Building Your Vocabulary

The word Wortschatz in German means `vocabulary` but, more importantly it contains two words; `Wort` meaning word, of course and secondly, `Schatz` which means `treasure`. That is how any linguist looks at words; each one is a gem - especially when you are in a cake shop in deepest Germany and need to know quickly what strawberry is, as that is the cake you want! (it`s Erdbeer, by the way )

A quick and sort of painless way to soak up as many words as you can is this: Take 3 pads of post it notes and a black marker pen. The pads I suggest are pink for feminine nouns, blue for masculine and yellow for neuter, but you can pick other colours as long as they help you remember the gender. Look around your bedroom and find as many objects you can label as possible. Write the name on a blue post it note, for example `Vorhang` which is masculine, and means `Curtain` Put this next to the window where you can see it from the other side of the room ideally. Every time you see it you will be more likely to remember the word and also you will remember the gender too! Carry on and label as many objects as possible. More and more words will stick in your mind.

You can get more creative later with adding plural endings too, but start slowly and have fun, you can get your friends round and do it together so its a bit more sociable. Your parents may even let you label up more rooms if you can prove it is working.... (remember to ask permission first though!)

Good luck and have fun