Using technology
Technology and social media play just as big a role in the lives of German speakers as they do in the lives of young people in the UK.
Familiarise yourself with some key vocabulary.
Hilfsvokabeln– Helpful vocabulary
das Handy (nt) – the mobile phone
die Nachrichten (f, pl) – (email/text) messages
das Netz (nt) – the web
das Netzwerk (nt) – the network
die sozialen Medien (f, pl) – social media
die SMS (f) – the (text) message
die Spielkonsole (f) – the games console
das Tablet (nt) – the tablet
benutzen (v) – to use
herunterladen (v) – to download
hochladen (v) – to upload
löschen (v) – to delete
missbrauchen (v) – to abuse
schicken (v) – to send
schützen (v) – to protect
simsen (v) – to text
Question
Listen to Mehmet, Katja and Herr Nussbeck's responses when asked about what technology they use.
Note whether they have positive or negative views.
Try to give a reason for your answer, before checking the answers below. Some people may have both positive and negative views.
Mehmet
Katja
Herr Nussbeck
Mehmet - positiv und negativ
positiv
- mobile phones help you to keep in touch with friends – mit Freunden sprechen
- play games – Spiele spielen
- text – simsen
- send email – Emails schicken
- listen to music – Musik hören
- go shopping – einkaufen
- check Facebook – Facebook checken
negativ
- MP3 players and tablets are quickly out of date – schnell altmodisch
Katja - positiv
- playing games consoles online helps you play against people abroad – gegen andere Personen im Ausland
Herr Nussbeck - negativ
- too risky – zu viele Risiken
- easily abused – einfach missbrauchen
- photos cannot be deleted once uploaded – man kann sie nicht löschen
Did you know?
Computer games – Computerspiele – play an increasingly important role in the lives of young people. There is even a new verb in German – daddeln – which means 'to play games on the computer'.
The University of Bayreuth offers a course in Computerspielwissenschaft – the study of computer games – which rather than playing games all day, focuses on the cultural importance of computer games.
