Archive for 'Literature'
German Children’s Stories 2: Zappelphilipp Posted by Constanze on Sep 14, 2016
Guten Tag! Today I’m tying two topics together: An untranslatable word (we haven’t had one of those for a while!) and a classic German children’s story. One of these inspired the other. Want to learn more? The German word I am focusing on today is der Zappelphilipp. What does der Zappelphilipp mean? A ‘Zappelphilipp’…
German Children’s Stories 1 Posted by Constanze on Jul 22, 2016
Guten Tag! A little while ago somebody requested posts on children’s books and stories. I thought, where better to start than the German books my mum used to read to me as a child! DER STRUWWELPETER Der Struwwelpeter is a very famous German children’s book by Dr. Heinrich Hoffmann. Hoffmann wrote it because he couldn’t…
Take It Easy and Learn German! Posted by Sten on Jul 17, 2016
There are many ways to learn a language, but German is sometimes hard to start with. Fortunately, there are initiatives such as Leichte Sprache, which can make things a lot easier. Read on! “(1) Hält ein Gericht ein Gesetz, auf dessen Gültigkeit es bei der Entscheidung ankommt, für verfassungswidrig, so ist das Verfahren auszusetzen und, wenn…
Truly Grimm: German Fairytales Posted by Constanze on Mar 11, 2016
Guten Tag! Most people will have heard of die Brüder Grimm (the Brothers Grimm) and their Märchen (fairy tales). Perhaps you’ll have read a few of them, or seen the Disney adaptations of these gruesome stories. But who exactly were these famous German brothers, and what is it like reading their fairy tales in German?…
10 German Proverbs and Their Meanings Posted by Larissa on Jun 23, 2015
I got inspiration for this post from a comment on an earlier post of mine Useful Vocabulary for Everyday Life in Germany asking if I could translate a German proverb. Here are 10 common German proverbs, some of them you might recognise in English, and some not! Wer im Glashaus sitzt sollte nicht mit…
German poetry goes Frankfurt vernacular Posted by Sandra Rösner on Apr 21, 2015
A couple of weeks ago, one of you ask me if I’m familiar with the poem “Fourteen Daughters” by Friedrich Stoltze – a German poet an writer who was famous for his poems written in Frankfurt vernacular. I have to admit that I had never heard of him before but after a quick search on Google I…
Vocabulary for Valentine’s Day Posted by Larissa on Feb 5, 2015
Guten tag! Valentine’s Day is coming up and so I have all the vocabulary you need to get you through the day. Let’s start off with which Geschenke (presents) to buy: Die Schokolade Chocolate Das Lebkuchen Herz Gingerbread heart (they also have pet names written on them) Der Blumenstrauss A bunch of flowers Die Rosen …