Anki Flashcards - Software Review

I've tested many Flashcard software options and I think one of the best is Anki. So for those of you who aren't aware of it I decided to write this review. Anki is a program which makes remembering things easy. Because it's a lot more efficient than traditional study methods, you can either greatly decrease your time spent studying, or greatly increase the amount you learn. Anyone who needs to remember things in their daily life can benefit from Anki Since it is content-agnostic and supports images, audio and videos, the possibilities are endless.

Anki is a program which makes remembering things easy. Because it's a lot more efficient than traditional study methods, you can either greatly decrease your time spent studying, or greatly increase the amount you learn. I must say that consistent use of Anki has really helped me intellectually more than I could have imagined. Considering the helpfulness of this tool as part of your language learning tool set, it's pretty remarkable that that they've provided this software open-source and free of charge. Anki receives a 4 out of 5 from me. The reason I don't give them a full 5 stars is because the interface and general disregard for design is a bit of a letdown, although technically not necessary.

4 of 5

Below is a short video to give you a quick look at the software and how to get started with the basics;

DaGeniusLab - Learn German in 3 Months Challenge

Today I am reviewing a series of videos on YouTube called Learn German in 3 Months Challenge. The title caught my attention and once I started watching I was hooked. Unlike so many other videos on German language I felt that these videos from DaGeniusLab were quite well produced and entertaining. I hadn't seen anything like this before - where the person in the video was actually at the beginning of the learning process themselves. This makes it more believable and the goals attainable when you can watch him progress along with you (if you follow his suggestions through the 3 months).

If you are interested in checking it out go ahead and start with the Day 1 Video posted below.

Review of DuoLingo iOS App

In my continuing search for the best ways to learn German I recently discovered Duolingo. I will be reviewing the iOS App but should mention that DuoLingo also has a connected website with similar and expanded services.

DuoLingo iOS App skill tree
Image Courtesy of DuoLingo

In 2012 DuoLingo introduced its model for combining language learning with translating Web pages and documents into a variety of languages. The startup developed a free, “gamified” application that lets users acquire languages by progressing through a set of skill exercises, with awards to make the learning experience more engaging. This is something I enjoy is the combination of gaming and learning especially on my iPhone or iPod where I am usually only using it for shorter periods of time on the train or bus.

Embedded in the game mechanics are exercises that ask you to translate parts of documents and web pages. These translations underlie Duolingo’s crowdsourcing business model, which charges customers for the translations delivered by the language students. Duolingo compares translations from the pool of people using the service to derive more accuracy. For starters, the company is working with news organizations to employ the crowdsourced translation service. This unique setup means that Duolingo is offered without ads, hidden fees, or subscriptions—Duolingo is 100% free! I think it's an interesting business model but most importantly for the end-user it means we have a cool application that is continuing to be developed unlike many other apps I've reviewed.

DuoLingo translation "game"
Image Courtesy of DuoLingo

So what did I think? I must say I would recommend this app highly - it's fun to use, the graphics and design are better than most of the competitors in this field and it's also nice that it's connected to the website so i can play on both my iOS device and on my computer with the same account. There is also a lot of content here - I have paid over $5 for other apps with less content, so for the price it's definitely worth checking out. Regardless of price I still think it's one of the better iOS apps for complimenting your German learning process. I wouldn't say that it can be a stand-alone solution to learning German, but honestly I haven't found a product yet that can achieve that.

If you are curious go ahead and download the Duolingo iPhone app and check it out for yourself.

Top 5 iOS Apps in 2012 for learning German

As we reach the end of the year it's a good time to review the best iOS applications that will help us learn German. I spend a lot of time downloading just about every German language iOS App I can get my hands on and I wanted to share with you what I've found and spare you from wasting your time with the many horrible Apps out there. 

Go ahead and use the comments below to give me your own favorites and point me towards anything you think i've overlooked. If you look at my older lists you'll see that not everything has changed, this is mostly because there is not a lot of strong development in this field. Hopefully this will change and in 2013 we will see some strong new contenders.

5. TripLingo - German
This app is a bit more geared towards travelers compared to language learners. But it wins big points for it's very polished graphics and cool unique features. For example I really like the feature that allows you to see the normal translation or the formal or the very casual "slang" translation of the same comment. The way they do it is really cool too. This may not be the best way to learn but it's a nice compliment to the learning process and fun to use. It also has some gaming aspects with regard to the progress, which I think makes learning more fun. The basics are free and then you have to pay for the pro version, but I think the full price 'Tourist Package' is too high and that hurt this one's overall ranking. 

Price: Free (lite version) $9.99 (full German 'Tourist Package')

4. Babbel - German
Babbel has a cool website and they also have a nice iOS app. I hope they keep developing it because it could use a bit more polish - but again, for the cost of nothing you can't really complain. Overall it's a cool and not bad looking application with lots of useful content. 

Price: FREE

3. iStart German!
This title continues to stand strong with a combination of polished graphics and design and a really deep amount of content. I'm still working my way thru the courses but I really enjoy the pacing of 10 new words at a time. This application has it's own teaching style and I highly recommend checking it out. My main criticism is that they haven't updated the App in a long time, I suppose it's not necessary because I haven't found bugs but I just wish they would continue to add content - I would be willing to pay extra for it. But the full version is well worth the cost. 

Price: Free (lite version) $1.99 (full version)

2. WordUP - German
WordUP is an all-in-one type of app - it has a phrase book, study lists, recording abilities, playlists, flashcards and quiz's. All of this in a nicely designed package is what puts this high on my list for 2012. One of my favorite features are the Flashcards, a common feature in many apps but WordUP really gets it right - and allows you to customize the experience and to take short or longer practice sessions. The Quiz's are also fun and have an Easy, Medium and Hard option. All in all this is a solid app that will actually aid your learning abilities and it's perfect for short 5 minute breaks and also hour plus trips on the train or bus. I highly recommend this one. 

Price: Free (lite version), $4.99 (full version)

1. DuoLingo - German
I wouldn't consider this a game but it does have a "gamified" approach with badges and points given as you progress thru the courses. The graphics are polished and easily some of the best I've seen in this field. The amount of content is quite massive and all of this for Free, I couldn't help putting this at the top of my list for 2012. Anyone who is learning German should download this one first. 

Price: FREE

Video and Performance Art in Germany

I decided I would write about something a bit different for the Germany Travel Blog this week. Video art is now a common media for contemporary artists and this is especially true in places like Berlin, Germany. If you are planning to visit Berlin you'll want to make sure to see at least a few of the contemporary Museums such as Hamburger Bahnhoff. There is a good chance that you will see several artworks that are composed of video. Similar to the music scene in Germany, if you aren't out looking for it you simply can't keep up with the amount of quality work being produced.

I thought I would post a couple videos from Berlin based video artists just to peak your interest. Perhaps this will inspire you to learn more about video artwork and to investigate further. Another aspect that makes Berlin such a good place for video art is the annual Transmediale Festival - this festival is more about the future of electronic arts and where it's going but it also brings a lot of new inspiration for the video art medium.


Six Easy Pieces from Artstudio Reynolds on Vimeo.

Review: Adventure German - The Mystery of the Sky Disk

Adventure German - The Mystery of the Sky Disk is a Point and Click adventure game developed together with the Goethe Institut, Germany. With help of this unique gaming experience, users around the world will not only discover the 4000 years old and mysterious “Sky Disk”, that was found in Germany several years ago, they will also learn a lot about Germany, Germans and the German language! Join Vincent on his exciting journey through Germany and reveal the “Mystery of the Sky Disk”.

And if you’re stuck, there is always the clever facebook option: Take a picture with your camera and upload it to your facebook account asking for help. Your friends can send you messages from facebook right into the game! It gets even better: The whole game can be downloaded for free for iPad, iPhone, Android and Web (released until the beginning of 2012) on the original webpage mentioned below.

What is the best language learning website?

I'm trying to learn a language and I think one of the best, and least expensive, ways to learn is to use a website service where you can interact with real native speakers. So I started my search to see what I can find and I must say I was surprised there wasn't more better quality services out there. Although as I discover more and receive feedback from my readers I'll continue to amend those suggestions into this article if warranted.

At this point the winner is Babbel.com - it is well designed and that's important. It's not perfect but it's much better than all the others I tried. Babbel also has an iOS app that made it onto my Top 5 iOS Apps for Learning German. All of this shows me that Babbel is on the right path.

Babbel English from Babbel on Vimeo.

Another very useful feature are the chat rooms - they are really simple but designed to be easy on the eyes unlike  most chat rooms. You can choose the language you are learning - for example, I am learning German at the moment, so I chose the German room. Now I have a place to talk with other native German speakers and to practice my writing skills. There is enough of a community that I could usually find someone in the room 24 hours a day.

Babbel German App [screenshot]

Top 5 iOS Apps in 2011 for learning German

I've spent a lot of time searching for the best applications that would help me learn German and I wanted to report back to you on what i've found. Go ahead and use the comments to point me towards your own picks if you think i've overlooked something.

5. Globibo 
This app is not pretty or wonderfully designed but there is a lot of content here for no cost. If you want to expand your German vocabulary on your iPod or iPhone this is a good place to start. Price: FREE

4. Babbel
Babbel has a cool website and the also have a nice iOS app. I hope they keep developing it because it could use a bit more polish - but again, for the cost of nothing you can't really complain. Overall it's a cool and not bad looking application with a lot of useful content. It also has additional content if you decide to purchase an upgrade. Price: FREE

3. Living Language - German
Living Language is a bit better designed than Babbel but their website was not as impressive to me. But as far as their iOS application goes they scored better. Mostly it is the nicer design that makes it more appealing to open up and practice on the train or u-bahn. Price: FREE

2. iStart German!
This is a combination of polished graphics and design and a really deep amount of content. I'm still working my way thru the courses but I really enjoy the pacing of 10 new words at a time. This application has it's own teaching style and I highly recommend checking it out. Price: $1.99

iStart German [screenshot]

1. Mind Snacks - German
This application takes the top spot because it's a combination of all the best features an iOS app can provide for learning a new language. It has great original graphics and excellent original design. Also it does a great job of teaching you many new German words but you feel like you are playing video games the whole time. You can read my full review here. I really hope they continue to develop this game with new content, mini-games and other updates. I wish there were more well produced games for learning German and that is why this App wins the #1 spot. Price: 4.99

MindSnacks - German [screenshot] 

A Tale of Teufelsberg, an Abandoned Listening Station in Berlin

Teufelsberg Listening Station, Berlin, Germany, 2011

Teufelsberg, or translated in German "the Devils Mountain", is an interesting place to visit. In the past you would have to have snuck in thru the double layer of fence surrounding it. Many graffiti artists have done this thru the past years. Guided tours (in German and English) to the former NSA field station have been offered by a student entrepreneur since February 2011. This has been the first opportunity for Berlin inhabitants and visitors to legally visit the Teufelsberg area finally after all these years.

Field Recordings from Teufelsberg Listening Station Berlin, Germany by RichardDevine

 First Floor, Teufelsberg, Listening Station, Berlin, Germany, 2011

The Teufelsberg is a hill in Berlin, Germany, in former West Berlin. It rises about 80 meters above the surrounding Brandenburg plain, more precisely the north of Berlin's Grunewald forest. It is an artificial hill with a curious history: it was built by the Allies after the Second World War from the rubble of Berlin during the following twenty years as the city was rebuilt. One estimate for the amount of rubble is about 12 million cubic meters, or about 400,000 buildings. It is as high as the highest natural hill (Großer Müggelberg) in the Berlin area.

Graffiti inside a room in Teufelsberg, 2011

The US National Security Agency (NSA) built one of its largest listening stations on top of the hill, rumored to be part of the global ECHELON intelligence gathering network. "The Hill", as it was known colloquially by the many American soldiers who worked there around the clock and who commuted there from their quarters in the American Sector, was located in the British Sector. Prior to establishing the first permanent buildings there in the very late 1950s, Mobile Allied listening units had driven to various other locales throughout West Berlin hoping to gain the best vantage point for listening to Soviet, East German, and other Warsaw Pact nations military traffic. One such unit drove to the top of Teufelsberg and discovered a marked improvement in listening ability. This discovery eventually led to a large structure being built atop the hill, which would come to be run by the NSA. The station continued to operate until the fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall, but after that the station was closed and the equipment removed. The buildings and radar domes still remain in place.

Teufelsberg, view from inside the gate looking up at two towers, 2011

Teufelsberg's origin does not in itself make Teufelsberg unique, as there are many similar man-made rubble mounds in Germany and other war-torn cities of Europe. The curiousness begins with what is buried underneath the hill: a Nazi military-technical college designed by Albert Speer. The Allies tried using explosives to demolish the school, but it was so sturdy that covering it with debris turned out to be easier.

Top 5 Books to Buy Before Visiting Berlin

I've purchased a lot of Berlin related books over the years. Here are a selection of the top 5 that I actually use regularly and find helpful in learning about Berlin and getting around as well as being inspired as well.

berlin by jason lutes

5. German to English Dictionary

Any basic one will do. This will help improve your language learning.

4. Lonely Planet - Berlin City Guide
This is a nice overview of the city, try to get a fairly new copy because many of the smaller restaurants and art venues change from year to year. Lonely Planet also offers the Berlin guide in iOS format. I have both and they are about the same, although the book version does seem to be a bit more useful since you can more easily look at the maps and mark the pages you are interested in visiting. $14

3. MoleSkin - Berlin Edition
The Berlin edition of the MoleSkin books is a perfect notebook to travel to Berlin with and capture all your contacts, notes and memories of your journey. It also includes a really nice map of the city and map of the U-Bahn (train) stations which comes in handy in this compact format. As with all of the MoleSkin products this book is solid and well designed and they great for capturing your inspirations. Price: $20

2. Lonely Planet - German Phrasebook
This almost pocket sized book is the perfect little book to have with you while you travel and need to figure out the most basic vocabulary. With a 2000 word two-way dictionary it provides a lot for such a little book.  Price: $7.99

1. Berlin by Jason Lutes - Graphic Novel

The graphic novel series Berlin written and illustrated by Jason Lutes is a cool way to get inspired on the old city of Berlin as seen thru the interesting, almost film noir style black and white graphic novel. This is in German and a fun way to practice up on your german - but you can just look at the hundreds of pretty pictures as well. Price: 14 Euro

Review: Mind Snacks - German

MindSnacks builds delightful educational games for learners of all ages. We believe that education is unnecessarily associated with blandness and we're here to change that with our products.

Mind Snacks - German [screenshot]

Become a language wizard! Learn vocabulary, reading, writing, listening & conversation skills. Watch yourself improve with built in analytics software. MindSnacks accurately personalizes your experience based on your progress. There are over 1500 hand-picked words, phrases, audio clips, & pictures jam-packed into 50 lessons -- your brain will always have something to chew on day after day!

Mind Snacks - Spanish [screenshot]

Mind Snacks - Spanish [screenshot]

Mind Snacks - German [screenshot]

Mind Snacks - Spanish [screenshot] 

4 of 5

This game has been my favorite on my iPod it's fun and I'm learning at the same time. I highly recommend checking this out if you are trying to learn a new language. I'm using the German edition and it's one of my most favorite iOS apps.

Have you played Mind Snacks - German? Have you played one of the other versions? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Top 5 Interesting Places to Visit in Berlin

To choose the Top 5 interesting places to visit in Berlin is not a simple list to put together. Of course it depends on what aspect you are interested, the history or the present scene. This list is focusing on the particularly unique places that you may not have heard of before or considered worthwhile.

5. Liquidrom
This is a spa but I listed it here because there is very interesting architecture for the building and they have a famous indoor swimming pool with an underwater sound system. If you check out their website for a schedule they sometimes have live DJ's playing music on the underwater sound system - this was strange enough to make it to the list. Visit their website here for more information; liquidrom-berlin.de/en/

4.  SpreePark Berlin
Now this place has quite a history and you will need to make an appointment in order to get a legal tour of the place. But I would highly recommend taking the time to do this, an abandoned theme park is very interesting especially on a lightly rainy day.

SpreePark Berlin. An abandoned playground.

3. The Art Bunker
An amazing rotating, every 2 years, collection of contemporary art. You will need to book a tour for this in advance in order to get in. I highly recommend this.

2. The Wall
If you've never seen it you should go and check out the remaining bits of wall as well as the missing wall  that has been marked on the ground.

1. Teufelsberg
This place translates to the Devils Mountain so you already know it's not a normal place. But add in the fact that it's an NSA listening station and it's been heavily covered in graffiti in recent years - this is something you should try to see and hear in person if possible. Read more about visiting Teufelsberg and it's history in my article titled A Tale of Teufelsberg.

Teufelsberg, Berlin, Germany

To give you an example of how creepy it can sound here is a recording by sound designer Richard Devine from Teufelsberg Listening Station;

  Field Recordings from Teufelsberg Listening Station Berlin, Germany by RichardDevine

Review: Who Is Oscar Lake?

Who Is Oscar Lake? is supposedly the first language-learning program of its kind so I decided I would check it out. I'm trying to learn German so I wanted to use it for that purpose. It also sounds like a pretty cool game at first. No repetitive drills or endless vocabulary lists instead, Oscar Lake plunges you directly into a foreign city where you must solve a puzzling mystery in a new language.

Who Is Oscar Lake? [screenshot]

Experts agree that language immersion is the most effective way to learn a second language so I'm all up for a gaming environment to practice my new language. With Oscar Lake you learn by hearing, seeing and doing. And because you interact directly with all the characters you meet, you control the pace of the story, the speed of the learning and even the outcome of the game. With its multiple possible endings, Oscar Lake can make you the hero who recovers the stolen diamond or the sucker who ends up taking the rap!

OK so at first I'm getting very excited about this - especially the prospect of multiple endings. Unfortunately as soon as I loaded it onto my MacBook Pro 15" laptop I quickly started to lose my enthusiasm. The game was originally released in 1995 and programmed in Flash and it shows. The screen was very small on my screen to my surprise and the speed of the game and bad response from multiple mouse clicks reminded me of the 90's. Who Is Oscar Lake's simple point-and-click mechanics, use of recorded speech, and mix of pre-rendered backgrounds with live action video represent common development techniques of the 1990s.

As an archive of gaming this game is an interesting archive with interesting moments at points throughout the game but overall I can't say I would recommend it for learning a new language. If they could develop something modern with better controls and updated graphics this could be a really interesting concept - but I found it to be difficult to learn with the buggy performance and interface. If you are curious about this game and want to track it down you can start your search on their website which appears that it hasn't been updated since 2003; whoisoscarlake.com

2 of 5

Have you played Who Is Oscar Lake? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Top 5 Contemporary Art Galleries to visit in Berlin

This list is from the perspective of a first-time visitor to Berlin. Once you become familiar with Berlin you would probably want to dig deeper and seek out more of the smaller, independent galleries and find many exhibitions that are happening regularly. My Top 5 is just a sampler that mixes various sized institutions. This should only be considered as a starting point because there are 100's of quality galleries in Berlin to explore.

5. AUTOCENTER

4. Deutsche Guggenheim

3. Galerie Max Hetzler

2. Bunker

1. Hamburger Bahnhof

Best Travel Advice When Traveling Abroad

The best travel advice I can give for traveling abroad is to plan ahead. You will thank yourself if you spend some extra time packing the right items, doing your research on what you want to visit and where you want to stay. I can give you a few tips to point you in the right direction and I encourage my readers to post their own advice in the comments section.

Kreuzberg Street Festival, Berlin, Germany, 2011.

Plan Your Trip

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch you may want to download an iOS advice to help you with you planning. One such application is TripCase, it has a variety of tools to help you take notes on your trip and better prepare for a trip. If you fly on Delta I would recommend checking out their iOS app called Fly Delta. I used this for my last trip and it was useful for keeping my basic information rather than me having to create a printout. Also, they keep adding new features.

Torstrasse in the winter, Berlin, Germany, 2011

Pack Well

Use the vacuum sealing bags available at many travel shops or Target. These things really work and shrink the size of your clothes! Also consider packing a back inside of your bag - this way you have an extra bag to come home with all the new things you pick up on your travels.

Add More

I will continue to add to this article but what are your suggestions for the most streamlined traveller? Post your comments and suggestions below.

Review: German Numbers

German Numbers is an iOS game for iPhone/iPod Touch. The application is well made and it's setup to operate like a game with scores and statistics. The purpose of the app is to teach you to recognize numbers in German. There are three modes.

In Listen mode you type in the spoken number. In Speak mode you type the number that you wish to be spoken and in read mode you type in the number for the displayed work. This all sounds simple but for a new learner this process definitely helps you learn your german words thru repetition.

German Numbers [screenshot]

2 of 5

Overall I was happy learning my numbers but after a few days I started to lose interest. I think the problem is that it just isn't a lot of fun to play day after day. If there were more variations in graphics or game types I think it would be easier to play this regularly. I think with a few updates this could be a much better app, although for free I'm still going to recommend downloading it for anyone who is trying to learn or improve their German. For $1.99 you can buy the full version.

Download German Numbers (free) | Download German Numbers


Have you played German Numbers? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.