Servus from Constanze! Posted by Constanze on Jun 4, 2014
Servus! That is a Bavarian way of saying ‘hi’! My name is Constanze Arnold, and I am very happy to introduce myself as a new blogger here at Transparent Language. Let me tell you a little more about myself! First off, I am from the UK. I grew up bilingual, with a German mum…
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…
Ballermann! The German way to celebrate life (for some)! Posted by Sten on May 30, 2014
The summer can be a party! In Germany, this Feiern (partying) can take very special, interesting forms. A very well-known form is Ballermann, a word combination of the words ballern, which is only used colloquially for drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, and the word Mann, which just means man. Probably this combination was chosen because ballern can rather be ascribed to men. This…
The Reinheitsgebot – what’s the story? Posted by Sten on May 28, 2014
The German Reinheitsgebot (Beer Purity Law) is not the oldest food law in the world. There are laws going back more than 3000 years before the Reinheitsgebot that concern food. The Law was introduced as a Landesverordnung (State Act) in Bavaria, and only in 1918 it was called Reinheitsgebot for the first time. Mostly, this…
A new face – Sten! Posted by Sten on May 17, 2014
Moin, moin! Moin is a regional way to say hi in the north of Germany, in Bundesländer like Niedersachsen. And with that, I say hi to you! I am Sten Ritterfeld, blogger and language tutor at Transparent Languages for Dutch and German. I also write for the Dutch blog, so be sure to check that…
“Herzschläge” – Übersetzgesungen Episode 4: Mickey covers José Gonzalez covering The Knife Posted by mickeymickey on Apr 15, 2014
Do you remember that sweet TV commercial with the bouncy balls in San Francisco? This one: Well, for today’s episode of Übersetzgesungen, I decided to translated the song in that commercial! It’s performed by José Gonzalez, but it’s actually a cover of a song by The Knife. I prefer The Knife’s version of it, but Mr…
A Hilarious Season Finale in the Spirit of April Fool’s Posted by mickeymickey on Apr 1, 2014
Hallo Freunde! Erinnert ihr euch an meinen ersten Blogpost? Back in Dezember, I wrote about the season premiere of the new German TV show Neo Magazin mit Jan Böhmermann. Things started off with a bang with an amazing musical number, and the episodes to follow did not disappoint (all episodes are archived and viewable at the…