Antje's German Tutoring

"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! 💪🤞🤩

Langstreckenflug is the word for long distance or long-haul flight ✈. As you know, in German, we have many, many compound words while in English, the individual words tend to be kept separate. In this case, we have: lang - long, die Strecke - distance and der Flug - flight. Remember, the gender of a compound noun is always determined by the last word: der Flug ➡ der Langstreckenflug, die Dauer ➡ die Langstreckenflugsdauer.
Not a great fan of long flights myself 😅 but living in Australia, I can't quite avoid it when wanting to see family and friends.

Why is "Deutschland" called Deutschland? 🤷‍♀ Well, where Germany lies today, a wide variety of people lived 2000 years ago, each speaking their own distinct language.
The first people in that region who learnt how to write, did so in Latin and referred to those who continued to use their native tongues as *theudo* = "the people." From this term, the word "deutsch" later evolved. This is why the region has been known as Deutschland for several centuries. 💡 Follow the link to read more!

Warum heißt Deutschland so? | Frag doch mal die Maus | Themen | WDR 2 | Radio | WDR Lukas (5 Jahre) aus Krefeld möchte gerne von der Maus wissen, warum Deutschland Deutschland heißt.

"Pusten" means to blow 🌬, "die Blume" is a flower 🌼. "Pusteblume" is a blowflower? Kind of 🤣! They are the seed heads of dandelion (der Löwenzahn). They remind me of carefree childhood days in spring and summer, playing outside, picking them up, blowing with pursed lips to make the little seeds fly and watching them drift through the air.

There are many places in Germany, where you still have pay by cash 👛 rather than by card 💳. And many people actually prefer to pay by cash!
Typical dialogue:
Kann ich mit Karte bezahlen? - Nein, wir nehmen nur Bargeld.
Ich möchte mit Karte bezahlen. - Nein, Sie müssen bar bezahlen, wir nehmen keine Karte.
The recently shared some insights:
https://www.facebook.com/goetheinstitut/posts/pfbid0wgEuzL38WC9zVAkYSA6HoEQpAP4UcNa2pCikCNiozxn7iMmSxGZd4v1KAViNa3yLl

„Der Fleiß" can be translated to hard work, effort, diligence and is often seen a the necessary means if not a guarantee to be successful 🥇👏🏻. To be „fleißig" means to tirelessly put in effort or to be hardworking and is very much considered a desirable virtue 😇 in a person, especially in Germany. So if children get a sticker in school saying „Fleißig wie die Biene!", they will be very proud indeed 😄.
When learning a language, we have many resources and clever tools these days that can help us making the process more effective (apps, electronic flashcards, videos, podcasts, etc.) but good old „Fleiß" and consistency in your work is still very much needed to achieve steady progress. Happy learning, keep it up! 💪😊

Are you planning to study in Germany 🇩🇪 and sit the exam? Three tips:
1. Register early ⏰ to secure your space. Don't register at the last possible date to get your results in time. You might not pass the exam at the first try and need to re-sit at a later date.
2. Start preparing early 🌇 and thoroughly. Familiarise yourself with the individual tasks of the exam, identify the skills needed, be honest to yourself on where your gaps are and work continuously on improving.
3. Find the right resources 📖 and help. Connect with other candidates, check the resources on https://www.testdaf.de/de/teilnehmende/der-digitale-testdaf/vorbereitung-auf-den-digitalen-testdaf/ , buy or lend the appropriate books, keep up-to-date with announcements of the TestDaF institute https://www.facebook.com/TestDaF, attend a preparation course or get a qualified tutor (like me 😉).
TestDaF ist difficult but totally achievable with the right preparation. You can do it! 💪
Any questions, get in touch! 👋

The strange verb "bauchpinseln" literally translates to brushing the tummy with a paintbrush 🤣 but is usually used in the phrase "sich gebauchpinselt fühlen" which means to feel flattered 😸. It has a funny connotation but is very commonly used in spoken and written language, a few examples here:
Natürlich fühlte sich die Sängerin 👩🏻‍🎤 gebauchpinselt, als sie um ein Autogramm gebeten wurde. - Obviously, the singer felt flattert when asked for an autograph.
Du musst dich nicht gleich gebauchpinselt fühlen, nur weil der Chef eine Frage zu deiner Präsentation 🗣 gestellt hat. - You don't have to feel too flattert just because the boss asked a question about your presentation.
Diese Generation wird von den Politikern intensiv gebauchpinselt, um sich ihre Stimmen bei der Wahl 🗳 zu sichern. - The politicians keep giving compliments to this generation in order to secure their votes at the election.