Archive for June, 2014
Andreas Gabalier spices up German folk music Posted by Sandra Rösner on Jun 13, 2014
It is an open secret. German folk music is not very popular among young Germans. Women in dirndl dresses. Men in leather pants and Tyrolean hats. Someone is playing the accordion. Another one is playing any other folksy instrument, for example, the tuba or the bugle. All dressed up they sing about love in a…
Untranslatable German Words: Teil 1 Posted by Constanze on Jun 9, 2014
I am fascinated by words which exist in other languages, but which we do not have in English. I think my fascination stems from the question I ask myself when confronted with one of these words: Why does it exist in one language, but not in another? Sometimes, this is obviously for cultural reasons, but…
Servus from Constanze! Posted by Constanze on Jun 4, 2014
Servus! That is a Bavarian way of saying ‘hi’! My name is Constanze Arnold, and I am very happy to introduce myself as a new blogger here at Transparent Language. Let me tell you a little more about myself! First off, I am from the UK. I grew up bilingual, with a German mum…
The German you: duzen und siezen Posted by Sten on Jun 1, 2014
Yes, I know. There are German words that do not have a really good translation in (many) other languages, like Gemütlichkeit, Schadenfreude and Wirtschaftswunder. All nouns. What about the verbs? There are two quite handy ones, that you are likely to encounter the next time you visit the Germans. The verb duzen means, literally to you (informally) and siezen means, literally to you (formally). Nowadays…