Fancy a cruise with a difference? The German cruise liner AIDA is building a new ship, the AIDAsol. The launching is on the 9th of April 2011 but the interesting bit about this ship is the brewery.
Yes, it has a brewery on board! The beer will be brewed using saltwater but still in line with the German beer purity law.

So, if you fancy a different type of holiday - and you love beer - how about a cruise with a brewery.

Oh, and AIDA, if you get any booking because of my blog: I'd love a freebie ;...

Continue reading ...

So, you've started learning German and it's going well. You even understand that there are three words for 'the', der, die and das. No problem you think, and you have learnt that the German word for cookie is 'der Keks'.

And then you find this video on youtube and you hear 'Ich esse den Keks'. So you ask your teacher why it says 'den' instead of 'der' and your teacher says:"It's the accusative case, because the cookie is the direct object."

Accusative? Direct object? What's that all about??...

Continue reading ...

Those who have learnt German at an English secondary school may remember the BBC programme 'Hallo aus Berlin' - short videos from 1996 with some children from Berlin and, of course, the songs by Rita and Rolli.

Who still remembers Rita and Rolli?

When I taught at a secondary school we sometimes watched the videos and most students thought the songs were awful, but actually, they were that awful, they were catchy again and I had been asked frequently to play them again.

Today I came across them ...
Continue reading ...

 

As it’s Valentine’s day in a few days, I thought it’s only a fitting service to offer those who may have a loved one in Germany the opportunity to say a few nice or as some may say, cheesy sentences to them.

So, how to start?
Mein Schatz! My treasure!
Mein Liebling! My darling!

And then?
In deinen Armen bin ich glücklich. - In your arms I am happy.
Nur mit dir kann ich glücklich sein. - I can only be happy with you.
Du bist süß. – You are sweet.
Du bist der Zucker in meinem Kaff...

Continue reading ...

When I took my driving test many years ago in Germany we had to be 18 before we could drive, but there have been changes in the last few years. Lower-Saxony started it seven years ago and since January 2011 is has become law in all of Germany: the possibility of driving at 17!

However, unlike in Britain, they cannot drive alone. Until they are 18 they must have another driver with them in the car. This driver has to be at least 30 years old and in possession of a clean driving licence for at ...

Continue reading ...