Today is the first day of Hanukkah (or Chanukka...no matter which way you spell it, it's the Festival of Lights!) It's the perfect opportunity for you to learn about Chanukka - auf Deutsch!

Currently there are approximately 98,500 members of Jewish communities in Germany. These members are a part of about 110 Jewish communities all around Germany, which you can read about here.

More on Chanukka - auf Deutsch!

When you've learned the vocabulary words, try reading this short article on Chan…

'Tis the season for concerts of the Messiah, composed by German composer Georg Friedrich Händel. (Which means I'm off to sing this weekend so I'm publishing this blog post early for you.) According to the legend, he locked himself in a room and composed night and day; according to his notes, he did write the entire piece in 24 days. The original autograph (what Händel wrote) was 259 pages long (source).

Here are 5 facts you might not have known about Händel:

1. Händel was born in 1685 in Halle…

Amended: This post now includes 8 Easy German Book recommendations for A1-level learners,
3 from adult literature and 5 from youth literature.

All of the books listed here are A1 books, however if you look in a bookstore, make sure you look for an emblem or a marking with "A1" on it. No matter where you buy it, I recommend you purchase a physical copy so you can take notes in the book and also so you can use the included audio/mp3 download with the book.

These are books I recommend for you fo…

Assertiveness, old German ladies, and "gut."

Do you hail from the middle of the country? Nothing kicks the Midwest out of you like German, as Laura F. wrote in response to last week's post:

Growing up in the Midwest, one of the principles I absorbed was that it is terrible to hurt other people's feelings. In my early adulthood, I was really too agreeable for my own good. In Germany, living in their culture and using their language, I learned to be more assertive. It was in German that I firs…

For some people, German truly changes their lives. I know it did for me--I had never actually learned to speak a foreign language before and it opened up a whole new world of experiences, literature, travel, media, music, and more. Learning to put that verb alllll the way at the end of the sentence helped me think in larger, more encompassing thoughts, which changed how I planned what I wanted to say.

A lot of my clients have had life-altering changes by learning German and I want to share a fe…

2017 is a huge year for Germans: they get an extra national holiday, Reformationstag. It's the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the church door, which turned out to be a pillar event of the Reformation movement.

An extra national holiday means that everybody gets an extra day off work. Everything's going to be closed, however I suspect a lot of churches might have more visitors than usual.

So how does this make a 5-day weekend for Germans? Here's how:

Saturday and S…

An Elfchen is a German poem that contains only 11 words. The form is 1-2-3-4-1. Because if its simplicity, it's a fantastic way to practice your vocabulary.

Or, if you're sick and can't seem to shake off the crud of the decade, it makes a very succinct blog post.

Krank sein: ein Elfchen

schnupfen

hatte Halsschmerzen

mehr Tee trinken

bitte wieder gesund werden!

*husten*

One of the best parts of German culture is the Apotheke, the pharmacy! Not because of the prescription drugs, but because of the products you can buy there. And the freebies--don't even get me started. I once bought some facial care products and make-up and they gave me a HANDBAG. A HANDBAG!!! I still have it. Die Tasche ist fantastisch! I even got a tea candlelight holder one year and since it was Advent/Christmas, the candle holder was in the shape of a star. Ja, das habe ich auch noch.

Every…

Discussions begin, lawyers are called, and lawsuits are filed. All of it is about a comma. (See what I did there?)

The Oxford comma is so important to people that spouses actually have discussions about it. They've talked about everything like where to live, how to manage their finances, and how many kids to have, but years later they find out only one of them uses the Oxford comma. [Cut dramatic music.] It's like now the real stuff of marriage has come to the forefront:

to use the Oxford comm…

Es war einmal…that I called my German Landlord to ask to get something fixed in the apartment. Although I was in a fantastic mood that day, it only took about 20 seconds for that phone call to change my German speaking habits forever…here’s why:

Nicole: Hallo, Herr Müller!

Herr Müller: Hallo, Frau Warner!

Nicole: Wie geht’s Ihnen denn?

Herr Müller: Ach ja, wissen Sie, nicht so gut. Am Wochenende habe ich im Garten gearbeitet und etwas hat mich am Fuß gestochen! Die Stelle ist angeschwollen—e…