Schenk ein den Wein - as autumn comes to Germany and Austria

[LinzerTorte]

Der Nebel steigt, es fällt das Laub;
schenk ein den Wein, den holden!
Wir wollen uns den grauen Tag
vergolden, ja vergolden!

A thread for all those living in Germany and Austria, and anyone else who would like to chat.

Always good to have an excuse to open some , and this poem seemed quite appropriate!

I did! That's a Christmas present sorted for DS - we had no idea what to get for such a tiny baby so something for the future was ideal. (I may also have ordered some boots for myself while I was there...)

Sorry to hear your lesson was such a nightmare. Could you maybe have them at the table for half the time then on the floor singing action songs for the other half? Actually I've just reread your post and it sounds like you do that already so not a very helpful suggestion, sorry!

DS had his first jabs this afternoon and it was nowhere near as hideous as I was expecting. He even finished feeding of his own accord 10 mins before we had to leave and wasn't hungry again until after we arrived home. This never happens! I barely go anywhere further than the park or the little supermarket at the end of the road with him as his feeding pattern is so unpredictable and I've been caught out in town a few times & ended up doing an hour and a half feed in a cafe only for him to then scream with hunger all the way home. We even managed a nice walk through the park on the way home from the Dr's as he was snoozing so peacefully.

Hello, have been reading but not posting as dh has this week off for Thanksgiving. Sorry about non-sleeping babies. Ds 2 has also been waking more than usual and biting me really hard while feeding. More than a bit nervous about feeding in public now as he really chomps down and it's embarrassing!

Sorry about your lesson Linzer. Can you do the action songs as a silly five mins half way through the lesson then stay mostly at the table?

Have you tried Lincoln Christmas Market boffin? Tis very German. homesick now!

Hope you all have a lovely week. Snow has been and gone but we are driving over the mountains on Friday to go and visit my cousin so hopefully the roads will be clear. Back next week!

Yes, I'm definitely going to have to rethink the English lessons for the 4-5 year olds. I thought that circle time would be better for that age group than sitting at the table, but it just isn't working. I was trying to teach them the names of fruit yesterday, but as soon as I put some (plastic) fruit down in the middle of the circle, one of them would grab it and either pretend to start eating it or throw it somewhere. I was slightly consoled by the fact that it's not just me who has problems getting them to do what I say, however; when the mother of one of them came to pick him up, he refused to go with her so she left without him and sent the au pair 15 minutes later.

Later Glad to hear the jabs went OK. I never went out very far with mine when they were babies either, as they only napped well at home and if they slept for 20 minutes while we were out, that was it for their naptime. And well done on getting the books!

Someone I know posted a photo on Facebook yesterday of a list of recent baptisms, marriages and deaths in our town with a comment about the baby names along the lines of no one can say that our town is stuffy or old-fashioned... I don't think there was a normal traditional name among them. There was an Emylie, Tobey, Joy, Jamie (nice enough name, but I have ishoos with Austrians giving their DC abbreviated names) and - best of all - De nise-Na dine (without the spaces, obviously). I couldn't resist commenting, although I'm not sure it was a great idea as this particular friend (more of an acquaintance, really) knows millions of people so I'm bound to have offended someone. I wasn't particularly complimentary about Joy and someone among her 1000-odd FB friends is bound to have one.

I feel the same about Germans giving their children abbreviated English(-sounding) names. I have no idea why, it's an entirely irrational niggle but to my ears it just sounds wrong! I know a few Dannys here - pronounced Denny, of course

Jenny Ouch! That sounds painful! How old is your baby? (Sorry if I've asked you that before.) Enjoy your week with DH & have a lovely time with your cousin.

Yes, the combination of an abbreviated name and an a in it just waiting to be mispronounced is particularly grating! I would have no problems with native English speakers christening their child Jamie (although I'm not sure how well Noel goes with it as a middle name), but I can't imagine anyone in the UK ever giving their child Danny as a full name.

There are a couple of singers here called Danny & Gerry who use their songs to teach English; they're coming to our school at some point this year, and both names were horribly mangled by both the girls' teachers (Gerry pronounced Gäry, the Austrian abbreviation for Gerald - and I think that if Geralds do insist on calling themselves Gary, they should be forced to write it with an umlaut).

Ha ha love the idea of umlaut enforcement

I don't know if you have ProSieben in Austria but for a few weeks now there have been adverts for a new X-Factor-style programme: 'The Woice of Germany' Spelt correctly on screen but completely mispronounced. They have corrected it now, thankfully...

(I should point out that my German pronunciation is far from perfect.)

even mz dc are saying Gäry and Pätrick now!! doesnt matter how often I correct them. grrrr. ds2 came out with a proper mixed up German/British child sentence yesterday about somethign he'd seen on tv "Mum do you know, Cäääääändice is pouring zuckerwasser all over that other kid!" Ridiculous. All mixed up!

Glad the jabs went ok later - and glad he slept well. Just makes the whole day better when things go a bit to plan. Should we get you onto a Amazonolics Anonymous programme. 1st step - Step away from the computer! If its any consolation dh has the same issues.

Linzer - you're a braver woman than me having all those 5 year olds for an hour. I can see why you were a bit stressed. They are just at that age where listening is a nightmare (talking from current experience!).

jenny - ouch about the BF! you made my toes curl at the thought. How do you stop it without stopping feeding? Happy Thanksgiving for tomorrow.

Was really excited yesterday by a spooky coincidence. In the summer, my FIL broke one of the cups out the set that we bought with our wedding money. They were only from Debenhams but they are so pretty and meant lots to us. I was a bit upset about it at the time - but accidents happen so didnt make a drama and they bought us other cups & plates cause he knew they were "special cups". But I wanted to replace the original cup and never found it since they've stopped making them. I dont use them every day but used a cup yesterday and thought I'd look again on the internet and spookily someone is selling 1 of these cups on ebay! was so excited - the bidding doesnt end until saturday and I'm not sure they'd deliver outside the UK but I'd just get it sent to a friend and pick it up when we go over. Really hope we win the bid - felt really like fate that someone was selling just one.

x posts later - I heard that advert the other day - you'd think if they were going to call it The Voice they'd know how to say it. After Amy Winehouse died, I heard someone call her song "walerie". Terrible!

I really should step away from the computer

Good luck with the cup bidding!

One of my school friends started calling herself Wicky after the German school exchange. I don't understand this problem they have with W in English - everyone can pronounce Vicky properly in Wickie und die starken Männer (even if it's spelt differently), so why are they incapable of pronouncing it if it starts with a V? Walerie is just awful too - all three of mine have friends called Valerie and none of them are pronounced Walerie!

Good luck with the bidding Canella, what a lucky coincidence. I'd never have thought to look for our Service on eBay (and why are placemats called Sets - it's the wrong English word ), but should probably do so as we've broken a few cups now.

Sorry, am having a bit of a linguistic rant today... really must step away from the computer too and get on with some work!

off out to buy some baby clothes for the friend who's coming next week but I'm always confused about which size to buy since I never had babies here - want to buy some 0-3 month stuff - which size is that?

here's my cup

Oh Linzer - are you me?!

Sets, Handy, Woice, Wicky, Dars Wader, all the things that irritate me for no apparent reason :)

Canella What a pretty cup! I ended up buying a set from Real which serves its purpose but it's not that nice. I've decided I want some Christmas crockery - not that I'll end up buying any, but it's nice to look.

(I'm obviously very bored at the moment!)

DS is in his Canadian 0-3 clothes at the moment & in his German 62-68cm if that helps.

Oh good, Later - that means we can complain about all these irritating mispronunciations etc. to each other, as I'm driving DH mad with it! I got him to check my response to the photo on FB this morning (just to check I wasn't overdoing it and - because I'm a bit of a perfectionist - to check for any mistakes). Luckily, I reread it before posting it as he'd added a couple of sentences at the end along the lines of "Why can't Austrians stick to calling their children names that they can pronounce, like Manfred? Am now going to have some Glühwein to calm myself down."

Canella Love the cup - and a bargain at 99p! Let's hope no one else is after it.

The tiniest baby size here is 56 cm, although it only seems to fit for a few weeks - I think 62 cm is equivalent to 0-3 months. Having said that, DD1 only fitted into her 0-3 month clothes in the States for about a month. Agree with Later that 62-68 cm would be the best size to get (from what I remember, 68 cm was 3-6 months).

Lovely cup canella! I could go mad on that sort of thing - have you seen the other stuff on offer at the bottom of your link? Just wish I knew we'd be staying put then I'd start shopping!

At the moment I have a minimum of kitchen ware to get by. All basic and ready to be chucked in a box yet again if we have to pack. Latest applications have gone off to Melbourne and Houston (don't fancy either really).

Linzer, it must be difficult to do a proper lesson with that age, most of them aren't at school yet either. Good luck next time - rather you than me!

Dd had her appointment for her dyslexia funding yesterday. The Jugendamt psychologist spoke to us for almost an hour and I think he said he'd pay for it! We get the Bescheid in about a week so then I'll know for sure and he also said that unfortunately dd's school is one of the Gymnasium well know for not helping dyslexia dc. He said other Gymnasium get laptops with word programme for correcting spellings and let the dc use them in tests even.

Lol at Manfred! Ds says he's calling his first child Manfred if we live in Germany so it's pronounced properly. I asked him to consider my feelings as I don't fancy calling my grandchild Manfred!

Morning!

I still have DS1 home from Kiga, but he is a lot better - he was sick at 5am but "only" from coughing - I think he has finally shifted the fever and vomiting part of the virus, and hopefully he can go back to KiGa tomorrow - he actually asked to go back this morning, and is now doing crafts (well cutting up coloured cardboard and sticking it to other things to make rockets and houses...) it is most out of character for him, though the sort of thing dd would do - he must be missing KiGa!

I would say size 50 (which MIL buys me for each baby despite the fact I always have slightly above average size newborns... she had tiny ones, maybe because she smokes/d...) is "tiny baby", 56 is newborn, 62 is 0-3 months, 68 is 3-6 months, 74 6-9 and so on, but it's quite approximate isn't it, esp as then you get clothes labelled 68-74 or 74-80.... too big is better than too small though of course!

On the pronunciations'/ language mixing topic, having breezily said dd's English does not reveal her bilingal state, I have realised I have not tried to nip in the bud all the German school words used in English - Rantzen, Mape etc. ... I am going to try to make an effort to use English, although sometimes there isn't the exact concept -does anyone use Brotzeit in their English sentences? Snack isn't really the same... hmmm

Good luck with the English for 5 year olds Linzer, that does sound challenging. I have never tried teaching that age, I did mixed age groups at the Grundschule here, taught 11-16 in the UK and now just do the adult class.

Yesterday eve I found I couldn't explain why we sometimes say "Have you got" and other times "Do you have" I fluffed over it, any ideas?

Was it Linzer or Canella who suggested putting baby to bed at my bedtime? That is actually what I used to do, the only problem was teaching in the eves once a week - if I leave him when he is awake he howls til he is utterly exhausted, and only then falls asleep. It was unbearable for everyone coNcerned, so bedtime before I have to leave (though I don't get much set up time this way) solves a once a week problem but does mean that 7 nights a week he has his main block of sleep before I am in bed! (Though tbh we go by or before 10pm in the week as we both have to be up early).

Baby H gets dragged wherever I and the big kids need to go and does most of his napping on the run... I suppose a lot of people would tell me this isn't great for his night sleep either but there is no choice with the combination of our rural no-facilities within walking distance location, and the ages of the older ones, who can't be expected to miss out on thing so the baby can nap/ feed at home!

Hope you win you cup canella - you must be much more careful than us, I don't think we have complete sets of anything potentially breakable!

Canella newborn babies are around 50cm long (DD was 46cm, but breech, so they couldn't straighten her out completely to measure her). So some newborns are already in size 56 clothes, but that probaby equates to 0-3 months. You might want to go for size 62 though to be on the safe side - if it's winter stuff then it will fit this season even if your friend's baby is on the small side.

Linzer I had a lot of problems with concentration in my Kiga English groups before the summer, although my current groups are better behaved (two continuing, one new). I think I was surprised not to command automatic respect from the kids (my first lesson was an utter shambles, with kids throwing themselves around the room). What has helped is a concerted effort on the part of the parents and Erzieher making very clear what behaviour is expected and "punishment" in the form of being sent back to class or being banned from the next lesson.
I also found that the kids behaved and concentrated better when a Praktikant sat in on the lesson (very frustrating that they respect a 16 yo more than me!), so maybe you could get a different parent to sit in each time.
Other ideas: set out ground rules (deliberately falling off a stool means that child goes straight back to class in my lessons) and reward children who don't break the rules with a sticker.
Change the time of the lesson/shorten the duration. My lessons are 45 min max, which in practice means about 35 mins with all the shoe-changing and dressing. I used to teach one group from 15:30-16:15, it was noticeably harder than lessons starting at 14:00 or 14:45.
Hope there's something there that helps. If not, at least know that I know exactly how it feels and sympathise greatly .

Cross posts admylin hope you get the funding!

My mum doesn't like ds1's name but we called him it anyway, are you going to be posting on AIBU in 20 years time under the username grantomanfred :lol:

DD has a friend called Aurelia and I mispronounce that - they've been friends 3 years and I never remember to say it the way her mum does... never mind :)

5more I have got is specific to British English, whereas Americans don't use it (so sayeth the Berlitz manual - correct me if that's wrong jenny). So both have you got and do you have are correct in any context.

Hi silken - both my boys were 54cm long and born at 38 weeks (though we think dd was only 50cm we measured her ourselves as she was born in the uk). Just goes to show sizing clothes by age is kind of meaningless I guess!

Ah thank you for the have you got clarification silken - wonder why the text book my class have makes such a point of exercises using both...

Lol at grantomanfred, 5more - will keep an eye out for that in 20 years' time!

I must admit I use quite a few school-related words etc. in German, e.g. Mitteilungsheft (never had one of those at school so have no idea what it is in English, although I think someone mentioned "message book"), Killer (short for Tintenkiller - ditto - probably something like ink eraser?), etc. If I call an exercise book a "book", DD2 will correct me and say "it's not a book, it's a Heft!". And I always use Jause (which I assume is the same as Brotzeit) for their morning snack and also for their tea.

Thanks so much for all that useful advice, silken. I was also surprised at how little respect they showed me - I wouldn't have dared to behave that way with my parents, let alone another adult. The lesson for the KiGa children is only supposed to last 30 minutes (I do 50 minutes with the older children), although it usually runs over a bit - I do think 30 minutes is about all they can cope with.

I'll have a think about changing the time; the main reason I don't start until 3 pm is that it gives the DDs a chance to have lunch and get their homework done beforehand, but maybe I could do it at 2 pm and send the DDs upstairs to do their homework (another problem is my own DC wandering round during the lesson; DS is supposed to take part, but he announced yesterday that he was going to go and have something to eat - and then another child said he wanted to as well). I keep telling them (my own DC) that either they sit down quietly and watch/take part or they go out, but am having problems enforcing it - and if I start disciplining my own DC, the others see that as an opportunity to play up even more.

Getting someone to sit in is a good idea (I've often wished DH was there!). Will definitely consider it if things don't improve.

Another problem is finding a suitable "punishment" if they misbehave. I told one boy yesterday that he would have to go out; he said, "OK then!" and got up. Another boy then said he was going to go with him... I think I'll just have to focus more on rewards; stickers are an excellent idea (DH suggested sweets, but I'm not going there!). I did actually buy some sticker books and stickers before I started the KiGa class but for some reason haven't got round to using them - must find them by next lesson!

Thanks too for the sympathy - much appreciated.

5more Agree with silken - about the only difference is that Americans don't use got. I had an Australian friend who didn't like "I've got" instead of "I have", etc. - she viewed it as sloppy and a kind of slang, I think, whereas I remember telling her that it's perfectly correct in British English. Having said that, I think it's less formal than "I have", etc. - I would almost always say "I've got".

Thanks for all the sizing help - i really need a thick emotion - I hadnt realised it was properly related to length of the baby! Now it makes sense . Will buy either 62 or 68 then. My ds1 was 61cm at birth so he'd have been struggling with some of those 62 clothes!
I didnt go in the end today - I'm trying to cut down on unnessecary driving - my car had done a lot of km between services but since we live in the forest I need to drive everywhere. So since I'm going food shopping tomo then I'll get the baby clothes then.

I'm also guilty of using german school words - sammelmappe, heft, pause! Must try harder to use the English words but that seems to confuse ds1.