Archive for 'Culture'
What Cake Can Teach Us About Germany (Part 2!) Posted by Constanze on Aug 12, 2020
Guten Tag! This is the second in a two-part series on one of my favourite subjects: Cake (der Kuchen in German)- specifically, German cakes with interesting, often place-specific, names. We will look at why those cakes are named the way they are, and learn a little language, culture and history in the process. So, as…
What Cake Can Teach Us About Germany Posted by Constanze on Aug 5, 2020
Guten Tag! This is the first in a two-part series on one of my favourite subjects: Cake (der Kuchen in German)- specifically, German cakes with interesting, often place-specific, names. We will look at why those cakes are named the way they are, and learn a little language, culture and history in the process. So, as…
Why Should I Learn German? Posted by Sten on Jul 30, 2020
Why would you learn German? Let’s look at a few reasons why you would want to learn German! These reasons are by no means exhaustive, but it might give you some inspiration! Why should I learn a foreign language at all? There are a plethora of reasons to learn a language besides your mother tongue…
German Wines – A Closer Look Posted by Larissa on Jul 28, 2020
Continuing on from my last blog post (An Introduction to German Wines), we will expand upon this topic and talk about the qualities and classifications of wine in Germany. Since 1971 there are four classifications for German wine: Deutscher Wein German wine Landwein …
Who’s John Doe in Germany? Posted by Sten on Jul 28, 2020
If you don’t want to keep somebody’s name anonymous or if you simply need a placeholder, a common name to use is John Doe for men and Jane Doe for women, or Joe Bloggs or John Smith… There’s quite a list. How do we do it in Germany? The “Example Man” In Germany, we almost…
A Nifty German Idea: Drehkippfenster Posted by Sten on Jul 24, 2020
In Germany, it’s the hottest time of the year right now. With temperatures up to and sometimes even surpassing 30°C (86°F), there is a real need for frische Luft (fresh air)! A genius German invention that makes this quite easy is the Dreh-Kipp-Fenster (tilt-and-turn window). Americans rave about these Fenster and how amazing they are – so let’s find out…
The Curiosity of the Word “Homeoffice” Posted by Sten on Jul 23, 2020
It’s quarantine time, and so many people are working from home. So you set up your regular office at home – you built yourself a home office! In German, we normally call our office a Büro or Schreibtisch (literally “writing table”). But when working from home, it’s not a Heimbüro, but curiously, a “Homeoffice”. And even if you don’t have…