Scotland: why I chuckled every time someone said ‘eleven’
How can you not love that accent?
language
Cuish. Magazine. Expedite.
I am in all kinds of love with this NYTimes piece containing a list of code words for use in telegrams. They are infinitely more sophistimicated than the LOLz and WTFs from our age of text messages and Google chats. Hell, I might even start twittering if we all agree to start using words such … Read more
Reasons to learn English
Oldies but goodies – a couple language school commercials. If you have the sound turned on, this next one is NSFW. If you don’t have the sound turned on, it’s not worth watching.
I dig a pony
English words are adapted for use in German all the time. It’s not uncommon to hear a sentence in which half the words are English, especially if the speaker is young and hip. To a much lesser extent, the Italians do this, too. Often the meaning of the word stays the same, or at least … Read more
There’s a club for everything
Really? This is a team sport? Practiced by men? OK, listen up Germans. I know how much you like to use English words (such as, say, ‘club’). But sometimes, when you only put part of what you are saying in English, and leave part in German, you can end up with a meaning you never … Read more
Does Oktoberfest have its own language?
All over the place I’ve been hearing references to Bayerisch (the Bavarian language) in connection to Oktoberfest. The official website has an English-Bayerisch dictionary. A friend gave me an Oktoberfest song book* which also includes a Bayerisch phrase guide (and an interview with Roberto Blanco, of all people. WTF? All I know is that if … Read more
A little German leisure reading
So, in my quest to improve my language skills, I have switched most of my leisure reading over to German. So far I have finished two novels in German, and I’m looking for more. The first novel I read, at the suggestion of Heza and Alex, was Der Vorleser by Bernhard Schlink. It started out … Read more
Learning German at the Volkshochschule
Although I haven’t quite implemented everything on my learning German with overwhelming force list, for the past month and a half I’ve been taking a German class at the Münchner Volkshochschule. A Volkshochschule is kind of like a community college or an adult education center, and you can find one in pretty much every German … Read more
Take these quizzes to prove you know stuff!
Several online quizzes have caught my eye recently: The BBC English Quiz (found via chrisdellavedova.com) I kicked ass on this one – surprisingly, even on the spelling section. The German Citizenship Test (in German). Could you become a German? (found via AmiExpat)… really? You want me to know the flag colors of Nordrhein-Westfalen to become … Read more
Learning German by overwhelming force
Even though I claim to speak two foreign languages, I’m not really a language person. I’m just not a natural at it, although I really wish I was. My typical American education didn’t exactly help, either, involving practically no foreign language training until high school, and even then it was barely given any attention. What … Read more