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iTunes install instructions

Städte online

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Dictionary/Search

Dictionaries

  • LEO [http://dict.leo.org/?lang=en]
  • travlangs [http://dictionaries.travlang.com/GermanEnglish/] LEO mirror
  • Chemnitz [http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/] simpler than LEO and more tolerant of spelling
  • canoo [www.canoo.net/services/Controller]
  • duden [www.duden.de/] for printed and electronic dictionaries

Search

'home' updated 08:46 Aug 21 2006

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General/Grammar

'g_gen' updated 13:44 Feb 14 2009

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Typing German Characters

see also Open Office Writer for language students

Umlauts and accented characters can be typed in several ways. The best way for PC users is probably to install the German or International English keyboard software, and simply type the characters. No need to change your physical keyboard, just install the software determining which character appears when you press a particular key.

Other approaches are to use the Alt key, to copy and paste or use the two character equivalents.

Keyboard layout

This is the German (Germany) keyboard mapping. In Windows systems, after installing the keyboard software, it's much easier to type German text.
Letters and numbers are the same as the English UK/US keyboard except that Y and Z are reversed. For the umlauts, ö is : ä is @ and [ is ü. The second key from the right on the top row (=+) is a silent key. Press it and then a vowel for an acute or qrave accent, thus é is =e and è is +e. For other keys, refer to the diagram.

german keyboard layout
picture © Tim Phillips shown by permission

Typing German characters with the Alt key

Make sure that number lock is on. In any application, hold down the Alt key and type the number from the table on the number pad. The character will appear when you release the Alt key.

ß Alt+225
ä Alt+132   Ä Alt+142
ö Alt+148   Ö Alt+153
ü Alt+129   Ü Alt+154
„ Alt+0132  ” Alt+0148

For more see accent marks [www.starr.net/is/type/altnum.htm]

Copy and paste from here

ß ä Ä ö Ö ü Ü „ ”
[in Word, do Edit>Paste Special>Unformatted text]

Two character equivalents

ß ss
ä ae   Ä AE
ö oe   Ö OE
ü ue   Ü UE

Installing the German Keyboard software (Windows systems)

If you need more accented characters than the German ones, install the English International keyboard software. For help and a keyboard map see International Accent Marks [www.starr.net/is/type/intlchart.html]

To install the German keyboard software, go to Control Panel > Regional and Language Options > Languages > Details

From this dialogue box:

  • Click 'Add' and select German (Germany). Click OK.
  • Click 'Language Bar'. If desired check 'Show the Language Bar on the Desktop'.
  • Click 'Key Settings' and note what they are. Adjust if desired.

Click OK several times

You will now be able to select the German keyboard in any application, from the language bar or with key sequences according to your settings. You can change between keyboards at any time, even in mid word if you wish.

line

Consistently and by a large margin this is the most frequently visited page on our website. If you have found the information useful, please consider making a small donation to cover maintenance costs so you and others can continue to benefit.

'g_kbd' updated 13:44 Feb 14 2009

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German Phonetic Alphabet

Anton Berta Caesar Dora Emil Friedrich Gustav Heinrich Ida Julius Konrad Ludwig Martha Nordpol Otto Paula Quelle Richard Siegfried Theodor Ulrich Viktor Wilhelm Xanthippe Ypsilon Zacharias

Ärger Ödipus Übel

'g_az' updated 13:44 Feb 14 2009

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Specialist Libraries in Germany

  • Heidelberg [www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/Englisch/helios/kataloge/]
  • toolbox.hbz nrw [http://toolbox.hbz-nrw.de/] compilation of online services
  • Digitale Bibliothek [http://thetis.hbz-nrw.de/]
  • central [http://library.rider.edu/systems/libweb/central.html] list of libraries in Germany
  • kallias [www.dla-marbach.de/kallias/kallias.html] online-catalogue of Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach
  • kvk [www.ubka.uni-karlsruhe.de/hylib/en/kvk.html] Karlsruhe Virtual Catalogue
  • bibliotheken [www.grass-gis.de/bibliotheken/] index of university library catalogues
  • webis [http://webis.sub.uni-hamburg.de/ssg/text/was_ist_webis.html] supra-regional literature

'de_lib' updated 05:40 Apr 11 2006

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Computer terms

  • Babylonia [www.babylonia.org.uk]
  • Miningco [http://german.miningco.com/library/blcomputer.htm]
  • qmul [www.css.qmul.ac.uk/foreign/eng-german.htm] a simpler list

'g_terms' updated 05:41 Apr 11 2006

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Online translation

These do not work well - translate into German and back again to see what happens!

  • altavista [http://world.altavista.com/tr]
  • freetranslation [www.freetranslation.com]
  • paralink [http://translation2.paralink.com/]
  • Recent versions of Word (e.g. XP) plus the language pack include a German/English dictionary and an online translation service.

'g_trans' updated 09:46 Jan 23 2005

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Literature

'g_lit' updated 09:46 Jan 23 2005

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TV and Radio

TV websites

News and magazine websites

'g_radio' updated 13:44 Feb 14 2009

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Podcasts

This technology is developing fast. Here's how to get some excellent material for learning German.

download iTunes

Apple's excellent music player is a real delight to use, and is free - go to download iTunes

detailed instructions

You will need reasonable PC speakers to get the best out of it. Many PC shops have adequate speakers for around £20.

install iTunes

Open (run) the installation file and follow the prompts. Even if you haven't done this before, it is easy. If you are new to iTunes, it's possibly a good idea to spend a few days getting used to the application, eg copying some of your CDs onto the computer, before moving on to Podcasts,

Even though you may not intend to buy anything from the iTunes store, it makes things easier in the next step if you set up an iTunes account. Click on 'iTunes store', then on 'sign in' and follow the prompts to set up an account.

subscribe to selected Podcasts (free)

There are plenty of these. Let's concentrate on the ones from Deutsche Welle. Take the link towards the bottom of that Deutsche Welle page, click on one of the 'Learn German...' podcast links, then on the iTunes link. At that point you may get a screen which says that iTunes can't be found on your PC. If so, just click 'I have iTunes'. Then, in iTunes, you will see the available episodes for the podcast. Click 'Get Episode' for any you want. If you want new episodes downloaded automatically, click 'Subscribe'.

For learning German, 'Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten' or Slowly Spoken News Reports is a good place to start.

set preferences

Control the way podcasts are downloaded in Edit > Preferences > Podcasts. For automatic download, set 'check for new episodes' to anything except 'manually'. Also adjust other podcast settings before clicking OK.

That's basically it - enjoy!

For an alternative page, see Listening to Podcasts in German

'g_podcasts' updated 13:44 Feb 14 2009

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Instructions for iTunes download and install

By request, here is how to download and install iTunes (use a similar process for any application from the web). The dialogue boxes are from Internet Explorer 7. If you use a different browser, dialogues boxes will be slightly different.

  • go to iTunes download page
  • clear the two check boxes ('email me...' and 'keep me up to date...') if you wish to avoid being sent even more email
  • type your email into the email address box and click 'Download...' to start the download

box 1

  • in the first dialogue box, click 'save'
    [depending on your settings, you may or may not see the .exe text at the end of the iTunesSetup filename]

box 2

  • in the next dialogue box if necessary select My Documents and click Save
  • do Start > Run > "My Documents/iTunesSetup.exe"
    [If you are using a different browser, iTunesSetup.exe may have been stored elsewhere. If so, find it with Windows Explorer and move it to My Documents or execute it in place by double-clicking it.]
  • follow the prompts

If you are unfamiliar with iTunes, a demonstration from a friend is a good idea.

'g_isl' updated 20:34 Feb 16 2007

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Städte links

Examples of the kind of online information available about most Germany cities. The first link in each list is a Google search on the town name. Links open in the 'german' window. If nothing seems to happen, click the window tab or go to the window with eg Alt+Tab

Leipzig

Tübingen

Jena

Mannheim

Salzburg

'lei_tub' updated 13:44 Feb 14 2009

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