Welcome to Berlin Friends Club!
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 10. June 2009
Berlin Friends Club is a place to meet and make friends internationally in a warm and friendly atmosphere. We meet every Tuesday without fail at 19:30 at Asia Market in Kochstr. near Kochstr. U-Bahn station at the bus stop of M29 bus to the city centre, just around the corner of Checkpoint Charlie. Max, Ralph and the others will give you a cordial welcome.
Our club is non-commercial and non-partisan. There is no entrance or membership fee and no membership application. You just drop in and have a good time. No programme schedule, no chairman. There is only one objective: People making contacts, talking, exchanging information, helping each other out and accepting each other.
For more information, contact Max at maxy@online.de or Ralph at gehrke.blankenfelde@arcor.de.
Fencing – receiving of stolen goods
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 7. February 2010
Last Tuesday, we were talking about the purchase of data of German tax evaders by the German government. We came across the following words:
- tax evader = Steuerhinterzieher
- Hehler = fence
- Hehlerei = receiving of stolen goods, fence (marked as slang)
We also found a proverb in this context:
The fence is worse than the thief
So much for some words which fit into the current discussion in Germany!
Sledge or Sleigh?
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 12. January 2010
What a beautiful winter this is in Berlin and Brandenburg! Snow everywhere, cold temperatures, hot Glühwein (hot red wine with spices), children playing in the snow…
Just the right time to ask what you use to go down a snowy hill. In German, you use a Schlitten. In some parts of Germany, this is called Rodel or Rodelschlitten. In English, there are two words with a different meaning. The correct word for Rodelschlitten would be sledge. A sleigh is bigger and drawn by raindeer, dogs or horses. This in German is called Schlitten as well. So don´t get hurt while dashing down a hill by sledge, end enjoy winter time!
Berlin Friends meet Classic Guitar
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 6. January 2010
We are proud to welcome a member of the Cuarteto Apasionado at our meetings. Gabriele Hoehnel told us about her passion for guitar music, and if you visit their web site (in German), you will be thrilled about their photos an musical samples.
Their next concert will take place on 16 January at Kulturhaus Mitte, Auguststr. 21. Admission is € 10.
Hope to see you all there!
Abbreviations in colloquial English
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 3. January 2010
Abbreviations in English are quite common. The most well-known is probably ASAP, which means “as soon as possible”, and is used in commercial English as well as in the colloquial language. Still there are some more, which we discussed in our club at one of our meetings.
- IMHO is used very much in chats, and it means “in my humble opinion”.
- MISAS means “make it short and simple”
- KITA is not very nice and classed as very rude. It means “kick in the ass”.
- SAE is mainly used in commercial English and means “stamped addressed envelope”.
If you know any more, why don´t you write a comment to let us know? Or join one of our meetings on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. in Berlin-Kreuzberg. You can be assured to get a warm welcome by all of us.
Winter in Berlin
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 21. December 2009
It is winter in Berlin, and snow on the streets. Temperature is much warmer than yesterday, about -1°C. Christmas shopping should be done, and instead hanging around in some shopping mall, it is much more exciting to join us tomorrow for another meeting of Berlin Friends club, where people from all over the world meet and make friends in a warm and friendly atmosphere. Hope to see you all tomorow!
Berlin Friends Club 2009 Christmas party
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 27. November 2009
Christmas decorations are up, Berlin is illuminated, Christmas trees everywhere – time for having a party – the legendary Berlin Friends Club Christmas Party!
On December, 5, 2009 at 13:30, we will meet at
“Arman” Indian Restaurant, Mehringdamm 45, 10961 Berlin-Kreuzberg
This restaurant is located at the crossing of Mehringdamm and Gneisenaustr., and parking is unlimited and free.
We will enjoy a Buffet Lunch for € 5,90, which is very reasonable. Drinks are not included.
You are cordially invited to join us, and to bring your husband/wife, partner, son, daughter, brother, sister, friends and neighbours. Please confirm your reservation beforehand by e-mail to maxy@online.de , stating the number of persons you are going to bring along.
See you at this big event on Saturday!
Schadenfreude, Geisterfahrer and other curious words
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 8. November 2009
Berlin Friends Club is a place where you can get information about foreign languages and improve your command of English!
So we came across some words which we would like to get straight in both languages:
- Schadenfreude: This is a word which exists the same in both languages. Yes, it is schadenfreude in English, too! Does this mean, that malicious joy is something typically German????
Well, I don´t know!!! - Geisterfahrer: This is rather tricky. LEO dictionary gives the phrase motorist driving against the traffic on motorways, a rather complicated way to express a single word. So does this mean that a single word does not exist in English? Not by all means: A LEO forum tells us that the Daily Mail uses the word wrong-way driver.
- Kinky is an English word, and it denominates that something is abnormal, pervert or the like. It may mean curly, as well. In German, it would mean abnorm, pervers, schrullig, abartig, verdreht, verkorkst. So it has a lot of different meanings, and it can be used in many different contexts.
- For the German word Esskastanie, LEO gives the word chestnut, as well as the word edible chestnut, but in our Friends meeting we also found the word sweet chestnut.
So you can see that at Berlin Friends Club, you can really learn how to express yourself. Hope to be able to welcome you at one of our meetings.
See you then!
Berlin Friends Club, the international location to meet people
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 6. October 2009
If you want to be international in Berlin, Friends Club is the right place to meet. Last Tuesday, there were people from Turkey, Uzbekistan, India and Germany, about 20 of them. Joining the meeting is the best you can do on chilly, damp autumn days in Berlin. So hope to see you tonight or at any Tuesday at 19:30 in Asia Market near Checkpoint Charly!
Autumn in Berlin – friends meet
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 14. September 2009
A beautiful autumn day is forecast for tomorrow – the day which is scheduled for the FRIENDS meeting. Make it a point to join us to finish off a beautiful day. We look forward to meeting you!
FRIENDS in the heat!
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 1. September 2009
What a gorgeous day in Berlin! Although I couldn´t be with you last Tue, I am looking forward to seeing all of you tonight. Warm enough to sit outside and have a beautiful summer´s evening.
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