Untranslatable Words: Der Spießer Posted by Sten on Jan 20, 2019
Spießer. A very German word! Germans feel as if they are seen from the outside Germany as Spießer, as Germans generally like things to go orderly, not too chaotic, and are not the biggest fans of societal change. That is the stereotype. Let’s look at that word today! What does Spießer mean? Spießer is short for the official word Spießbürger…
10 Words That Are More Descriptive In German Posted by Constanze on Jan 16, 2019
Guten Tag! How’s your learning going? Hopefully, it’s going well! In today’s post, we’re going to look at some words that are just better in German. One of the most common stereotypes people hold about the German language is that it is angry and harsh-sounding. And one of the most common stereotypes people hold about…
Get Your German Off To A Flying Start! 9 Tips Posted by Constanze on Jan 9, 2019
Guten Tag (Hello)! And, if this is your first time on Transparent Language, WILLKOMMEN (Welcome)! With a new year comes a fresh start, and with many people making new year’s resolutions, learning or brushing up on a language is often one of them. If you’ve decided to learn or brush up on your German this…
German Word Of The Year 2018 Posted by Constanze on Jan 2, 2019
Guten Tag, und frohes neues Jahr! Hello, and Happy New Year! I hope you’ve all had a wonderful start to 2019. In this post we will clear up some unfinished business from 2018, and that is discovering what the German Wort des Jahres (Word of the Year) of 2018 is! Each year, the Gesellschaft für…
Sayings + Expressions 20: Good Luck! Posted by Sten on Dec 27, 2018
Welcome to this year’s last Sayings + Expressions! At the end of the year, we look back at the last twelve months, and look forward to the next. Of course, we want the next year to be (even) better! The Germans have their ways of expressing this. Let’s find out how! For older posts, please follow…
The origin of Stollen Posted by Larissa on Dec 25, 2018
Stollen is a traditional German Christmas cake that is still very popular to this day. In this post I will explain what exactly it is and how it came about. The first ever Stollen dates back to 1545. Nowadays, Stollen is made out of flour, butter, yeast, raisins, almonds, marzipan and spices like cinnamon and…
The End of Germany’s Coal Posted by Sten on Dec 22, 2018
Die letzte Zeche wurde geschlossen! In 2007, Germany decided to phase out hard coal production in 2018, which was today. Steinkohle was an important component to rebuild Germany after the Second World War. The reason is simple: Germany’s coal was simply no longer competitive on the global market. The last day of Steinkohleförderung (hard coal mining) took place at Schachtanlage (shaft…