An easy, fun way to learn German adjectives! A series of pictures by Delia Tello is so self-explanatory, no translations are needed. … [Read more...]

Known for its precision and clarity of expression, German seems perfect for describing some of the conditions other nations may also be experiencing but couldn't quite put a finger on it enough to give it a specific name. 1. Fernweh "Wanderlust". Fernweh is the opposite of homesickness. It is the longing for travel or the cabin fever, the desire to … [Read more...]

Everyone is certainly familiar with short informal words that sprang up relatively recently across the English-speaking web, like LOL ("laugh out loud"), brb ("be right back"), idk ("I don't know"), etc. German-speaking segment has lots of similar acronyms too: 8tung Achtung – watch out ads alles deine Schuld – all your fault akla? alles … [Read more...]

If there are only a few phrases you are willing to learn before your trip to Germany, it should be these. They could help you out if tight situations. If in a German speaking country the natives will also be more friendly and helpful even when only trying to speak in German. Talk to a person in his own language and you talk to his heart! … [Read more...]

"Every noun has a gender, and there is no sense or system in the distribution; so the gender of each must be learned separately and by heart. There is no other way. To do this one has to have a memory like a memorandum-book." - Mark Twain, The Awful German Language Indeed, in German, there are two indefinite articles (ein, eine) and three … [Read more...]

An essential part of learning to write in German is learning how to properly use German punctuation - a system of marks or signs that are placed in a text to clarify meaning and separate structural units. Luckily, German punctuation is similar to English punctuation in many respects. However, four of these German punctuation marks - … [Read more...]

Prepositions are words that link a noun to the rest of the sentence. They usually tell you about time, place and direction. Examples of English prepositions include on, out, under, from, with, about and until, but there are many more. They are those little words that you don’t even notice you’re using, but which completely change the meaning of the … [Read more...]

Concluding our series, Part 4 presents the final batch of German idioms that encapsulate the language's charm and expressiveness. From “Es ist mir Wurst” to “Lügen haben kurze Beine,” these phrases offer a glimpse into German humor and pragmatism. Dive in to complete your idiomatic journey. Sich freuen wie ein Schneekönig Literally: to be as merry … [Read more...]

When you first start learning about German pronunciation, it can be intimidating. There are a lot of myths about the German language. People talk about how difficult and ugly it is, and how different it is from languages like English. But many people don't realize that English is actually a Germanic language! That’s why so many words and sounds are … [Read more...]

The German alphabet consists of 26 characters plus 3 umlauts: ä, ö and ü. The two dots above the letters do not indicate an accentuation or emphasis of the syllable (as for instance accent-bearing letters in Spanish or French). Umlauts are used as independent characters in the German language. Whenever the use of umlauts is not possible (e.g. … [Read more...]