Archive for May, 2014
Ballermann! The German way to celebrate life (for some)! Posted by Sten on May 30, 2014
The summer can be a party! In Germany, this Feiern (partying) can take very special, interesting forms. A very well-known form is Ballermann, a word combination of the words ballern, which is only used colloquially for drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, and the word Mann, which just means man. Probably this combination was chosen because ballern can rather be ascribed to men. This…
The Reinheitsgebot – what’s the story? Posted by Sten on May 28, 2014
The German Reinheitsgebot (Beer Purity Law) is not the oldest food law in the world. There are laws going back more than 3000 years before the Reinheitsgebot that concern food. The Law was introduced as a Landesverordnung (State Act) in Bavaria, and only in 1918 it was called Reinheitsgebot for the first time. Mostly, this…
A new face – Sten! Posted by Sten on May 17, 2014
Moin, moin! Moin is a regional way to say hi in the north of Germany, in Bundesländer like Niedersachsen. And with that, I say hi to you! I am Sten Ritterfeld, blogger and language tutor at Transparent Languages for Dutch and German. I also write for the Dutch blog, so be sure to check that…