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German Words From The News Posted by Constanze on Dec 7, 2015
Whilst browsing the other Transparent Language blogs as I do from time to time, I came across a fantastic post on the Greek blog entitled ‘Greek vocabulary from the news’. There are a few, interconnected topics that are dominating the headlines worldwide at the moment, namely der Terrorismus (terrorism), der Syrien Konflikt (the Syria conflict)…
Untranslatable German Words: das Fingerspitzengefühl Posted by Constanze on Nov 27, 2015
Hello and welcome to another post on untranslatable German words, where I bring you the quirkiest, funniest and most intelligent words that the German language has to offer – and ones that are difficult to find a direct translation for! Today’s word is das Fingerspitzengefühl. What does das Fingerspitzengefühl mean? To have Fingerspitzengefühl means to…
Why ‘Germans Are Rude’ Part 2 Posted by Constanze on Nov 18, 2015
I recently wrote a post called Why ‘Germans Are Rude’, which was inspired by an article on how different cultures give criticism. Firstly, I want to thank everybody who commented on it. It seems that this is a topic everybody has something to say about, which is great! The Germans are arguably one of the…
Why ‘Germans Are Rude’ Posted by Constanze on Nov 13, 2015
Guten Tag! I recently read an article called “How To Say ‘This Is Crap’ In Different Cultures”. It highlights the differences in how the British talk compared to other European nationalities – Germans included. The article states that the Germans, Dutch and other nationalities are more direct than the British. While the British use what…
Untranslatable German Words: mutterseelenallein Posted by Constanze on Nov 7, 2015
Hello and welcome to another post on untranslatable German words, where I bring you the quirkiest, funniest and most intelligent words that the German language has to offer – and ones that are difficult to find a translation for! Today’s word is mutterseelenallein. What does mutterseelenallein mean? To be mutterseelenallein describes an extreme kind…
Untranslatable German Words: The Quiz! Posted by Constanze on Oct 30, 2015
Guten Tag! During my time here at the German language blog I’ve had the pleasure of introducing you to the weird, wonderful, ‘untranslatable’ words that the German language has to offer. From Schattenparker to Waldeinsamkeit, Gesichtsbremse to Kaffeeklatsch, this series of ‘untranslatable German words’ has proved to be very popular with you all, and I’m…
Reading German History: Maus by Art Spiegelman Posted by Constanze on Oct 26, 2015
It goes without saying that reading is a fantastic way to improve your German in an enjoyable way. Today I’d like to recommend a book I read recently. It was originally written in English, but there is a German translation available. Its subject matter is World War II, the Holocaust, and Nazi Germany. Why am…