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How easy it is to learn German

A practical pedagogy tip for learning German

2 min readAug 10, 2023

By Sonaira D’Ávila, at https://www.doriopraca.com/

I swear that in these comings and goings from Rio to here (living from sun to sun) six months in Rio and six in Germany, I keep trying to understand the language and grammar for myself, first to learn and then not to forget.

When I’m in Rio, I don’t go near this “talk”; when I return to Germany, I need to dive headlong into this universe.

The best example I found, which explains my “excitement” with the language, was the one given by Master Deonísio da Silvana in the following story:

http://www.renegadebroadcasting.com/media/Kangaroo-at-Sunset

“The book tells us that the “bag rats” or kangaroos (Beutelratten) are captured and placed in cages (Kotter) covered with a cloth (Lattengitter), to shelter them from bad weather.

These cages are called, in German, “cloth-covered cages” (Lattengitterkotter); as soon as they put a kangaroo in them, it is called Lattengitterkotterbeutelratten, “the cloth-covered cage kangaroo.”

One day the Hottentots captured an assassin (Attentater), accused of having killed a Hottentot mother (Mutter) — Hottentottermutter -, who had a stuttering and dizzy son (stottertrottel).

That poor mother , in German, is called, Hottentottenstottertrottelmutter, and her murderer is called Hottentottenstottertrottelmutterattentater.

The police arrested the murderer and temporarily confined him in a kangaroo cage (Beutelrattenlattengitterkotter), but the prisoner escaped.

The searches had barely begun when a Hottentot warrior appeared, shouting:

“I’ve captured the murderer!” (Attentive).

- Yes? Which? Asked the boss.

“The Lattengitterkotterbeutelratterattentater! replied the warrior.

- Like this? The killer in the cloth-covered kangaroo cage? Asked the chief of the Hottentots.

“Yes, yes. It is the Hottentottenstottertrottelmutteratentater (the murderer of the Hottentot mother of a dizzy and stuttering boy),” replied the native.

- Well, replied the chief, you could have said from the beginning that you had captured the Hottentotterstottertrottelmutterlattengitterkotterbeutelrattenattentater.”

As you can see, German is an easy language; it’s enough for us to be a little interested… and start putting everythingtogether.

Now just hit the right article. Is it masculine, feminine or neuter (der, die or das)?

doriopraca.com/pos

Easy, easy, right?

So repeat after me:

Hottentotterstottertrottelmutterlattengitterkotterbeutelrattenattentater

#Germany #SonairaDAvila

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Flavio Musa de Freitas Guimarães
Flavio Musa de Freitas Guimarães

Written by Flavio Musa de Freitas Guimarães

Already watching the ninety year turn of the Earth in curtsy around its King, I’m an engineer that became a writer, happy, in perfect health, body and mind.

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