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Karfreitag – Good Friday in Germany Posted by Sten on Mar 30, 2018
Today is Karfreitag (Good Friday)! It is a Christian holiday commemorating the Kreuzigung (crucifixion) of Jesus. It is celebrated, or commemorated, differently all over the world, but generally is regarded as a holiday. And so it is in Germany. Let’s find out what Germans do on this day! What does Karfreitag mean? In German, the word Kar does no longer have…
German Loanwords in English Pt. 2 Posted by Sten on Mar 24, 2018
Yesterday, we looked at some German loanwords in English. These are words that keep their spelling, pronunciation, and even meaning! Is that always the case? we look int that right now. Let’s begin! Part 1 1. Poltergeist No, this is not just a famous movie from the 1980s, it is an actual word in…
German Loanwords in English Pt. 1 Posted by Sten on Mar 23, 2018
We have some untranslatable words in German, which we have covered extensively. But there are also words in English that were not translated at all – kept their meaning, spelling but not their pronunciation! Let’s look at and listen to a few of these Lehnwörter (loanwords). I first give a recording of the word in both…
Language Listening Lesson – Die Gute Schokolade! Posted by Sten on Feb 22, 2018
Back with an LLL – a Language Listening Lesson. A Language Listening Lesson (Triple L) consists of a German text, with translation and audio file to listen to it. That is the idea – you listen to it and with only that information answer the questions. The text presented today is information from Die Gute Schokolade (The…
Sayings + Expressions 16 – Drehen Posted by Sten on Feb 15, 2018
In this long series of Sayings + Expressions, we have come across a lot. It might make your head spin. And that is why today, we will be talking about drehen (to spin). Because believe it or not, there are Sprichwörter (sayings) and Ausdrücke (expressions) with spinning too! Let’s start, as always, with the Sprichwort. Einen alten Baum verpflanzt man nicht…
7 German Wedding Milestones Posted by Sten on Feb 2, 2018
Many people dream of it: Eine Traumhochzeit (a dream wedding). It is a huge Ereignis (event) in anyone’s life, and it is celebrated accordingly! To celebrate the Hochzeit year after year, the Hochzeitstag (wedding anniversary) is given meaning every year! This is known in other parts of the world as well as in Germany. Here are 7 of the most common Hochzeitstage and what they…
An Extraordinary Tradition – Das Bloch Posted by Sten on Jan 26, 2018
Yesterday, a new film premiered. The documentary shows a more than 200 years old tradition in the Appenzellerland, a region in Switzerland. It is quite useless – a Bloch (Swiss word for “log”, a tree trunk) is hauled from one place through the villages, and finally back to the starting place. So it did not really go…