German Conversation for Learners: Improve Your Language Skills with Real-Life Dialogue | ADVANCED

Still hot. Hello Lara. Nice to have you back. Me too. Yes, and I'm Björn der Held. What are we talking about today? We are talking about social media and mobile usage. By the way, the weather today is very ... ... overgrown, one would say. Changeable. Changeable, changeable, good. So the weather changes all the time. Sometimes the sun is there and then it gets bright here. Sometimes the sun is gone and then it gets dark here. Exactly. But yes, we are talking about social media and mobile usage. So how we use the mobile phone. Exactly, Lara, how long have you been on your mobile phone today? Well, I think about an hour. Usually when I wake up, I go to my mobile phone immediately and start scrolling or reading things. And I don't even notice how fast time flies. That's why it could be that I've been on my mobile phone for an hour or more. Yes, I know that. On a normal day, how long have you been on your mobile phone? Approximately. Probably three hours, maybe even four. But those are different things I do. So it's not just watching videos or something. What do you use your mobile phone for most? Well, I would say a lot to write to friends about apps, so messenger apps. But I'm also a lot on YouTube and watch videos. And that's a lot of fun for me. So would you say that the apps you use the most are messengers, like WhatsApp and YouTube? Yes. And Instagram? I used Instagram a lot once, but it was too much for me. And then I deleted it. I deleted it several times. Until I managed not to go on Instagram that much anymore. And now I'm only very rarely on Instagram and read messages. But I don't spend time there anymore. That's great. I'm so happy about that. Yes, I believe so. How old were you when you got your first mobile phone? I was actually only ten years old. But that was still a small mobile phone to push. There was hardly any internet on it. The internet was very expensive and I never used it. And I only had that to write messages and so that my parents could reach me when I was out alone. And how old were you when you had your first social network or joined it? I think I must have been about twelve. And that was Schülervorzelt at the time. That was something very German. It was a bit like Facebook, but only in Germany. That was very funny. I don't know, you didn't do much there except to write LOL back and forth with friends. But that was my first social network. And that still works very differently than everything that exists today. Let's look at some advantages, i.e. positive sides, and a few disadvantages, i.e. negative sides, on social media. Shall we start with the positive sides? Do you notice anything? I would say first of all, of course, the fast communication. I can reach many different people very quickly. Then, of course, there is a much easier access to information. So I can actually find out everything I want to know very quickly through a simple search. So we have the fast communication and access to information as positive sides. Do you notice anything else? I would say there is entertainment, of course. That is probably the main reason why many people are on the Internet, to be entertained. And there are learning opportunities. So you can learn more about many things and actually learn things online on the Internet. Yes, for example languages. For example German. Yes, that's right. I also notice, as a positive side on social media, the networking. Social network, there you put the network in, the net, like the spider web. And networking is that you can get in touch with a lot of people, whether close or far away. Yes, then we come to the negative sides. Do you have any ideas? Yes, I would say first of all, because it also affects me a lot, distraction and time loss. So that sometimes you are distracted by things that actually have nothing to do with the positive sides. And then you spend too much time on social media, which you would actually prefer to have spent differently. Then I would say, of course, there is also the danger of fake news, which can spread very quickly. That's right. And that it is relatively easy for people to simply present fake news and false information as true. Many people see that and then believe it. Okay, so distraction and time loss. Fake news. Do you have any ideas? What else is negative? Yes, because many people present themselves very perfectly and a lot is very unreal in social media, so not realistic. So you do that with many people, that they compare themselves and maybe feel bad about it. However, I also find that in recent years there are more and more people and accounts that are a bit more realistic. So themselves a bit more authentic, a bit more realistic. Authentic is a good word. Authenticity. A difficult word. Difficult, long, but good. That's what most Germans hear. Difficult, long, but good. I would say that isolation can also be a big danger in social media. Which is crazy, because we just said that networking and connection is an advantage. And on the other hand, isolation and loneliness are a danger. We have now listed the negative sides. The time loss and the distraction. The fake news. Comparing. The isolation. Can you think of anything else? I would say addiction can also develop. Sometimes it even goes relatively fast. And you notice that a bit when you uninstall an app. Like you Instagram. Like me Instagram. And then you notice that it is uncomfortable. So I always wanted to go to Instagram and wanted to open it again and again. And when I saw that it is no longer there, because I want to, but sometimes it was difficult. Yes, that is also difficult. So one thing is the addiction or dependence of social media. And the other is also the dependence in our everyday life or how we go through the world. A few years ago I was traveling for a long time without a cell phone. And now, for example, I also think, how would I do that without having a map on my cell phone? Without constantly having all my contacts on the cell phone. So not the addiction, but the dependence in everyday life. Yes, and in the meantime, at least in Germany, life is so organized that it is really difficult without a smartphone. So in a restaurant you need a smartphone to scan the QR code for the menu. I don't think it's just good because it makes it impossible to organize your life without a smartphone. Especially for older people who don't want to or can't do it anymore, it's bad because it excludes a lot. Yes, that's true. I'm curious how the world will look like in 10 or 50 years. It has changed very, very quickly. What we have already noticed in terms of changes is that we are very young people and we talk about things from our youth like old people. Yes, that's true. I didn't have that back then, but that was only 10 years ago. So that's crazy. Great. What I can think of right now, earlier with the positive aspects, the positive points, you said that you can also use social media well for learning. Do you use social media to learn? Yes, I would say I like to learn on YouTube. And because I paint a lot, I watch videos where certain painting techniques are shown and explained. And sometimes I also learn things that I use. So, for example, I watch videos about chemistry. Really? Yes. So, for example, how to get gold out of a stone. Okay. And then they show what chemical steps there are. But I'm not a chemist. And I can't speak German either. But it's exciting to learn how something like that works. And that's fun for me. And then I learned and understood something new again. Okay, nice. I'm interested in science. So you use it both for your hobbies and for painting. To get a little better, to learn a little. And for your chemical interests. Yes. Do you also learn things with social media? Yes, I do. So right now I want to learn more Portuguese again. Exactly. And I also use a lot of social media for that. So I listen to podcasts in Portuguese or I watch videos. Exactly. That's nice. Learning languages works very well on the Internet. Yes. That's true. I want to pull out the notes. You want to pull out the notes. I'll get the notes. Okay, Lara. Did you scroll? I scrolled. Look, I have the box with a rainbow on it. And you can pull a note and see if you can explain the term. I love notes. Algorithm. The algorithm. Complicated. So the algorithm is a program, a technical program, with which social media work and with which they decide which videos and content I will see next. That's well explained. Thanks. And that means if I watch a lot of videos about chemistry, I get more videos about chemistry. Yes. The algorithm. Very good. One more second? Yes, please. Staging. A complicated term, but maybe it helps when you say in relation to social media. An influencer stages his life. So he only shows the best clips, the best and most exciting events and only shows if he's doing well or if he's on vacation. And stages his life in a way that should be well received by the viewers. Yes. By the followers. Yes. But I think that's an important term for social media because it's a lot of self-staging. Actually only. Actually only self-staging or anything else. I thought about it a lot. That's exciting. The terms are complicated, but I like that. Yes. FOMO. That's not complicated. FOMO. Fear of missing out. So FOMO is the abbreviation for fear of missing out. Yes, not being there. Exactly. I have that a lot. But it often happens that you see something in social networks, for example an invitation to a party, and all your friends go there, but then you can't and the next day everyone posts photos and videos of how great the party was. And you constantly have the feeling of missing out on something. And if you're a lot on social media, or just a little bit, you see a lot of things that you could also do and see and experience. And then you sometimes have FOMO. The fear of missing out. That's not exciting. No. Okay. Another one? No. The cup is empty. Okay. Is there anything else you want to say? Follow Elias Corner. On Instagram. On TikTok. On YouTube. Yes, as I said, the Internet also has positive sides. And I think if you learn and can learn in peace, then that's exactly what the Internet was made for. I follow you. And I don't even have to learn German. I still follow you and watch the videos. Even the ones I'm not in. Very nice. Yes, I wanted to ask you how it is for you with social media and using your phone. Feel free to write that in the comments. Feel free to write in the comments what the positive and negative sides are for you. I'm very curious to see if you have any other aspects or points. Yes. Do we have anything else? Yes, the coffee link. The coffee link. For the coffee, exactly. We have a beer. I'm part of this account. Leo has a BuyMeACoffee account. There is a link in the video description. You can support her and her work with a little coffee money. He's happy about that. And I get a little something out of it. Lara is also happy about it. It was really nice. Last time a few people wrote in the messages that the coffee is also for you. Really? Thank you. Bye. Good, nice. I think that's it. It was fun. I think so too. Thank you for being here. You're welcome. See you next time. Bye.