Here´s an audiovisual comprehension about the sea. Watch the video and answer the questions afterwards. Attentions: This one might be for advanced learners!
Here are the questions:
1. How many percent of the oxygen is produced by plants living in the sea?
2. What is the alternative word for „Ebbe und Flut“?
3. The sea is important for us. Why is this? Name three keywords.
4. Beside pollution, we also harm the sea by … it.
5. What can we do to participate in the protection of the sea?
Watch the video and anser the questions below afterwards:
Here are the questions. Answer them by using the comment field (in German of course):
1. What was the name of the border between the roman empire and the barbarian tribes in Germany?
2. What animal is it, whose skeleton was found during excavations in Aalen?
3. How old is the swastika (or Hakenkreuz)?
I guess most of you know where Germany is located. Nichtsdestotrotz (nevertheless), here’s a map:
Source: Wikipedia
So as you can see, Germany is located in the heart of Europe. It has nine Nachbarstaaten (neighboring states) and it naturally borders the Nordsee (North Sea) and Ostsee (Baltic Sea) and the European Alps in the south (The borders to all neighboring states are open, by the way. The only exception is Switzerland). With its 357.111,92 km², it is located in the gemäßigten Klimazone (temperate zone) and with a population of 81,3 millions it is a densely populated country.
Germany consists of 16 Bundesländer (federal states):
- Baden-Württemberg
- Bayern
- Berlin
- Brandenburg
- Bremen
- Hamburg
- Hessen
- Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
- Niedersachsen
- Nordrhein-Westfalen
- Rheinland-Pfalz
- Saarland
- Sachsen
- Sachsen-Anhalt
- Schleswig-Holstein
- Thüringen
If you measure with the Bruttoinlandsprodukt (gross domestic product), it is the biggest national economy in Europe and the fourth largest in the world.
The biggest Ballungsgebiete (city regions) are the following:
Berlin – 3.450.000
Hamburg – 1.780.000
München – 1.330.000
Köln – 1.000.000
Frankfurt am Main – 670.00
Stuttgart – 600.000
Düsseldorf – 590.000
Dortmund – 580.000
Essen – 575.000
Bremen – 550.000
But you have to bear in mind, that the numbers above are just the city boarders. In most cases, the agglomeration is much bigger. For example has an agglomeration of 1.800.000. The metropolitan area has even 5.290.000 inhabitants. The biggest metropolitan area is the „Ruhrgebiet“ with 11.690.000 people.
Germany is a parlamentarische Demokratie (parliamentary democracy). The Staatsoberhaupt (head of state) is Federal President Christian Wulff whereas Federal Chanellor Angela Merkel is head of government. The biggest Parteien (parties) are CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP, Die Linke, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen.
The most common language in Germany is German (of course:-)). But there are countless dialects that are really different. I mean, the base is mostly the same but the Aussprache (pronunciation) varies. I´m sure that if you speak German perfectly as a stranger, you wouldn’t understand a word if people from Bavaria, Cologne or Schwaben talk to each other. Even for native speakers it is hard to understand sometimes. One of the dialects is called „Niederdeutsch“ or „Plattdeutsch“. This is kind of an exception and could even be treated as an own language.
I personally don´t understand a word of it. Neither the dialect of Köln (Cologne).
Well, there would be countless more facts about Germany…For example, economics, traffic, social things etc… But I guess a blogpost wouldn’t be the right thing for it. Maybe some other details will follow in other posts. So stay tuned!
Vocabulary to this post:
nichtsdestotrotz – nevertheless
der Nachbarstaat – neighboring state
die Nordsee – Noth Sea
die Ostsee – Baltic Sea
die gemäßigte Klimazone – temperate zone
das Bundesland – federal state
das Bruttoinlandsprodukt – gross domestic product
das Ballungsgebiet – city region
die parlamentarische Demokratie – parliamentary democracy
das Staatsoberhaupt – head of state
die Partei – partie
die Aussprache – pronunciation
Köln – Cologne
All numbers in this post were found over the internet, especially Wikipedia. Therefor I cannot guarantee if they are always right.
When people have had a stressful workweek they are usually yearning for a calm and restful weekend to relax and recharge their batteries. Of course, you can stay at home, lie on the sofa, watch TV, listen to music or read a book but this doesn’t sound like a good recovery, does it? What about diving into nature and enjoying the great outdoors? The Spreewald offers such a welcome change.
The Spreewald is located in the southeast of Brandenburg and belongs to one of the most fascinating regions of Europe. The landscape is, of course, dominated by the Spree, which is a tributary stream of the Havel River. Thus, the Spree invites you to activities like fishing, boat trips and canoeing. Very often you can see older people and families in punts sailing on the Spree. Punts are similar to Venetian gondolas. There’s always a steersman on it moving the boat with a long wooden pole. Younger people prefer canoeing on the Spree.
The Spreewald also offers outdoors activities onshore like cycling, hiking, and horse-riding. I find it quite difficult to describe the natural surroundings of the Spreewald as trees and bushes do not sound exciting. Therefore, you can find some videos below to get an idea of this impressive and powerful region.
The landscape took shape in the glacial period as well as the whole state of Brandenburg. In order to protect the landscape it was announced a biosphere reserve in 1990.
The Spreewald is not only know for its nature but also for its gherkins and inhabitants. The fertile soil and the climate foster the growth of the cucumbers, which are later pickled and seasoned with different spices. Spreewald gherkins are available with different flavors. They are sour, sour-sweet, hot, salty or seasoned with garlic. There is even a so called Gurkenradweg (cucumber cycle track), which leads trough the whole Speewald region.
Last but not least, the Spreewald is known for its inhabitants: the Wends and Sorbs. The Wends immigrated to the Spreewald around 500. The were West Slavic peasants from an areas which is is now Belarus. The Sorbs immigrated to the Spreewald around 1400 from the south. Most people mix these two cultural groups. The Sorbs inhabited the Oberlausitz (Upper Lusatia) and the Wends inhabitated the Niederlausitz (Lower Lusatia). Both the Wends and Sorbs are very well know for their garb, which is nowadays a festive costume. It probably developed from a working dress, which older woman in some parts of the Spreewald still wear. Especially the bonnet of this garb is very eye-catching. Actually it is a headscarf that consists of several embroidered cloths.
Last week we had the so called “Hundstage” (Dog Days) in Germany. Don´t think about the movie from 1975 starring Al Pacino. It´s more abtut the Wetter (weather). I guess the meaning of Hundstage respectively Dog Days is the same in German and English. Well, I simply wanted to say: It was soooo hot!
In the beginning and middle of August most of the people thought that the Sommer (summer) was already over because it was cold and feucht (humid) for weeks. But suddenly temperatures rose to 35°C and even more. Finally, after weeks, Freibäder (open air pools) were crowded again and Eisverkäufer (ice-cream sellers) made big business. People enjoyed living draußen (outside). In the evenings, bars and restaurants were filled and you could sit outside in short clothes and open shoes. It was kind of a Mediterranean feeling and the cities were just crowded until nighttime.
But of course there were as well people who complained about the heat. Especially older ones can´t handle with hot weather. They quickly have to struggle with Kreislaufproblemen (circulation problems). But also younger people are not always happy with hot weather. Some jobs are hard to handle when there are more than 30°C. I had to move when the Temperaturen (temperatures) started to rise, so I wasn´t happy about it all the time as well. Really, I can´t remember the last time sweating like these days 
Also in the nighttime it was hard to get some Schlaf (sleep), especially when you lived under the rooftop. But after all, it was fun to live outside and enjoying warm Sommernächte (summer nights). We don´t have this too often over here, so when it´s there, most people freak out.
Well, the heat lasted for about a week. After five days, the first Gewitter (thunderstorms) appeared during the nighttime. But at the seventh day, temperature was falling again enormously (more than 15°C!) and since then we have kind of the first days of Herbst (autumn).
But every season has its benefits, so kids are already looking forward in kite flying and doing handicrafts with leaves and Kastanien (chestnuts).
Some vocabulary:
Die Hundstage – dog days
Das Wetter – weather
Der Sommer – summer
feucht – humid
Das Freibad – open air pool
Der Eisverkäufer – ice-cream seller
draußen – outside
Die Kreislaufprobleme – circulation problems
Die Temperaturen – temperatures
schwitzen – to sweat
Der Schlaf – sleep
Die Sommernacht – summer night
Das Gewitter – thunderstorm
Der Herbst – autumn
Die Kastanie – chestnut
