This post will discuss a couple of tasks that you can do once you find a useful recording or video to work with.

Once I stumble upon or find a recording or a video, I usually do the following activities with the resource that I have found:

In short, I…

1. Listen to/watch it twice and scribble down words or phrases that you understood.
2. Write the main idea of the recording or video in English (or in the target language if I’m feeling spunky).

Additionally, make sure you pay attention to:

• The visuals in the video
• The title of the recording or video

Take this recording in German, for example, from the website Audio Lingua (great website!)

Here is what I did when I listened to this recording:

1. Looked at the title: “Ich wohne in einem typisch deutschen Reihenhaus” –  I live in some kind of typical, German house or structure
2. Listened twice and wrote down words or phrases that I heard (with one listen): I wrote these down on a notebook first.
   • Ich wohne in…
   • ein
   • da gibt es
   • Keller
   • 3 Räume
   • Raum
   • drittens, meistens,
   • Hobbykeller
   • machen – Musik, Sport, dann…
   • eine Gestetoilette, links
   • gibt es die Küche, grosses Wohn und Esszimmer, dann geht man hoch
   • 2 oder 3 Zimmer
   • manchmal
3. Write the main idea in English (or not-so-perfect German):
   1. Der Mann erzählt uns die Dinge in seinem Haus. Er beschreibt sein Haus und erzählt uns wieviel Zimmer gibt es und was gibt es im Haus.
   2. (The man tells us about the things and rooms in his house. He goes into detail about what items there are and what and how many rooms there are).