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German Onomatopoeia Posted by Constanze on Jan 24, 2018
Today we’re going to look at onomatopoeia in the German language! The dictionary defines onomatopoeia as ‘the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g. cuckoo, sizzle ).’ You might already be familiar with some of these words in English: Splash, boom, and many animal noises including miaow. Just like…
Reflexive German Verbs Posted by Constanze on Jan 17, 2018
Guten Tag! Today we’re going to look at reflexive German verbs. If you’ve ever heard a German native say something like “I will shower me” in English instead of “I will take a shower”, for example, this post on reflexive verbs will hopefully explain why that is! What is a reflexive verb? A reflexive verb…
Reflecting & Setting Goals In German Posted by Constanze on Jan 10, 2018
Guten Tag, und gutes neues Jahr (hello, and happy new year!)! Are you the kind of person who likes looking back on the year just gone, and looking forward to the year ahead? I know I definitely am! On Silvester (New Year’s Eve) I sat and wrote in my Tagebuch (diary) about what I’ve felt…
The Swiss Silvesterklaus Posted by Constanze on Jan 3, 2018
Guten Tag und Prosit Neujahr! Hope you’ve all had a good rest and had a fantastic start to 2018! In my last post I talked about the origins of the German word for New Year’s Eve: Silvester. I also mentioned the Swiss character known as Silvesterklaus. Today I’d like to tell you a little more…
Why do Germans call New Year’s Eve ‘Silvester’? Posted by Constanze on Dec 29, 2017
Guten Tag! I hope you all had Frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas), that you got to spend time with your Familie (family) and open lots of wonderful Geschenke (presents)! Now there are only a few days left until New Year’s Eve and 2018. If you want to learn about German Christmas and New Year’s customs then…
Top 10 German Posts of 2017 Posted by Constanze on Dec 22, 2017
Guten Tag! As 2017 draws to a close, many of you will be reflecting on your past year. Here on the German blog, we like to do the same! Thank you very much for all of your views, likes and comments over this past year. We hope you’ve enjoyed our posts as much as we’ve…
6 German Language Christmas Songs Posted by Constanze on Dec 13, 2017
Guten Tag! It’s 13. Dezember and almost time to say Frohe Weihnachten. To get into the spirit, today I wanted to share some German Weihnachtslieder (Christmas songs) with you. Not only is it fun for language learners to learn songs in other languages, but songs are actually a brilliant way to improve language proficiency; because…