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Would you like to learn more German?
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- Category: German culture and food
Frequently, very frequently I find myself confused by living in the US again. The culture is simply so different from German culture, which is where I began my post-grad school life. I couldn't put words to all of it, but then a friend of mine asked me recently, "Of all the places you've been, where did you have the most culture shock?" It took me weeks to sort out my answer. After considering the 21 countries and perhaps 18 states I've visited, I've finally got my answer.
In this episode we'll explore three specific cultural differences based on the Hofstede Insights, which are extraordinarily helpful in comparing cultural values.
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- Category: Listening to German
It's a 'scary' time of year and to go along with it, here is your Brothers Grimm fairy tale in a video.
You might not know Der Kobold in der Mühle, however it's every bit as eery as the other fairy tales.
What does Kobold mean?
A Kobold is a "house spirit," a German folk being who takes care of household tasks and sometimes causes mischief. Britannica.com has a fantastic description of a Kobold that includes this important information:
"...mischievous household spirit who usually helps with chores...He is temperamental and becomes outraged when he is not properly fed. He sometimes sings to children."
Can you imagine that kind of Hausgeist being your Gute Nacht Geschichte? Creepy! There are different interpretations of what a Kobold would look like and a lot of them are pretty disturbing.
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- Category: German culture and food
German table manners and etiquette might be like what you know, or they might be very different.
In German this is called Esskultur is the culture of food, dining, and manners.
For most Germans, Esskultur begins when they are in high chairs and their parents teach them to eat when the adults are eating, to wait until the adults are finished to be excused from the table, how to use a napkin, and how to use their eating utensils.
In the US, manners vary widely and the manners you learn depends largely on what your family has taught you.
We don't have one set of manners, and you can tell by the variety of food we eat, from barbecue to spaghetti and from falafel to Schnitzel.
So here are some rules to live by to help you understand how Germans dine and to help you avoid some pitfalls along the way. For these 9 rules, we'll assume that you have been invited to a friend's house or out to a business dinner.
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- Category: Speaking German
In August I visited friends in Ohio and their area is also Amish country.
We visited Behalt, an Amish & Mennonite Heritage Center, and I got to speak German with an Amish man.
I got to speak German with an Amish man!!!
I also learned that:
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most people have no clue about the Amish and Mennonite people.
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most of what we (think we) know about the Amish and Mennonite is incorrect.
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- Category: German culture and food
The German National Anthem is known as the Nationalhymne or Das Lied der Deutschen, "The Song of the Germans."
In today's episode of the podcast for German learners you'll hear:
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the current national anthem
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a bit of its history
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the German National Anthem sung in German (by yours truly!)
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