How do you pronounce the gender-neutral German Gendersternchen? Posted by Sten on Jul 15, 2021
Gender-neutral language is being used more and more. Some cities have started using it, the University of Leipzig decided to use the weibliche Form (feminine form) as the basic form instead of the männliche Form (male form). This led to some “erhitzte Gemüter” (raised tempers). In Germany, the discussion about the use and necessity of gendered language is…
German Swimming Vocabulary Posted by Constanze on Jul 14, 2021
Guten Tag! Today we’re going to learn some vocabulary for a popular summer activity: das Schwimmen – Swimming! Swimming vocabulary Firstly, here is the verb schwimmen (to swim) in the present tense: Ich schwimme – I swim/am swimming Du schwimmst – You swim/are swimming (informal, singular) Er/sie/es schwimmt He/she/it swims/is swimming Wir schwimmen – We…
Points In Time In German Posted by Constanze on Jul 7, 2021
Guten Tag! Today we’re going to look at how to talk about different points in time in German. We’ve looked previously at how to tell the time – see this tag for lots of posts on that subject! – but what if you want to talk about something that happened yesterday, last week, or one…
Why The German National Anthem Has Only One Stanza Posted by Sten on Jul 1, 2021
Two days ago, the German Fußballelf (f, national football team) played England in the Wembley Stadium as part of the Euro 2020. Before the game, each team sings their Nationalhymne (f, national anthem). The German one came on, and despite the booing from some disrespectful fans, they sang their Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit. The Dutch subtitles…
Germany’s Abandoned Amusement Park Posted by Constanze on Jun 30, 2021
Guten Tag! Today we’re going to look at Germany through the lens of urban exploration. When travelling, I am always fascinated by places that are abandoned (verlassen), eerie (unheimlich), or otherwise strange (seltsam), so I thought I’d write a series of posts on places in Germany that meet that criteria! If you are also a…
The History of German Tea Posted by Larissa on Jun 29, 2021
When you think of Germany, the first thing that pops into your head is most certainly not tea, it might be Bier (beer) or Kaffee (coffee) but do Germans actually drink tea too? Well the answer is yes, quite a lot of people here do! Schwarztee (black tea) is the most popular tea in Germany…
4 Ways to Identify a German Speaking English Posted by Sten on Jun 28, 2021
Sometimes you hear somebody’s accent, and it’s clear that they are from some European country. But which one? It often depends on the native language of the speaker. So let’s look at 3 ways that you can identify a German speaking English. The next time you hear somebody speaking like this, you could show off…