German Corner

[finknottle]

Deutsch or English
Native speakers, expats, anyone
From Brezeln to Bier

Please don't ask if you join in, everyone is welcome

For discussion of schools see separate thread

Yes we do miss you ,finknottle. Love to see you back when you feel up to it.

I've been trying to send her an email but my yahoo is playing up again. Maddening.

I've missed you too, finknottle, and I'm very sorry to hear about your friend.

Where is everyone? I've been down with flu AGAIN and though I'd have loads to catch up on but no one has been around.

Is everyone ill too? How are things? We're still meant to be moving to Hannover but dh's boss here in Berlin is begging him to stay. It's a real dilema for him because his boss is offereing a 4 year contract and after that he reckons he can stay on permenantly. The other job is 3 years with option of extension on performance. I don't really want to move again but can't stand the idea of being stranded in Berlin for life. Anyway that's probably the reason for me being ill, dilemas like that weaken the immune system!

How horrible for you that you still don't know whether the move to Hannover is going ahead or not. It's no wonder you're ill! When does your dh have to decide? Would it be so bad to stay in Berlin and then persuade him to look for jobs in places you really would like to live?

How is the hunt going for schools and places to live in Hannover?

Hi taipo,

I know, I sort of thought this would happen though - I suppose dh should see it as a compliment that his boss doesn't want him to leave, on the other hand it could just be the boss thinking of his own intrests as it would take him 6 months to a year to get a new scientist eingearbeitet so I'm not sure what to think.

I think finding a new house and school should be quite easy and we've got plenty of time, the places to rent aren't even on offer for August yet so we can only start looking in May or June.

By the way do you know what virtueller Speicherplatz is in English? Our computer keeps telling me that it has a problem with that.

Where are all the German Mners??

Wow, this htread has been going since middle of February and I only just saw it....

I miss proper Bakers Rumkugeln soooo much, sigh...., but then, whenever I go home to germany, I miss lots of english things....sigh...

Where are you from in Germany 3andmore?

I am from Oldenburg (which is Niedersachsen...nothern germany) and have spend my first 18 years there, but have lived for 5 years in Hanover and then for 2 years in Celle before then moving to the UK

Your just the person then...we're probably moving to Hannover this summer! You can maybe give me some tips on areas - up to now I think Südstadt or Kleefeld would be good areas for us (or List) because of schools and dh's work place. Any additional info would be great! Do you know why Roderbruch is meant to be so bad? We haven't been yet and plan to visit in May or June to look at flats so we've got plenty of time.

Funny that you should want to move to that area....because, Iwhen I lived in Hanover I was first a trainee, then a qualified, Nurse in the MHH, so, that was where I lived, as I lived in the Nurses accomodation.
As for Roderbruch, I suppose it's one of the not so good areas, you know the kind....! Used to do my foodshopping there, most of the time.
Don't know Suedstadt that well, but if I remmeber correctly lots of old flats there, which have their charms.
The Tram-connection to inner city is really good!

I could ask my cousin who has lived in Hanover for many many years and they still live in Hanover now (they live further out now, though, but still Hanover).
I was very happy in Hanover...but of course that pre-family, lol....and Hanover Nightlife is quite good...

Just came to me where my cousin lives now, lol...it's Altwarmbuechen....

they used to live nearer town before, in the older part, the student part....

Thanks for the info! Good to hear from someone with real experience of the place!

I want to live near MHH because it seems as if dh will be so busy and otherwise we would se ehim even less than now - he'll also be called in if an emergancy operation takes place too so better to be near!

If Roderbruch is not so nice because of the Ausländer then it wouldn't bother me, I find the neighbourhoods with lots of foreigners are friendlier than most areas but do you mean it has alot of crime etc? Here in Berlin I would rather live in Kreuzberg or even Wedding some areas for that reason, we're in Mitte and it's so boring for families, no dc playing out, no turkish shops for fresh fruit and veg etc...OK we get to walk past politicians from the green party or see the roads blocked because Angela is driving to work but I could live without that!!

Welcome 3andnomore

Just thinking about the German language this morning and the kind of things dc pick up. Dd came home last week and told me that something was "voll geil" which I don't find appropriate language for a 7 year old - not that she knows what it means. Am I just being an old fogie though?

So I said, "well maybe not use those words" and she tells me "oh but mummy, that's GERMAN". "Yes", I say, "I know it is a kind of German but not really for little girls". I think of it as gangster-speak, you know a bunch of young lads with baggy trousers and rolling gait with a backdrop of graffiti saying things like , "ist ja voll geil Alter, wah?"

Then yesterday I overheard some teenage girls discussing celebrities. One says, "die ist ja arsch huebsch". WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT? Arsch geil I've heard before but arsch huebsch? Surely not?

"Arsch hübsch" as in a good thing? [real old fogey emoticon] I always used to get confused by this in the UK. A friend's teenage son used to say things were "baaad" but meant good and when the London Eye first went up he described it as "rowdy"

Yes, arsch as in "very", arsch huebsch = very pretty. Sigh teenagers and the mysterious languages they develop, eh? Of course we were the same!

OMG Is it fogEY? That's what I wrote at first and then thought it didn't look right, so changed it to fogIE - eek is that German slipping in? Oh dear , I think I'm losing my feel for English on top of everything else now!

Can be either according to Leo (Kauz btw in German)

LOL at the London Eye being rowdy.

I know I sort of do and don't know exactly what he meant. Still makes me chuckle over 8 years after the event.

The funniest thing dd ever came home with was 'meine neue Freundin ist eine Sprech-schactel', I didn't get what she meant so she translated - my new friend is a chatter box! Poor thing she was just learning German at the time in Kindergarten and she just translated word for word!

I can't even spell Scachtel! You know what I meant though.

I love some of the things they create when they transfer between languages

Mine speak perfect German now but they both say they hate it, I wonder why, I mean it's even easier to read than English so they shouldn't complain really

I don't know why they'd hate the language really. Dd doesn't hate German. She's always quite happy when I ask her to read me something in German for a change. Maybe they're rejecting something else, not the language itself but the way of life or school or something?

I always tell dd how clever I think she is to speak German and that when I was her age I could only speak English and didn't understand one word of any other language - so she sees it as a sort of clever accomplishment/achievement IYSWIM, something to be proud of

maybe it's the German lessons at school they don't like

Yes, could be that - ds does feel great when he can correct something I've said or written wrongly!

I was going to ask - do you all get those Zecken-impfungen for yourselves and the dc or just the dc? I just heard this morning that a couple of dc have been for their impfung and I didn't even give it a thought yet.