Posts Tagged ‘meeting’
Dish of the noble: Asparagus
Posted on: 28. May 2014
- In: customs | meetings
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During our last meeting we talked about favourite meals and came across the asparagus. It is a seasonal vegetable only harvested in spring. In Germany it is a very popular dish, and grown in nearly all parts of the country, such as Brandenburg, North Rhine Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Rhineland Palatine. It is also grown in North and South Americas, Greece, Poland etc, but it is rarely consumed there. I have no notice of any British who prefer it, and a Polish Friend has told me at our meeting that it is grown there but mostly exported to Germany. Its healthy effects on the human body are undisputed.
Asparagus can be consumed either on its own or together with potatoes and/or a porc chop. Bacon goes very nicely with it, especially the bacon being wrapped around the spears. Another combination is a piece of salmon fillet going with it, so you have the taste of two extraordinary dishes in one.
Asparagus can be purchased green or with violet tips or all white and in different thicknesses. White thick evenly grown spears are the most expensive; it costs between 7 and 10 Euro per kilo, depending on its quality. For the starting soup, take the water in which you cooked the asparagus and add some salt and spices and broken asparagus (smaller pieces) to make it tasteful.
Most asparagus farms also offer an open air restaurant to consume the delicious dish right on site and stage events for their customers. So what about a day out to the South of Berlin for pure enjoyment?
German conversation Part 5
Posted on: 3. March 2014
This is another summary of what we have discussed during one of our meetings:
Getränke – drinks
Weizenbier/Weißbier – wheat beer
Saft – juice
Schorle – any juice or wine mixed with water
verdünnen – dilute
ablöschen – deglaze (put water or spirit on a boiling meal)
auflösen – dissolve
aufgeregt – excited => sich aufgegen – get excited
sprechen, reden – speak
eine Rede halten – jold a speech
sich unterhalten – talk to each other
wir haben uns darüber schon unterhalten – We´ve already talked about that
anstehen/sich anstellen – queue up
sich vordrängeln – jump the queue, push to the front
Hinz und Kunz – jeder
Da war Hinz und Kunz da – all sorts of people were there
Ein Ei abschrecken – chill an egg
Achtung:
Ein Ei pellen => die Pelle – eggschell
Einen Apfel/eine Kartoffel schälen => die Schale – skin
Die Haut auf der heißen Milch – the skin on hot milk
jemandem auf die Pelle rücken – (popular) to get to close to sb.
=> Rück mir nicht so auf die Pelle
Schaum – foam
Er schäumt vor Wut – he is furious with anger
There you are! Keep learning and see you again!
- In: language | meetings
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At our last meeting, we had members from all corners of the world: US, Britain, France, Ukraine, South Korea, South Africa, Georgia and Germany. All of us love to get information about foraign countries, their culture, their history and their current situation.
So I learned a lot about Georgia, a lot of facts I did not learn about. Georgia is situated at the Black Sea, south of Russia. It has a great history, starting long before the history of most European states. It has a language and writing of its own which is far different from any other languages and writing. In some cases, when we have to form a sentence, in Georgian language its contents can be skimmed into one word. The letters are totally different from what Latin or Kyrillic letters look like.
While the Soviet Union existed, Georgia was a part of this empire, but regained its independency after the Soviet Union fell apart. Still, Russia is trying to keep its influence, by military and economic means, e.g. by cutting off gas supplies.
If you are as keen on learning more about different nations and conversing in English as I am, why don´t you join us on Tuesdays at Thai Su restaurant in Berlin-Kreuzberg? Everybody will give you a warm welcome.
German conversation part 3
Posted on: 10. February 2014
During the last meetings, we talked about flats/apartments.
die Wohnung – flat/apartment
die Dach(geschoss)wohnung – the penthouse
der Hof – the courtyard in the middle of a block of flats
das Stockwerk – the floor / storey
das Erdgeschoss – ground floor
der Souterrain – basement
das Treppenhaus – stairs / stairway
der Aufzug/Fahrstuhl – lift/elevator
der Flur – the corridor
der Dachgarten – roof garden
der Balkon – balcony
eine Wohnung mieten – rent
eine Wohnung vermieten – let an apartment
der Mieter – tenant
der Vermieter – landlord
die Miete zahlen – pay the rent
renovieren – renovate, redecorate
die Baugesellschaft – building society
die Baugenossenschaft – cooperative building society
der Eigentümer – owner
der Fußboden – floor
die Fliese/-n – tiles
das Parkett – parquett
der Holzfußboden – wooden floor
der Gas-/Stromzähler – gas / electricity meter
read the meter – den Zähler ablesen
die Schiebetür – sliding door
schieben / drücken – push
ziehen – pull
ein Fahrrad schieben – push a bike
die Zentralheizung – central heating
der Heizkörper – radiator
die Fernheizung – district heating
die Kaution – deposit
der Stuck (an der Decke) – stucco, plastering
der Mietvertrag – rental contract
einen Vertrag schließen – sign a contract
kündigen – cancel
in eine Wohnung einziehen – move into an apartment
umziehen – remove
umziehen: Kleidung – change clothes
ausziehen – move out
ausziehen: Kleidung – take off clothes
Keep on learning!
German conversation – part 2
Posted on: 24. January 2014
At our last meeting, we talked about the weather and some more words that came up during the meeting.
Das Wetter
Es ist kalt/eisig/warm/heiß – it is cold/freezing/warm/hot
Mir ist kalt/... – I am cold/…
Es ist heiter/wolkig/bedeckt/sonnig– it is bright/cloudy/overcast/sunny
Es ist sehr/zu kalt… – it is very/too cold…
Frühling/Sommer/Herbst/Winter – spring/summer/autumn/winter
Der Wind – wind
windig – windy
Der Sturm – storm
stürmisch – stormy
Der Hagel – hail
Der Schneeregen – sleet
Der Nieselregen – drizzle
Die Eisglätte – there is no such word in English; LEO dictionary gives the phrase “icy conditions”, but that does not seem very satisfactory to me…
Questions that arose during the meeting
Die Nervensäge – nag in German as a verb “nörgeln, meckern”
gewohnt: Früher habe ich in Berlin gewohnt – perfect form of wohnen – live
gewöhnt: Ich bin gewöhnt, früh aufzustehen – be used to
Rasen, Wiese, Weide, Feld, Heide
= lawn, meadow, field, heath
bright in German: not only beautiful weather!
| leuchtend | |
| strahlend | |
| aufgeweckt | |
| blank | |
| fröhlich | |
| froh | |
| gescheit | |
| glänzend | |
| heiter | |
| intelligent | |
| klar | |
| klug | |
| licht | |
| sehr freundlich
See you next Monday, to practise and discuss more German phrases! |
German conversation – part 1
Posted on: 19. January 2014
Dear Friends of the German language,
in our first two meetings of conversational German, we learned the following phrases:
Greeting somebody and saying good bye:
Guten Morgen – in the morning
Guten Tag – during the day
Guten Abend – in the evening
Gute Nacht – only for saying good bye at night
Auf Wiedersehen – good bye
Tschüß – colloquial saying good bye
Mahlzeit (= “Gesegnete Mahlzeit”) – at noontime for lunch
Asking a direction:
Fährt dieser Bus zum Zoo? – Does this bus go to the zoo?
Wohin fährt dieser Bus? – Wher does this bus go?
Being late (e.g. for an appointment, a meeting):
Es tut mir leid, dass ich zu spät bin – Sorry for being late
Die S-Bahn war verspätet – the S-Bahn was delayed
Ich habe verschlafen – I overslept
At the station:
Der Bahnsteig – the platform
Das Gleis – the track
Der Zug fährt von Bahnsteig / Gleis 1 – the train leaves from platform 1
Zug in Richtung Leipzig – train for Leipzig
Der Zug ist schon weg – the train has already left
Der Zug kommt noch – the train will arrive
Der Zug ist noch nicht weg – the train has not yet left
=> schon – already
=> noch – still
=> noch nicht – not yet
Eating
essen – for humans
futtern – eat fast and much (colloquial)
fressen – for animals or insulting for humans
füttern – feed
Ich esse gerade Mittag – I am just having lunch
Er futtert ganz schön viel – he eats quite a lot
Die Katze frisst eine Maus – the cat is eating a mouse
Addressing people:
Addressing someone by “du” is informal and only for friends or someone you know well. In some professions, colleages address each other by “du”, like IKEA or the media branch. It is the same as being on first name terms in English.
If you are on the job or you don´t know someone well or not at all, you better use “Sie”, especially if the person is much older than you or in a higher position and you want or have to express esteem. It is the same as being on second name terms in English.
Keep learning and practising German, especially if you live in Germany. Conditions are favourable if you live in a native language environment.
“Muskelkater” – what is that?
Posted on: 15. December 2013
- In: language | meetings
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During our last Friends Club meeting, somebody brought this up:
Everybody knows the feeling that after a good round of walking, running or playing football or tennis, there is a funny feeling in your muscles which makes it nearly unable to move.
In German, the word is “Muskelkater”. But there is no use translating it literally, as for “Muskel” the English word is “muscle”, but the German word “Kater” means “tom cat” in English, That does not make any sense. Still, there is another meaning for “Kater” in English: “hangover”! And this gets us nearer to the meaning of “Muskelkater”, as you use “Kater” in German for any state of physical indisposition coming from a reason such as too much alcohol or physical exercise.
So, for the German word “Muskelkater” you would use “sore muscles” or “aching muscles”, as the LEO dictionary tells us. The Google translater only knows “ache”, which is fairly unspecific.
For more of these discussions, why don´t you join us at Berlin Friends Club? You will get a warm welcome and you can sure to spend some joyful, interesting hours each Tuesday.
See you then!
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