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?
Briefmarke "100 Jahre Jugendherbergen" 2009-08-13 by Deutsche Post AG (public domain)
In my last post I talked about traveling Germany by train, and I promised to tell you about other ways of getting around. So here we go!
A cheaper alternative to train travel is carpooling. There are several websites dedicated to aranging long-distance carpools, the one with the largest community being mitfahrgelegenheit.de. Usually the person driving from A to B offers the free seats in their car to people who want to go to the same destination. In return they get paid an amount of money that is a bit larger than every passenger’s share of gas costs would be. It’s a great way to reduce travel costs for both driver and passengers. It’s eco, since you reduce emissions, and it’s convenient because the community is so big that it’s no problem to find a car from any major city to another any given day.
Sometimes the goal of your travels is not to get to your destination as fast as possible, but to enjoy the traveling itself. Germany renders itself perfect for biking and hiking. There’s a multitude of well signposted routes throughout the country. Just have a look at this amazing interactive map of bike routes! Or this one for walking / hiking tours!
The establishment of hiking routes, their maintenance, signposting, and the production of hiking maps is in Germany the domain of hiking clubs – in German Wandervereine. They came into existence around the end of the 19th century. Most of the regional hiking clubs are members of the national Deutscher Wanderverband, which was founded in Fulda in 1883. These clubs also put a lot of effort into creating a net of accomodation facilities for hikers and youth groups. This effort led to the establishment of the German youth hostel federation Deutsches Jugendherbergswerk (DJH) between 1909 and 1912.
The German cyclists’ federation Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club (ADFC) is much younger than that. It was founded in 1979 to promote the idea of sustainable transport. Among other things they produce bike maps, give quality ratings to bike routes, and complile a list of cyclist-friendly accomodations.
What is your favourite way of traveling?
What comes to your mind first when you think of Germany? Lederhosen, Bratwurst, Bier, und – Autos? (leather trousers, bratwurst, beer, and – cars?) I bet that most likely you’ve been thinking “cars”. Or “Autobahn” (controlled-access highway). And while I’m not going to get into the leather pants, bratwursts, and beer thing this time, I have to admit that, yes, Germany is a land of cars.
Germans love their cars. The ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club e.V.) is, with more than 17 million members, the most popular “club” in Germany. And it is very influential, too. It has for example succeeded (so far) in fending off all initiatives to establish a general Tempolimit (or Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung = speed limit) on German highways.
Germany is a land of cars, I said. It is. But it is much less so than (most parts of) the United States are. You can actually live a normal life in Germany without a car! In big cities it can even be a disadvantage to own a car, because you are likely to get stuck in a traffic jam (weil es leicht passieren kann, dass du im Stau stecken bleibst), and you will have trouble finding a parking space in the city (und du wirst Probleme haben, in der Innenstadt einen Parkplatz zu finden).
So, how do you get around Germany without a car? There are several possibilities. The most obvious one is einen Zug zu nehmen (to take a train). Almost every city in Germany is connected to the rail system. If the town you want to reach is too small or too remote to have a connection by train, there will be a regular bus service to the next train station. Try it out yourself! Go to the website of the German national railway company Deutsche Bahn AG: www.bahn.de. Now let’s do some “virtual travelling”! You will see two fields where you can fill in from where to where your journey goes. You can put in the names of cities or stations, or even an address. If you have no idea wohin du “reisen” willst (where you want to “travel”), just pick random places from a map of Germany, or use place names that you have heard of. If you like, you can change the time and date of your travel, and add further specifications. Now click on the red button that says -> Suchen (Search), and see what comes up! Probably a list of possible connections. You can see details by clicking on the arrow in front of the connection. And yes, you could also use the English interface of bahn.de.
If you really want to travel by train in Germany, here is some advice:
- Booking at least three days in advance may give you reduced prices, called Sparpreis (savings fare).
- Purchasing a BahnCard can be useful if you plan to make several trips; either on short notice – then the BahnCard 50 is for you, or planned beforehand – then the BahnCard 25 can give you better deals because it can be combined with the early-booking discounts.
- There are also special tickets available, most notably the Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket (happy weekend ticket), which is valid for up to five people on regional trains throughout Germany on either Saturday or Sunday.
You don’t like trains? You are curious what other options there are to get around Germany without a car? In my next post I will present more alternatives to you!
Vocabulary:
die Lederhose – the leather trousers
die Bratwurst – the bratwurst (German type of sausage)
das Bier – the beer
das Auto – the car
die Autobahn – the controlled-access highway
das Tempolimit / die Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung – the speed limit
es kann leicht passieren – it is likely to happen
im Stau stecken bleiben – to get caught in a traffic jam
Probleme haben, etwas zu tun – to have problems doing something
einen Parkplatz finden – to find a parking space
die Innenstadt – the city / downtown
der Zug – the train
den Zug nehmen – to take the train
reisen – to travel
suchen – to search
der Preis – the price
das Ticket – the ticket
How many of you can guess what products are manufactured in Germany?
Of course if you’re a car lover, we all know Germany is famous for its high performance cars. But did you know it also has an extensive clothing line with brands such as Adidas, Hugo Boss, Puma and Escada, Levi Strauss and not to forget medical brands such as Bayer, Nivea crème and toothpaste!!!
You’ll be surprised how many of your favorite brands are German-made. Heinz ketchup. Mercedes Benz. Siemens and Hellmann’s mayonnaise. The Haribo and electronic small format cameras as well as jet planes, helicopters to chip cards and the famous Meissen Porcelain.
“Made in Germany” is recognized around the world as a label for products of high quality, standards and value. Germany’s global repute moreover extends to great inventions, ranging from aspirin to the theory of relativity – all created by famous Germans. This is turn creates their products and service to be one of a kind and frequently sought after. In fact, it’s one thing we pride ourselves on and also expect when you do business with us. Therefore to a great extend also important to act by certain norms when you’re dealing with such. From being on time and dressed according to the event and behaving to certain standards, like your own behavior. We also tend to pay attention to detail which rather makes the product unique and one of a kind. A reason why many international countries and firms seek out Germans and their technology of service.
So can you name a few things on what else is made in Germany? And if so, what makes this rather special to you compared to anything else on the market?
Source: WIkipedia
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt was a German Naturwissenschaftler (naturaly scientist) and his fields reached far over European borders. With his complete works, that took more than seven Jahrzehnte (decades), he created a new level of knowledge and reflection regarding the whole world and became a cofounder of geography as a empiric science.
Alexander von Humboldt was born on September 14th 1769 in Berlin. Alexander and his older brother Wilhelm were raised and taught on the castle of Tegel which was Familienbesitz (family property) by that time.
At the age of 18, the boys were send to Frankfurt an der Oder to study laws (Wilhelm) and cameralistics (Alexander). Alexander also listened to ancient sciences, medicine, physics and mathematics. 1789 he followed his brother to Göttingen where he studied physics and chemistry.
With the goal to become an Forschungsreisender (explorer), he studied economy and foreign languages in Hamburg, geology in Freiberg and anatomy and astronomy in Jena. But in 1792 he enforcedly first worked in the mines of Prussia.
Principally the heritage of his mother, who died in 1796, let his dreams come true. Actually he wanted to go to Egypt but in fact he went to Madrid with the French doctor and botanist Aimé Bonpland.
The Spanish Minister helped them getting aboard the „Pizarro“ to cross the Atlantic Ocean. A Zwischenstopp (stopover) in Tenerife encouraged them to climb „Pico de Teide“ (3718 m).
On July 16th 1799 they reached Cumaná, Venzuela. On November 12th, Alexander observed a meteor shower. In 1800, Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland started a four month expedition to explore the river of Orinoko. On their 2775 km journey, they discovered a Verbindung (connection) from Orinoko to Amazonas.
Source: Wikipedia
After crossing the Andes, they reached Quito, Ecuador in 1802. They reached the two Gipfel (summits) of Pichincha (4690 and 4794 m) as the first ones from Europe. Their attempt to climb Chimborazo (6310 m) had to be aborted at an altitude of 5700 m. But anyway this was a world record for several decades and by the way, they described the symptoms of Höhenkrankheit (altitude sickness) for the first time.
On November 9th 1802, Alexander witnessed the transit of mercury in Callao, Peru.
After this, Alexander and Aimé stayed for almost a year in Mexico.
After a meeting with the President of the United States in Washington, they returned to Europe. They reached Bordeaux, France in 1804.
On their 9650 km expedition in South America, they not only collected countless geographical and geological discoveries, they also defined 60 000 plants, 6 300 of them have been unbekannt (unknown) until then. According to his measurements, Alexander claimed, that the power of the magnetic field decreases from the poles to the equator. His criticism on Sklaverei (slavery) remained unheard but the mentioning of silver mines in Mexico encouraged European speculators to involve.
Alexander stayed in Paris for 20 years and spent almost all of his money in the Auswertung (evaluation) of his results of the expedition in South America and to prepare their publication. Between 1807 and 1833 they were published in 34 issues.
In 1805 he received a doctor’s degree in Frankfurt an der Oder, became a royal chamberlain in Prussia and was included the Academy of sciences. But not until 1827 he returned to Berlin to hold his famous Vorlesungen (lectures) at the Humboldt University which was founded by his brother Wilhelm.
1829 he followed the invitation of the Russion Tsar Nikolaus I and together with other explorers he travelled eastern areas of Ural and Siberia to the Chinese border. Within half a year, Alexander von Humboldt (together with mineralogist Gustav Rose) travelled 15 000 km in Kutschen (horse buggies) on bumpy roads. The result of the expedition were countless geological, geographical and biological findings.
For years he worked for his main scientific creation in Berlin: „Kosmos. Entwurf einer physikalischen Weltbeschreibung“ (1845-1862).
At the age of almost 90 years, Alexander von Humboldt died an May 6th 1859 in Berlin.
What a fascinating life! Don’t you think?
Some vocabulary to this post:
der Naturwissenschaftler – natural scientist
das Jahrzehnt – decade
der Familienbesitz – family property
der Forscher / der Forschungsreisende – explorer
der Zwischenstopp – stopover
die Verbindung – connection
der Gipfel – summit
die Höhenkrankheit – altitude sickness
unbekannt – unknown
die Sklaverei – slavery
die Auswertung – evaluation
die Vorlesung – lecture
die Kutsche – horse buggy
