Hi em :) I have been binge reading your tfota analyses and they are all so well articulated and feel so spot on, even when I barely noticed most of the clues and what they potentially meant on my own. I feel like I was completely absorbed in the story and the characters but then I read your analyses that flesh the story out in such a real and epic way! Do you have any advice on how I can start reading more critically and see more things that aren't explicitly stated like you do?
hiya nonnie! oh, this makes me so happy to hear 🥺🥺❤️❤️ i'm so glad you've enjoyed my analysis posts!! there's so much specific advice that i could give you, but i'll start with the general stuff and if you have questions, feel free to follow up.
i would say, first and foremost, the number one rule of critical reading is that you must leave all of your earthly notions and morals at the door.
this is something i wish they would teach in schools. it's great to immerse yourself in a story, to have reactions to it. in fact, i would argue it wouldn't be good art if it didn't evoke a reaction. but your thoughts after the reaction, are what determine a critical reader from a passive one.
for example, when Taryn betrays Jude and doesn't tell her she's been seeing Locke, and Jude figures this out at the coronation ball, what is your reaction? if it's "GASP! that bitch!" followed by "i hate her now and forever because she betrayed her sister and what kind of a person would do that? only a terrible one!" you are a passive reader. if it's "GASP! that bitch!" followed by "omg but why???" you're on the right track to becoming a critical reader.
critical reading of a fictional story is impossible to do when you let real life and personal values seep into the work to muddle your comprehension. bringing morals into fiction ruins the art of it.
are you bored by the classical western literature canon? this is why. because centuries ago, moral stories were the only ones allowed to be told. aren't you so glad we are no longer subject to such crude chains?
second, my biggest piece of advice is to read every word on the page.
none of this "speed reading", skimming, scanning, "glance at the line and comprehend it" stuff. i understand some of you are quite good at that. i have never been afforded that luxury. if i do not see, hear, and listen to every word in my head as i read it, i comprehend next to nothing. and in fact, studies have proven reading comprehension and absorption deteriorate the faster you read. it's faster, yes. it gets the job done. you'll understand the basic concepts (unless you're me lol). but it won't help you understand more.
understanding is time-consuming. critical reading is time-consuming.
also, if you're only going to read the book once, i would advise against binge reading the whole thing in one sitting, as tempting as it might be. critical reading is a kind of meditation. if you're trying to understand something, the answer isn't going to be wrung out of the book by its spine. and the author is certainly not obliged to hand it over to you on a silver platter.
critical reading means giving yourself time to process the events. giving yourself time to remember what happened. so unless you're definitely planning on rereading the book, may i suggest spreading the book out over the course of say, two or three days? you don't have to do this with every book. just the ones you like.
and finally, the question is always "why?" and the answer always comes from a place of compassion. or at the very least, inquisitiveness.
your mind is capable of making hundreds of connections in the span of a breath. if you set your sights on understanding why something happens or why a character behaves a certain way, you'll more easily be able to set aside your own values and emotions regarding a specific event or character, because it puts you in charge of finding the answer instead of the author/text/character who may or may not give you what you want word-for-word. and to be quite honest with you, that is true immersion.
curiosity is your most formidable weapon of intellect. use it.
I realize that I haven’t really made any specific vocab lists as of now. So, what could you actually need to be able to greet someone and introduce yourself in German? This list will include a lot of different phrasings (some of which you might not even need), and not all of them are easy at the beginning but as you get better it’ll all come together.
Greetings:
Hallo - Hello (standard)
Hi - Hi (informal)
Hey - Hey (informal)
Moin - Hey (informal, popular in northern Germany)
Guten Tag/Morgen/Abend - Good day/morning/evening (casual, formal)
Grüß Gott - God bless [you] (casual, used in southern Germany and Austria)
Willkommen - Welcome (used when inviting someone, like in English)
Wie geht es dir/Ihnen? - How are you? (informal/formal)
Wie geht’s? - What’s up? (informal, casual)
Was ist los? - What’s up?/ How’s it going? (informal, only in certain parts of Germany)
Alles klar? - Everything alright? (informal, only in certain parts of Germany)
Topics of Conversation
Conveying basic information:
Mein Name ist […] - My name is […]
Ich heiße […] - My name is […] / I am called […]
Ich bin [Nummer] Jahre alt - I am [number] years old
Ich bin [Alter] - I am [age]
Ich komme aus [Land] - I am from [country]
Ich bin [Nationalität] - I am [nationality]
Meine Nummer ist […] - My number is […]
Ich lebe in [Stadt/Region/Land] - I live in [city/region/country]
Ich gehe zur Schule - I go to school (before higher education)
Ich gehe auf die Akademie - I study at an academy
Ich gehe zur Uni/Universität - I go to university
Ich studiere […] - I study […] (higher education, uni/academy etc.)
Ich arbeite als [Arbeitsposition] - I work as [job position]
Talking about interests:
Ich mag […] - I like […]
Mich interessiert […] - I’m interested in […] (singular, 3 per)
Ich [Verb] gern - I like to [verb]
Ich habe […] - I have […]
Ich besitze […] - I own […]
Ich übe [Verb] - I am practicing [Verb]
Ich spiele [Instrument/Spiel/Sport] - I play [instrument/game/sport]
In meiner Freizeit [Verb] ich - In my free time I [verb]
Ich mag zu [Verb] - I like to [verb]
Ich mag [Essen] zu essen - I like to eat [food]
Ich mag [Getränk] zu drinken - I like to drink [drink]
Ich höre gerne [Musik] - I like to listen to [music]
Ich lese gern […] - I like to read […]
Meine Lieblingsfarbe ist [Farbe] - My favourite colour is […]
Mein Lieblingstier ist [Tier] - My favourite animal is […]
Mein Lieblingsessen ist [Essen] - My favourite food is […]
Mein Sternzeichen ist [Sternzeichen] - My star sign is [star sign]
Confusion:
Ich kenne das nicht - I don’t know that / I am not familiar with that
Ich verstehe dich nicht - I don’t understand you
Ich kenne das Wort nicht - I don’t know that word
Ich bin verwirrt - I am confused
Ich weiß nicht - I don’t know
Short expressions
Bitte - Please/Excuse me
Entschuldigung - Excuse me
Danke - Thank you
Danke schön - Thank you very much
Gern - With pleasure
Tut mir leid - I’m sorry
Warte - Wait
Moment - One moment
Keine Ahnung - No idea
Lecker - Tasty
Was meinst du? - What do you mean? (informal)
Was meinen Sie? - What do you mean? (formal)
Was bedeutet das? - What does that mean?
Kannst du dich wiederholen? - Can you repeat yourself? (informal)
Können Sie sich wiederholen? - Can you repeat yourself? (formal)
Kannst du das wiederholen? - Can you repeat that? (informal)
Können Sie das wiederholen? - Can you repeat that? (formal)
Sollte ich das wiederholen? - Should I repeat that?
Was ist das? - What is that?
Wie macht man das? - How do you do that?
Kennst du ihn/sie/es? - Do you know him/her/them/it? (informal)
Kennen Sie ihn/sie/es? - Do you know him/her/them/it? (formal)
Wie heißt du? - What is your name? (informal)
Wie heißen Sie? - What is your name? (formal)
Woher kommst du? - Where are you from? (informal)
Woher kommen Sie? - Where are you from? (formal)
Wo wohnst du? - Where do you live? (informal)
Wo wohnen Sie? - Where do you live? (formal)
Wie alt bist du? - How old are you? (informal)
Wie alt sind Sie? - How old are you (formal)
Als was arbeitest du? - What is your job? (informal)
Als was arbeiten Sie? - What is your job? (formal)
Kann ich deine Nummer haben? - Can I have your number? (informal)
Kann ich Ihre Nummer haben? - Can I have your number? (formal)
Was ist dein/-e Lieblings[…]? - What ist your favourite […]? (informal)
Was ist Ihr/-e Lieblings[…]? - What ist your favourite […]? (formal)
Was machst du in deiner Freizeit? - What do you do in your free time? (informal)
Was machen Sie in Ihrer Freizeit? - What do you do in your free time? (formal)
Kannst du mir etwas über […] erzählen? - Can you tell me about […]? (informal)
Können Sie mir etwas über […] erzählen? - Can you tell me about […]? (formal)
✨ Maggi ✨ no idea what it actually is, but we put it on everything (or at least my dad does lol)
many of us eat bread for breakfast AND dinner and only eat warm food for lunch
chimney sweeps, they come whenever they want, climb on your roof without having to ask and leave again, only leaving behind a bill
if you want to drive on the Autobahn and don't want to go 200 km/h, you'll have to stay in the right lane or hurry up, we don't like people slowing us down
we have strong opinions about the different German dialects and (at least here in NRW) we're worried for any German learners going to Bavaria or other regions with similarly strong dialects
German dialects can be differentiated by how you say the word "right?", there's: gell? wa? ne? woll? and many many more
there are several Great German Debates. example: 1. what's the gender of Nutella? (it's clearly "das"), 2. what do you call our jam-filled donuts? Berliner? Krapfen? Pfannkuchen?
every German dialect has their own words for different stuff, e.g. the name for bread ends, the name for buns, the name for buttered bread (sandwich), etc
if you're on time, you're late. be there 5 minutes early and you're good
everyone is punctual. always. except the Deutsche Bahn
you can't make any noise on sundays! you can't mow your lawn, you can't throw away glass!
most doctors and pharmacies are closed on wednesday afternoons. no idea why
Döner. we love döner and you'll find kebab shops everywhere
no German flags anywhere, except when it's football world championship or european championship
you pay for still water at restaurants & to pee at motorway restaurants
if the traffic light is red, we don't cross the road. even if there's no cars for miles. you do not. cross. the road. when it's red
yes, many Germans can speak English fairly well, as long as you don't ask us to pronounce "th"
there's "cold" rent and then there's "warm" rent
everything in our cinemas and on TV is dubbed, only rarely will a movie be shown in original tone, that's for "special" occasions
our prime time for when to watch the best stuff on TV is 8:15pm
Here is a folder of German language learning books, of every level - Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced. There are grammar and exercise books. Answers are provided in some of them. If you want to only practice and not want to study grammar books (- those files are in beginner level subfolder), you can just avoid that. That's all fine. Exercise books have also explained grammar concepts.
There are also dictionaries, vocabulary, phrase books.
📂 - Link.
This should be enough but I'll update if that'd be necessary.
Happy Learning!
lmk if this is not enough and you need any further help! i'm always happy to help!
Heyy! Welche Lernmaterialen findest du hilfrecher für das Deutschlernen? - Al (randomstudyblr)
an ASK?? someone rlly looked at this mess and thought "yeah this chick totally knows what shes doin" tysm but also what are you smoking 🤠
but. i also need u to know that currently every single draft i have rn for this blog........ is just resource lists..... so here i will just share the things that i use that are unique to german:
hammer's german grammar and usage
i cannot link to it..... but you totally should not look for this completely comprehensive reference of every single topic of german grammar from a brief A1 overview to an in-depth C2 analysis per every subject on sites such as libgen or libretext. you should not do that because it is Illegal and a Crime and you would be a Bad Person if you did that. how Dare you try to learn a language for free? for Shame.
ed swick's german grammar drills
you should also not look for this workbook of german grammar exercises to practice what you've learnt on similar sites. you should not print out select pages to practice your pretty german cursive while you study. (it also has brief explanations and reviews! :) )
basic german: a grammar and workbook
i found this in a folder that some other langblr shared i will @ them if i can find who (its @salvadorbonaparte, this is the post), but i think that this one is 10/10 because it's like the sweet spot btwn hammer's and ed swick!! in case youd like to Not Be a Criminal. it's got brief descriptions so you know what you'll need to use like 90% of the time, and then it has a few practice exercices. i will say tho i have noticed a few errors in the answer keys. (not errors as in I Know German Better but like the exercise told me to conjugate aufpassen and the answer key conjugated aufräumen.... h u h)
schaum's outline of german vocabulary
it's been a while since i touched this, but from what i recall this is very travel-based and it does not hold your hand At All. you learn or you don't, that's your problem. i like the latter, don't like the former, and i'm sure im in the minority with those opinions. this also has a grammar book and i really want to try it out! :0
nthuleen
this site provides exercises/worksheets that a woman who used to teach german used for her classes. it's a lil weird imo, like the worksheets arent really in pdf format so if i print them out they look really messy but then i can't do them online so like. huh.......... but the handouts are good imo. (also: i am Too Poor to afford a proper german class rn, so it's a good source of topics that i should study next. not that i really need that rn, im only A2 so everythings fair game, but it's good for that)
deutschakademie
ONLINE GERMAN GRAMMAR PRACTICE!!! ONLINE PRACTICE!!!!! SO MANY TOPICS!!!!!!!!!!!! FREE!!!!!!!!! AUDIO!!!!!
routetogermany
this is only for A1/A2 grammar, but i have used it before for when basic's didn't have a unit on the topic i wanted and hammer's was SO in depth it made me think wtf am i looking at :)
mein-deutschbuch
this provides explanations of german grammar, vocabular according to grammatical themes, and it has some online practice too!
deutsche welle
deutsche welle is my german language learning blorbo. they got everything. you dont even need anybody else tbh. its just. the vibes are immaculate. they have e v e r y t h i n g. this is the mommy of german language learners
sprach portal
in case you couldnt guess, im trying to focus more on grammar rn, but this is kinda designed for people travelling to austria, so it's very vocab-and-speaking/listening based. im kinda shit at following its organisation method so most of what ive found so far have been below my level (i dont need to learn how to conjugate in the present tense :v) but they have a MOUNTAIN of resources. dont pass it up. im just big stupid
books to read if you're in search for something new (in no particular order):
Cardiff, by the Sea
And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks
A Deadly Education
I Burn Paris
If We Were Villains
The Secret History
Neuromancer
The Woman Who Turned Into A Vending Machine
Salt to the Sea
House of Leaves
The Anatomy of Evil
Good Omens
My Sister's Keeper
Death in Venice
Sing to the Dawn
The Accidental Malay
The Power of Geography
Dead Poets Society
I have not read some of these books, and am unaware of the trigger warnings (if any) so I urge to you to look them up before reading if you assumed that they would be here, thank you and happy reading!
Some books fuck you up. They introduce an idea into your head, and it stays there, it grows, it haunts you at night. So, here are a few examples of that type of books, in case anybody is interested:
The Three Body Problem series. Man, just, cosmic horror and science fiction horror that isn't about body horror elements. Great for science nerds. The scale of these books is unbelievable, even if they start slow.
The Library At Mount Char. Fantasy elements, not dragons and magic type but more like secrets of the universe type, and reality is more than you think. The end is awesome, and it's best to read this book with a clear mind.
House of Leaves. Actual horror, if I were to specify I'd say psychological, but even that doesn't feel right. This book is an experience, it plays with your head. It just gets in there and never leaves. There are pages here about how sound moves in a space, and properties of it as well as light. Poetry too. Letters. A whole world.
Lovecraft, too. The Call Of Cthulhu is a good starter. Existential horror, eldritch fantasy.
Vita Nostra. Somebody described it as Harry Potter but written by Kafka, and it's very suitable. Dark academia elements, emotional metamorphosis. No actual body horror, at least by my standard. Reality is not what you think.
This is a personal opinion, of course. If you do read any of those, I recommend going into them without looking for information on them. Spoilers would destroy the experience. For myself, the experience of reading those books is indescribable. Some of them I've read years ago, but they still haunt me. An edit to add another book:
There Is No Antimemetics Division, followed by Five Five Five Five Five. A mix of psychological and cosmic horror, and it's great. Related to the SCP Foundation, but I wasn't familiar with it and I read it just fine. Based around the concept of antimemes, ideas and beings that erase themselves from your mind, that cannot be spread or remembered. Reality is fucked up.
继续加油哦。我现在在学德语（Hallo, wie geht es Ihnen? Ich kann ein bisschen Deutsch sprechen... Chinesisch mag ich sehr, und Sie?)，学习新的语言并非容易，所以我们要一起努力，好吗? (你们要回答：嗯嗯嗯) 学习华文时，一定会遇到不少的挫折。但所谓“一分耕耘，一分收获”，只要你坚持到底，不肯放弃学习华文，一定能克服困难，得到梦寐以求的“收获”。
you're laughing. shane madej and ryan bergara just gave a bloodsucking souldraining media corporation the biggest middle finger possible and you're laughing
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