Interesting German Words: der Strudel

Strudel is a word with multiple meanings in German that may on the surface appear disconnected. And yet with a little imagination, the connection not hard to find.

As English speakers, we are most likely familiar with the one meaning, that of a pastry made by rolling a filling, usually apple but strudels with other fillings are also possible, in a flaky dough. That is to say apple strudel.

Strudel is also the Germans word used for the "at" sign (i.e. @).

But there are both really secondary meanings for the word. The real meaning of the word is German can be perceived by recognizing the similar swirling shape of the dough in an apple strudel and the @ sign. a "Strudel" is a whirlpool. As in English, the word is used both literally (i.e. the swirling shape of water) and figuratively (ex. "The whirlpool of ideas can be hard to understand.").

Interesting German Words: die Katastrophe

The German word "Katastrophe" translates to the English word "catastrophe". In a lot of cases that translation is pretty correct. Where English speakers would describe the current flooding in Patistan and the BP oil spill in the Gulf as "catastrophes", a German speaker would say they are both "Katastrophen".

The difference is that use of the word "Katastrophe" occurs much more frequently in German than you would hear "catastrophe" in English. I think that if someone don't have clean socks to match the color of their pants, a German would describe it as a "Katastrophe". As in English for such a situation, this is usually done tongue-in-cheek, but the joke is so prevalent in German conversations that it seems to have lost at least some of its humor.

Nice to be Home in Columbus

It has been awhile since my last post, partly because Ive been in Columbus for about 3 week. Spending the time in Columbus has got me thinking about some of the things that I enjoy about being here. So on the eve of my return to Germany, I thought it would be fun to mention a few of them.

• Chillin' on my front porch in one of our Adirondack chairs on a summer morning before the heat of the day sets in is one of the things that feels so right. In Germany, we have a 1 meter by 5 meter balcony with awning, quite a bit smaller than my covered 10 foot by 30 foot poach. Plus,being on the street level here surrounded by 80+ year old homes and trees, you feel more connected with the neighborhood than from our 4th floor balcony in our 50 year younger German neighborhood.
• Grillin' on the back deck is another thing I truly enjoy when I'm in Columbus. We are not allowed open flames on the balcony in Koblenz. Some people use electric grills, but that fails to satisfy on some primal level. Here, I'm able to carry a plate of meat right from the kitchen less than 10 steps and slap it on the grill over open flames. That's satisfaction.
• It certainly is nice meeting with longtime friends. Of course when meeting friends from my previous work life, it is also nice not being personally effected by the latest management efforts to push ahead on a product or get control of the workplace. That's all behind me.
• Did I mention that we lived on the 4th floor in Germany. That means four flights of stairs between us and our freezer and wine rack in the basement.  You want rolls for breakfast, down 4 flights to the freezer and back up. You want meat from the freezer for dinner, down 4 flights and back up. Bottle of wine with dinner, down 4 and up. In Columbus, worst case in one flight to the wine rack in the basement. I must say there are a couple of advantages to the arrangement in Germany. I certainly helps with fitness. Plus it rewards a bit of thinking ahead.
• Air conditioning on 90 degree days is nice. I'm not a big fan of air conditioning. I actually turn it off when I can. But when the temperatures get above 90, it goes on. Not many folks (us included) in Germany have it. 90 degree days don't happen very often there, although in the last couple of years there have been 4 or 5 days per year. On those days, we just have to suffer (or go to the movies).
• Roads and cities here are designed for autos. The lanes are wider, and there are not the same kind of twist and turns that are needed in Germany. Plus there is parking near the most stores in Columbus. Road surfaces in Germany are actually better than in Columbus though. But parking in German is usually at meters on the street or in relative expensive parking garages.
• Clothes prices in Columbus look so cheap. I don't know what it is, but I can buy designer label clothing here much cheaper that any label clothing in Germany. It is tempting to fill the bag with clothing for a year. Too bad there is that 40 kg weight limit.
• There is a comfort associated with command of the language that I feel here, and am missing in Germany. While learning a new language is fun, there are times you just love being able to express yourself fully. Like that cell phone salesman at the Saturn store in Koblenz that treated me like an idiot when I asked a couple of question about using a phone they had on sale with my current contract. I would have loved to have had full command of the German language to let him (and perhaps his manager) know what I was thinking. Here, in Columbus, I won't have that problem.
• Morning newspapers are a nice addition to chillin' on the front porch. The tradition of the newspaper in German is a bit different than in the USA. Not so many folks take the daily paper in Germany. Still, it is sad to see what is happening to the American newspaper. And with the recent increase in the price of a Columbus Dispatch subscription, I think it is only going to get worst. But while they last, I, for one,do enjoy them, especially Sunday mornings.

Textbook for German Integration

We started working with a new textbook in our German integration class a couple of weeks ago. The publisher Hueber developed the Schritte series for use in the German Integration classes. The premise of the series is to present typical situations that an immigrant to German might experience and use the situations to teach German vocabulary and grammar.

There are 6 books in the series, each 2 books covers the information for one language level. Schritte 1 and 2 cover the A1 language level. Schritte3 and 4 cover A2. Schritte 5 and 6 cover B1.

Each pair of books presents a group of people that includes someone learning German. Each chapter (Lektion) begins with a story about the people that introduces the topic for the chapter.

So it was in the first chapter of Schritte 3 we met the group that we would follow though the next 10 weeks. Getting into a car to go to the airport was a man, his teenage son from a previous marriage, a woman and her her teenage daughter from a previous mariage. They were going to the airport to meet their new au-pair from South American. It seems that the man and woman are not married but are living together and are about to have a baby. The kids were trying to figure out what their relationship to each other was. And neither wanted to be bothered with a trip to the airport to meet this au-pair. The textbook used the word "family" to describe the couple and their kids.

But it started be thinking about a couple of things. First, here was a textbook for a government supported program that was presenting an unmarried couple living together and having a baby as a typical German family. Maybe, I'm jaded by a article that I recent read about  the Texas school board and the kind of pressure that they place on publishers to print the board's version of history. But I find it hard to image something like this in a US government supported program. Fox "News" would go crazy.

But, of course, if you step back a bit you can see what they are doing. I mean you have immigrants coming to Germany from all sorts of countries. Some of the countries having very narrow ideas about the relationship between men and women. In Germany, they are likely to be exposed to new things, and this course is an opportunity to begin that sort of exposure.

I also asked myself, "would I initially use the term 'family' to describe the couple and their children." This is not a question about judging their relationship, I'm just wondering if "family" is the term that I would use. Our teacher was quite convinced that the typical German would call this a family. Certainly, if they were people that I knew and they called themselves "family", I think I would used the term as well. But without such familiarity, I think I would more likely use a description like "living together like a family" or "a couple living together with their kids from previous relationships/marriages".

Quick check of Webster's on the web turned up this definition:

a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head

I think that applies to this situation. So calling this a "family" is certainly not wrong. I'm just not sure it is the terminology that I would initially use.

Word list for Schritte 3 Lektion 4

I uploaded vocabulary for the current chapter of Schritte 3. This vocabulary has to do with the workplace and taxes.

The byki site at www.byki.com/lists/German/Schritte3-lektion-4 provides better viewer for these vocabulary cards.

Word list for Schritte 3 Lektion 3

Here is the list for our current chapter.

BTW, I'm guessing Facebook won't pick this widget up. You'll have to visit that actual blog page to see it. Or you can go to the byki page (www.byki.com/lists/German/Schritte-3-lektion-3) to see a larger version.

Word list for Schritte 3 Lektion 2

I have started to create word lists for each of the chapters that we are working on in my German Integration class. What is neat is that I can upload these list and embed a widget in blog entries. In this way I can share with the class, and anyone else that is interested.

So here is the list from our last chapter. The book is "Schritte 3" published by Heuber. You can use the widget here, or visit the byki page (www.byki.com/lists/German/Schritte-3-lektion-2) for a larger version or to download the list for your own copy of byki (byki is free).

German Integration Course

To extend my residency visa beyond the end of this year, there were a couple of requirements. One was to improve my German. This is a fairly new thing in Germany, From what I've read, Germany started offering German Integration Courses in 2005 for people seeking a residence visa. These courses consist of 645 hours of classes (945 for people who are illiterate). 600 hours are German language classes designed to bring the person to the B1 level. The meaning of B1 is as follows:

"Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken. Can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest. Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans."

These 600 hour are divided in to 6 modules of 100 hours. According to a test that I took, I needed to start at module 3.

The last 45 hours creates final module about German culture.

The cost of these classes are minimal for the student, as the program is state supported, 1 euro per class hour. At the end of the course, the student takes a test to see if he/she has attained proficiency. If the student is able to pass this test within 2 years, the state actually refund 50% of the tuition.

So I now find myself spending some of my Saturday mornings (as in "every day is a Saturday" when you retire) in a German Integration course improving my German. The course meets every weekday morning for 4 hours.  There are about 16 people in the class. Over a third come from Iraq. Others come from Hungary, Spain, India, Georgia, Uruguay, Brazil, Kosovo  and the Philippines. I'm the only American.

So far, the class has been enjoyable. Although I, personally, would like to see the class move a little faster. I have noticed a improvement in what I understand and can express in German after only 7 classes. I'm pretty happy with the idea of spending a good part of this year studying German.

What happens after this year? I understand the the city will support additional classes to help people reach the C1 level (i.e. relatively fluent). That's the point I should be able to achieve a dream I've had since 1991 when I first went to Germany. That is to read Hesse's Siddhartha in its original language.