Archive for 'Language'
Untranslatable German Words: Teil 2 Posted by Constanze on Jun 20, 2014
Guten Tag, and wilkommen to week 2 of my series of posts on ‘untranslatable’ German words! In this series of posts I talk about one or more German words that there is no direct translation for in English. In my first post on this topic, I suggested that the reason for this was to do…
Language Listening Lesson – Freude für den Fußball Posted by Sten on Jun 19, 2014
I have already started this on the Dutch blog, where it was received quite well. I hope you will like the German version as well! 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…
Untranslatable German Words: Teil 1 Posted by Constanze on Jun 9, 2014
I am fascinated by words which exist in other languages, but which we do not have in English. I think my fascination stems from the question I ask myself when confronted with one of these words: Why does it exist in one language, but not in another? Sometimes, this is obviously for cultural reasons, but…
The German you: duzen und siezen Posted by Sten on Jun 1, 2014
Yes, I know. There are German words that do not have a really good translation in (many) other languages, like Gemütlichkeit, Schadenfreude and Wirtschaftswunder. All nouns. What about the verbs? There are two quite handy ones, that you are likely to encounter the next time you visit the Germans. The verb duzen means, literally to you (informally) and siezen means, literally to you (formally). Nowadays…
“Amsel” – Übersetzgesungen brings you a German take on The Beatles’ “Blackbird” Posted by mickeymickey on Mar 26, 2014
Hallo Freunde! After receiving a few requests to do something by the Beatles, I decided to give “Blackbird” a try for this week’s episode of Übersetzgesungen. The Beatles are no strangers to Germany or the German language. When the band started, they performed sets in Hamburg almost every night for a span of about two years…
My way to language: Bilingual thoughts on where motivation comes from Posted by mickeymickey on Mar 19, 2014
“What do you recommend I do to learn a foreign language?” Ganz oft wird mir diese Frage gestellt. My answer differs from person to person, but whatever long-winded suggestions I give, I always end up with the same piece of advice. Ich sage, “Um eine Sprache zu lernen, muss man erst es genug wollen.” How…
What does Taylor Swift sound like in German? – Übersetzgesungen Episode 2 Posted by mickeymickey on Mar 11, 2014
Hey guys! Übersetzgesungen is back with another Germanized version of a song originally in English. This time I decided to try my hand at translating Taylor Swift, who, as it turns out, is much wordier than Simon & Garfunkel. I learned a lot, you know, in trying to capture, like, the vibe of the song. Viel…