Tag Archives: dialect
How Different Is Austrian German To German? Posted by Constanze on Jun 23, 2021
When thinking about which other countries speak German, perhaps the most obvious one that springs to mind is Österreich – Austria, Germany’s neighbour, where German is also the national language. But a question learners often have is, how different is Austrian German to German? And will I be able to use my German language skills…
What Cake Can Teach Us About Germany Posted by Constanze on Aug 5, 2020
Guten Tag! This is the first in a two-part series on one of my favourite subjects: Cake (der Kuchen in German)- specifically, German cakes with interesting, often place-specific, names. We will look at why those cakes are named the way they are, and learn a little language, culture and history in the process. So, as…
Yiddish: Can You Understand It? Posted by Sten on Apr 23, 2020
Perhaps you have seen the Serie (show) Unorthodox on Netflix. When the first words were spoken, I heard a strange familiarity, yet only recognized certain words. Yiddish is a mix of different languages, with unmistakable German roots. What’s the story of this interesting language? And how is it expressed in Unorthodox? Let’s find out! What is…
The German Diminutive Posted by Constanze on Dec 12, 2018
Guten Tag! Today I’m going to tell you about diminutives in German. Diminutives are words that are altered to express a smaller, younger or ‘cuter’ version of themselves. An example of an English diminutive is the word droplet, from the word drop, and the word booklet, from the word book. In English, words often become…
Endangered German Dialects Posted by Constanze on Feb 28, 2017
On 21st February the world celebrated International Mother Language Day – otherwise known as Tag der Muttersprache in German. On this day the hashtag #TagderMuttersprache was popular on Twitter, and when I clicked on it there were plenty of German articles about Bairisch – Bavarian! Bavarians are famously proud of their language and culture. Even…
Bavarian Lessons: Making Pancakes Posted by Constanze on Feb 23, 2015
Today I am posting a very special Bairisch (Bavarian German) lesson in honour of the glorious celebration of Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday (Der Fastnachtdienstag in German). I know, I know, I’m a bit late, but why should pancakes be limited to one day of the year? I made some today – in fact, I make them…
Some simple facts about Germany Posted by jan on Nov 21, 2011
Germany is located in the heart of Europe. It has nine Nachbarstaaten (neighboring states) and it naturally borders the Nordsee (North Sea) and Ostsee (Baltic Sea) and the European Alps in the south (The borders to all neighboring states are open, by the way. The only exception is Switzerland). With its 357.111,92 km², it is…