Posts under "Sports"

Drachenfest

Posted by jan 1 Comment
Sep 13 2011

Two weeks ago we had the chance to attend an event that is quite unusual. At least I didn´t see one like this before. It was called Drachenfest and it was all about Drachen (kites).

The event took place on a big Wiese (hayfield) where hundreds of people met to fly their kites. Unfortunately on the first day, there was absolutely no Wind (wind). That´s why people spent most of their time with waiting for a Briese (breeze), having a drink or just relaxing in the sun. But nevertheless, the hardcore kite fans tried to fly their kites all the time. Kids as well did everything to let their kites fly. Especially by running all the time, some of them were quite erfolgreich (successful).

A part of the program were kite Wettkämpfe (competitions). These competitions are called „Rokkaku“ and they have their origin in Japan (back in the 17th century). The rules are quite simple: The competitors are standing in al line and the kites are held by some subsidiaries. And they all have the same distance of Schnur (lace) rolled out.

At a signal they all start to fly their kites. But then they try to attack the other kites. The goal is to be the last one who has its kite up in the air. You can pull off the other kites by flying in their laces or even by cutting them. But this happens not too often I guess.

The end of the competition is normally a big Knoten (burl) of laces and the competitors have to deal with it half an hour until their laces are free again.

They use special kites for „Rokakku“ and it was quite fun to watch how they control (steuern) their kites becaus they have only one lace.

The next day there was more wind and the visitors as well as the promoters had their fun in showing their kites.

The Himmel (sky) was full of them and with a great view over the city and the surrounding scenery it was really a nice place to stay for a couple of hours. The people brought such a big variety of different kites of every shape, size and color. My favourite one was made of almost 100 little ones put together on one lace that was approx. 100 meters long! Amazing!

For me as a father, flying kites with the kids is always a good thing to do in autumn. But I didn´t know that there are clubs, competitors and a real kite crowd who takes it pretty serious. Well, every day there´s something new to learn ;-)

Some vocabulary to this post:

der Drachen – kite
die Wiese – hayfield
der Wind – wind
die Brise – breeze
erfolgreich – successful
der Wettkampf – competition
die Schnur – lace
der Knoten – burl
steuern – to control
der Himmel – sky

Die Fußballweltmeistermannschaft der Frauen – Women’s soccer world championship

Posted by Sandra Rösner 1 Comment
Jul 7 2011

 

Currently, the world championship of women’s soccer takes place in Germany. Therefore, I would like to convey some vocabularies on soccer in this post. Below you can find a German text and the English translation.

 

 

Das Eröffnungsspiel der Fußballweltmeisterschaft der Frauen fand am 26. Juni 2011 im Berliner Olympiastadion statt.

The inaugural game of the women’s soccer world championship took place on June 26 in the Berlin Olympiastation.

Die Mannschaft des Gastgeberlandes eröffnet immer das Turnier.

The team of the host country does always open the championship.

Im Eröffnungsspiel spielte die deutsche Mannschaft gegen die kanadische Mannschaft.

The German team played agains the Canadian team in the inaugural game.

Insgesamt treten 16 Manschaften an – Gruppe A: Deutschland, Frankreich, Nigeria, Kanada; Gruppe B: England, Japan, Mexiko, Neuseeland; GruppeC: Schweden, USA, Nordkorea, Kolumbien; Gruppe D: Brasilien, Australien, Norwegen und Äquatorialguinea.

Altogether, 16 teams are competing – group A: Germany, France, Nigeria, Canada; group B: England, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand; group C: Sweden, North Korea, Colombia; group D: Brazil, Australia, Norway, and Equatorial Guinea.

 

Ein Spiel dauert 90 Minuten.

A match lasts 90 minutes.

Nach den ersten 45 Minuten ist Halbzeit.

It will be half time after the first 45 minutes.

In der Halbzeitpause hat die Trainerin die Gelegenheit, die Spielerinnen erneut zu motivieren.

During the half-time break, the coach has the opportunity to motivate the players anew.

Die Mannschaft die am Ende die meisten Tore schießt gewinnt das Spiel.

The team that will scored the most goals will win the match.

 

Bei der Fußballweltmeisterschaft gibt es gibt es 24 Vorrundenspiele.

There are 24 group matches in the soccer world championship.

Die zwei besten Teams aus jeder Gruppe ziehen ins Viertelfinale ein.

The two best teams of each group will reach the quarter final.

Die vier Gewinnermannschaften des Viertelfinales ziehen ins Halbfinale ein.

The four winning teams of the quarte final will reach the semi-final.

Bevor die zwei besten Mannschaften ins Finale ziehen können, müssen sie erst um den dritten Platz spielen.

Before the two best teams can reach the final, they have to play a match for third place.


Die Schiedsrichterin pfeift das Spiel an und ab.

The referee blows the starting and final whistle.

Die Lienienrichterin steht im ständigen Kontakt mit der Schiedsrichterin und unterstütz sie bei ihren Entscheidungen, z.B. ob ein Ball im Aus ist, die Stürmerin im Abseits ist, und ob es einen Elfmeter gibt oder nicht.

The lineswoman is in permanent contact with the referee and supports her with her decisions, e.g. if a ball is out, the striker is offside and whether there will be a penalty kick or not.

Wenn eine der Spielerinnen gegen die Regeln verstößt, zeigt ihr die Schiedsrichterin die Gelbe Karte.

If one of the players break a rule of the game, the referee will yellow-card her.

Verstößt ein und die selbe Spielerin mehrmals gegen die Regeln, zückt die Schiedsrichterin die Gelb-Rote Karte oder sogar die Rote Karte.

Will one and the same player offend against the rules repeatedly, the referee will brandish the second yellow card or even the red card.

 

die Linienrichterin – lineswoman
die Schiedsrichterin – referee
das Tor – goal
die Stürmerin – striker
die Verteidigerin – defender
die Mittelfeldspielerin – midfielder
die Torhüterin – goalkeeper
die Trainerin – coach
die Mannschaft – team
das Team – team
das Abseits – offside
die Gelbe Karte – yellow card
die Gelb-Rote Karte – second yellow card
die Rote Karte – red card
jemanden die Rote Karte zeigen – to red-card somebody
die Gelbe Karte zücken – to brandish the yellow card
der Anpfiff – kickoff
der Abpfiff – final whistle
die Halbzeit – half time
das Eröffnungsspiel – inaugural game
das Viertelfinale – quarter final
das Halbfinale – semi-final
das Spiel um den dritten Platz – match for third place
das Finale – final
der Elfmeter – penalty kick
die Halbzeitpause – half-break time
das Vorrundenspiel – group match

 

Skigebiete in Deutschland – Skiing regions in Germany

Posted by jan 2 Comments
Jan 27 2011

Down from approximately the middle, Germany is a pretty hügeliges (hilly) country. There are some Mittelgebirge (low mountain ranges) and close to the southern boarder, Germany joins the European alps. The Zugspitze (2.962 m) is the highest mountain of Germany. Though in Austria, Switzerland and France the Alps are even higher (up to almost 5.000 m), the heights of Germany are pretty impressive compared to Nachbarländer (neighboring countries) like the Netherlands, Belgium or Denmark. I know, I know: For most of you this might sound ridiculous because almost every Kontinent (continent) has higher altitudes to offer.

But anyway: There´s enough space to go skiing!

Skifahren (skiing) as well as snowboarding has become a very popular sport in Germany in the last Jahrzehnten (decades). And at the same time the Skigebiete (skiing regions) expanded as well. Even the lower mountain ranges have a lot of small lifts and pistes to offer although they often have bad luck with the Schneeverhältnisse (snow conditions). You can find the bigger and more snowy ones down south. In the west, there are some nice places in the Schwarzwald (Black Forest). The most famous one there is called Feldberg. It´s named after the highest mountain of the Schwarzwald which is quite close to the skiing region.

If you go east from there, you´ll find yourself in a region that is called Allgäu. This a beautiful hilly and mountainous are with a lot of cows, farms and picturesque landscapes. When you go deep into the Allgäu you will reach a “blind alley” that ends in the village of Oberstdorf. There you have two nice skiing regions called Nebelhorn and Fellhorn.


View over Oberstdorf and the European Alps (Source: Wikipedia)

Even more east there is a village called Garmisch-Partenkirchen. There you can find the skiing region that reaches up the Zugspitze. One lift goes up almost to the Gipfel (summit). But there are no pistes to ski. I´ve never been there personally, but I guess you have a beautiful view up there.

So if you come to Germany in winter, why not spending a day in the snow? Borrowing skis and other equipment is no problem. At least in the bigger skiing regions.

If you want to go skiing for a longer time, for example a week, it might be better to go to bigger areas in Austria, Switzerland, France or Italy. There are just more possibilities to keep things abwechslungsreich (varied).

Another hint: If you have the possibility to choose, don´t go during the school holidays or on weekends, because then the skiing regions are way more crowded and more expensive as well.

Here´s an overview of German skiing regions. Click on them to learn more:
http://www.skigebiete-test.de/skigebiete/fullscreen/deutschland

Vocabulary:
Hügelig – hilly
Das Mittelgebirge – lower mountain range
Das Nachbarland – neighboring country
Der Kontinent – continent
Skifahren – skiing
Das Jahzehnt – decade
Das Skigebiet – skiing region
Die Schneeverhältnisse – snow conditions
Der Schwarzwald – Black Forest
Der Gipfel – summit
Abwechslungsreich – varied

54 – 74 – 90 – 2010

Posted by jan No Comments
Jul 6 2010

Due to the success of the German soccer team, the cities in Germany have turned into big party areas again (like in 2006 when the world cup took place in Germany). The biggest one is in Berlin where there are up to 350.000 Menschen (people) when a match is broadcast over giant screens. The Atmosphäre (atmosphere) is incredible and the high victory over Argentina eliminated all doubts about the quality of the German team.

The whole country is celebrating while the Mannschaft (team) itself is already concentrating on the semi final on Wednesday. As you could feel at the last press conference, trainer Joachim Löw is totally focused on Spain.

In Löws opinion there hasn´t been an opponent like Spain until now…Trotz (despite) England and Argentina. Löw says: “Spain hasn´t just one Messi, but they have a lot of Messis”. The Spanish team who defeated Germany in the Endspiel (final match) in 2008 (European Championship) is a real unity and they don´t make Fehler (mistakes) on their own, he says. Even midfield star Bastian Schweinsteiger says: “For me, Spain is the best team in the world.”

Thomas Müller will be missing in the next match due to yellow cards, so everybody is guessing who will be replacing him. When Löw is asked about this Thema (topic), he just answers “whoever will be playing…I have a good feeling”.

Vor (before) the match against Argentina there have been some rude statements in the Presse (press). But this time, Löw and Schweinsteiger act a little more calm by showing the biggest respect to Spain. There are no feelings of Rache (revenge) and at the same time they seem to be very selbstbewusst (self confident) and entspannt (relaxed).

As you can imagine the trainer himself as well as the players are asked endless questions about their victories, their feelings and even personal things. But all of the answers are pretty ähnlich (similar): “We don´t care what people write about us…we´re just thinking about how to defeat Spain”.

But between the lines there has been one statement of Bastian Schweinsteiger: “I have been to Berlin after two tournaments to celebrate with our fans. But something has been missing. I hope this time it will be different. If every one of us gives everything, we could beat the best teams in the world.” So as you can see, a second or third place doesn´t seem to be enough for him. And you can bet that all people in Germany think the same way!

So hopefully the German “Sommermärchen*” will come true and
everybody sings “54 – 74 – 90 – 2010″…

Go Germany go!!!

* “Deutschland: Ein Sommermärchen” has been a documentary about the German soccer team, filmed by the famous filmmaker Sönke Wortmann. It mainly shows the extraordinary atmosphere during the world cup in 2006 that took place in Germany.

Here you can find the vocabulary to this blogpost.

Kieler Woche – the World´s biggest sailing event

Posted by jan No Comments
Jun 22 2010

The Kieler Woche is a jährliche (annual) sailing regatta, which takes place in Kiel seit (since) 1882. Today it is the biggest sailing event in the world. And at the same time it is the biggest summer festival in northern Europe.

Beside the sailing contests, a umfangreiches (extensive) program is offered to the Besucher (visitors) of the Kieler Woche. The performances of international bands and Künstler (artists) that take place in 300 concerts on 16 stages are very beliebt (popular) and show a big variety of different styles. So everyone will find something that he likes. Zusätzlich (in addition) to this, local bands and artists perform as well on smaller Bühnen (stages).

The every year maritime highlight is the “Windjammerparade” on the last Samstag (Saturday) of the Kieler Woche. More than 100 traditional ships, big sailing ships, historical Dampfschiffe (steamboats) as well as hundreds of sailing yachts participate in this event. As special guests you can also see marine ships from other countries.

Take a look at the (German) video “The Kieler Wocher in 100 seconds”:

YouTube Preview Image

Another highlight is the award of the World Economic Science Prize by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Kiel is situated in the most northerly of Germany´s Bundesstaaten (federal states). The city has only about 240.000 Einwohner (inhabitants) but around three million visitors are attracted by the Kieler Woche! To support the idea of a better international understanding, Sprachkurse (language courses) will be held for free.

This year the Kieler Woche takes place from June 19th to 27th.

For living in the south of Germany, unfortunately I never had the chance to visit the festival personally. But I guess this is a lot of fun!

For more information about the Kieler Woche, visit the website:

http://www.kieler-woche.de/

Click here for the vocabulary to this blog post.

http://www.byki.com/lists/German/Kieler-woche.html

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