It’s raining again! Whether it’s raining where you are or not, we all like to talk (or should I say ‘moan’) about the weather. So, what better time than a rainy day to look at some compound words 😮 Although the word rain is ‘der Regen’, compound words which begin with ‘Regen’ aren’t necessarily ‘der’ … Read more
I have just read about a new Android app (edit: iPhone app now also available) for practising German vocabulary and have tried it out. It’s called ‘learn German 6000 words’ and it’s a nice easy way to improve your vocabulary. There are three levels: the beginner’s level covers 1000 words, the intermediate’s 3000 and the … Read more
In the last few weeks various students from different groups mentioned to me that they were struggling with the informal plural you, or as I like to call it ‘you lot’ (you wouldn’t say that to business clients when you need the formal you). Some of my students seem to forget how to conjugate … Read more
Is it possible to learn German by myself? I came across that question recently on Quora, which I, as well as others, answered briefly. The others all replied with a ‘yes, of course you can’, but I felt there is much more to it. First of all, there is the discipline problem. Are you disciplined … Read more
If you have read my last two posts about writing a business letter or email, you may wonder, if there are important things to know when writing a personal letter or email. As much as it is important to stick to formal etiquette when writing for business, it is different when writing to friends. … Read more
Last week I wrote about German business letters which lead to the question: Is there anything I need to watch out when writing a German email? Just like with the letters, you still use the formal salutation – Sehr geehrter Herr … (Dear Mr …) Sehr geehrte Frau … (Dear Mrs …) Sehr geehrte Damen und … Read more
Who hasn’t heard of Grimm’s fairy tales? I bet, everybody has! One of the Grimm brothers, Jakob, was born on the 4th January 1785, so I thought today would be a good day to show you where you can find out more about the fairy tales. Wikipedia is always a good starting point. Grimm’s Fairy … Read more
Having been away for a few days I only just got the chance to read the Christmas edition of the German magazine Stern when the above advert caught my eye. It was advertising the Christmas Day film ‘Der gestiefelte Kater’ (Puss in Boots) with the sentence ‘Haben Sie Weihnachten auch ‘nen (that’s short for ‘einen’) Kater? … Read more
Yesterday I wrote about the writing competition winners and today I have the pleasure of telling you about two more entries. After the deadline I had emails from students who asked if they could finish the challenge even if they were late. They knew the winners had been picked but enjoyed the challenge so much they … Read more
Three weeks ago I posted a blogging competition with the challenge of writing a story in 26 sentences from A to Z. I didn’t get many entries but those who did enter told me how much of a challenge and yet how much fun it was! Four people entered, one beginner and three intermediate/ advanced and … Read more
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