Archive for 'Language'
75 Years Ago: The Nuremberg Trials Posted by Sten on Nov 23, 2020
Last Friday was the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the Nürnberger Prozesse (Nuremberg trials). It was a series of Strafprozesse (criminal trials) to bring Nazis to justice. The Prozesse are seen as the beginning of the Völkerstrafrecht (International Criminal Law) and were an important marker how justice can be served to people that have such severe crimes…
Sprechen, Reden, Sagen – What’s The Difference? Posted by Constanze on Nov 18, 2020
Guten Tag! Recently I wrote a post recapping the verb sprechen – to speak, talk, or say. Like in English, there are several words in German with similar meanings to the word sprechen. I thought it might be useful as a follow-up post to go through some of these words and give some example sentences…
The US Election in Germany Posted by Sten on Nov 12, 2020
As expected, the US election was a drawn-out process this time with television networks being careful with their projections. The winner was projected only last Friday. As always with the election of a new president in the United States, the whole world was watching – Germany as well. How was the election covered, and what…
The German Word Fisimatenten Posted by Constanze on Nov 11, 2020
Guten Tag! Today we’re looking at a peculiar German word: Fisimatenten. If you’re thinking, Well, that doesn’t look like a German word, you’d be right! There are a few different theories as to this word’s origins. But before we get into that, what on earth does Fisimatenten actually mean? Die Fisimatenten Fisimatenten is difficult to…
The German Verb ‘Sprechen’ (To Speak) Posted by Constanze on Nov 10, 2020
Guten Tag! In this ‘back to basics’ post, we’re going to look at the conjugation of the German verb sprechen – to speak. A very appropriate verb for your language learning! 🙂 Sprechen is an irregular German verb, meaning that both its endings and its stem will sometimes change. Here are a few conjugations of…
Untranslatable German: Feierabend Posted by Sten on Oct 30, 2020
Es ist 17:00. Endlich! Feierabend. (It’s 5 pm. Finally! End of the work day.) Time to go home, or go by the Kneipe (bar) and get a Bier (beer) to relax and wind down. A typical, almost stereotypical German Brauch (tradition). And Feierabend is the untranslatable word here. Let’s look at what it means and what perhaps could be an English…
A German Construction Disaster Comes to A Close Posted by Sten on Oct 29, 2020
Finally! After years and years of delays and billions of euros over budget, Berlin’s new airport BER will finally open this Saturday, October 31. Just so you get an idea of how big a deal this is: The airport was supposed to open in 2007. You read that right, not 2017, but 13 years ago! The…