I am pro-Europe, and although I understand some concerns about immigration – regarding types of jobs, integration, the impact on areas with a struggling economy – my (idealistic) impulse is that we should stay together. I know that Britain is not putting up an iron curtain, a Berlin wall or Trump’s barrier (material tbd), and I know countries like Switzerland can step outside the EU … Continue reading Europe vs. Europa
Traditional phrasebooks don’t reflect life in 2019 so here’s some small talk for our era… “Ist deine Wohnung so groß wie ein Kühlschrank oder pendelst du drei Stunden pro Tag?” Is your apartment the size of a refrigerator or do you commute three hours a day? “¿Quieres destruir los medios de producción?” Do you want to destroy the means of production? “Scheisse, was hat er gerade getwittert?” Shit, what has he tweeted now? “No, no puedo comprar una casa, como demasiado aguacates.” No, I can’t buy a house, I eat too many avocados. “Ich ziehe … Continue reading The Language Phrasebook Millenials Actually Need
Flashback to the Saturday Night Live skit of a telenovela aimed at people who took 3 weeks of Spanish in the 4th grade… My favourite comment below is “i´m mexican and it seems legit” Continue reading ¿Que Hora Es?
If you’ve ever had the opportunity to attend a language exchange event or meet up, you might find yourself spending little or no time talking to native speakers. This can feel like a bit of a shame, but it’s an experience shared by anyone in a language course, when the teacher is the only native speaker in the room. What can you gain from practising … Continue reading Lessons from Other Learners
English can be found everywhere in modern German. It varies depending on location, environment and person, but you regularly hear things like “sorry”, “happy”, and “das Meeting”. This is perfect, right – the more English that gets absorbed into German, the less vocabulary you need to be understood. The catch, though, to this linguistic invasion, is the homegrown Denglisch which has to be reinterpreted. Here’s … Continue reading Delving into Denglisch
