How to Learn to Write and Type in German
- 1). Study on the Internet. One of the best free resources for language students, the Internet provides many options for learning how to write in German; after all, before you write in any language, you have to learn how to read it. Resources such as Deutsch Lernen provide instruction and exercises for learning German basics.
- 2). Deepen your knowledge with language CD-ROMs. Programs like Living Language or Rosetta Stone will give you a wider vocabulary and help improve your knowledge of German grammar so that when you eventually write in German, you will know how to do so properly with plenty of tools at your disposal.
- 3). Practice writing German sentences. Before you move on to longer texts, practice writing German sentences in response to the basic questions you find on websites like Deutsch Lernen or on your software.
- 4). Find shortcuts for German letters on your keyboard. To add an umlat accent, for example, type Option and U before the vowel. On Macs, for the double German S, type Option and then S. In most fonts, to insert a euro sign, press Shift, then Option and finally 2. In Windows, press the quote sign and then the vowel for an umlat, RightAlt and then S for the double S, and RightAlt and 5 for the euro sign.
- 5). Write longer texts. Practice your German by writing longer texts, once you have mastered the basics of German sentence structure. Websites like Lang-8 provide large communities of native foreign-language speakers who will correct your texts for free.
- 6). Study your mistakes and their corrections. The only way to truly improve at anything is to understand where you went wrong; study the corrections that native speakers make to your text.
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