Media today 212

Reading: Ernst H. Gombrich, Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser, loc. 546-561/4180 (kindle edition); Katharina Neuschaefer, Die nordischen Sagen, 11-14; Listening: Albert E. erklärt unsere Sinnesorgane, 21:00-26; Viewing: Rabadabading, Minecraft Adventure Map - Knobeldidobeli #05 (18:00).

2015
Total audio: 50.53 hours
Total video: 80.02 hours
Total narration/description: 1.16 hours (category added 8.25.2015) 
Age 5.10.31

Media today 211

Reading: Ernst H. Gombrich, Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser, loc. 533-546/4180 (kindle edition); Roger Hargreaves, Miss Purzelbaum. Listening: Albert E. erklärt unsere Sinnesorgane, 0:00-21:00; Kennst du den schon? Witze von Kindern live erzählt (about 10 min.). Viewing: Let's play Kung Fu Panda, episode 2 (20 min.): Narration-description/Minecraft: 14 min.  

In the Albert E. audiobook, this passage came up again, to similar effect:

Selbst der Wurm würde ohne sein Wurmgehirn ziemliche Wurmprobleme bekommen und beim Wurmen ganz unwurmig umwurmen, aber hallo!

("Without its worm brain, even the worm would have serious worm problems and would, while worming, worm around very unwormily, let me tell you!").

2015
Total audio: 50.48 hours
Total video: 79.44 hours
Total narration/description: 1.16 hours (category added 8.25.2015) 
Age 5.10.30

Wortschöpfungen 7

German teachers take note: 

       der Clown, die Clowns > die Cläune

Usage: 

A: "Du bist also der Klassenclown?" J: "Ja, ich und mein Freund Theo, wir sind die Klassencläune."

Literary-critical Sunday school 14

Reading: Guido Wandrey, Die Weltreligionen Kindern erklärt, loc. 728-773/2119. Listening: Die Bibel, 41:00 - 57:00 (Genesis 10-14). 

Everything is getting Minecrafted. Today in the world religions book we started reading about Islam. The first image in the book was of the Kaaba and the Grad Mosque in Mecca. 

As soon as J saw that, he suggested he could build it in Minecraft. Which he proceeded to do shortly later, at the grocery store: 

When I asked him what the building to the left is, he said: "Das ist mein deutscher Hafen." 

Also, serendipitously, the story of the tower of Babel was up this morning, and once again it was just like Minecraft! I asked J if, in his Minecraft-world, there was a god who came down and destroyed buildings (not that this is really what happens in the bible story). Whereupon J: "Wenn es in meiner Minecraft-Welt einen Gott gibt, dann ist er nicht sehr streng." ("If there is a god in my Minecraft-word, he is not very strict."). 

2015
Total audio: 50.17 hours
Total video: 79.24 hours
Total narration/description: 1.03 hours (category added 8.25.2015) 
Age 5.10.30

Media today 210

Reading: Dimiter Inkiow, Die spannendsten griechischen Sagen, 119-125 (end).

We've been reading and listening to Greek mythology for the last half a year. We are going to return to Norse mythology now, which we first started on nearly two years ago—before this blog—with this excellent series: 

J's favorite character in Norse mythology is the world-wrapping serpent Jörmungandr (wrapped around the tree in the image above). Here's an old photo:

Serendipitously, we watched How to Train Your Dragon for the first time this afternoon, so that got J into the mood for vikings.

Changes to the L2 regime

One of the biggest changes kindergarden hath wrought to our L2 situation is that there is now very little time now for German audiobooks and videos. 

Prior to kindergarden, J was listening to an average of 12.4 minutes of German audiobooks per day and watching an average of 19 minutes of German videos per day. After nineteen days of kindergarden, those averages are now 1.6 minutes audio and 4.6 minutes video per day (hardly meaningful as averages, since he's only watched one video and listened twice to audiobooks). 

That difference is, well, inevitably going to make a big difference. 

We haven't had time the last two Sundays, but I'm hoping to get at least one extended bout of audiobook listening in per week during our literary-critical Sunday school. Hopefully I can manage at least 45-60 minutes per week of audio (more important than video, in my opinion), for an average of 7-8 minutes per week.

On the plus side, I'm hoping the new practice of dedicated time for L2 description-narration will also help keep J's German chops together and progressing apace. 

Bastelplausch 1

Basteln is to make/build things in a crafty-hobbyish sort of way. Plauschen is to chat. A Bastelplausch is when you do both at the same time, which J and I like to do. 

The theme today has been sailing ships. We started off with Minecraft.  

Then, in the new workspace I recently made for J ... 

... we got started on a cardboard ship: 

With Minecraft, I recorded 38 minutes of L2 description-narration from J. I've been using the stopwatch on my ipod during this exercise, starting and stopping as J alternatively talks and falls silent. 

So those 38 minutes represent 38 minutes of solid talk from him, recorded in numerous episodes and snippets over the course of the morning. 

2015
Total audio: 50.02 hours
Total video: 79.24 hours
Total narration/description: 1.03 hours (category added 8.25.2015) 
Age 5.10.29

Media today 209

Reading: Several new jokes from Imke Stotz, Sagt Ulf zu Gnulf... : Die 500 besten Kinderwitze (now finished); A.A. Milne, Pu der Bär. Gesamtausgabe, 252-256.

Today J got his first "report card" from kindergarden, so now he is in a position to understand the genre of report card jokes. 

Media today 207

Reading: Dimiter Inkiow, Die spannendsten griechischen Sagen, 115-118. Minecraft description & narration: 10 min. 

In Minecraft J built a cool church:

Here's a look at the inside, complete with altar and rose window. 

There are pews on the other side. K and I not quite sure how he got it so churchy-realistic looking; we're not churchgoing folk. We've been to gothic cathedrals in Germany, but that was over a year ago now.

2015
Total audio: 50.02 hours
Total video: 79.24 hours
Total narration/description: 35 min. (category added 8.25.2015) 
Age 5.10.26

Media today 206

Reading: Several old and new jokes from Imke Stotz, Sagt Ulf zu Gnulf... : Die 500 besten Kinderwitze; David Macaulay, Das große Mammut-Buch der Technik, 126-127 (pneumatic machines, pneumatic drill). Description & narration/Minecraft: 10 min. yesterday and 15 min. today. 

The new Minecraft activity involves me simply plopping myself down next to J while he plays Minecraft on the tablet, whereupon he will proceed to talk nonstop and a mile a minute, describing what he has built and is building and is planning to build and where he got the ideas (often from one of his videos; whence usually also the language he is using to describe it) and what he has just figured out and what things are made of and how they work, etc. Yesterday I had this notebook to hand and worked in a few items: 

But today I just sat there, asking J the occasional question (when I could get a word in edgewise), and in this way it's a very low-input, low-mental-bandwidth way to get him to produce copious L2. And he loves it. 

I'm also going to add narration/description to the categories I keep chronological track of in the stats below.

2015
Total audio: 50.02 hours
Total video: 79.24 hours
Total narration/description: 25 min. (category added 8.25.2015) 
Age 5.10.25

Media today 205

Reading: Brothers Grimm, "Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten," twice through. Listening:  Kennst du den schon? Witze von Kindern live erzählt (about 15 min.). Viewing: About 45 min. of various "Let's Play Minecraft" videos;  Die furchtlosen Vier (87 min.).

Total audio 2015: 50.02 hours
Total video 2015: 79.24 hours
Age 5.10.24

Media today 204

Reading: Kathryn Lasky, Die Legende der Wächter 2. Die Wanderschaft, loc. 1676-1785/2997 (kindle edition); several old and new jokes from Imke Stotz, Sagt Ulf zu Gnulf... : Die 500 besten Kinderwitze. David Macaulay, Das große Mammut-Buch der Technik, 124-125 (pumps); Ernst H. Gombrich, Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser, loc. 509-533/4180 (kindle edition). Listening:  Kennst du den schon? Witze von Kindern live erzählt (about 15 min.).

Total audio 2015: 58.47 hours
Total video 2015: 78.57 hours
Age 5.10.23

Media today 203

Reading: Kathryn Lasky, Die Legende der Wächter 2. Die Wanderschaft, loc. 1581-1676/2997 (kindle edition); several old and new jokes from Imke Stotz, Sagt Ulf zu Gnulf... : Die 500 besten Kinderwitze.

Idiom in focus 5: einen (großen) Bogen um etwas machen

This one, which means "to give somebody/something a wide berth," has been coming up in our reading a lot. In German (unlike in English) it can be demonstrated very well with a little skit. Below, the bunnies machen einen großen Bogen um die Stinktiere: 

Here's a video of that: 

And then the skunks wanted to do the same with the bunnies: 

Media today 202

Reading: David Macaulay, Das große Mammut-Buch der Technik, 121-113 (pressure and pumps); Dimiter Inkiow, Die spannendsten griechischen Sagen, 105-114. 

When J heard Thanatos mentioned as the son of Nyx, his face brightened. He was recalling this story of how Sisyphos had made him drunk "on beer." We had some good belly-laughs. 

Media today 201

Reading: Several new jokes from Imke Stotz, Sagt Ulf zu Gnulf... : Die 500 besten Kinderwitze; Roger Hargreaves, Mister Pingelig. 

Reading words for the week 13

13.1 mag
13.2 mich
13.3 meine
13.4 kann

The English words J's working on in kindergarten this week are like, me, my, can.

Media today 200

Reading: Several new jokes from Nico's Witzsammlung; Roger Hargreaves, Mister Dämlich, Miss Tipptopp, Mister Kitzel, Miss Ärger, Miss Quasselstrippe. 

Media today 199

Several new and old jokes from Imke Stotz, Sagt Ulf zu Gnulf... : Die 500 besten Kinderwitze; several new ones from Nico's Witzsammlung. 

For a couple of weeks now J has been telling various jokes to various people. He told a few at German kiddie playgroup yesterday. He has a good memory for them, in contrast to his daddy. 

Media today 198

Reading: Several old jokes from Imke Stotz, Sagt Ulf zu Gnulf... : Die 500 besten Kinderwitze; Kathryn Lasky, Die Legende der Wächter 2. Die Wanderschaft, loc. 1532-1581/2997 (kindle edition); Several pages from Wieso, weshalb, warum, "Die Uhr und die Zeit."

Media today 197

Reading: Dimiter Inkiow, Die spannendsten griechischen Sagen, 99-104; several new and a couple of old jokes from Imke Stotz, Sagt Ulf zu Gnulf... : Die 500 besten Kinderwitze. 

J loves spoonerisms and syllable-switching: one of the jokes here is "Als das Telebimmel fonte, treppte ich die Rante runter und türte gegen die Bums." (As the relephone tang, I stan down the reps and dumped against the boor). 

Media today 196

Reading: several new and a few old jokes from Imke Stotz, Sagt Ulf zu Gnulf... : Die 500 besten Kinderwitze. 

Media today 195

Reading: Barbara Kindermann, Wilhelm Tell. Nach Friedrich Schiller, 19-25; several old and new jokes from Imke Stotz, Sagt Ulf zu Gnulf... : Die 500 besten Kinderwitze. 

We got to the iconic apple-shooting scene in Tell today. 

After Gessler has Wilhelm seized, it was too much for J: "Papa, aufhören! Das ist zu grausam!" So we finished up with the jokes. Here is one he has had me read five or six times today: 

Die zwei irren Brüder Knick und Knack wollen aus dem Irrenhaus ausbrechen. Da sagt Knick zu Knack: "Du Knack, heute Nacht kommst du zu mir ins Zimmer."
Knack fragt: "OK! Aber was machen wir dann?"
Knick antwortet: "Na ganz einfach. Dann leuchte ich mit der Taschenlampe aus dem Fenster und du kletterst an ihrem Strahl herunter."

"Ne, ne. So doof bin ich nicht", antwortet Knack. "Wenn ich fast unten bin schaltest du sie aus und ich falle hinunter."

Reading words for the week 12 revisited

In kindergarten, J has weekly "sight words" for reading, so we're just going to track these in German for the time being. This week they are

I > ich
a > ein (not going to worry about gender/case for now)
see > sehe
am > bin   

Media today 194

Listening: A. A. Milne, Pu der Bär, 3.55 - 4:18; 5:02-5:24.

Total audio 2015: 58.32 hours
Total video 2015: 78.57 hours
Age 5.10.10

Last of our special Mondays

For most of the past three years, Jamie and I have spend every Monday together, usually just the two of us, usually (I think five out of my six semesters) without any school. My goal on these Mondays has been to cram as much German as possible into the time between J's getting up in the morning and his going to bed at night. 

In the early days we did most of our L2 game routines on Monday. For the last two plus years, I've aimed for a solid hour each of reading, audiobook listening, and viewing; along with a long and conversationally intensive walk, with the explicit goal of introducing new vocabulary and progressive grammar/syntax; as well as chatty mealtimes, letter-writing to his fictional L2-pen pals, etc.

Other that his piano lesson since last November, I've always deliberately avoided making plans to spend time with people on Monday, so that we could speak only German and make it as L2-immersive as possible. 

I feel that these special Mondays have played a crucial role in making J as fluent as he is in German.(For example, he just said this, verbatim: "Ach, es ist herrlich, an einem so regnerischen Tag ein warmes Bad zu nehmen!"). They have also deepened our relationship. 

But now our special Mondays are over. Tomorrow is J's first day of kindergarten. We will never have a regular free day together during the week. (Ok, there will be the summer.) 

I have always been worried that the start of regular school will bring about a change in J's attitude to German, which, reinforced by the reduction of time he spends speaking it during the week, will start to put serious daylight between his L1 and L2 abilities (virtually none so far; in certain areas his L2 is better) and erode his desire to speak German. I'm no longer as worried as I used to be. It's inevitable that his English will now improve faster than his German. I'm cool with that. I will do what I can to keep his German progressing. My biggest goal now is to get him able to read on his own in German with an ease approaching to that in English, and to want to do so. 

As for desire to speak Geman, well, I don't think there's going to be a big problem with that anytime soon. He seems to truly love the language. 

Literary-critical Sunday school, part 13

Reading: Annamarie Benedikt, Die Kinderbibel, stories of Tower of Babel and the prophet Elija. Listening: Die Bibel, 0-41:00 (Genesis 1-9). 

We've done a good bit of reading and listening in the real bible before, but usually only individual stories that we prepare for ahead of time by reading simpler and linguistically more modern versions in children's bibles. Now J is ready for the real thing, so we're going to start at the beginning and listen through. 

As we were listening to the creation story this morning, I told J that today is Sunday and that many people don't work on Sunday because those who first invented the week decided to make Sunday a day of rest, like the seventh day in the Bible. To which J responded: "Yeah, but that's kind of dumb, because why is there any traffic at all on the street?" This led to some interesting discussion about how a lot of people who think of themselves as Christians don't follow the bible as strictly as they used to in history; or can't afford to not work on Sunday (like maybe the employees of the donut shop we were on our way to); or come from a different culture and/or belong to another religion where Sunday doesn't have this meaning. "Like the [ancient] Greek religion!", J chimed in. I agreed, but told him that that is an ancient religion that most people don't believe and live by anymore.  

We also listened to the story of Cain and Abel for the first time, really. Up till now, J has wanted to skip it. In our discussion, I pointed out that the real bible doesn't say why exactly God is pleased with Abel's offering and not with Cain's, that this is one of the places where we have to try to come up with an explanation ourselves, but we can never really be sure. Was it something about Cain, or was God himself maybe playing favorites?   

Media tody 193

Reading: Barbara Kindermann, Wilhelm Tell. Nach Friedrich Schiller, 13-18; Dimiter Inkiow, Die spannendsten griechischen Sagen, 95-98. Viewing: Der König der Löwen, 85 min.

Total audio 2015: 57.06 hours
Total video 2015: 78.57 hours
Age 5.10.08

Media today 192

Reading: Several jokes from Imke Stotz, Sagt Ulf zu Gnulf... : Die 500 besten Kinderwitze; Barbara Kindermann, Wilhelm Tell. Nach Friedrich Schiller, 1-6-13; Dimiter Inkiow, Die spannendsten griechischen Sagen, 88-94.

Media today 191

Reading: Barbara Kindermann, Wilhelm Tell. Nach Friedrich Schiller, 1-6. Listening: Kennst du den schon? Witze von Kindern live erzählt (about 15 min.); Ich weiß was, Albert E. erklärt: Wie wehrt man sich gegen Mobbing (42 min.). Viewing: Let's Play Kung Fu Panda, Episode 4 (22 min.), 5 (24 min.), 6 (19 min.), 7 (12 min.); Die Sendung mit der Maus, Sachgeschichten, "Filmtricks" (29 min.). App: Der Apfel.

Playing with the apple app reminded J of Wilhelm Tell, so he requested to see the Sachgeschichte about film special effects, one of which is modelled after the apple-shooting episode in that story (see here). I also happened to have the Kindermann/Schiller book this time, having ordered it from interlibrary loan. 

We read a bit, but J found it "pretty boring"!

Total audio 2015: 57.06 hours
Total video 2015: 77.33 hours
Age 5.10.06

Media today 190

Reading: Kathryn Lasky, Die Legende der Wächter 2. Die Wanderschaft, loc. 1358-1532/2997 (kindle edition). Dimiter Inkiow, Die spannendsten griechischen Sagen, 77-87. Listening: Ich weiß was, Albert E. erklärt: Beim Kinderarzt und im Krankenhaus, 8:00 - 51:00. 

Total audio 2015: 56.09 hours
Total video 2015: 75.47 hours
Age 5.10.05

Reading words of the week 12

12.1 du
12.2 zu 
12.3 Zug
12.4 nun
12.5 klug
12.6 Flug
12.7 Schmu

This excercise kind of fell away a few months back. In light of looming kindergarten, I guess it's time to bring it back. 

Media today 188

Viewing: A funny Stefan Raab spot with a cockatoo (9 min.)

The idiom keinen Bock haben came up with this video.

Total audio 2015: 54.47 hours
Total video 2015: 75.47 hours
Age 5.9.25

Media today 189

Reading: Dimiter Inkiow, Die spannendsten griechischen Sagen, 70-76.

Vacation media

Reading: Roger Hargreaves, Mister Glücklich, Miss Sonnenschein, Mister Weihnachten, Mister Schlotter, Mister Unverschämt, Miss Ärger; selections from Imke Stotz, Sagt Ulf zu Gnulf... : Die 500 besten Kinderwitze. Listening: Otfried Preußler, Der Räuber Hotzenplotz, 0-19:00; A. A. Milne, Pu der Bär (selections, about 20 min.).

Total audio 2015: 55.26 hours
Total video 2015: 75.47 hours
Age 5.9.25 - 5.10.04