** German Chat ** Alle sind willkommen. ** Frühling läßt sein blaues Band ...

[MmeLindt]

...
Wieder flattern durch die Lüfte
Süße, wohlbekannte Düfte
Streifen ahnungsvoll das Land
Veilchen träumen schon,
Wollen balde kommen
Horch, von fern ein leiser Harfenton!
Frühling, ja du bist's!
Dich hab ich vernommen!

*

Für Deutsche und nicht-Deutsche, Goethe-fans und Gottschalk-fans, für Herzschmerz, Heimweh und Heimatgefühle.

Alle sind willkommen.

[MmeLindt]

Shall we start to speak in German now?

[MmeLindt]

I have put a list of French vocabulary on my fridge and while I was at it, wrote down the German artikel too. I am so bad at that, I just guess if der die or das.

DD keeps me right, she was helping this morning.

[ZZZen]

I think : anything goes - German or English as the fancy takes you.

Well done starting up a new thread

[ZZZen]

ugh grammar. Let's us resolve to make lots of article, spelling and grammar mistakes so we don't scare anyone off with our competence!

[ZZZen]

let's us was a good start in fact, though unintentional!

[MmeLindt]

Zzzen

Noone else will come here now that we have scared them all off with our mistakes.

I am still waiting for my visitor. I wonder if she has got lost.

We arranged 2pm. I bet her Navi has sent her around the wrong way. There is a shorter way that has now been closed off as loads of people were going that way as it was quicker and, more importantly, avoided the border crossing from France to CH. The farmer who lived in the only house got fed up with all the traffic and asked for the road to be blocked.

I suspect that she has been sent that way, and is now backtracking trying to find an alternative way.

[admylin]

Same here, the dc correct my der, die ,das mistakes all the time! They always laugh when they remember the time I said die Baum but I was really fed up and tired that day (that's my excuse anyway!) trouble is if you don't know all the der,die or das properly, there is never any hope of getting the dativ, akkusativ, nominativ stuff right either. I loved France, it was so easy to just have 2 to learn and I could even write it back in the old days.

It's the first time the neighbour has bothered us so will wait and see if it happens again. He's a nearly ready to retire teacher and he's really old and set in his ways, no answering machine and I bet no PC.

[MmeLindt]

Just had an email, she was almost here when her DD threw up all over the car. Poor soul. We had not yet exchanged tel numbers so she could not even phone.

Now I have all this brioche.

[admylin]

Who was coming to see you mmelindt?

I've been hoping to go to UK for Easter but doesn't look as if it'll happen. A friend from the south wants to maybe come and stay a few days but h can't stand her. Bit of a problem as I would like her to come but although this place is bigger than our last flat there still isn't really enough room (she'd have to sleep on the sofa in living room). Well, it's nice to have visitors but if h has to sulk in our room most of the time..

[MmeLindt]

Let him sulk, Admylin. You are giving up so much so that he can work where he wants to work, the least he can do is let you have a visitor who would cheer you up.

I had emailed a woman who lives just over the border, she was looking for other English speakers in the area. We had arranged to meet today, but had not exchanged tel numbers so when her DD was sick, she could not call and cancel.

Managed to resist the rest of the Brioche and also went on the XT.

I bought asparagus today, spring is on it's way if we can get asparagus!

Also bought artichoke hearts, as all the fancy cookery books seem to use them. Don't know what I will do with them though, better get the books out.

[trockodile]

Hello everyone-or Guten Tag! Thought I would sneak onto this thread again while it is still new-it seems less scary somehow!

I 'spoke ' with some of you this time last year about putting DS into German Kindergarten, instead of sticking with the army system. I am pleased to report it is a great success, he adores it and his German is coming on really well. I was so pleased to find we get to stay here for another 2-3 years so he can at least finish Kindergarten here, after that we will wait and see! There is a new Montessori school opening here so will be interesting to see what it is like in a couple of years.

I have been doing classes at the VHS and my German is improving too-am endeavouring to learn nouns with article as had not previously bothered and it makes learning Dative/Accusative tricky! However the teacher is great and it makes such a difference when every word is in German-although there is a strong Russian element muttering away in the back of the class! I am the only English speaker which is also good as you have to throw yourself in!

Anyway enough about me, will try to participate a bit more though as am a bit of a lurker.

[ZZZen]

ah come on now, don't be a lurker trockodile, we missed you.

Honestly are we so scarey?

Admylin, invite your friend over but maybe see to it that you are out and about a fair bit so dh has a bit of quiet time to relax at home, then it shouldn't be too hard on him either. Maybe you can even manage a night out on the town.

[MmeLindt]

Welcome back Trockodile, I remember you asking about the Kindergarten. You were in Rheinland somewhere if I remember correctly.

It is really stormy here today, I might even put the fire on in a bit.

[pickledHAN]

Hello - can I pop my head in here and visit?! I love Germany and all things German so wanted to crank up the old german speaking thing again when I made my new years resolutions. Thing is, I havent spoken German since I did a dodgy A level (well I passed!) quite a few (ahem!) years ago! have to confess to nearly ending up with a german guy, and almost moving to Stuttgart area - but then things took a different turn. Have a couple of german family members and freinds (Hamburg, Munster and Jever), but always break into english. Would love to know more, develop my knowledge and understandin of all things german (and not just food!)

[ZZZen]

hi pickledHam wilkommen. You sound very well qualified to join the thread. I especially like you confessing to "nearly ending up with a German guy"!

(actually if you eat an occasional Wurst or drink a German Bier, you'd be German enough for us!)

[ZZZen]

eek Entschuldigung! Got the name wrong pickledHAN

[taipo]

Hi Trockodile. I remember you too! Glad to hear things are going so well for your ds at KG.

Thanks for starting new thread ML and also to Emkana for the inspiration.

I can never remember my articles either and I studied German Dc take great delight in correcting me. I do like German grammar though!

Really foul weather here today. I bloody hope spring is around the corner.

Why doesn't your dh like your friend, admylin?

[taipo]

Hi pickledHAN and willkommen!

[MmeLindt]

Willkommen, PH

Did you notice how I avoided getting the name wrong?

Nice to see some new faces on here, and nearly ending up with a German guy is a good excuse as any. Be thankful that you did not end up in Stuttgart, they have a terrible accent down there (tut mir leid, falls ein Schwabe das liest, aber es ist wahr)

[hupa]

Thanks for the new thread MmeLindt and welcome pickledHAN.

admylin - I´d definitely invite your friend. I think you have to put yourself first sometimes.

taipo - I´ve read some pretty shocking things on mumsnet, but liking German grammar has to be near the top of the list.

Ds´s speech therapy at the moment involves him pretending to feed various food to different animals. I always have to get the dictionary out to check the articles before I can do the homework with him.

[ZZZen]

have to sign off for now - Geigenunterricht. I'm supposed to sit in on it and write it all down so I know what to pay attention to when dd practices.

Thankfully I am not expected to actually play myself. Could never do it, not cocrdinated enough. Sometimes when dd gets fed up she pushes the violin at me and says : now YOU do it. I couldn't do it in a million years. Dc are so good at learning things, aren't they?

[MmeLindt]

Admylin
Can you add anything to this thread about Hannover area?

I am getting homesick for Hannover (very strange). I think it was the Bagels and the zoo that did it.

[admylin]

Mmelindt do you never get homesick for Scotland? It's lovely in Scotland copared to anywhere around here anyway! Would you ever have a chance of your dh getting sent there through work?

How was violin Zzzen? Dd is trying to teach herself to play the recorder. I told her that I used to play in primary school, even could read the music but have forgotten it all now. She was amazed that 4 and 5 year old dc learn a musical instrument in primary school. I wonder if they still do that in UK? I know it was my teacher who taught us, so not a special music teacher or anything and we could all read notes and played in church for school.

[MmeLindt]

I don't often get homesick tbh. I do feel a pang sometimes when I see something about Scotland, or about Germany now we are away but I don't wish that I was living there.

There is not much chance of DH getting transfered to UK. The company has an office in Leicester area but the European HQ is here and the worldwide HQ is in the US. We might at some point be asked to move to the US (if DH is lucky enough to be promoted so far up the career ladder) or perhaps moved back to Munich office. Not my first choice, after reading the S thread.

Scotland is out of the question, unless DH were to change companies. And I doubt that a UK company would pay the equivalent of the German companies in his field.

[morgymoo182]

Hi..
Am serial lurker on MN altho don't have any children. I'm studying french and german in uni and am due to go to Innsbruck this time next year! Am bricking it to be honest as I feel my german is so awful but alas..! Can I join in?