Antje's German Tutoring

Life is getting a little (too 😅) busy at the moment, so I shall take a break ⏸ from Facebook - Ich mache eine Pause von Facebook. Thanks again 🙏 to all my lovely followers! While not posting for now, I will keep the page open. So please do contact me if you are interested in taking German lessons with me. 👋🏻😊

Detailed explanations of actions and processes can be an immense help when you are trying to improve your vocabulary, especially verbs. The videos here
https://www.wdrmaus.de/extras/mausthemen/fahrrad/index.php5 are made for kids 🚸, so the language is very clear, nevertheless they will be very difficult to understand if you are at the beginning of your learning journey. You can of course switch on subtitles to make it a bit easier.
Anyway, riding a bike 🚲 (das Fahrrad, die Fahrräder) is very popular in Germany - it's convenient (praktisch 😄), cheap (billig 💰), healthy (gesund 🥗) and environmentally friendly (umweltfreundlich 🌏). So, have a look, learn all about bikes and improve your vocab!

Die Seite mit der Maus - Fahrrad Die Seite mit der Maus - Fahrrad Vor über 200 Jahren hat Karl Drais die Urform des heutigen Fahrrads, das Laufrad erfunden. Inzwischen werden Fahrräder nicht mehr aus Holz hergestellt, die Reifen sind mit Luft gefüllt und die Fahrradkette sorgt dafür, dass die Kraft beim Treten fast vollständig...

"Habseligkeiten" is usually used in plural as it refers to a collection of just a few things that somebody owns. Interestingly, it combines the words "haben" - to have, referring to belongings and "Seligkeit" - a state of bliss. The word was chosen as the most beautiful German word in 2004 😮🏆 partly because it invokes empathy to the person with those few belonging through the contrast ☯ of the two words it consists of.
We might use "Habseligkeiten" when talking about a poor person -
Er wohnte mit seinen wenigen Habseligkeiten in einem kleinen, zugigen Zimmer unter dem Dach 🏚. - He was living in a small, draughty room under the roof with his few possessions.
Or it can refer to an emergency situation, e.g. when a person needs to leave and can only take a limited number of things -
Wegen des Kriegs musste sie so schnell wie möglich das Land verlassen und konnte nur ein paar wenige Habseligkeiten mitnehmen 🧳. - Because of the war, she had to leave the country as quickly as possible and could only take a few little things with her.

Over 6200 followers 😮🤩?! Thank you so much 🙏🥰!
Over six years of full-time tutoring, nearly 6000 lessons - all thanks to your support, I'm deeply grateful 🥹 to all of my current and past students as well as followers, enabling me to do work that is a great passion of mine - teaching language in a personalised, effective way.
And if you are thinking of getting started with lessons, I have a few limited spots for new students available at the moment. So check out the details on my website https://www.tutorantje.com/ and get in touch! I'm looking forward to hearing from you!
For existing students, please remember, that you get a bonus free lesson if you refer a new student!

Another report of success (die Erfolgsmeldung) 🎉. Congratulations to my student Erdal from Turkey 🇹🇷, who has been living, studying and working in Germany for a few years already, for passing the German language test of the education ministry in Hessen yesterday 👏🏻🏆. Erdal is incredibly well educated but he is speaking English in his current job. It is not easy to keep up a high standard of German when one doesn't have to use it very much. But Erdal worked incredibly hard over the past few weeks and improved his writing and speaking dramatically 🤩. Well done Erdal, now the door is open for you to work at schools and pass on your wealth of knowledge 🏫👨🏻‍🎓👩🏻‍🎓!

Congratulations to two of my students, Max and Theonie, from Australia 🇦🇺, for successfully securing themselves places at German unis to complete their masters in music 👏🏻🥳🎶. They've done it, they completed it, they managed to do it. - "Sie haben es geschafft!"
Interestingly, the verb "schaffen" has a lot of different meanings, see https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/schaffen but depending on the meaning, the Partizip II that you need for the tense Perfekt, varies 💡.
If you use "schaffen" for the meaning of create, the Partizip is "geschaffen":
Er hat ein wunderbares Kunstwerk 🎨 geschaffen. - He created a wonderful piece of art.
Sie hat eine friedliche Atmosphäre geschaffen. - She created a peaceful atmosphere.
If you use the verb for the meaning of managing to do something or completing something, the Partizip is "geschafft".
Sie haben die Prüfung geschafft 🎉. - They completed the exam.
Ich habe die Arbeit nicht geschafft 😯. - I didn't finish the work or I wasn't able to do the work.
If the meaning is overlapping, you can use either Partizip 😅
Sie haben Platz für den größeren Tisch geschaffen / geschafft. - They made space for the bigger table.
And you might have heard "Frohes Schaffen!" - Enjoy your work! 😊👋

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"Eine Auszeit nehmen" originally comes from the context of sport and team games ⚽🏈🏀 with "Auszeit" being a break or time-out. Nowadays we use this term for many different areas of life where we might take a break ⏸ from our usual to-dos.
I allowed myself a little holiday on the island of Langkawi, Malaysia 🇲🇾 on my way back from Germany. Thank you 🙏 to all my students for being patient while I took a complete break for a few days enjoying warm weather 🫠, beautiful nature 🌅🌴🐒, having time with my husband 💞, eating delicious food 🍍🍜🍌 - eine perfekte Auszeit 😊.

Many words make their way from other languages into German, especially from English. These are called Anglicisms ( = der Anglizismus, -en). In IT, marketing and business German especially, many people forget that we usually have a German word as well 😅 - der Computer = der Rechner, das Tool = das Werkzeug, der Sale = der Schlussverkauf. When it comes to everyday language, the words chillen and relaxen are nowadays very commonly used for the "purely German word" sich entspannen 😌🏖.
Gestern hat meine Freundin den ganzen Tag zu Hause gechillt. - Yesterday, my girlfriend chilled at home all day.
Er hat heute so viel gearbeitet, deshalb will er jetzt nur noch relaxen. - He worked so hard today, so now he just wants to relax.
If you are unsure, whether an English word has officially made it into the German language, just check the Duden: https://www.duden.de/

Music 🎶 means the world to them! Happy to have two very talented musicians among my students. Max plays cello, Theonie the violin and both are from Australia 🇦🇺. They are in Europe right now, auditioning at unis in Germany and Austria to start their masters next semester. Good luck to both of you! 💪🤞🤩