How To Use The Umlaut RIGHT Posted by Sten on Nov 30, 2016
The Umlaut is used a lot in German. The a, o, and u become ä, ö, and ü. They sound different, and give words a different meaning. When do you use it though? And how? How do you pronounce them? Any exceptions? You read it all here! Why Umlaut? First of all to avoid confusion: In German, Umlaut has two meanings: it refers to the letters ä, ö…
Zeit für eine Geschichte – Weihnachtsmann-Edition Posted by Sten on Nov 26, 2016
Christmas is coming! And with it comes the Weihnachtsmann (“Christmas Man” – Santa Claus) to Germany. Today, he arrived at the Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) in Leipzig, Germany. Here is a little story of his arrival, plus some vocabulary to train your German, much in the spirit of the Zeit für eine Geschichte series I made last year. Click here for that…
Black Friday – But Not The One You Think Posted by Sten on Nov 25, 2016
Black Friday is known in the United States as a day of ridiculous discounts and jaw-dropping, long lines at stores. This day was exported to other countries as well, including European countries. Mostly online stores offer great discounts here as well. Black Friday is called “black” for the great profits (the “black numbers) companies make…
Der Blaue Engel – The Label You Can’t Miss Posted by Sten on Nov 24, 2016
If you have ever received an envelope from the German government or agency, there is a good chance it had this on it. Also if you bought recycled Küchenrolle (kitchen paper), there is a good chance it is there. Even some electronic devices carry it. What? The Blauer Engel (Blue Angel) label. What is it? And what does it…
Untranslatable German Words: Der Pantoffelheld Posted by Constanze on Nov 23, 2016
Guten Tag! Today it’s time for another untranslatable word, in which I share some of the quirkiest, coolest words the German language has to offer – and try (usually fail) to find an identical English version! This time it’s a funny one: Today’s word is der Pantoffelheld. What does der Pantoffelheld mean? Pantoffelheld is used…
Planets and Outer Space In German Posted by Constanze on Nov 16, 2016
Guten Tag! Today’s topic is science – specifically, outer space and the planets of the solar system. This is something I’m sure we all remember learning about in school; it is one of those topics that stuck with us all. So why not learn the names of the planets in German? Let’s go! die Planeten…
German Vocabulary for Technology Posted by Larissa on Nov 15, 2016
Hello and welcome to another post! I wasn’t able to write a post a couple of weeks ago as my laptop was broken, which gave me the idea to write this post about technology. Here is a list of important vocabulary and useful sentences when speaking about technology. Der Fernseher the TV Das Handy …