Posted by Angelika Davey on Thursday, May 10, 2012,
In :
learn German
That's a stupid question, I hear you say! Walking a marathon is a physical challenge, learning German isn't! True, but they are both challenges.
Imagine:
You're looking for a challenge and decide to walk a 26 miles marathon. You book your place and as it's quite a while before the walking date, you're not really worried about it.
You're looking for a challenge and decide to learn German, You book your place at an evening class and as it's quite a while before the course starts, you're not really... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, March 23, 2012,
In :
German recipe
Strammer Max is a very popular and simple meal (Hausmannskost) or pub meal (Kneipenessen) in Germany.
All you need is a slice of rye bread (or two, if you like). I used bread from a German baker, the rye bread you can get in the supermarkets looks different.
Butter the bread.
Add a slice of Westphalian Ham or Parma Ham.
Fry and egg and place it on top of the ham, add salt & pepper.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, February 4, 2012,
In :
learn German
Today was the last day again of another term at the German Saturday School. The four oldest in the group - Cissi, Charlotte, Abigail and Yona - had been doing work on TV programmes this term. So, for the last lesson they were allowed to make a powerpoint presentation of a poem about advertising (taken from the book 'Ja Klar 3, Deutsch als Fremdsprache für die Grundschule') We had one problem, though - we only had one laptop. Plus, it was a German laptop, which meant, it didn't have the QWERTY... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, January 27, 2012,
In :
learn German
I had an interesting conversation with a friend earlier about keep fit classes and language classes (she is also a language teacher) and how much easier it seems to go to Pilates classes instead of German lessons.
We started to compare them -
attending keep fit classes is good for losing weight
they are good for your physical well-being
if you miss several, you can still re-join later and carry on without any problem.
These points don't seem to apply for learning a language, don't they? Well, I d...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, January 21, 2012,
In :
a bit of fun
Actually, on this occasion, it isn't - It's in his handshake ;-)
German like to shake hands when they meet. If they meet friends or relatives they may hug or kiss, but if it's a business meeting or they meet an acquaintance then they shake hand. It is not uncommon to see a German arrive at a business meeting and shake hands with everybody present. Likewise when they leave.
So, how do you do the perfect handshake?
Well, I have searched high and low for you and have found the answer.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, January 6, 2012,
In :
Sing in German
For the 12 days of Christmas between Christmas and Epiphany (the 6th January) many children in Germany dress up as the three wise men and go round people's houses singing and collecting money for charity.
A few days ago, while in Germany, I came across an interesting article about one of the songs the 'Sternsinger', as they are called, might sing. I could not find the tune or a version on Youtube but I did find the lyrics:
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, December 30, 2011,
In :
German teaching
2011
A few weeks ago some friends wrote blog posts about 51 things they learned this year (I could give you the links to their posts, but if I did you would want to buy a house in Spain and use Arrow Same Day Courier Services to get you there - and then you wouldn't want German lessons, so I won't J)
Anyway, I liked the idea, so here are mine:
Having the best son and daughter living abroad is not always fun.
Skype lets me keep in contact with them but also allows me to teach students as far as...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, December 24, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
German Advent Calendar Day 24
O du fröhliche
'O du fröhliche' is a German Christmas Carol from the 19th century. It is the final hymn in all protestant churches on Christmas Eve, usually sung while all the bells are ringing.
O du fröhliche, o du selige, gnadenbringende Weihnachtszeit! Welt ging verloren, Christ ist geboren: Freue, freue dich, o Christenheit!
O du fröhliche, o du selige, gnadenbringende Weihnachtszeit! Christ ist erschienen, uns zu versühnen: Freue, freue dich, o Christenheit!
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, December 23, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
German Advent Calendar Day 23
Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann
'Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann' (Tomorrow Father Christmas comes) is a German Christmas Carol written originally by Hoffmann von Fallersleben around 1840. Later two of the verses were changed as the original ones mentioned war toys.
This is the newer version:
Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann, kommt mit seinen Gaben. Bunte Lichter, Silberzier, Kind und Krippe, Schaf und Stier, Zottelbär und Pantertier möcht’ ich gerne haben!
Posted by Angelika Davey on Thursday, December 22, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
German Advent Calendar Day 22
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht
'Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht' is possibly the most famous Christmas Carol in the world. Written by headteacher Franz Gruber and turned into music by priest Joseph Mohr on the 24th December 1818 because a flood had made the organ of the Nikolaus church in Oberndorf, Austria, unusable. They wanted a carol that could be sung with a guitar instead and it was a great success. The man who then repaired the organ, heard the melody and liked it...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Wednesday, December 21, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
German Advent Calendar Day 21 Es ist für uns eine Zeit angekommen
Originally a Swiss song from the 19th century, this version is a new German text from 1939 which finally became more popular than the original.
Es ist für uns eine Zeit angekommen, die bringt uns eine große Freud. Es ist für uns eine Zeit angekommen, die bringt uns eine große Freud. Übers schneebedeckte Feld, wandern wir, wandern wir, durch die weite, weiße Welt.
Es schlafen Bächlein und Seen unterm Eise, es träumt der Wald e...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Sunday, December 18, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
German Advent Calendar Day 18
Morgen, Kinder, wird's was geben
'Morgen, Kinder, wird's was geben' is a popular Christmas Carol but it is not a church hymn. It was written by Karl Friedrich Splittegarb in 1795 and the text is about the excitement of the children as they are waiting for their presents.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, December 17, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
German Advent Calendar Day 17 Hört der Engel helle Lieder
'Hört der Engel helle Lieder' is also known as 'Gloria in excelsis Deo'. The 18th French tune has been given a German text in 1954 by composer Otto Abel.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, December 16, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
German Advent Calendar Day 16
In Dulci Jubilo
'In Dulci Jubilo' is a Latin Christmas Carol from the 14th century and there are two versions. In Catholic churches the hymn is sung in German and Latin, whereas in Protestant churches the text is only in German.
On YouTube I could only find the German-Latin version, so here is the text:
Posted by Angelika Davey on Thursday, December 15, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
German Advent Calendar Day 15
Joseph, lieber Joseph mein
'Joseph, lieber Joseph mein' (Joseph, dearest Joseph mine) is a 14th century German Christmas Carol, printed for the first time in 1544.
Joseph, lieber Joseph mein, Hilf mir wiegen mein Kindelein! Gott, der wird dein Lohner sein Im Himmelreich der Jungfrau Sohn Maria. Gerne, liebe Maria mein Helf ich dir wiegen dein Kindelein! Gott, der wird mein Lohner sein Im Himmelreich der Jungfrau Sohn Maria.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, December 13, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
German Advent Calendar Day 13
Ihr Kinderlein, kommet
'Ihr KInderlein, kommet' (Oh come, little children), another German Christmas Carol, is from the 18th century. The text was written by Christoph von Schmid in 1798 and the music is from Johann Abraham Peter Schulz (1794)
Ihr Kinderlein, kommet, o kommet doch all! Zur Krippe her kommet in Bethlehems Stall und seht, was in dieser hochheiligen Nacht der Vater im Himmel für Freude uns macht!
O seht in der Krippe im nächtlichen Stall, seht hier bei d...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Monday, December 12, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
German Advent Calendar Day 12
Herbei, O ihr Gläubigen
This is another German Christmas Carol that you should know, as it's also an English Christmas Carol. The English carol 'Oh come, all ye faithful' was written in 1841 by Frederick Oakley, whereas the German version was written by Friedrich Heinrich Ranke in 1823.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Sunday, December 11, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
German Advent Calendar Day 11
Tochter Zion, freue dich
'Tochter Zion' (composer Georg Friedrich Händel 1685 - 1759) is my all-time favourite hymn and I feel really lucky because I can sing the German text, which is a Christmas Carol and also the English version, which is an Easter hymn (Thyne be the Glory).
The German text is based on Zechariah 9, verse 9 "Rejoice, rejoice, people of Zion! Shout for joy, you people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you! He comes triumphant and victorio...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, December 10, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
German Advent Calendar Day 10
O Tannenbaum
'O Tannenbaum' is probably one German Christmas Carol that you all know as it is also sung in English (Oh Christmas Tree). 'Eine Tanne' is a fir tree and as it's used as a Christmas tree the Germans often call their Christmas tree Tannenbaum. The other two words are 'Weihnachtsbaum' or 'Christbaum'. The melody is a traditional tune from the 18th century and the 1st verse was written by August Zarnack in 1820. Verses two and three were written by Erns...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, December 9, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
German Advent Calendar Day 9
Am Weihnachtsbaum die Lichter brennen
'Am Weihnachtsbaum die Lichter brennen' (On the Christmas tree the lights are burning) is another traditional Christmas Carol written by Hermann Kletke in 1841.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, December 6, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
German Advent Calendar Day 6
Lieb Nachtigall, wach auf
'Lieb Nachtigall, wach auf' (dear nightingale, wake up) is a traditional Christmas carol from 1670.
Lieb' Nachtigall, wach auf Wach auf, du schönes Vögelein Auf jenem grünen Zweigelein Wach hurtig ohn' Verschnauf! Dem Kindelein auserkoren Heut' geboren, fast erfroren Sing, sing, sing dem zarten Jesulein!
Flieg her zum Krippelein Flieg her, geliebtes Schwesterlein Blas an dem feinen Psalterlein Sing, Nachtigall, gar fein. Dem Kindelein mus...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, December 3, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
German Advent Calendar Day 3
Macht hoch die Tür
This is a hymn from the 17th century. Written by the Prussian vicar Georg Weissel, the hymn is losely based on Psalm 24 "Machet die Tore weit und die Türen in der Welt hoch, dass der König der Ehren einziehe!“ ("Fling wide the gates, open the ancient doors, and the great king will come in." Good News Bible)
It is also the first hymn in the protestant hymn book and a favourite hymn for Advent.
I found a version on Youtube with the lyrics, hope y...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, December 2, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
Advent calendar day 2
Kling Glöckchen klingelingeling
Kling Glöckchen, klingelingeling (Ring, little bell, ringalingaling) is a German Chrismas Carol from the 19th century. The tune is traditional and the lyrics are from Karl Enslin (1814 - 1875).
Posted by Angelika Davey on Thursday, December 1, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
Here it is, as promised, this year's Advent calendar - one German Christmas carol / hymn per day:
The first one is "Es kommt ein Schiff geladen". This is not a Christmas Carol but a song for Advent. The hymn has been published by Daniel Sudermanns in 1626 and describes the pregnant Mary with a heavily laden boat, carrying God's son, a precious load.
Last Christmas I gave you my heart ..... well, not really, but I did sent out a tweet on twitter every day as my Advent calendar. I left every entry on my German for Fun page but now it's time for something new:
As of Thursday I will post a daily blog entry about a different German Christmas Carol, one for every day until Christmas - my calorie-free Advent Calendar.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, November 22, 2011,
In :
a bit of fun
About two years ago I posted an A to Z of long German compound nouns on twitter - one every day, the German words took up a lot of the 140 characters J For a while I had the whole list on my website, then moved it because I wanted something else. I even saved the list, but then lost it L Well, last weekend I did some PC tidying up and guess what? I found it again. So here it is:
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, November 15, 2011,
In :
learn German
I have been teaching German via Skype for quite a while now and if you can't find a German teacher in your area it is a great alternative.
But what if it's a small group who wants to learn German and can't find a teacher? What if you and your best friend always wanted to learn German together but he or she now lives too far away from you?
The answer is : Google+ Hangouts!
I must admit I'm not very keen on the name but the idea is great. Just as with Skype you'll need a microphone and a webcam...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Wednesday, November 9, 2011,
In :
Life in Germany
22 years ago today, on the 9th November 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. You may remember the pictures of that day and the news when it happened, and if you can't remember it, google it and you'll find lots of pictures of that day. But how much do you know about the wall and how it was built?
Here is a fantastic animated video about the history of the Berlin Wall:
Were you aware of all this? Did you know how much was involved? I certainly didn't and I'm very grateful that the wall has gone.
I have just procrastinated spent valuable time searching Youtube for celebrities who speak German as a foreign language. Here are the 5 funniest and/or best clips:
n Leonardo diCaprio who talks about his German grandmother
m Keanu Reeves who can say a German idiom
lJustin Bieber, who can count to ten ;-)
k Geri Halliwell, who gives Victoria Beckham a crash course in German
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, October 28, 2011,
In :
learn German
Last Sunday I went to The Language Show in London to see what new resources there are for learning and teaching German ... and I noticed the arrival of smartphone apps. Unfortunately for me, they were for IPhones and IPads and not yet for Androids but if you have an IPhone you might like to buy them.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Sunday, October 16, 2011,
In :
Life in Germany
Every day I get a variety of German newsletters in my email box and often they get deleted as there is nothing of interest to me. An article in one of today's emails, however, caught my attention:
Living underneath the motorway bridge
If you like, read the original article here 'Wohnen unter der Autobahnbrücke'. The article starts with 'Mr Gligorov is not at home...' and shows a picture of a mattress with bedding, a few rugs around the bed, chairs, flowers and other belongings, all unde...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Monday, October 10, 2011,
In :
a bit of fun
Have I got your attention? Did you think, 'Yay, no more those long, long German words'. Or was your first thought 'Oh no, I like those lovely long words'.
Fear not, they are not outnumbered, but they were on Outnumbered!
I have written about German compound nouns before but when I watched Outnumbered on Friday, I just loved young Ben's explanation about them. His word order explanation wasn't bad either ;-) Have a look:
I leave you with Ben's final comment: It's cool being Germ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Thursday, October 6, 2011,
In :
German teaching
"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly-sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." Do you remember this quote? It's from 'You've got Mail' with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
I came across this quote again the other day and it reminded me of the time when I started Angelika's German Tuition & Translation. I had the name in place but was looking for a logo - and I couldn't think of one. People told me to use a German...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Sunday, September 25, 2011,
In :
German teaching
I love listening to BBC Wiltshire and I frequently send in text messages or phone in. I have also been interviewed a few times. So when I was asked whether I would like to participate in 'You do what for a living?' I immediately said yes.
Every Friday afternoon, Sue Davies and her listeners have to guess what job a guest does. Sue gets to ask as many questions as she likes and then has to guess before the listeners do. It's a bit like 'What's my line?' (or 'Was bin ich?' as the programm...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Sunday, September 4, 2011,
In :
living abroad
When I moved to England in 1982, I used to miss a lot of food things that I could buy in Germany, so whenever I had the chance to go back I used to stock up on those things.
Gradually, over the years I was able to buy more and more German food items and since the arrival of LIDL and Aldi I can almost get everything. . . . . . until . . . during my last holiday in Germany . . . I spotted this:
Philadelphia mit Milka!
Philadelphia cheese with chocolate - sheer bliss! It has about half the c...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, August 30, 2011,
In :
Life in Germany
Mein erster Schultag
This is a picture of me on my first day at school with my brand new school bag (Schultasche) and my 'Schultüte' (roughly translated as school cone). My school bag had my first lot of exercise books, text books and a pencil case, but what was in the school cone?
All German children get a school cone on their first ever day at school. It is designed to make their start into school life a bit sweeter and inside they will find sweets and usually one or more toys (depending ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, August 16, 2011,
In :
a bit of fun
I have just got back from a cruise on the river Danube (die Donau) and although our lovely ship wasn't a steam boat, it did remind me of the famous long German word Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän" - the captain of the Danube steam ship company! Compound words which in English stay as individual words (example birthday card) are usually written as one word in German (so the birthday card is 'die Geburtstagskarte').
Of course, the longer the word is, the harder it is to read, so ev... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, July 30, 2011,
In :
learn German
I came across this short article in a German newspaper today and thought it would make a good reading exercise. I will not leave you with a translation, just with the question: What is this article about?
"30. Juli 1966 - Fußball-Geschichte in Wembley: Die deutsche Nationalelf unterliegt im Londoner Stadion im Weltmeisterschafts-Finale mit 2:4 nach Verlängerung den Briten. Das Tor der Engländer in der 101. Minute ist bis heute umstritten: Der Ball wird an die Unterseite der Querlatte gesc... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, July 12, 2011,
In :
learn German
One more week and the German Saturday School Frome will close its doors for the summer holidays. We've had lots of fun again this year, learned a lot of new things, played lots of games and sang lotsof songs - all in German, of course.
It wasn't all fun and games, we also did lots of writing, and some of the children would like to show off some work they did recently. I hope you enjoy it:
The German Saturday School Frome will start again on Saturday, 17th September 10.30 - 12.30 at Frome Colle...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Sunday, July 3, 2011,
In :
Sing in German
Yona & Lucas from the German Saturday School gave me these lovely flowers and the picture. The text on the picture says "Congratulations to the birthday of your work" in German. Thank you so much, Yona and Lucas!
On the 4th July 2006 I took the plunge and started to work for myself - Angelika's German Tuition & Translation was born, which means that today it is 5 years old! To celebrate these 5 years some students and I decided to do some German singing in Trowbridge on Saturday. As we enjoyed ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, July 2, 2011,
In :
living abroad
As part of the 30 Day Blog Challenge, I asked Andreas Wiedow if he would like to write a post on my blog as a guest blogger, and he kindly agreed to write about just having a go in a foreign language and not to worry too much about mistakes.Thank you, Andreas!
Teufels Küche in English 'geradebrecht' came to my mind when I pondered about the way I communicate through my English blogs.
It felt a bit like that when I wrote my first blog on ecademy way back in 2005 after my banning from openBC. S... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Thursday, June 30, 2011,
In :
living abroad
Last night I went to a German Stammtisch. If you don't know what one of those is, according to Wikipedia "a Stammtisch ("regular table") is a scheduled informal meeting group at a specially reserved table in a beer hall or other establishment in German-speaking Europe, which can be held on a weekly or monthly basis.The table usually has a polished sheen from frequent use, and is frequently marked off with a sign, banner, or ashtray."
A while ago a German friend started a facebook group Deu...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, June 18, 2011,
In :
learn German
I thought it would be nice to let somebody else tell you about learning German, so I've asked guitar tutor Al Summers a few questions. I have been teaching him and his wife Gill in his office in Warminster and he very kindly agreed to answer my questions.
How long have you been learning German, Al? I began learning German about three and a half years ago, I think.
Why did you want to learn German? Every few years I study something new. It's something I advise tutors that I teach and mentor, to d...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Wednesday, June 15, 2011,
In :
German teaching
Ich helfe meinem Papa beim Korrigieren von Hausaufgaben! I'm helping my dad mark homework!
As a child I always wanted to be a teacher - just like my dad - or an air stewardess, an actress or a dancer. Things didn't quite work out as planned, I suffer terribly from travel sickness, have two left feet and didn't even get the right qualification to train as a teacher. I did study, though, but then I moved to England to get married and start a family.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, June 11, 2011,
In :
learn German
In part 1 and part 2 we looked at some of those lovely German words which are identical or almost identical to English words. Now, in part 3 we will look at those words which look identical but have a different meaning - our 'false friends'.
False friends alphabet: die Art - type bald - soon der Chef - boss die Dose - tin, can eventuell - possibly die Fabrik - factory das Gift - poison das Handy - mobile phone irritieren - to confuse die Jalousien - Venetian blinds die Konkurrenz - (business) competiti...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Wednesday, June 8, 2011,
In :
learn German
In part 1 we looked at some of those German words which are identical to English words. Now let's look at those that are almost identical but still instantly recognisable.
Here is my 'not bad' alphabet:
der Alkohol - alcohol die Bluse - blouse der Charakter - character das Debüt - debut der Elefant - elephant der Fisch - fish das Glas - glass das Haus - house das Insekt - insect der Joghurt - yoghurt der Kaffee - coffee die Lippe - lip der Markt - market die Nummer - number die Oper - opera der Präsident...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Monday, June 6, 2011,
In :
learn German
When people decide to learn German, they often feel quite apprehensive about learning all those new words, phrases and grammar. If you feel the same, then let me show you some interesting German words.
I am talking about the good, the not bad, and the ugly German words.
Part 1 - the Good: You will be pleased to know that there are many German words you already know because they are exactly the same as in English. Some may be pronounced slightly different but if you read them, you'll recognise ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, May 31, 2011,
In :
learn German
Today I saw several people tweeting an article on Twitter about the advantages of being bilingual. It was an interesting article, which also mentioned that people who are bilingual can cope better with Alzheimers if they were to get it. Very interesting, but I've read this so many times, I almost clicked to get away from the article ..........
.... until my eye caught the following question and answer: Q. One would think bilingualism might help with multitasking — does it?
Posted by Angelika Davey on Wednesday, May 4, 2011,
In :
learn German
When people find out that I teach German, they often ask me questions about it. As the same questions keep on appearing, here are the top 5 questions and my answers:
How long does it take to learn German?
I've got some 'teach yourself' books in the attic? Should I get them down? I wouldn't need lessons, then!
So, what is the best way to learn German?
Should I do homework?
Are there any good websites to learn German?
How long does it take to learn German? That questions can be answ...
As promised yesterday, here is another idea with eggs for Easter. How about a lovely Easter tree?
You'll want to decorate the eggs as described yesterday except, this time you don't need hardboiled eggs. They need to be hollow. To get the egg white and yolk out of the eggs, keep them at room temperature first of all, as they will be hard to blow out if cold. Hold the raw egg carefully over a bowl and very carefully make a hole at both ends of the egg with a big sewing needle, making sure to pu...
It's great fun hiding and finding those lovely big chocolate Easter eggs on Easter Sunday, but in Germany we have the tradition of decorating hard boiled eggs. When I was a child my dad used to hide loads of decorated hard boiled eggs and a few chocolate eggs in the garden which we children then had to find. One year we could not find one of the chocolate eggs - I wonder if it's still there ;-)
Anyway, if you fancy having a go at decorating your own eggs, here are 10 very simple steps:
Posted by Angelika Davey on Wednesday, April 13, 2011,
In :
learn German
If you have been following my blog posts you will have noticed that I like using music and singing in my lessons, and one of my favourite songs is 'Das Fliegerlied'
Actually, I like it so much, I have plans with it: If you happen to be in Wiltshire on the 2nd of July and you would like to know more, send me an email
In the meantime, check out this page for the lyrics and instructions for the actions.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, April 12, 2011,
In :
business German
Do I really need one?
Yes, no, maybe!
If you are selling your products or services to the English market, then you do not need to have your website translated. Anybody who does not speak English but comes across your website, can use google translate and if they really wanted your services, they’ll be in contact somehow. Look at my website; my services are for English speakers, as I help with German tuition and translation, therefore my website is only in English. Any German speaker, who ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, April 1, 2011,
In :
a bit of fun
Following crisis talks last week about the lack of British translators who cannot translate into more than one language, the European Union decided that foreign language learning has to be made compulsory for all British nationals.
To make it as easy as possible, it has been agreed to start with just one language and with labelling items. So from today, 1st April 2011, all vegetables growing on British allotments MUST be labelled in English AND German!
Posted by Angelika Davey on Thursday, March 31, 2011,
In :
German teaching
As part of Nikki Pilkington's blog challenge (still free to join!) my task this time is to write something nice about somebody else. Oh dear, was my first thought, who do I write about and what do I write! It's not that I don't know anybody worth writing about. On the contrary, I could write books about all the nice people I know! There are all my evening class students, all my business clients, all the private students, young and old - and they're all nice and brilliant and lovely to work wi... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Monday, March 28, 2011,
In :
learn German
"I want to learn German, but how do I start?" I quite often hear this question, so here are a few ideas:
The best way is to join an evening class. It is far more fun to learn German (or any other language) in a group. It is easier to revise as the group can practise a particular topic in lots of ways and it doesn't seem boring. There is also less pressure on you when the teacher asks a question. If you don't know the answer, hopefully somebody else does ;-)
Posted by Angelika Davey on Sunday, March 27, 2011,
In :
learn German
A dumb question - hmm - how often do you think you may have one? I read this quote this morning and instantly was transferred back to my childhood: at the end of a lesson, the teacher would ask if everybody understood and EVERYBODY nodded their heads, so I didn't dare ask a question, as it surely would be a dumb question.
Of course, later I would then find out, that actually, some of the others didn't understand either, but they also didn't want to be seen as dumb. Result: we didn't have a clu... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, March 26, 2011,
In :
Life in Germany
I came across a German text message abbreviation the other day that looked like an English word, so I searched the net and found a few, which either looked like an English word or like an English abbreviation.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, March 22, 2011,
In :
learn German
Last Saturday at the German Saturday School we read a story about a man who lost his hat and his wife who wanted a new dress. Afterwards the children asked to re-enact it. It was so enjoyable that I recorded it. We only practised it twice beforehand, so please excuse the few mistakes; but a well deserve applause goes to the fantastic actors Abigail, Charlotte, Cissi and Lennie!
I hope you enjoy it, too!
This just leave one important question: How did the wife get the money to buy her dress ;-)
Posted by Angelika Davey on Wednesday, March 16, 2011,
In :
learn German
Did you hear about the Englishman and his French dog? Apparently, the dog will only react to French commands spoken with a French accent, so his owner had to learn French.
So, just in case you ever get a German dog who doesn't know his woof woofs from his wau waus, here is a list of dog commands:
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, March 15, 2011,
In :
a bit of fun
I've always said that learning German should be fun and my motto is "Learning German with a smile..." but even I can't compete with the German radio presenter who thought a name was really funny when he read the news.
Did it made you laugh? I'd love to know. PS Not all Germans laugh like this ;-) Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, March 4, 2011,
In :
a bit of fun
As it's carnival season in Germany at the moment, I thought it would be nice to have some extra fun, so my advanced adult group had the pleasure of learning a silly, catchy German song, just the song to sing during carnival. We had so much fun that I recorded it!
If you'd like to sing it, too, here is a - only slightly better than ours ;-) - version with the lyrics.
Are you a man travelling around Germany on Thursday? If you are - beware!
This Thursday is the beginning of the end of the carnival season in Germany. The German carnival season starts on the 11th of November at 11.11am. For most of the season (which is also called ‘the fifth season’ in Germany) it’s very low key, just the odd bit of entertainment and mainly preparation for the last few days before Lent. This year those last few days start on Thursday, 3rd March. The highlights are the p... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Wednesday, February 23, 2011,
In :
Holidays in Germany
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 ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Monday, February 21, 2011,
In :
Grammar
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??...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, February 19, 2011,
In :
learn German
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.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Monday, February 7, 2011,
In :
a bit of fun
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...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Wednesday, February 2, 2011,
In :
Life in Germany
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 ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, January 15, 2011,
In :
a bit of fun
This is me ( a few years ago!) 'reading' one of my favourite books!
Many of you will have heard about the Struwwelpeter, or the shock-headed Peter, as he is also known - a very famous children's book written by German doctor Heinrich Hoffman in 1844. He was looking for a picture book Christmas present for his three-year-old son but couldn't find anything suitable.
So he wrote his own!
It has always been one of my favourite books, despite all those horrible endings. For example the boy who... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Thursday, January 6, 2011,
In :
Life in Germany
When you're driving through Germany and you need to fill up with petrol, you may come across an aditional pump at the petrol station, as it is now possible to get a biofuel with 10 percent ethanol called Super E10. It is not available at every petrol station yet as it will take months to adjust pumps for it, but -
The question is, should you use it?
90% of cars can use it but there are cars which could get engine damage if you use E10. There is a list you can download here about the compatibili...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Sunday, December 5, 2010,
In :
Life in Germany
If you are driving to Germany this winter you will need winter tyres. As from Monday 29th November 2010 it is mandatory to use winter tyres (or snow & mud tyres) in Germany. Failure to do so can result in a instant fine of 40 Euros. If you cause a traffic disruption because your car has summer tyres, that fine increases to 80 Euros, and if you are involved in an accident and you haven't got winter tyres, you are in big trouble!
So, if you are driving to Germany this Christmas, please abide b...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Thursday, November 11, 2010,
In :
living abroad
All day today I have either read on blogs, heard on the radio, seen on TV or spoken to some of my students about Armistice Day and it made me realise that apart from my post about St Martin's Day there should be another blog today: about living with guilt.
You see, as a German living in England I always feel uneasy around this time of year. A lot of people don't understand why I feel like I do and it isn't that easy to explain. Why should I feel uneasy? Like eveybody else in England I am extrem... Continue reading ...
In many areas of Germany children will go out tonight with their lanterns and sing this song.
But why?
The 11 November is St Martin's Day (Martinstag). Martin was a Roman soldier who was always very kind and helpful. One legend tells the story of Martin meeting a beggar in a snowstorm. Martin cut his cloak in half and shared it with the beggar so that he wouldn't die of the cold. That night he dreamt of Jesus saying that Martin shared the cloak with him. For more information about St... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, November 2, 2010,
In :
Life in Germany
Luckily not literally!
You've heard these holiday stories: holiday makers go to the beach and find all good places have been taken by the Germans who got up early and put towels on favourite spaces in order to claim them ;-)
This habit has moved to university libraries. Students arrive early and leave their books on tables in order to claim them. They then disappear to lectures to return later. This hasn't been much of a problem so far but recently it has turned into a problem as more and more ... Continue reading ...
When I still lived in Germany there was no Halloween. The only time we heard about it was when we watched American horror films or any other American films which happened around Halloween.
I didn't really know anything about Halloween until I moved to England and the first children came knocking on my door calling "trick or treat!"
But things are changing, actually, I should say, have changed. During the late 1990s more and more newspaper article about Halloween appeared in Germany and since th... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, October 29, 2010,
In :
learn German
Surely not, you may think!
I'm not so sure, so let me explain:
I love walking. For the last ten or so years I have been walking as much as possible. I try to do 10,000 steps a day (don't always achieve that) and at weekends we go for long walks. Twice I have managed to walk a marathon, the whole 26miles!
But I cannot run! I tried a few months ago and I couldn't even run 1 minute :-( I tried several times and then gave up - I'm no good at running!
Posted by Angelika Davey on Thursday, October 28, 2010,
In :
learn German
I read an interesting article on the Deutsche Welle website this morning (if you want to read it - it is in English) Soon you will be able to see internet addresses with the letter 'ß' in it. Until now the only choice was 'ss'.
This reminded me of a question I get asked a lot in my German lessons: "How can I write those extra German letters if I don't have a German keyboard?"
The good news is - you don't need a German keyboard! All you need is the number pad on the right hand side of your keyb... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Wednesday, October 27, 2010,
In :
German recipe
Yesterday, while listening to the radio, I heard about a recipe for a refrigerator cake. It reminded me about a German recipe called "Kalte Hundeschnauze". This is what you need:
300g coconut fat (which you can get in a solid block, not sure though, where, sorry)
125g icing sugar
50g cocoa
3 eggs
a little bit of rum
2 packets of biscuits, ideally the butter biscuits from Bahlsen Leibniz
Melt the coconut fat ('Palmin' in German) in a saucepan and leave to cool a bit. Mix it with the...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Monday, October 25, 2010,
In :
learn German
While I was teaching somebody today we were talking about the German and English words for jobs and it made me realise again how literal lots of German words are. Have a look at some of them:
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, October 23, 2010,
In :
learn German
People frequently tell me that Germans don't have a sense of humour and the term German comedian is apparently an oxymoron. Well, there are loads of good and very funny German comedians. The problem is, it's not always easy to translate jokes and something that is extremely funny in German doesn't sound funny in English (or the other way round).
Henning Wehn is a German stand-up comedian who lives in England and tries to teach some German the fun way. You can watch some of his videos on the BBC...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, October 23, 2010,
In :
learn German
This question cam to my mind this morning while I cleaned out the chicken house ( Don't ask why THIS question, no idea!). So I decided to compare those two -
Losing weight: Imagine, you decide to lose some weight because you either just feel you'd like to lose a few pounds or because your doctor told you that you must lose some weight because of health reasons. The first thing you may do is go on a strict diet plan. You lose a lot of weight but then you get back to eating all that unhealthy food... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, October 22, 2010,
In :
learn German
I came across this article the other day, where German bestseller writer Bastian Sick was asked to give 10 reasons for learning German. I liked his reasons so much that I reprint them here on my blog, but if you want to red the whole article you can find it here
These are his ten reasons:
1// So you can understand the lyrics of Tokio Hotel songs and sing along with the right pronunciation.
/2// So you can write a love letter to Bill Kaulitz (Tokio Hotel singer).
Posted by Angelika Davey on Thursday, October 21, 2010,
In :
learn German
They are actually quite the same!
If you watch the video below of my daughter skydiving, you'll see her very scared but also excited at the start. Then you'll see her worried about jumping into the unknown and then the sheer excitement about the view and her knowledge about what she can do. And all that knowing that the teacher is there to guide her. Finally you'll hear her say:" This is amazing ... the best thing I've ever done!"
Learning German is no different: Once you've decided you want t... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Wednesday, October 20, 2010,
In :
learn German
So, Tokio Hotel appeals to the teens, the Wise Guys are good for adult education, which leaves primary school children. Is there any good music to use with them? There are a lot of good traditional songs which are still great to sing nowadays. My favourites are 'Mein Hut, der hat 3 Ecken' or 'Laurentia, liebe Laurentia' (brilliant action song if you need to get fit and don't have time for the gym ;-))
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, October 19, 2010,
In :
German teaching
Although yesterday I mentioned Tokio Hotel as a German band whose music results in lots of fans wanting to learn German, The Wise Guys are a band who I like to use for teaching.
The Wise Guys are a German a cappella band and not only do I like listening to them, I also find their lyrics useful in adult education. My favourite song is "Meine Deutschlehrerin". It deliberately contains 21 grammar mistakes.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Monday, October 18, 2010,
In :
learn German
Today was the first day I ever heard some songs from Tokio Hotel! I always thought their music was just for teens but, from what I heard, the lyrics and the melodies were actually quite good.
But what does this have to do with learning or teaching German?
Tokio Hotel is a German band and I get the feeling, they do more for the German language than any other band. One of my students is an avid fan of Tokio Hotel and this has instilled a desire in her to learn German - and her German is good, so ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Sunday, October 17, 2010,
In :
learn German
I went to London today to attend the annual Language Show and it was a great success again. It's good to see what new resources are available and what the new trends are. It's also lovely to pick up some freebies and meet people I otherwise only 'meet' online. One other reason for my visit is the variety of workshops/seminars. My favourite this time was Russel Stannard's seminar about 10 great Web 2.0 tools for language teachers, and amongst others he spoke about this useful vocabulary website ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, October 16, 2010,
In :
learn German
If you have read one of my earlier posts you know that I am not very keen on translating websites. Online dictionaries are different, though, and leo is my favourite. Leo started 1995 and was very basic then. After a while they were looking for volunteers and I was one of them. Several times I got a list of 250 basic German - English translations. I would then add the German gender plus any phrases I knew. I really enjoyed working with those lists but I am glad the dictionary has improved imm... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, October 15, 2010,
In :
learn German
Sometimes I get asked about German lessons by people who live too far away for me to travel. If I then suggest online lessons via Skype, they shy away. They want the personal touch, they say, and in a way, I agree. I rather teach with the student in the same room.
But what if that's not possible? What if you`ve looked for a tutor and cannot find one in your area? This is what happened to one of my students. You can read his blog here
Fast forward one year and the lessons are still going strong. ... Continue reading ...
The above quote is from Willy Brandt, a former German Chancellor and I think about it every time I see a website which has been translated by a translating website! Translating websites aren't a bad idea if you want to know something from a foreign website. Sometimes they translate well, sometimes they don't but hopefully they give you enough information to understand the gist of the text.
If, on the other hand, you want to sell abroad, then a translating website's help isn't good enough. A few... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Sunday, October 10, 2010,
Last week I received a tweet on twitter with an invitation to answer some questions about my work. I thought they were interesting questions. What do you think? Read my interview on Whohub Ask my opinion about something: Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, October 9, 2010,
In :
learn German
How often have you had those thoughts? Especially if you are learning a foreign language?
Does the following sound familiar? You are learning a foreign language and are beginning to get a bit confident, when after a few weeks or months you come across a text, maybe a newspaper article, in that language ......... and you feel you don't understand a single word you're reading!
I was in London today for a seminar at the Austrian Cultural Forum and amongst other things we did an exercise in a forei... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, October 8, 2010,
In :
Grammar
As I said in my last blog, there are 3 ways of saying 'the' (actually, there are lots more, but we ignore that for the time being!). Whether you need to say der, die or das depends on whether the word is masculine, feminine or neuter. 'How can a thing be masculine, feminine or neuter?' I can hear you ask. Well, it's not the item, it's the word, for example, the table = der Tisch, that doesn't mean the table is masculine, it means the word for table is masculine.
Posted by Angelika Davey on Thursday, October 7, 2010,
In :
Grammar
This is a question I hear a lot from children when I teach at schools. But often adults don't know either. They know how to spell words and how to pronouce things but when asked what these words are they don't know. When I teach German grammar it is important to know what nouns, verbs, adjectives are ......... or is it?
Well, you could learn German without grammar, but it will be a lot more difficult, as grammar will give you the necessary shortcuts. It's a bit like driving a car. You can drive ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Wednesday, October 6, 2010,
In :
living abroad
1982, at the age of 23 I moved away from home and left Germany for a new life in England. My mum cried when I went and I also felt very sad. On the other hand I was far too excited to feel sad. Fast forward to 30 June 2009; that was the day I took my daughter to Heathrow airport because she too went abroad at the age of 23. Since then she worked a few months in Thailand and is currently working in New Zealand and so far there is no talk about coming home. Further fast forward to today; the day ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Tuesday, October 5, 2010,
I have been teaching a new beginners German class tonight and at the end of the lesson one student came and told me a funny story. It was about a Battle of Britain celebration he went to a few years ago. The RAF base invited a few German and Italian pilots to the celebration but then got quite worried how the Germans would feel about the anniversary. It seemed the Germans had the same thoughts because they arrived wearing T-shirts, printed with the following:
Posted by Angelika Davey on Sunday, October 3, 2010,
In :
living abroad
Thinking back to shortly after I moved to England, this was the time before satellite TV, although England just got Channel 4 and therefore had one more TV channel than Germany. Still, Saturday afternoons were awful. All you could watch was either Wrestling or Snooker or black & white war films (at least that's what it felt like). Those black & white films weren't just black & white instead of colour, the topics were also very black & white. All American or English soldiers were good and all... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Saturday, October 2, 2010,
In :
living abroad
The other day I read and commented on Cathy Dobson's blog Working on a different planet about her first few (acually 20) years of living in Germany after having moved there from England. It brought back many memories of when I moved from Germany to England. I was lucky because I already spoke (if badly) English, and I married a Brit who was able to help me with lots of things. But he was at work and I did have to go out on my own and brave the English world! I remember having to get a national ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Angelika Davey on Friday, October 1, 2010,
I have started a blog on a different webpage but The fun of being a German Teacher is supposed to be just that: a recount of funny incidents. I have since found that I'd like to write about other things, too, but still German related. So, welcome to my ramblings about things in Germany or England, about being German in England, about teaching German or just anything else that I can think of. Continue reading ...
Nikki Pilkington's blogging ebook has been very helpful to me. Check out what other books you can buy from her by clicking on the '30 Day Blogging Challenge' book.
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