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 Snack in Kochstr. 16 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 PSMaxyusuf@aol.com or Ralph at gehrke.blankenfelde@arcor.de.
Happy New Year 2012!
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 2. January 2012
Berlin Friends Club would like to wish everyone a happy new year and lots of health, luck and success.
As in the past years, we will meet every Tuesday without fail to talk and exchange information in a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Even on the last Tuesday of 2011, some members were meeting to have a good time. So make it a point to join us once a week; all nationalities welcome to meet German nationals to keep up with English usage and make contacts.
Best New Year wishes from Max and Ralph
2011 in review
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 1. January 2012
Die WordPress.com Statistikelfen fertigten einen Jahresbericht dieses Blogs für das Jahr 2011 an.
Hier ist eine Zusammenfassung:
Eine Cable Car in San Francisco faßt 60 Personen. Dieses Blog wurde in 2011 etwa 1.400 mal besucht. Eine Cable Car würde etwa 23 Fahrten benötigen um alle Besucher dieses Blogs zu transportieren.
Christmas Party 2011
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 2. December 2011
Like every year, we will have a Christmas party. It will be on December 11, 2011 at 13 Hrs sharp. The location is ARMAN Indian Restaurant, Mehringdamm 45, 10961 Berlin. We will have a buffet lunch for € 5,90 per person, drinks seperate. Please confirm participation at berlinfriendsclub@arcor.de together with your name and the number of persons attending.
“Das Gelbe vom Ei”
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 19. October 2011
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During yesterday´s meeting we came across the German idiomatic phrase “Das Gelbe vom Ei” meaning something is not what you have expected t to be. It alludes to the fact that the inner yellow part of the egg is the best one.
Nobody was relly sure what you would say in English to express the meaning of this phrase, and so we did a bit of research in electronic translators and on the internet. These are the results:
- This is nothing to write home about, presuming that if you are abroad you want to tell others spectacular news or something you are proud of
- It is not the best slice of the bread, probably because people don´t like the ends of the bread
- It´s not the bee´s nees, whatever this may derive from.
So if you think you could help us on any of these language problems, why not join us every Tuesday in Berlin-Kreuzberg?
Tricky languages
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 13. September 2011
At our last meeting we discussed that languages are illogical. So English words seem to have a much different spelling for how they are pronounced. The f-sound in “rough” is the same as in “photo” and “fish“, but spelled totally different. And why is it “mice” and not “mouses”? Why is “aircraft” the same, no matter if it is one or more than one?
But is the German language much better? It is said that there, words are spoken as they are written. But what about “Ei“, the egg? Why do you pronounce it “ai” and not “ei“? And why do we have three genders, der, die and das? Why is the girl, “Mädchen“, neutral? Why is the bus male? Nobody will ever understand.
In English, there is a word “postpone” if you put a meeting on a later date. In Indian English, there is also a word “prepone“, a word that does not exist in other varieties of English. Which brought us to the German word “verfrüht“. You cannot use it in a context like “ich habe mich verfrüht”, meaning that I have arrived early. But there is the word “verfrüht” like “Es ist verfrüht, eine Entscheidung zu treffen”, meaning that it would be too early to decide on something.
English for Germans is difficult to learn because there are so many meanings to one word. But German is difficult for English to learn because there are so many rules.
If you would like to learn something about the oddities of languages, why don´nt you join our meetings on Tuesdays? There´s always something to talk about.
Keeping in contact
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 16. August 2011
Even when being on holiday, members sometimes keep contact to Berlin Friends Club. We while we were meeting in dull and rainy Berlin. This one is so extraordinary that everyone should have a look at it.
Holidays are Friends Club time!
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 18. July 2011
Some people think that during the summer school holidays Brlin is a deserted city: All Berliners have gone south or abroad.
Not so! Berlin is full of visitors, mixing with those who stayed at home. A vivid city right in the middle of Germany and its capital!
Right in the center of this amazing city, Berlin Friends Club meets every Tuesday at 19.30 without fail to talk and joke, to pass on information and have a good time. So don´t worry, make it a point to join us. There is always someone there to give you a warm and cordial welcome.
Summer in Berlin – Friends meet
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 28. June 2011
This is a gorgeous summer´s day, a light wind and the sun is pouring down. A good chance for all expats, English-speaking Germans and Friends to meet tonight and talk about what we think is worth talking about. So why don´t you make an effort, as well and join us tonight at Asia Snack in Kochstr. in Berlin-Kreuzberg? See you then!
Job Application in GB and Germany – What´s Different?
Posted by: lehrergehrke on: 31. May 2011
Last Tuesday, we talked about our experiences with applying for jobs in Germany and Anglo-Saxon countries. First of all, in Britain and otherjob experience, countries, it is quite normal to change jobs in a matter of two years. This would be classed as job-hopping in Germany, where staying with a company for decades is still the standard. In Britain, this would be seen as being inflexible. Changing jobs there means getting more job experience.
Applying in Britain means pointing out your abilities and job experience. This goes especially for the cover letter. From the cv, an employer must be able to take information about former employments to be able to rate the professional development of the candidate. So the job interview will focus on the advantages a company would have from employing a specific applicant.
The habit of attaching a passport photo to the cover letter, as is common in Germany, would be classed as unnecessary and even discriminatory in other countries. The same goes for private data as maritial status and the number of children. This is of no evident use for the employer, as he only is interested in the employee´s performance.
In Germany, an application is classed as incomplete without a testimonial of the former employer. In international standard, you would at the most provide one or two references. Some companies even want a reference only during the job interview and will not check on it if the candidate is taken into serious consideration.
So attention all Germans applying internationally: get informed about the standards and stick to them! And attention all expats applying for a job in a German company: Get informed about different standards!
More information and links concerning the topic can be found at http://lehrergehrke.wordpress.com .
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