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- MP3 players and tablets are quickly out of date – schnell altmodisch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.
