As a native English-speaker, many vocabulary words look familiar. This week, we learned “Laptop,” “Computer,” “SMS,” “Telephone,” “Kalender,” “E-Mail,” “orange,” “pink,” “Papier,” “Metall,” “Glas,” “Plastik,” “Sofa,” “Couch,” “Lampe,” “modern.” Some words are spelled exactly the same in German and English while most differ by a letter or two.

This helps with vocabulary retention; however, the “new” word is not all you need to know. Do not be fooled, you must also know the article (der, die, das) that goes with each word. While I’m going through my vocabulary list, I might not think to spend any time studying “Laptop.” However, don’t consider the word known until you are able to correctly say which gender a “Laptop” is. When my class was learning “Laptop,” we were focusing on how masculine words change when they act as accusatives or direct objects, so it was imperative that we knew which were masculine. Through repetition, I was able to remember “der” goes with “Laptop.” If you need extra practice with articles, I’ve put sticky notes on some objects around the home. I especially think it helps if you have a color-coding system!