Reading - Warm-up
DURATION: 10-15 MINS
This first step is not about understanding much at all. This is your very first exposure to the text and the sound of German words. Just take everything in. Don't worry about not getting a single word even. This course will take care of all that as you proceed. Do not look up any word yet. All you got to do is to listen to the audio while reading along. The first 1-2x times that you listen to the audio, you can and possibly also should pause the audio very frequently to give your brain some time to take in the new information. Finish this exercise by listening through the full audio without pausing no matter whether you understand anything.
A Little But Important Task For You
Note in % how much of the text you already understand. Don't worry if that's 0%. At the end of this first lesson you will read this text again and in 5 lessons you'll find it again in a review. When you get there, write down the percentage of your understanding again like this: 0% - 50%. That's a solid start. If you get less than 50% at the end of this first lesson you've probably been rushing through this course a little bit and need to read my instructions more thoroughly again. Redo the lesson. There's no shame in that. Take your time and you'll reach your goal.
In the reviews you might find that your understanding at first is a bit less than before. That's perfectly normal. The more you work with this course the easier things get.
Do this comparison - understanding at the beginning vs end - for every lesson until lesson 10.
AUDIO
Please note that the vocab tool does NOT work in any "Reading - Warm Up" lectures but only in the ones called "Reading - Comprehension" coming right after this one.
Kapitel 01
Die Sonne scheint.
Es ist ein schöner Tag.
Wie jeden Montag
kommt der Gärtner Klaus Blumfeld
zu dem großen,
alten Haus am Ende der Stadt.
Zwar wohnt hier seit Jahren kein Mensch mehr.
Aber Blumfelds Job ist es,
den Garten zu machen und
Dinge zu reparieren.
Das alte Haus soll in Ordnung bleiben.
Es ist eine eigene,
kleine Welt ohne Menschen.
Der Gärtner mag es, hier zu sein.
Dann ist er ein Teil dieser kleinen Welt.
Bevor Blumfeld in den Garten geht,
sieht er immer erst in dem Haus nach,
ob es etwas zu tun gibt.
Er geht zur Tür und gefriert zu Eis:
Eine alte Frau liegt im Flur. Tot.
In einem Ring aus Dreck und Matsch.