Archive for 'Culture'
German poetry (Friedrich Schiller): Die Bürgschaft – The Hostage Posted by Sandra Rösner on Sep 10, 2012
Here is another German poem: “Die Bürgschaft” (The Hostage) by Friedrich Schiller. This time I added German subtitles to the video, so that you can read along while listening to it. Die Bürgschaft / The Hostage 1. Zu Dionys, dem Tyrannen, schlich Damon, den Dolch im Gewande: Ihn schlugen die Häscher in…
German music: Ostrock (Karussell – Als ich fortging) Posted by Sandra Rösner on Aug 27, 2012
I have already published several post about German song lyrics and their English translations but those were rather new songs. This time I would like go back in time and suggest a song from the 1980s by a band from the former German Democratic Republic. Karussell (carousel) is a German band from Leipzig and they…
German Poetry: Theodor Fontane – “John Maynard” Posted by Sandra Rösner on Aug 24, 2012
Theodor Fontane (born 30 December in Neuruppin) was a German novelist and poet. His main job was actually pharmacist – a profession also carried on by his father – but always felt called to writing. His first novel Geschwisterliebe (Siblings Love) was published in 1839, the same year he finished his education in pharmacy. Ten…
German Poetry (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe): Erlkönig – Erlking/Elfking Posted by Sandra Rösner on Aug 22, 2012
Here is another poem of my poem-series, so to speak. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s “Erlkönig” is a quite gloomy poem. By the way, the word “Erlkönig” is another term for “Schwarzer Mann” (bogeyman). Wer reitet so spätdurch Nacht und Wind?Es ist der Vatermit seinem Kind; Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem…
German Poetry (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe): Der Zauberlehrling – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Posted by Sandra Rösner on Aug 19, 2012
I wonder whether foreign learners of German do ever deal with German literature in classroom, especially with poetry. Therefore, I thought it could be maybe interesting to you to get to know some poems that also native speakers of German have to memorize at any time in their school life. For starters, I chose Johann…
Telling time in German: the quarters of an hour Posted by Sandra Rösner on Aug 15, 2012
Telling the quarters of an hour in German is basically similar to English. There are the phrases “viertel vor” (quarter to) and “viertel nach” (quarter past), which need to be inserted between “Es is …” and a number between 1 and 12. The only difference between German and English exists when it come to tell…
How to say that in German? – Nickelback “Gotta be somebody” Posted by Sandra Rösner on Aug 3, 2012
I guess most of you wonder what Nickelback has to do with the German language or culture. Well to be honest, absolutely nothing! But after I have translated several German lyrics into English I want to turn the tables and translate English songs into German. The first reason why I decided to do this is…