I collected these lovely conkers yesterday and was wondering what to do with them. English children seem to be doing only one thing with them, and that’s playing conkers. I had never heard of this game until I moved to England. Instead we used to make things with them. All you need is a … Read more
Today is a public holiday in Germany (I do think it should also be a public holiday for Germans abroad, but somehow I doubt it will happen ☺), because it’s the German Unity Day, or Tag der deutschen Einheit. When I grew up in Germany, that day was celebrated on the 17th June because of the … Read more
While on holidays in Germany this summer, we went on a long walk one day through a forest until we got to a spa in Bad Bentheim. There we saw this bench, which looked really weird to us. There was something not right but from the distance we couldn’t quite work it out. Then, as … Read more
On my last trip to Germany I noticed a few things which I thought I would share with you – three things I miss in England, one thing I don’t miss and one surprise ❗ ➡ In place 5: I sometimes miss Woolworth, so I’m really pleased to see there are still some shops … Read more
Last week I had an email from somebody in Germany wanting to know how he could find people who have just passed their A-level in German with an A or B. A further email and a very interesting phone call later, I find this a very good idea for anybody who has passed their … Read more
Do you remember that song? “Video killed the radio star ………and you remember the jingles used to go ….’ But what does that have to do with learning German? We all know that the quickest way to learn German (or any other language) is to learn it in Germany (or the other countries, of course … Read more
Pseudo Anglicism – A word in a language other than English that appears to be English, but in fact is not. (Quoted from Wiktionary) You have probably heard/ experienced that there are a lot of English words in the German language. But did you know that there are English words in German which do not have the … Read more
Could you imagine that somebody would patent the word ‘hello’ and you couldn’t sell T-Shirts with it? This is currently happening in Austria with the words ‘griaß di’. Griaß di is a greeting similar to hello or hi. It is used in parts of Bavaria are and also in Austria. Now there were two … Read more
Actually, on this occasion, it isn’t – It’s in his handshake 😉 Germans 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 … Read more
EDIT 2024: I still couldn’t find that song, but for a little bit of fun I’ll leave it in this post. But The Sternsinger idea is a very serious one, so here is a video in relatively easy German that explains everything: And here is quite a catchy song about it: Now back to the … Read more
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. more information
The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.