German Week On The Great British Bake Off! Posted by Constanze on Nov 10, 2021
You might be familiar with the TV show The Great British Bake Off (The Great British Baking Show in the US, I believe!), where a group of people compete to be crowned the nation’s best amateur baker (Baker: der Bäcker/die Bäckerin). Each week they have three baking challenges, with one person being crowned Star Baker…
How Broccoli Became Synonymous for Cannabis in Germany Posted by Sten on Nov 4, 2021
In this series, I want to discuss Worte (words) that became famous in Germany, and what their impact was afterwards. Today, we’ll look at a new word for cannabis. If you look into the debate about legalizing marihuana in Germany from time to time, you might have read that people refer to der Cannabis (cannabis) as all…
Did You Know This About Mozart? Posted by Constanze on Nov 3, 2021
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the most famous classical composers of all time. Mozart lived a short life (1756 – 1791), dying at the age of 35. However, he composed more than 600 musical works during his lifetime, with Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Serenade- often called A…
How Are Jamaica and German Traffic Lights Related? Posted by Sten on Oct 28, 2021
After German elections, you might hear more and more about Kenia (Kenya), Jamaika (Jamaica) or die Ampel (traffic light). But how are these countries and a traffic light related to each other? It’s all in the political Koalitionen (coalitions). The Kenia-Koalition The Kenyan flag consists of three main colors: schwarz (black), rot (red) and grün (green). That would be a Koalition of the CDU/CSU in their black colors…
The Difference Between Machen And Tun In German Posted by Constanze on Oct 27, 2021
Guten Tag! Last week on the blog, I wrote about the phrase Ich habe zu tun (I’m busy) and briefly covered the verb tun – to do. A lot of you asked for a post on the difference between tun (to do) and the more widely known machen (to do/to make), so here it is!…
How to Make a Phone Call in German Posted by Larissa on Oct 26, 2021
Having a phone call in another language can be daunting. I remember when I first moved to Germany I avoided speaking on the phone in German, however in some situations you can’t avoid it. Here are some scenarios to help you prepare for your phone call. There is also another great post that you can…
Germany Elected A New Parliament: What Happens Now? Posted by Sten on Oct 25, 2021
Germany elected a new parliament! That’s all nice and well, but what happens next? How do we go from here to a new German Bundeskanzler (m, Federal Chancellor)? Here’s how the process works! The new German Parliament after the September elections The German federal elections were held at the end of September, and they were quite a…