Word of the Day – “dienen”

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Hello everyone,

and welcome to our German Word of the Day.
This time, with a quick a look at the German word for to serve,

dienen

 

 

The two are obviously not related but they  actually have a really similar history. To serve comes from Latin and it ultimately comes from a word that meant slave.
And it’s exactly the same for dienen. The origin of dienen is the Germanic noun *þewa- which also meant slave, or servant. Now, this word pretty widespread throughout the Germanic world but surprisingly it has no relatives in Modern English. Or at least my servants couldn’t find any doing my resea… oh wait, I meant my unpaid interns, who are all really like it here, right John?
“Yes, it’s absolutely awesome. Would you like a coffee, Sire?”
Of course! Double shot hazelnut chai, please, thanks.

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Posted on March 29, 2018 by

Posted in A -Level, Audio Examples, Broad Vocabulary, Quick Reads

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Word of the Day – “kehren”

Tagged as:  Audio Examples,   B - Level,   Broad Vocabulary
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Hello everyone,

and welcome to our German Word of the Day. This time, we’ll have a look at the meaning of

kehren

 

Ready?
Here it comes, brace yourselves… kehren is to sweep with a broom.
Whoop whooooooooooop.
Now you’re like “I got a vacuum cleaner, so I don’t need this.” But before you head over to Facebook, let me tell you… there another side to kehren.
And there, we have it all…  sex, cars, Gods. And wearing your shirt inside out.
Are you ready to jump in? Then let’s goooo..

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26 Comments

Posted on March 23, 2018 by

Posted in Audio Examples, B - Level, Broad Vocabulary

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Word of the Day – “das Bild”

Tagged as:  A -Level,   Audio Examples,   Must have words
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Hello everyone

and welcome to our German Word of the Day. This time we’ll take a look at the meaning of

das Bild

 

And Bild is really cool because not only does it say more than a thousand words, it is also part of more than a thousand words. Much more.
The online dictionary dict.cc  has 2.400 entries with bild in them. That is a LOT of words. So clearly, there must be more to a Bild than … ahem… meets the eye.
Anyway, let’s jump right in :)

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53 Comments

Posted on March 15, 2018 by

Posted in A -Level, Audio Examples, Must have words

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Prefix Verbs Explained – “anfallen”

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After  a long and exhausting day

in the fields of language, the learner sits on a hill under a tree, gazing at the sun as it slowly turns the horizon into a painting of red and yellow and gold. It’s been a long day, working on German is hard labor. But now it is time for the much deserved rest.
Somewhere, in the distance, a shepherd is playing the flute.
Something rustles in the tree. The learner looks up, but sees nothing. Probably just the wind, calm down, the learner says to himself. He bites his grass stalk a little faster than before.
There it was again, the rustling. Probably just the wind. But the air is still. The learner looks around. Silence. The flute has stopped. The sun has stopped, too. And then, suddenly, the learner knows. Part of him had known from the first rustling. His grandmother had been right. There was no escaping.
Slowly, he turns upward to face what he knew was lurking – a German Prefix Verb, mouth gaping, like a gateway to hell as it screeches at the learner.
He recognizes it. It is

anfallen

 

The learner feels a bit of relief. Anfallen is an especially aggressive specimen, but not too cunning. And the learner had read about it just a few days ago. Quickly, he tries to recollect what he’d read …

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32 Comments

Posted on March 8, 2018 by

Posted in Audio Examples, Broad Vocabulary, German Prefix Verbs, Quick Reads

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