Listening to Germany
on CD or Cassette
A Review of Schau ins Land
Each issue of the audio
magazine Schau ins Land
includes an illustrated
transcript with glossary.
Photo: Champs-Elysées
First of all, Schau ins Land is not a language course. It's better than a language course.
Each month the producers of Schau ins Land send out a new edition of their audio magazine for German—on cassette or CD. Recorded and edited in Germany, each 60-minute monthly program reports on what's going on in the German world (Austria, Germany, Switzerland) in words and music. Accompanying the tape or CD is a booklet with the complete text (and song lyrics) heard on the recording, plus a German-English glossary for each edition's vocabulary. This transcription with glossary is an invaluable tool for German-learners, and one of the main advantages of subscribing to the Schau ins Land audio magazine versus listening to most other sources of spoken German. (For an extra fee you can also receive a "Study Supplement" with eight pages of listening exercises and an answer key.)
In previous articles ("Are You Listening?" and "Ten Ways to Keep Your German 'rostfrei'"), I have outlined the many reasons why anyone learning German—beginner or advanced—should be listening to authentic language as much as possible. The articles also include links to various German listening resources, including Schau ins Land. Once again, I can't stress enough the importance of listening as a key element in learning German. Schau ins Land is an excellent source of authentic German.
Champs-Elysées, the company that produces Schau ins Land and similar audio magazines for French, Italian, and Spanish, is based in Nashville, Tennessee in the US, with a European office in Bristol in the UK and a sales representative in Japan. For about two decades, the company has been producing audio magazines and other products aimed at intermediate and advanced language learners. Most foreign-language teachers are familiar with Champs-Elysées (or should be). The monthly edition for each language features a mix of news, interviews, music, and features related to contemporary life in the countries where the language is spoken.
Like all of Champs-Elysées' audio products, Schau ins Land (SIL) is produced in Europe by a team of professional broadcasters, journalists, and educators. The monthly interviews are often with well-known German personalities. Past SIL audio programs have included interviews with German ice-skater Katerina Witt and the Austrian singer Georg Danzer (with a song by him). Other past features: "Geschichte der deutschen Autobahn," "Wie steht's um den Euro?," "Die Deutschen auf Mallorca," "Amerikanischer Soldatensender AFN," and "Servus, Herr Oberkellner." In addition to each issue's glossary of unfamiliar terms, there is also an "Anmerkungen" ("Notes") section with background information in English to help non-Germans to better understand the features in each monthly program. SIL often includes supplementary information on people in the news. For example, English-speakers may not be familiar with people such as Hans Eichel, the German finance minister who replaced Oskar Lafontaine in April 1999. Cultural or historical notes often include Web links for additional information.
Online Audio from Schau ins Land
Samples from past editions of SIL
One of the better features of SIL is its monthly selection of popular and traditional songs in German. Each audio magazine includes several musical selections sung in German. The full text of the lyrics is included in the transcription booklet. A past edition offered five songs by German musical artists. One was a version of the Cher song "Believe" sung by Mary Roos and sounding very much like the original, except that it's in German ("Leider lieb' ich dich immer noch"). Another song, "Mein Berlin" by German folksinger Reinhard Mey, accompanied the "Zeitzeugen der Berlinblockade" feature. The Schau ins Land folks may have listened to my past criticism that few Germans under the age of 30 would ever listen to the music found in the SIL program. Some of the artists in more recent editions include very popular German groups such as Rosenstolz and PUR.
Schau ins Land is not intended for beginners, but anyone with a basic foundation in German can benefit from this audio magazine and its supplementary materials. The quality of the recordings and the authentic German combine to transport you to Germany, Austria, or Switzerland for a genuine listening experience. So, are there any drawbacks?
On the next page, more about Schau ins Land, the Schau ins Land Web site, and related links.
Also see this related review: Stimmen der Zeit - an audio history of Germany in the 20th century.
NEXT > More About SIL - Part 1, Part 2
Audio from Schau ins Land New!
Selected audio excerpts for intermediate to advanced learners from the German audiomagazine Schau ins Land—each complete with a study guide, glossary, full transcript, and test.
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