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Archive for July, 2010

The “Trabant”: the “VolksWagen” of the former German Democratic Republic Posted by on Jul 29, 2010

Since Germany is known for its car industry, I am sure most of you have at least heard about brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, VW, Audi, Opel, Ford, and Porsche. But have you ever heard of a car called Trabant? If not, let me turn your gaze toward past times. After the division of Germany, both…

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Lost in translation: The funny Germans Posted by on Jul 26, 2010

It is a prevalent belief that we Germans have little or even no sense of humor (Sinn für Humor). Especially British people often suppose that Germans are humourless (humorlos). But why is that? First of all, of course, Germans love to laugh just as any other nation. But humor is always connected with language and…

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Mastering German word order II: main clauses Posted by on Jul 22, 2010

In my previous post, I explained the word order of a basic German sentence, containing the following grammatical entities: S = subject: ich (I) V = verb: schreibe (am writing) O = object: einen Brief (a letter) T = time: heute (today) L = location: im Büro (at the office) My example sentence was: Ich…

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Mastering German word order I: main clauses Posted by on Jul 13, 2010

German word order may appear to be very random and confusing for foreign learners. Thus, I want to try to help you to overcome this challenge. To make it as easy as possible for you to follow my explanation, I am going to start with the easiest and most basic sentence structure (containing less information)…

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54 – 74 – 90 – 2010 Posted by on Jul 6, 2010

Due to the success of the German soccer team, the cities in Germany have turned into big party areas again (like in 2006 when the world cup took place in Germany).

Die Deutschen und ihre Biere – The Germans and their beers Posted by on Jul 2, 2010

Germany is often associated with its beer, or should I say beers? There are so many verschiedene Sorten (different sorts) and Marken (brands) that you actually need a Dimplom (diploma) to be able to distinguish them all. By the way, I am only joking. There is not something like a beer-diploma! So, versteht mich bitte…

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