf?

     

Was hat die Frau im Kopf?

     

2. Use the "Apfel" above as a pattern to write your own concrete poem: pick a German word (or several words), type them over a fairly large area, then cut a shape out of the typed words and glue it on a piece of white paper. Here is an example of what I had in mind:

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Sabine Lewis

Here are some concrete poems from other students:

Dori Edens, Pampa, TX

Catrina Allen, Burns Flat, OK

Nach einer Idee von Gerod Hall,

Seneca, MO

Theresia Smith, Tipton, KS

3. Now make your own concrete poem and paste it on page 4 of your booklet.Lektion 4 - Wortspielereien

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Reinhard Döhl

1. The Austrian poet Ernst Jandl was born in Vienna in 1925. In the following poem he shows that it is possible to tell a whole story using only one vowel. (Note: You can write all words in lower case if you are a famous poet. Otherwise please remember that all nouns are capitalized in German!) Practice reading this poem out loud:

ottos mops° pug (type of dog)

ottos mops trotzt° won't obeyotto: fort mops fortottos mops hopst fortotto: soso

otto holt koks° coalotto holt obst° fruitotto horcht° listensotto: mops mopsotto hofft

ottos mops klopft° knocksotto: komm mops kommottos mops kommtottos mops kotzt° pukesotto: ogottogott

2. Use Ernst Jandl's poem as a "recipe" to write your own: pick a vowel, collect some German words that use only that vowel, then make a short poem (at least 4 lines) out of those words. Glue this poem on page 5 of your booklet.(One tip: a lot of German verbs have only one vowel in the du- and er/sie/es-forms). Some German names with only one vowel are: Anna, Birgit, Dagmar, Elke, Gudrun, Ingrid, Iris, Katja, Natascha, Sandra, Detlef, Frank, Hans, Herbert, Karl, Peter, Ralf, Steffen, Werner, Willi. Below and on the next page are some samples:

Morgan Kern, Perry, OK: Willi

Willi liebt Ingrid.Willi hinkt.Ingrid ist himmlisch.Ingrid hinkt nicht.Ingrid: "Willi ist Kitsch!"Willi wird irrsinnig.

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Gene Smith, Seneca, MO: Peters Nerz

Peters Nerz.Peters Nerz rennt gegen Treppen.Peters Nerz rennt gegen Menschen.Peters Nerz rennt weg.Peters Leben: besser.

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Brandy Frazier, Perry, OK: Milchtier

Ingrid trinkt.Ingrid trinkt Milch.Ingrid sieht Tier in Milch.Tier schwimmt.Ingrid: "Flieg, Tier, flieg!"

Jeff Brown, Perry, OK: Ralf

Ralf war langsam.Ralf: "Ach, halb acht!"Ralf rast: Krach - Wrack!Ralf: krank.

Gerod Hall, Seneca, MO: Ich

Ich.Ich bin.Ich bin ich.Wirklich? Caroline Vendel, Norcross, GA: Elkes Ente

Elkes Erbe: Enkel Peter.Peter erschreckt Elkes Ente.Elke enterbt Peter.Peter: entsetzt.Peter entstellt Elke.Elkes Erbe: Ente

Dori Edens, Pampa, TX: Scherben

Peter, Detlef heben den Becher.Der Becher: Scherben!Der Lehrer: Bengel! Den Besen!Peter, Detlef bestechen den Lehrer.Der Lehrer: Besser!

Lektion 5 - Figurative Language

1. Look at this cartoon from PUNCH, a British magazine:

What is the misunderstanding here?

     

     

2. Poetry uses figurative language a lot. Read the poem by Rainer Maria Rilke, below. Then copy the poem on a separate sheet of paper (either typed or handwritten) and draw a picture of the literal meaning of what the poem describes. Glue that paper on page 5 of your booklet.

Ich lebe grad˚, da das Jahrhundert geht. gerade = justMan fühlt den Wind von einem großen Blatt˚, page, leafdas Gott und du und ich beschrieben hatund das sich hoch in fremden Händen dreht˚. turn

Man fühlt den Glanz˚ von einer neuen Seite, glimmer, shineauf der noch Alles werden kann.

Die stillen Kräfte prüfen˚ ihre Breite examine, testund sehn einander dunkel an.

Rainer Maria Rilke

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O Delilah, ichverehre den Bodenauf dem du stehst!

Verehrst du wirklichden Boden, auf demich stehe?

Ja, wirklich.

Oh, ... also gut.O Stückchen Boden, ich verehre dich, ich verehre dich, ich verehre dich!

Lektion 6 - ABC - Poem

1. Theo Weinobst used the alphabet to write a poem:

AnfangBabyCremeDaumenErfahrungFortschrittGrundschuleHauptschuleIrrwegeJugendsündenKüsseLiebeMann und FrauNeureichOrdnungPostenQualitätRastlosigkeitSommerhausTraumreiseUntergangVeraltenWartenXYZentralfriedhof

2. I want you to do the same thing: use the alphabet to write your own poem. Choose a topic like "Das mag ich", "Einkaufen", "Dinge in meinem Haus", "Ein Schultag", "Ein Tag in meinem Leben" and find German words for each letter. Paste this poem on page 7 of your booklet.

Lektion 7 - Poetry Dig

Find a German poem you like - either in a book or on the web. Copy that poem on a sheet of paper, either neatly handwritten or typed. Be sure to include the name of the poet. Find the English translations for a few words you think others may not know. Illustrate the poem: draw a picture, cut one out of a magazine, make a border or something similar. There are some links to websites with German poems on our website. On these sites you have to look under author names. My suggestions: Brecht, Busch, Droste-Hülshoff, Ebner-Eschenbach, Fontane, Goethe, Heine, Morgenstern, Rilke, Ringelnatz, Schiller, ...

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