My New Lieblings TV Show: Bauer Sucht Frau

I am addicted to Bauer Sucht Frau. Yes for those of you that know German it is 'Farmer Seeks Woman (wife).' The show is two weeks into the 2010 season and it is one of the best reality shows I have seen in a long time.

The premise of the show is quite simple. They find a bunch of mostly middle aged single farmers. Give them a couple of women to pick from, and then let the women stay with the farmers for one week on their farm. All the time they get to feed the pigs, shovel muck, and bond with the farmers.

The video clip above is from a previous season but it gives you a good idea of what the show is about. It is great because all of the dialog is basic conversational high German. It is a great way for me to practice the language.

This season I am really rooting for Farmer Bruno and his Frau Anja. They seem like a fantastic pair. Last weeks episode they pulled Bruno aside for one of those classic one-to-one interviews where the reality star speaks directly to the camera. He goes on to say something like 'She fills the emptiness I have had on this Farm, she cleans the entire house.' I love that line.

I give Bauer Bruno a lot of credit, he knew his farmhouse was a mess, so he rented an RV for Anja during her stay so she wouldn't have to be subject for his old musty ole farmhouse. For those of you watching the series who don't want a spoiler make sure not to do a search for Bruno & Anja, it looks like the final outcome of their relationship is already out there in public.

Show times on station RTL, 16:45 on Sunday evenings.

Looking for A Combi

I'm not actually looking for a Combi. It's just a word that I really like. I am not sure if it is a German word or a British English word. I can say it is used on German websites.

It is such a great word. I was thinking of a friend of mine who drives a Subaru. Or last time I talked to him he did. It is at least 5 years old now, probably more and I have to believe he might be looking for a new Subi Combi.

So what is it? If you haven't figured it out it is a something will call a station wagon, or wagon for short in U.S. English.

Does anyone know the roots of this word?

International Business English Can Be Feary

I really like working in an international business environment. Every day I work with people that are amazingly talented with languages. I'm sure about 90% percent of the people I am working with are conducting daily business in languages other than their native languages. As a result there are often times when you hear a phrase in 'International English' that is not quite right to a native speaker, but is understood. Often times these little phrases will induce a chuckle.

Here are 5 of my favorite international business English phrases.

1. I remember you next Monday is a holiday so I can not make the meeting.
2. Please precise the job description on the form.
3. Would you like a window seat or an ale.
   
4. That was so feary I almost screamed.
5. I think he has a case of the pork influenza.

To those of you that have made such mistakes, kudos to you. It takes courage and a whole lot of energy to speak in a foreign language all day at work and you are certainly allowed a few mistakes. For that I truly have to commend you.

Do you have any good international business English phrases? Leave a comment.....

Cornered By German

I was at a work event last week. An apero that was attended primarily by my Swiss co-workers. At one point I was sipping on my glass of wine speaking to a colleague that I have worked with recently just sharing some light chit chat. He is fluent in several languages including German however when we work together we tend to operate in English.

At one point another woman from the department came over and started talking to my colleague in German. Their working language was surely German as she was Swiss. As I also had worked with the woman before, in English of course, she turned to me to politely ask if I spoke German. In my mind such a question is not really meant to be a question about your language skills but rather a polite unassuming way to send a signal that she would prefer to continue in a different language, do you mind.

Having had enough training I switched to German and replied that I could understand quite a bit and that I would not mind at all if she would like to continue the conversation in German. At first, I was following the conversation and nodding and laughing at the right times, but then, they must have figured I really was following the conversation and not just playing the smile, nod and try not to look like and idiot game.

So slowly I was brought into the conversation, at first just a few simple questions. Where do you live? How long have you been here? Did you travel home for the holidays and so on. As I got more comfortable and 'warmed up' I was even more talkative and started telling a few stories. I wasn't sure how well I was doing. People were nodding and laughing and I wasn't sure if there were chuckling at my bad German or my story.

As I was just about to give up, someone else walked up and one woman told the new joiner about my story, paraphrasing it in a couple of sentences. That is when I knew I had achieved my goal. To share a couple of ideas in another language and be understood. And for once, I wasn't asking for a glass of water without gas.

Looking Forward To The Weekend

Is it wrong to say on Tuesday that I am already looking forward to the weekend? Despite my new pillow I had a very unsettling sleep pattern last night.

My usual monthly occurrence of waking up at about 2:00 and not getting back to sleep until about 5:00. I find that usually I have a lot of mundane things on my mind that cause me to not be able to sleep on such nights. A thought about a post it note, or an expense report. A thought about a half eaten piece of chocolate on the counter, or an e-mail I should send to a friend. Really mundane stuff. I wonder why it sometimes leads to restless nights. I don't know.

One thing in particular I was thinking about was the phrase 'nerve-racking'. Someone at work consulted me on English and asked if it was 'nerve-racking or never-wrecking like a car wreck.' Times like that my natural talent for English eludes me. I wanted to say nerve-racking but when you are surrounded by non-native speakers you begin to second guess yourself. Another colleague knew I was second guessing myself in the conversation at work and complimented me on my 'fine English' as a joke.

Of course I thanked him and told him I had been working on it for years.

Evening With David Sedaris

On Monday night we had tickets to see readings by David Sedaris. Sedaris is known as a regular contributor to the WBEZ Chicago radio show This American Life. His humor is really fanstastic and his delivery when he reads his essays is unmatched. If you haven't read or listened to any of his work I highly recomend that you do.

Sedaris read a great story unpublished story on Monday, i belive it was titled 'Innocents Abroad'. The essay was themed around that fact that even when you are speaking english abroad local languages or accents slip into you conversations. 'Paris' becomes 'Paireeee' or 'Street' becomes 'Strasse'. It isn't so weird when you are talking to a non-native english speaker, but as soon as you find another American and you start doing this is just becomes a little wierd.

Sedaris had submitted the essay to This American Life but the producers didn't accept it. He talked about it a bit, and said that they were completely wrong, none of the producers had lived abroad and probably would never relate to or understand the essay. I can understand his point, at times when you talking to others that haven't lived over seas, you try explaining something, a quirk in living, and strange tradition that you have to follow, whatever. Some just don't get it. And probably never will unless they decide at some point to live outside their boarders and outside of their comfort zone.

The roars in the club after the reading by Sedaris illustrated the fact that that the essay was right on the mark. Many of us in Switzerland had shared similar experiences to Sedaris who currently resides in France. Although we may never see this yet unpublished work in writing because of the difficulting of the nuances of pronunciation that make it such a great spoken piece I do hope that he will record it at some point for an audio collection.

Kunta Kinte Speaks German

I was flipping channels the other night searching for something to watch. Preferably something in high German with easy language for a little German listening practice. I happened upon the art channel and low and behold there was Kunta Kinte, the African warrior, speaking German.

I started watching and got hooked. The level of German being spoken was perfect. It was very understandable for me. Thinking back to the original English language version of the Roots mini series I wonder if it was easy for me because the dialog of the slave community in the series was using everyday common conversational English.

As compared to shows like 'House' or any of the 'CSI' series translated to German I felt like a German language superstar watching Roots.

German phrases for medical conditions and police language just aren't something you learn in class. Phrases like 'This isn't my homeland,' and 'Lets get married,' thats more on my level.

I watched through the remainder of the show, about 30 minutes in total. I'm recording another installment this evening so hopefully I can watch that this weekend for more practice as well.

I've been trying to increase my studying lately to start to prepare for a prüfung in September. That is when I am supposed to take the German Certificate exam which certifies me as an absolutely horrible, terribly accented, barely capable, German speaker. I am a bit pessimistic because in the past after 5 years of studying Spanish I tried to pass a university advanced placement Spanish exam. Although I am usually good at exams, language exams are clearly not my thing. We'll just have to wait and see.

Jetzt muss ich mehr Fernseher schauen. Ich brauche üben.

Germann World: Nashornkuh, Nashornalk

I recently found a new favorite German word in the newspaper.

Nashornkuh (CH German)

If you break it down, it is actually a composite made of three shorter words

Nase: Nose
Horn: Horn
Kuh: Cow

So what on earth is a 'nose horn cow'? It is a Rhinoceros of course!

High German speakers may be familiar with a slightly different from of the word like Nashornalk.

Mein Erste Post Auf Deutsch

Ich Denke, dass jetzt mein Deutsch besser ist. Ich muss mein erste post auf Deutsch machen. Ich habe kein Grund auf Deutsch schreiben. Ich muss probieren, obwohl Deutsch besser ist.

Letzte nacht habe ich zum eine baby shower gegangen. Meine Dutschekursleiterin war da. Wir haben viele in Deutsch gesprochen. Als ich die wörte auf Duetsche nicht kenne, dann ich die Wort auf Englisch gesprochen. Wir haben viele spass gemacht und ich haben mehr Deutschsprache ubung gemacht.

Translate this page with Google Translate

Kein Ausländern (No Foreigners)

We got a flyer in the mail the other day about the SVP's (political party) initiative to remove foreigners from Switzerland.

Since our German is at a children's level we don't always understand everything we read. When I first read the flyer and saw the picture of the white sheep kicking the black sheep I had the impression that the Swiss wanted to get rid of all 'Foreigners'.

It was quite bizarre to be on the other side of the immigration debate. Here I am, the outsider, and the local government is debating if I can stay, or if I should go.

One thing that this experience has done for me is shown me that being the foreigner is not easy. It is not easy to follow the rules, and get the proper forms, papers, and permits to live in a different country. This is especially hard when you don't speak the language. But, as a guest, I feel it is my responsibility to respect the local rules and recognize that I am a guest, and I don't the same rights when I choose to live here.

At second glance, I realized that the note we received was really not against me at all. It was actually focused on the true black sheep in Switzerland. Those foreigners that had entered the country without the proper permits, or who had criminal records. For now, I am safe. But, I surely have some more German to learn.

Declan's German Flashcards for Berliner Platz A1 Course

I have posted before about a software package called Declan's German Flashcards that I use for practicing my German. You can create you own flashcard lists and export them from the software. I have used this package regularly to practice my German.

Since I have been created my own vocabulary lists associated wtih the Berliner Platz A1 learning program by Langenscheidt I figured I might post some of my files for others to benefit from.

Berliner Platz A1 Duetsch im Alltag für Erwachsene Teil 2

Chapter8.xfl
Chapter9.xfl
Chapter15.xfl

I have files through Chapter 15 I will post more if I see that anyone finds these useful.