Sesamstraße for an American Student
July 7, 2010 12:39 PM Subscribe
Is it possible to find full episodes of German Sesame Street (Sesamstraße) online?
I'm trying to learn German while I'm in Germany, but I work in a lab for most of the day without talking to anyone (and working at my English laptop). I've been using Pimsleur tapes, LiveMocha, and trying to practice with people when I can, but I'd like to try something new. I've heard from several people that watching children's programming in another language can really help your comprehension (I'm doing much better with reading and speaking than listening). I'd like to find full episodes of German Sesame Street (or something equivalent) to help me in that vein. Major points if the programming is from the pre-Elmo era.
I'm trying to learn German while I'm in Germany, but I work in a lab for most of the day without talking to anyone (and working at my English laptop). I've been using Pimsleur tapes, LiveMocha, and trying to practice with people when I can, but I'd like to try something new. I've heard from several people that watching children's programming in another language can really help your comprehension (I'm doing much better with reading and speaking than listening). I'd like to find full episodes of German Sesame Street (or something equivalent) to help me in that vein. Major points if the programming is from the pre-Elmo era.
It's not quite as easy to understand as Sesamstraße, but Wissen macht Ah! might be a good listening exercise. I watched tons of episodes before heading to Germany. It reminds me of Bill Nye or another science show for kids. It's goofy but fun.
You can find streaming episodes online here, but they're really low quality. I just downloaded episodes with Miro. That seemed to work best. (And I could watch the episodes while riding on the train!)
If you decide to graduate to more adult TV fare, you can find some interesting shows on this site. I think Bernds Hexe is good for an intermediate learner.
Since you're in Germany, I'd recommend picking up some DVDs of English-language movies you've enjoyed from the local Flohmarkt--Star Wars, The Matrix, and Lord of the Rings are ones I picked up--and putting on the subtitle track for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. The transcriptions tend to be pretty faithful. And if you get them from the Flohmarkt, the DVDs shouldn't cost too much. Saturn can have okay sales, too.
Viel Glück!
posted by ElectricBlue at 3:26 PM on July 7, 2010
You can find streaming episodes online here, but they're really low quality. I just downloaded episodes with Miro. That seemed to work best. (And I could watch the episodes while riding on the train!)
If you decide to graduate to more adult TV fare, you can find some interesting shows on this site. I think Bernds Hexe is good for an intermediate learner.
Since you're in Germany, I'd recommend picking up some DVDs of English-language movies you've enjoyed from the local Flohmarkt--Star Wars, The Matrix, and Lord of the Rings are ones I picked up--and putting on the subtitle track for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. The transcriptions tend to be pretty faithful. And if you get them from the Flohmarkt, the DVDs shouldn't cost too much. Saturn can have okay sales, too.
Viel Glück!
posted by ElectricBlue at 3:26 PM on July 7, 2010
If you're going that route you could also try Die Sendung mit der Maus, especially the Sachgeschichten available online (basically stories on how stuff is produced / what people do on their jobs / how come certain things are the way they are). It's aimed at a younger audience, so the vocabulary and grammar should be quite accessible, but the episodes are usually interesting enough to keep parents interested, too. Example 1. Example 2.
posted by PontifexPrimus at 3:31 PM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by PontifexPrimus at 3:31 PM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
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posted by scepticaemia at 2:01 PM on July 7, 2010 [2 favorites]