Hello, Respected Professor, and my Dear friends,

In my learning major project, I decided to dive into the German (Deutsch) language, a skill that immediately caught my interest, and I started to feel curious about how I could learn a new language through social media platforms. Although I had no previous experience with the language, my curiosity for personal development, coupled with my peers’ efforts to adapt creative skills for learning, motivated me to begin my journey with the new language, as it encouraged me to take the first step.

• Germany has a population of approximately 84.7 million people.
• Germany is a federal parliamentary republic and comprises 16 federal states. Consequently, cultural characteristics are shaped by their different regions and cities.
• Germany’s capital is Berlin. 

A simple exploration grew into a meaningful journey filled with admiration for language structure and curiosity about German culture.

Germany Flag Photo by 51581 on Pixabay

I recently created my YouTube channel for the first time and finally found the courage to start posting content related to the German language. I was quite nervous at first about how I would manage if something went wrong, but it went so well as I followed the instructions about creating the YouTube channel step by step. I began sharing the video links on my social media, like WhatsApp status and Instagram, where many of my online friends, family members, and relatives appreciated and praised my efforts that support motivated me. Around that time, I also started exploring ways to improve my content. I followed other YouTube channels and learned useful tips and tricks on how to make my videos more engaging and interesting.

The whole journey has been filled with both happiness and challenges. I wasn’t familiar with the German language at first, but by repeating German words again and again and consistently practicing, I was able to create videos that made the learning experience both joyful and meaningful. I’m so grateful for this journey and excited for my major project of learning, (here are some of the YouTube videos which I made and I’ve shared for the first time —links are below)-

Over the past few weeks, I was working on it and it has been such a exciting experience, when I learned the German words, each day i feel more confident by using then again and again, through this journey, I shared my progress, where I talked about that what I have learned. In the future, I plan to explore even more creative and in effective ways to continue my Germany language learning, and also about the German culture that Germany people likes to eat bread, And let’s not forget the country’s love affair with bread and pretzels—they’re one of the food items Germans miss the most when they travel abroad. There are nearly 10,000 master bakeries across the country. Simply follow the delicious scent of freshly baked rye bread (Roggenbrot), whole wheat rye bread (Vollkornbrot), rolls (Brötchen), or small pastries (Kleingebäck) to find them and other rich German culture.

I am especially thankful for this course and for my classmates who always supported me as their encouragement and wonderful kind comments on my major learning post have really kept me motivated. Thank you all for being part of this lovely and informative journey. Thank you for your precious time and support.

Photo by ElisaRiva on Pixabay

Hello Everyone,

One of the most wonderful and rewarding aspects of this course was having an opportunity to engage with the peers in a truly networked learning environment where I learned so many things from each other, as I reflect on this journey I feel so proud and grateful for the connections I made and the knowledge i have gained from my peers as well as I contributed to the learning of the others.

Photo by OpenClipart-Vectors on Pixabay

Throughout this course, I made the priority to actively participate in the learning community because this course is all about social media and the crucial role is to make connections. Whether it was commenting on peers blogs several times a week, and interacting on Discord app in the group, offering time to time support and encouragement, my goal was to create a space where ideas and motivation could grow together.

Helping hand Photo by Peggy_Marco on Pixabay

I genuinely enjoyed reading the beautiful, inspiring and thoughtful blog posts every week shared by my classmates. Their creativity often motivated me to stay focused and commented with meaningful feedback and celebrated their progress. Therefore, here is my YouTube link where I shared a short video that includes screenshots of the ways I have contributed, such as motivated comments, and interactions aimed at boosting my peers confidence where I tried to support them in their progress.

This course taught me about the digital tools where i created this video with “Inshot” app the collection of screenshots by adding the music of my own choice, moreover, adjusting the timing according to my interest which i found so creative and time consuming. This kinds of tools which  I get to know about in class and from my classmate blog I get to know more about by reading the blog which showed me that how even small acts of support can mean a lot to others. This journey has been a great learning experience, thanks to my Professor and peers I worked with as I have learned so much informative things from them. It was all about learning together, supporting each other, and growing as a team.

EC&I 831 Learning Summary
Hello everyone,

A heartfelt thank you to our wonderful professor, Dr. Katia Hildebrandt, and all of our amazing classmates. I’m excited to share our EC&I 831 Learning Summary, created in collaboration with my classmate Babbandeep Kaur. Together, we reflected on our learning journey, explored a variety of engaging digital tools, and gained valuable insights that we’re proud to carry forward into our professional futures.

A big thank you to everyone in the class for the thoughtful discussions and shared experiences throughout the term, as it’s been an inspiring and memorable ride.

Social Media Activism is defined as the use of platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, TikTok, or WhatsApp to raise awareness, or share information, and advocate for the social, political, or cultural issues. In this technological era, it is one of the easiest ways to spread the message quickly and widely.

Photo by u_icjer0igil on Pixabay

It gives individuals a voice, as social media activism helps to amplify the marginalized voices, helps to educate the people, and inspire others to take action.

Photo by StarGladeVintage on Pixabay

People have discovered new ways to communicate and collaborate through social media. Features such as feeds, profiles, and groups on social platforms provide global access to organizations that can promote and increase visibility by sharing and networking. Modern communication students study these virtual platforms, and can even pursue careers creating and distributing digital content. The power of social media can amplify voices, instantaneously spread information, and increase collaboration across diverse groups of people

The Black Lives Matter movement began as an online community that worked to combat anti-black racism and police violence that targets African Americans in particular, using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. Through the use of the hashtag and social media platforms, the online community has been able to organize, mobilize, and improve its visibility, eventually becoming an organization with more than 40 chapters that work to support black lives.

The #BlackLivesMatter hashtag was created by the co-founder and strategic advisor Patrisse Khan-Cullors through inspiration from a love letter written to black people by co-founder Alicia Garza, following the killing of Trayvon Martin. According to the Pew Research Center (an average of 17,002 times per day) from its first use in July 2013 to the research cap date of May 1, 2018. The hashtag was slow to gain initial momentum, but has since resulted in daily usage. The hashtags become more popular during the events or protests, speeches, and in stories, people use them in the social media to share information, spread awareness, and to unite in the important conversation, it was like to bring the people together. It was the successful activism to build a strong community where people could support each other.

Photo by geralt on Pixabay

Artificial intelligence is rapidly increasing in the field of education. In this contemporary era, there are wonderful AI applications that individuals like to use in their daily lives.

I still remember, during my college days, when I was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in science then one of my close she told me about the Instagram app, which I found good to connect with our friends, and nowadays, the one trend that is going on is “Studio Ghibli” which has taken the internet like a storm as it is an open AI,

Photo by Alexas_Fotos on Pixabay

makes Ghibli-style images and creates them in their own imagined world, as it is a new social media trend used to make stickers, memes. “Studio Ghibli is a renowned Japanese animation studio, famous for creating beautifully crafted, imaginative, and emotionally resonant films. It was founded in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, two influential directors in the world of animation. The studio is widely regarded for its stunning artwork, deep storytelling, and themes of nature, humanity, fantasy, and self-discovery.“

There are different opinions regarding this trend as some found it really depressing to see. Miyazaki hated AI  generated images. They are real people who draws every single frame of a Ghibli movie which takes a long time for artists to make. It takes years to make to a movie. But Open AI doesn’t care about the rules and rights, they even using Ghibli name for branding and advertisement purposes.

I also tried to to but some in different way that could be quite useful for the students therefore I tried to use Grok AI in the classroom can assist both educators and students with various tasks. For instance, Grok AI can generate lesson plans and suggest activities that utilize current teaching resources to meet the specific needs of learners. Moreover, by tracking student performance, AI can support data-driven decisions. In a classroom with diverse students, each learning differently due to their unique learning styles, Grok AI can help assess learning progress. Additionally, students can receive feedback and suggestions when they struggle with difficult concepts, providing them with instant responses to their challenges.

Photo by Entre_Humos on Pixabay

Furthermore, the Grok tools offers learning styles, assess understanding, and foster critical thinking in multiple ways like I asked about the photosynthesis, then it does not give exact answer as it gave answer to make the child think about it by raising question that what do you think happens to the plant if it does not get sunlight? As a Science educator I found it really impressive, it encourages the critical thinking by asking questions to the readers. Grok stretches the imagination as by combining the one subject with another subject.

Photo by Tumisu on Pixabay

Grok tool has ability to adapt students learning style and pace because it can break the concepts from simple to complex. Also, AI can not replace the teachers, but the tool itself says that they are the magical tools to help the teachers in grading multiple choice questions, to make lesson plans with innovative activities, mentoring the students who need extra support. Grok AI can not able to provide teacher’s empathy or spontaneous magical classrooms, but the tools can assist the teachers to give more sparking outcomes in the future for the overall development of the learners.

Inshot is a widely used mobile application and a powerful, designed tool that allows to edit videos, create collages with various layouts to enhance the videos. Mostly the users edit the videos to make their content, then they used to post on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, or on WhatsApp status. I got to know about this wonderful application when I was exploring the different video-making applications to edit the video, one thing that  I liked the most was that here the users can easily split the video and can put background music, even the users can extract the audio from the videos too.

InShot offers numerous features of tools to help users edit videos in a better style, such as:

Photo by Hansuan_Fabregas on Pixabay

Trim & Cut – This allows us to remove unwanted parts of a video.
Merge & Join – This involves combining multiple clips into one continuous video.
Split – This means breaking a video into smaller parts or removing any unwanted portion of the clip.
Adjust Speed – Speeding up or slowing down clips for creative effects enhances the video.
Transitions – Adding smooth transitions between clips creates a professional look.
Filters & Effects – To enhance visuals, we can apply aesthetic filters.
Reverse Video – Users can also play clips in reverse for a fun effect.
PIP (Picture-in-Picture) – This allows one video to be placed on top of another for reaction videos.
Keyframe Animation – This feature enables customization of movement and effects over time for more flexible edits.

Photo by ZT_OSCAR on Pixabay

Moreover, I found that it is very simple and easy to use that provides with so many editing tools, the crucial tools for editing are cost free. Also, it offers premium version which the users can purchase to access for more efficient tools, but some advertisements appear while editing. However, the paid version offers no watermarks in which one time purchase is available with additional effects, premium filters, more music options with no advertisements.

Photo by 27707 on Pixabay

It is a wonderful option for quick video editing, One of the limitations of using InShot on a PC through an emulator is potential performance issues. Emulators can slow down the editing process, especially with high-resolution videos, that’s why a dedicated PC video editor will provide smoother and faster performance. As every coin has two sides therefore, this application has its pros and cons. While reading the different opinions, while editing the video I also felt that it makes the resolution, the quality of display quite low which makes the viewers to watch the video quite unclear which I explored the major drawback while editing.

Photo by patrisianovianti on Pixabay

Hello Everyone, After getting the feedback from my Professor, I started to explore something more unique, and during exploring I decided one of the interesting concept about the family that I should try to learn vocabulary that how to describe about the family is the German language. The online website called “Emma loves German” I found it really impressive because in this website I learned how to talk about family members, as I liked audio to practice new words.

Die Familie (The Family)

In German, “family” is “die Familie” (pronounced: fah-MEE-lee-uh).

Few common family members in German Language:

Mutter – Mother

Vater – Father

Eltern – Parents

Bruder – Brother

Schwester – Sister

Opa – Grandpa

Oma – Grandma

Onkel – Uncle

Tante – Aunt

Cousin (m.) / Cousine (f.) – Cousin

Here in above sentence m. represents masculine (used term for boy), and f. represents feminine (used for girl)

                                                                                                                      Kind – Child

Sohn – Son

Tochter – Daughter

Photo by Mohamed_hassan on Pixabay

I uploaded a video that how to describe the family members, learning the German language is quite challenging as compared to other languages in my opinion, I felt it due to complex grammar rules to long compound words as I explored the numerous websites and online learners get to know that the Germany language has three genders that are masculine for males, feminine for females and the few words are neutral which makes it very tricky for the beginners, however it is a different experience, it can be said that it all depends upon the interest that how we understand it’s patterns to grasp the language, moreover, kindly check out my video and let me know your thoughts about it. Also, feel free to share any tips or experiences that may help me on my language-learning journey.

Stay tuned….! 🙂

Photo by ElisaRiva on Pixabay

Open education resources are essential tools that help to empower educators and students in multiple ways, the OER resources make the education system flexible, affordable, and more inclusive. In this modern era, one of the major goals of the school is to adopt more inclusive practices that help shape the students’ personalities and boost their confidence. Open educational resources are the freely licensed teaching and learning tools that are openly licensed which help the individuals to access. There are                                                                                        numerous resources such as                                                                                               textbooks, such as CK-12, and                                                                                        Khan Academy, with different                                                                                              videos, engaging lesson plans with                                                                                   many attached activities, test papers,                                                                                 and quizzes.

Photo by Lifelinecare on Pixabay

Without a doubt, OER is beneficial for teachers and students because the materials offer knowledge that is updated content, saves money, interactive and multimedia encourages sharing and collaboration among students. These are wonderful tools that have no financial burden to purchase expensive textbooks, and they are available anytime, which shows flexibility. Moreover, the one thing that I liked the most is that it encourages independent learning where the learners can explore the concepts in detail outside the classroom walls.

Also, Open Global Education is celebrating Open Education Week (OEW) that is an annual event that celebrates and promotes open education worldwide. It is a platform where educators, students, and schools can participate to share and learn about open educational practices and online material. This fosters community discussions, and accessible learning on webinars or panel discussions.

Photo by ZedH on Pixabay

Furthermore, the OER platform CK12 Foundation  I found it beneficial because it is California- based non-profit organization that offers numerous open educational resources, major focusing on STEM subjects.

Photo by uroburos on Pixabay

The major aim is to reduce the course and to provide high quality education among the learners. The curriculum of CK12 Foundation is well structured covering mathematics, science, social studies, English, and Adult education subjects. It is designed to be user-friendly allowing the educators and students to vast library resources, and enabling users to quickly locate the materials according to their needs. The structure and content of the resources is aligning with the curriculum standards. Also educators have the flexibility to customize their materials according to the lesson plan. To enhance the productivity and teaching efficiency CK12 Foundation is a valuable tool for the educators.

Hello Everyone,

There are so many words that are similar to the German language, and it really makes it easy for the learners who are struggling to learn something new, such as

es ist = it is

und = and

gut = good

es ist gut = it is good

guten Morgen = good morning

willkommen = welcome

guten Morgen = good morning

willkommen = welcome

But, there are some other numerous words which are similar as English language, it can be said as Noun that means, nouns with the same meaning in German and English.

Nouns with A that are the same in German and English.

die Addition
die Adoption
der Agent
die Aggression
der Alarm

das Album
das Alibi
der Alligator
das Alphabet
die Alternative

das Aluminium
der Amateur
das Aquarium
die Arena
das Argument

der Arm
das Aroma

der Asteroid
das Asthma
der Astronaut

der Atlas
das Atom
der Automat

German and English Nouns with B That Are the Same

das Baby
die Balance
der Ball
die Band
die Bank

die Bar
die Basis
der Basketball
der Bluff
der Boss
die Boutique
der Boxer

der Broccoli
der Browser
das Budget
der Bus
der Butler
die Butter

Similar Nouns in German and English Starting with C

das Café
das Casino

das Cello
die Chance
das Chaos

der Cheeseburger
der Clown
der Club
das Cockpit
der Cocktail

der Code
der Computer
der Container
die Cornflakes
die Couch

German-English Nouns Starting with D That Are the Same

die Definition
die Demonstration
die Demo
das Depot
die Depression

das Dessert
das Detail
die Detonation
der Dialog
der Diplomat

Same German and English Nouns Starting with E

das Echo
das Element

die Emotion
die Episode

die Evolution
die Expedition
das Experiment
die Explosion

German English Similar Nouns Starting with F

der Fan
die Farm
das Fax
der Film
der Filter

der Finger
das Format
das Forum
das Fossil
das Fragment
der Frost

German-English Cognates: Nouns Starting with G

die Garage
das Gas
das Gel
die Generation
der Generator

die Giraffe
das Gold
der Gorilla
die Grapefruit

Common Cognates in German and English: Nouns with H

der Hamburger
der Hammer
der Hamster
die Hand
die Hardware

der Hippie
das Hobby
der Horror
das Hotel
der Humor

der Humorist
der Hunger

Examples of Cognates in German and English: Nouns with I

der Idiot
das Idol
die Illusion
der Index
die Information

die Info
die Initiative
das Inland
die Innovation
die Inspiration

die Institution
das Instrument
die Intention
das Internet
das Interview

die Intuition
die Isolation

Shared Nouns in German and English: Words Starting with J and K

der Jaguar
der Jazz
die Jeans
der Jeep
der Job

der Journalist
der Junior
der Ketchup
das Kilo
der Kindergarten

German-English Cognates: Nouns with L

das Land
der Laptop
der Laser
die Lava
der Leopard

der Lift
die Limousine
der Liter
die Lust

Similar Nouns in German and English: Starting with M

das Magnesium
der Magnet
die Malaria
der Manager

die Mango
die Massage
der Mast
das Material
die Matrix

das Maximum
das Medium

das Memo
der Meteor

der Meter
die Million
die Mine
das Mineral
das Minimum

der Minister
die Minute
die Mission
das Model
der Moment

das Monster
das Moor

die Motivation
der Motor

das Motto
das Museum
das Musical

German-English Cognates: Nouns Starting with N

der Name
die Nation
das Nest
das Netbook
das Neutron

die Norm
das Notebook

German and English Similar Nouns: Starting with O

die Olive
das Omelette
die Operation
die Opposition
das Optimum

die Option
die Orange
das Orbit
die Organization
das Organ
der Organist

Similar German and English Nouns: Starting with P

der Panda
der Panther
die Papaya
die Parade

der Paragraph
der Parameter
die Paranoia
der Park
der Partner

die Party
das Patent
der Patient
der Patriot
die Pause

das Pedal
die Person
die Pest
das Phantom
die Phase

German and English Nouns: Similar Words Starting with Q

der Quotient
das Quiz

Similar Nouns in English and German: Words Starting with R

das Radar
das Radio
der Radius
die Rebellion

der Reflex
die Reform
der Refrain
das Regime

die Region
das Register
die Religion
der Report
die Reserve
der Rest
das Restaurant
die Revolution

der Ring
der Roller
die Rose
die Route
die Routine

der Ruin
der Rum

English and German Similar Nouns: Starting with S

der Sack
der Safe
das Sandwich
der Sand

die Satire
die Sauce
das Segment
der Sender
die Sensation

das Serum
der Service
der Sex
das Shampoo
die Show

die Simulation
das Skateboard
der Sketch
der Slogan
das Smartphone

das Snowboard
das Sofa

die Software
das Solarium
das Solo
das Sonar
der Sport
das Spray
das Stadium
der Standard
der Start

der Star
die Station
die Statue
der Status
der Stress
der Student
der Surfer

das Sushi
das Symbol
das Symptom
das Synonym
das System

German-English Similar Nouns: Words Beginning with T

das Talent
der Tanker
der Tank
das Taxi

das Team
das Telefax
das Telex
das Temperament
der Terrorist
der Terror
das Testament
der Tester

der Test
der Text
das Theater
das Thermometer
das Ticket

der Tiger
der Tip
das Toast
der Tornado
der Tourist

die Tour
der Transfer
der Transporter
der Transport
das Trauma

der Trick
der Triumph
das T-Shirt
der Tsunami
der Tumor
der Tunnel
der Turban
die Turbine
der Tutor

Similar Nouns in German and English: Starting with U

die Uniform
die Union

Same Nouns in German and English: Starting with V

der Van
die Variable
die Vase
die Vegetation
der Ventilator

das Verb
die Version
das Video
die Villa
der Virus
das Vitamin
Volleyball

Similar Nouns in English and German: Starting with W, Y and Z

der Wind
der Winter
der Wolf
das Yoga

der Zoo

das Zebra
der Zombie
der Zoom

The words which are used before the noun words such as die, der and das as these all are the grammatical gender rules or can say the articles are connected with the nouns, therefore, remember to always keep communication in mind, and know that it takes a long time to remember all the grammatical gender rules. Instead, start by focusing on common words, and words most useful to you personally, and study articles (der, die, das) together with the noun.

I would like to share one more interesting fact that in the German die, der, and das are the definite articles which means “the” in English language.

German nouns are divided into three grammatical genders:

1. Masculine (der) – der Hund (the dog)
2. Feminine (die) – die Blume (the flower)
3. Neuter (das) – das Haus (the house)

German nouns—for humans and objects—are all in one of three noun categories: masculine, feminine, or neuter. These categories are unrelated to human gender, sexuality, or identity and are purely grammatical. They could just as easily be called Category A, Category B, and Category C! In German, a noun’s category affects the words around it, including adjectives and articles (words like the and a), so a masculine noun is paired with a masculine article, feminine with feminine, and neuter with neuter.

Hello everyone,

Here is a vocabulary list of the counting in the German language, it’s basic knowledge of the German language, and we suggest you to learn them until you know them by heart.

Knowing the German numbers up to 20 and the straightforward system how to create numbers from 21, you can understand, write, and say all numbers up to 99.

Photo by geralt on Pixabay

I tried to speak so many times then able to know the pronunciation, it’s quite hard but with continuous practice we are able to learn anything.