Stichwörter (Keywords):
- Details
- Category: German culture and food
The Swabians are the people of Württemberg, which is part of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. (The folk of the area of Baden are Badisch and their dialect is different.) Each area of Germany has its own characteristics and peculiarities, however since I spent a lot of time there, it's worth spending a bit of time getting to know these hard-working folk. They do not speak what you normally know of as "high German*," but they speak Swabian. It's a dialect far enough removed from Hochdeutsch that many Germans can't understand it.
While I didn't grow up speaking Swabian, I worked with a bunch of them in Stuttgart and picked up a lot of Swabian. I also discovered that I have Swabian ancestry! Des isch aber schee! (Das ist aber schön!)
Swabian is the English translation of "Schwaben." Die Schwaben. A few of their specialties are as follows:
1. Schaffen
Schaffen typically means something is being created, executed, or handled. Not to the Swabians. Schaffen means to work. And work they do. They have a phrase Schaffe, schaffe, Häusle baue: Work, work, build a house. And that's exactly what they do. They are not stereotypically but in reality a very hard-working people and they have a strong infrastructure and stable economy in Baden-Württemberg.
- Hits: 9900
- Details
- Category: Speaking German
After the Grammy Awards last night one of my German students Facebooked me and proclaimed, "Sandra Bullock speaks German!" Apparently Sandra Bullock's mother was a German opera singer and Bullock grew up in Nürnberg and studied ballet and vocal arts and even sang in her mother's opera productions.
What makes perfect sense and is astounding at the same time is Bullock's German accent--perfectly representative of the area she grew up in.
Here's a video of Bullock accepting a Bambi award, an international prize awarded by the Bambi Committee for excellence in categories ranging from pop music to sports, classical music to charity.
Watch Sandra Bullock Speak German on YouTube
- Hits: 5215
- Details
- Category: German grammar
The Weil sentence structure is a tough one for English speakers. We say "because I said so," but the Germans say "weil ich es gesagt habe," or (translated directly) "Because I so said!"
It's the exact opposite way in German. The verbs go all the way at the end.
Although Germans are, at least in the media, losing this construction faster than the ice caps are melting, there is one almost-guaranteed compliment you will receive when you can say this properly. A German will hear it and say to you, "Oh, Sie können aber gut Deutsch!"
- Hits: 3372
- Details
- Category: German culture and food
Between 1820 and World War I, nearly six million Germans immigrated to the United States. From 1840 to 1880, they were the largest group of immigrants. Though we had had immigrants from the German states as early as the 1670s, none of the groups were as massive as what was seen in the nineteenth century.
Though Germans were mostly eager to fit into American life, learning English as soon as possible, there was still a preference for German customs, foods, and household goods that reminded them of their homeland.
In the 1920s and 1930s, German manufacturers began exporting earthenware to the United States that had familiar styles to those of German ancestry. Sold in shops across the country, they were inexpensive and colorful. The earliest patterns were derivative of 19th century Persian designs, so the import mark identifies them as Persian Ware – Made in Germany. But the designs varied widely, some looking very modern. What were consistent were the bright colors and bold patterns.
- Hits: 7136
- Details
- Category: German culture and food
It's no secret that Germans have a lot of rules. One "rule" that has become more flexible in the last few years is what you can name your child and how you spell her or his name. Now you can even bypass the commonly-accepted French spelling of the name "Jacqueline" and go right for the German phonetic spelling of "Schaklyn."
Yes, really.
Here is an article about the process of naming your child in Germany and for all you German learners out there, here are a few ways to read this article and expand upon your reading skills based on your level. N.B. I recommend you print the article out and grab a pencil no matter what your level is.
Beginners:
Read the article and look for all the different names that are presented. Circle them. Then comb through the article and look for all the verbs. How many of them do you recognize already?
Intermediate:
Lesen Sie den Artikel.
- Hits: 5584
