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Valentinstag – Valentine’s Day Posted by anja on Feb 12, 2012
Only two days until Valentine’s day! Have you already sent out your greeting cards, prepared your presents, planned the evening with your loved one? The custom to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day as the day of lovers was introduced to Germany by US soldiers after WWII, and then got popularized among the general public by marketing…
Deutsch lernen mit Liedern – Learn German with songs Posted by anja on Feb 8, 2012
Songs are a great way to learn a language. By listening to native speakers, you get a feel for the sound of the language. By listening to the same text repeatedly, you get a feel for the structure of the language, for its word order; and you’ll be remembering phrases, words, and articles. Just listen…
Die Sendung mit der Maus – The Program with the Mouse Posted by anja on Jan 31, 2012
When searching for German language learning resources online, I discovered this wonderful website: Sachgeschichten aus der Sendung mit der Maus. Sachgeschichten means “non-fictional stories”, and Die Sendung mit der Maus is, I’d say, Germany’s most famous TV program after the crime television series Tatort (english title: Crime Scene), so I am dedicating a whole article…
Getting from A to B in Germany: part 2 of 2 Posted by anja on Jan 21, 2012
In my last post I talked about traveling Germany by train, and I promised to tell you about other ways of getting around. So here we go! A cheaper alternative to train travel is carpooling. There are several websites dedicated to aranging long-distance carpools, the one with the largest community being mitfahrgelegenheit.de. Usually the person…
Getting from A to B in Germany: part 1 of 2 Posted by anja on Jan 14, 2012
What comes to your mind first when you think of Germany? Lederhosen, Bratwurst, Bier, und – Autos? (leather trousers, bratwurst, beer, and – cars?) I bet that most likely you’ve been thinking “cars”. Or “Autobahn” (controlled-access highway). And while I’m not going to get into the leather pants, bratwursts, and beer thing this time, I…
Wohnen in Deutschland – Housing in Germany Posted by anja on Jan 11, 2012
I grew up in a Einfamilienhaus (one family house). And the one I grew up in was surrounded mostly by one family homes. My grandparents had their own Haus (house), and so did the families of my friends in the neighbourhood. As of 2008, one third of households in Germany is living in one family homes…
A visit to one of Berlin’s Christmas markets Posted by anja on Dec 11, 2011
Although snow hasn’t reached Berlin yet, when you are out in the city you cannot miss that it’s Christmas time. People may have decorated the trees in their front yards with Christmas balls or electric lights. The city itself has also done some spectacular decoration with the help of its electricity supplier: The linden trees…