Help with ds's German homework please.

[admylin]

aAfter helping the Wolf get a bone out of his throat and after not being rewarded the stork says "Undank ist der Welten Lohn" something along the lines of:
Ingratitude is the worlds wages from Aesop.

Ds has got to explain what the stork means with this sentance. I can't figure it out in English let alone in German. Can anyone explain? He is 9 and normally gets no homework or atleast nothing more than abit of reading and now his teacher turns up with this!

Schrippen! Now there's a word. And Buletten. And Bier mit Schuss (though that's vile actually).

Jomaja, you would have problems in a Frankonian bakery if you'd ordered a Schrippe, you would have to ask for a "Broedle" or a "Weck".

And, frogs, a Bulette is a Fleeschkuechle where I come from.

Funny, how strong regional differences still are in Germany.

Berliner Weisse mit Schuss, nice in the summer (can't wait until the middle of July now!!!!)

I love Bouletten, just as well that you can do them very easily anywhere.

Another thing that always gets me is Pfannkuchen and Berliner (Pfannkuchen being Berliner everywhere else and Eierkuchen being the pancake things).

what summer?! Are you expecting it mid-July? They have the trucks out collecting all the fallen leaves this morning and the birds are circling ready to leave.

I don't mind a Berliner Weisse but it has to be green. I wouldn't drink the red one.

Mind you I would rather have a Weizenbier

Yep, I am optimistic that I will have a bit of summer once I am in Berlin , hope I am not going to be stuck inside, want to go swimming with lo in outdoor swimming pool or even a lake.
Where are you Sssandy2? (Sorry, didn't read the whole thread)
Not too keen on Weizenbier myself but know what you mean if given the choice I prob would have something other than an Berliner Weisse mit Schuss as well, although every now and then it is nice.

I am in Berlin jomaja, where are you?

Ah, lakes!

Having said that, I nearly drowned dh in the early days of our relationship when we went down with some of my cousins to swim across the Nikolassee in the middle of the night. And dh was most englishly shocked by the number of people whose idea of swimwear was their birthday suit.

frogs - I really enjoy that too here - not only the skinnydipping Children strip off at the pool or lake (don't have to go to the changing-rooms tho' some do, it's just no big deal) and if I need to change my bikini-top I'll just turn around so I'm not as visible to all. People sunbathe naked if they want at any age. Much more relaxed attitude to nudity - much healthier imno. (In my nudey opinion)

Sssandy2 I am in Sheffield now but am originally from Berlin- Spandau where I have lived over 20 years.
Have to agree about the attitude to your own body in Germany, much more relaxed than here.

Hi,

just noticed this thread and wanted to ask you about what your DCs do during English lessons. I assume they still have to take part, even though their English is probably better than the teachers. Do they get bored?

Our DD will start school next year and here in NRW there has been talk about English lessons starting in 1. Klasse.

I must admit that I am dreading her starting school, even more so since I read some of the comments here!

@Gracelo
Which part of Franken are you from? I lived in Würzburg for 10 years and my DH is a Würzburger.

Macmama,

I'm from a little village 10 km West of Wuerzburg (Hettstadt). I went to Gymnasium in Wuerzburg and did one year at Uni there (changed to Munich after that).
I'm in Scotland now.
Are you still in Germany?

lol, I know Hettstadt, my BIL exwife was from there!

Yes, I am in Germany, near Düsseldorf. I am from Scotland though, from Dundee.

Goodness, I probably know your BIL's exwife Hettstadt is quite small (although much bigger now than when I grew up there) and my father's family has lived there as long as anyone can remember. How old is she?
I lived in Dundee for a bit over 4 years (right next to Baxter Park), worked in St Andrews. We moved to the West coast last year June. My daughter was born at Ninewells, so she should qualify as a proper Dundonian, I suppose.

Bloody Hell - I have a degree in German so managed to translate it. I would have struggled at O'Level though - let alone at 9 years old!!! What kind of school is he at???? It seems flipping advanced German for a 9 year old if you ask me!

OK just read thread a bit closer - realise you are in Germany now - not England! - Even so!

@Gracelo
ex-SIL is about 45 years, I think. They split up about 10 years ago so I haven't seen her for ages.

You didn't live in Baxter Park Terrace did you? I used to dream of living in a flat there, they are really lovely flats with a gorgeous view.

My Mum worked in Ninewells. Your poor DD, a Dundonian!!

MacMama, if she is about 45 then she would have gone to school with either my sister or my brother. I'm sure I know her.

We did live in Baxter Park Terrace. I loved my flat there and was very sad when I sold it. Baxter Park has undergone major restoration, still doesn't prevent the kids from Morgan Academy from dropping litter everywhere in every break.
Luckily dd won't speak Dundonian. I wouldn't be able to understand her.

"just noticed this thread and wanted to ask you about what your DCs do during English lessons. I assume they still have to take part, even though their English is probably better than the teachers. Do they get bored?

Our DD will start school next year and here in NRW there has been talk about English lessons starting in 1. Klasse."

MacMama if you have those Europa-schools near you, I would suggest trying one of those, get in early and have her apply for the English stream then you avoid the problem. They will test her to judge whether they think English is really her stronger language. Those schools teach maths and German in German, everything else initially in English for the English speakers with an English native speaker.

Otherwise I would look for a school which has French as first foreign language.

My dd just did year 1 so no English thank goodness but I was told they could not make any kind of exception. So from year 3 that would mean participating in the beginners English class. I was told she might like having a subject she finds easy.

She is very unhappy about the way the school teaches English pronunciation (songs and the odd thing which crops up) which she says is totally wrong, i.e. not just not British but not any recognisable native pronunciation. The vowels are a bit odd and the stress is wrong. I wondered about this a lot. Why is it being taught this way?

No way is she going in English classes year 3 at a German school. I think it's a waste of time for English native speakers, of course they'll be bored, they may have to play teachers' helper or they may just have to keep quiet. It will be irritating too that they have to say everything incorrectly in lessons, unnatural IYSWIM. The idea is I think to make the pronunciation a bit easier for young German learners. Perhaps it is refined a bit in secondary school to closer approximate correct pronunciation, I don't know.

Just imagine your own foreign language lessons in Scotland. Could you imagine how a fluent native speaker of French would feel going through a year of those French courses (if you did school French)?

I would investigate the possibilities of avoiding the situation if you can.

Sandy,
Thanks for your reply.

We did think about an international school, but I would also like her to be fully integrated here rather than go to a school where none of her friends are. Also, we frankly can not afford the international school for 2 children. As far as I have been able to ascertain, there are only private schools in this area that offer English as the main language.

Your problem with DD English lesson is exactly what I am frightened of. One of my neighbours is an English teacher here in the school and her English is terrible.
That is of course a deciding factor, the teacher, and from what I have heard the standard for English lessons in Grundschule is not particularly high.