Celebrate National German Week! October 3 - October 9

Yes, it's true!  It is National German Week!  Celebrate National German Week with a new event every day October 3-9! Below see new ways each day for you to celebrate, show your pride in Germany, German-American heritage, and the modern connections between the US and Germany. Learn something new, promote German language and culture, and join the fun!  Click here for more information from the AATG (American Association of Teachers of German)

Monday, October 3 - Day of German Unity 

Tag der Deutschen Einheit (Day of German Unity) is the German national holiday, commemorating the anniversary of German reunification in 1990. The Day of German Unity is celebrated each year with a Bürgerfest hosted by a major city—this year Dresden, the capital of Saxony, under the motto "Deutschland tanzt". The Bürgerfest also includes the Ländermeile, where each Bundesland can highlight their tourist attractions, cultural treasurers, and culinary specialties. Test your knowledge of this important day in German history with our Day of German Unity Quiz.

Tuesday, October 4 - Teach German Tuesday #Teach10to10 

Calling all German speakers, we've got a challenge for you! Show off your skills and spread the love of the German language today by teaching 10 people you encounter how to count to 10 in German. You know that interesting person in the cafeteria you've been wanting to chat with? Or maybe you want to have some fun on your commute to work? Take on our #Teach10to10 challenge and post your results. We'll be sharing all of your successes throughout the day!

Wednesday, October 5 - Schwarz-Rot-Gold Day

Show your pride in Germany and the German language—wear Schwarz-Rot-Gold! Whether you're at school, at work, out in the community or anywhere else, everyone around will know you’re a fan of German. Hannah's already dressed for the occasion, so be sure to include her in your events and when you’re engaged on social media! Take time to celebrate teachers today, too—it’s World Teacher's Day.

Thursday, October 6 - German-American Day

German-American Day was first proclaimed a holiday in the US in 1983 to honor the 300th anniversary of German immigration to the US. It commemorates the date in 1683 when 13 German families from Krefeld, near the Rhine, landed in Philadelphia. These families subsequently established the first German settlement in the original thirteen American colonies. Celebrate German-American heritage today with us on Facebook and Twitter, and test how much you know with our funGerman-American Connections Quiz.

Friday, October 7 - Famous German-Americans Day

Hats off to German immigrants to the US and German-Americans! The cultures of the German-speaking world have had an enormous influence on American culture. You’ll find the contributions of German-Americans in every walk of life—actors, athletes, artists, entrepreneurs, fashion designers, musicians, politicians, scientists, teachers, filmmakers, and writers. From Christmas trees to Kindergarten and hot dogs to recreation—German-Americans have contributed significantly to American life and culture. See if you can identify people with German-American connections in our Famous German-Americans Quiz.

Saturday, October 8 - German-American Food Day

Join us on Facebook and Twitter in a culinary tour of the influence of German culture on American mealtime staples. Some of the earliest contributions to American cuisine come from the German kitchen. Some foods are so common in the US, you'd never know they came from Germany. Stay tuned to learn all about the German origins of some of your favorite foods. Spoiler: It's #morethanhotdogs!

Sunday, October 9 - Business Connections Day

German and American business ties are important in today’s global economy. Germany is America’s largest European trading partner and its fifth largest global partner. There are more than 3,700 German companies in the US—and German companies are directly responsible for over 600,000 jobs in the US. Many of the products you use every day were created by corporations with German roots. Test your familiarity with German companies in the US with our Business Logo Quiz.

How to pronounce the "ch" in German

The "ch" sound in German can differ, depending on its "environment."  Watch/listen to this short presentation on the pronunciation of "ch."

Why learn German? Here are 10 good reasons why!

Automechaniker

If you're contemplating enrolling in a German language class for Fall 2016 at CCSF, check out this slideshow from the Goethe Institute.  As if you need any more persuasion.  Just enroll.  Right now!  It's smart and fun to learn German!

Learning German promotes cultural understanding

The Sounds of German - Umlauts - Pronunciation Exercises

Check out this useful website for pronunciaton: "Die Laute des Deutschen",  This comes from the University of Iowa "Sounds of Speech" series.  Of course, you can explore the entire site, but right now, focus on the "Monodipthonge", including "vorn", zentral" and "hinten."  Here you can practice the pronunciation of the umlauts.  When you click on a pronunciation symbol, such as /y/, you will bring up the video window with sound files for each example, in this case the "ü" umlaut.  Go through all three of these categories and practice, practice, practice!   Nicht vergessen:  Übung macht den Meister! (oder die Meisterin).  

Sausage Fight Breaks out at Daimler-Benz Meeting!

Daimler, the parent company for Mercedes, was set to make headlines when they announced the highest ever dividend in company history during their annual shareholders meeting, but little did they know that a fight over the sausage served at the event would be the story that grabbed all the attention.

A generous buffet, including 12,500 sausages for the 5,500 in attendance, turned into a small battleground when a woman felt a man was helping himself to what she believed was a more than reasonable amount of sausage.

When she confronted the man, who allegedly was making himself a little doggy bag of sausage to take home with him, the confrontation took a turn for the worse, leading to the police being called in to break up the raucous.

There is no questioning a German’s love for sausage, but when police have be called in to break up a fight over the tasty link of meat, that love affair has clearly gone too far.

Why do Germans speak English with a certain accent?

You can learn a lot as an English speaker learning Germany by watching this video and doing some "reserve engineering", linguistically speaking.  It's longish but informative.

Guide to Germany for Refugees, Visitors, Future Citizens

Guten Tag!

As most people know, Germany has accepted ca. 1 million aylum seekers and refugees, also referred to as migrants. This is an incredible challenge.  How does one integrate so many people from such disparate cultures and speaking various languages into an open and mature Western culture and society such as is found in Germany?  Click here to read a brochure developed to aid newcomers.  While much is familiar to those of us in the West, there are Germany-specific customs and habits that might be of interest to German language learners.  Click here to go to brochure.