Miss-Verständnis

Phonetics again: Imitation Brand Miss V!

Miss-Verständnis — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:14:58 +0000

Aeric Winter, the man who prompted my original Prefixated video, comes over all Miss V as he teaches how to phonetically pronounce his name: “Andreas”. A coup for every Andreas who is sick of having his name mispronounced!

Sprachgefühl: do you have it?

Miss-Verständnis — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:11:34 +0000

Someone recently mentioned to me that a key factor in becoming fluent in a foreign language is Sprachgefühl. Now this is one of these wonderful words that simply does not exist in English, but can be translated as a ‘feeling for the language’. If you’re immersed, e.g. living with, working with Germans/ French/Chinese/Japanese/ New Zealandese people, this is much easier. But even when I was living with Germans last year, it was still tricky, the worst things being prepositions.

Because it’s sometimes hard to remember that in German you have fear FOR something (Angst vor), and you take medicine AGAINST an illness (gegen). You travel WITH the bus (mit dem Bus) and works of literature are FROM Goethe (von). And there are no rules to learn them, it’s a matter of Sprachgefühl.

Ich bin ein Superblog?

Miss-Verständnis — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:31:18 +0000

<— CLICK HERE AND YOUR LIFE WILL BE AWESOME

Days of Nations

Miss-Verständnis — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:37:58 +0000

Monday was Bastille day in France. So, if you watched the right television, or happened to be in Paris, you would have seen the most spectacular display of fireworks over the Champs-Élysées. In fact, Europe does a pretty good run in National Commemoration Days. The Tag der Deutschen Einheit (German Unity Day, October 3), the Brandenburger Tor gets swarmed with crowds and showered with pyrotechnics the like of which I’ve never seen. But then again, I’m from New Zealand, where our national holiday, Waitangi Day (February 3), is little more than an excuse to laze around on the beach and throw mud at politicians.

But no country will ever really be able to top the US in terms of fireworks extravaganzas. On July 4 this year, in New York, Macy’s (a department store) let off fireworks at three (yes, 3) different locations in the city. Reportedly this used 36,000 shells (what most of us call fireworks) , exploding 1000 fireworks per minute, at a total cost of (wait for it!) over $7 million! Now that has to be the biggest birthday of a Nation celebration I’ve ever heard of.

Germany, land of the Future

Miss-Verständnis — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:55:37 +0000

Who needs the land of the free when you have the land of the efficient? Following on from the world’s first automated restaurant, did you know that Real has opened ‘The Future Store’? No, you don’t get to shop on hovercrafts or buy or your meal in convenient pill form (although they do have ‘Roger the Real Robot’ to help out shoppers gone astray).

Basically, you head into the Future Store with your Handy , which you then use to scan the barcodes of your Joghurt or Schokolade or what have you. Then at the till your clever mobile phone tallies up your purchases and you pay electronically. Move over George Jetson!

Germy the German Germ!

Miss-Verständnis — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:03:16 +0000

Although I expected this video to be about learning German, I am happy to learn about how the body works from such a cute wee German Germ. Enjoy!

It’s my party and I’ll wein if I want to…

Miss-Verständnis — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:47:27 +0000

Hello out there in Verständnis World. I hope you’re all enjoying the rapid onset of my very first European summer. Well, today you have even more reason to celebrate, as it’s my birthday! While I’m not celebrating it in traditional NZ style - with fairy bread and cheerio sausages, and a game of pass-the-parcel, I’m not quite up to the stage of having a German-style birthday. No-one is waking up at sunrise to light a candle for each year I’ve been alive, and I don’t have a special wooden birthday wreath.

But then again, there’s an up side to everything. I’m glad I’m not an unmarried German man turning 30, because then I’d be forced to sweep the stairs of the town hall. Although I’m told this is for the purposes of showing off his house-cleaning skills to potential brides who happen to be walking past, and not to humiliate. Yeah right!

International Air Travel: a Deutschlisch Exposition (video)

Miss-Verständnis — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:43:29 +0000

I’ve decided to treat you with double-video action, since ‘Black Sunday’ (aka the day we shall not mention. For those not in Europe, Spain won the UEFA 2008 Cup. Tear.)

Since I’ve been travelling, I’ve noticed a couple of things. I thought I’d share them – Miss V-style! Enjoy this journey into the world of observational vocab.

Fußball vs. fútbol… it’s on.

Miss-Verständnis — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:44:22 +0000

While I prepare the red, yellow and black face paints for Sunday, check out hamburg.de’s coverage of the 2008 Fanfest in Hamburg’s very own Heiligengeistfeld. There was dancing, there was laughter, there were (almost) tears… check out the tense moment at 1:10.

Go Deutschland!

Polyglotastic!

Miss-Verständnis — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:00:58 +0000

I’ve just had word that the biggest (or only?) Polyglot Scrabble Tournament in the world is taking place this year in Spain. This is apparently the first event of its kind, where the world’s most cunning linguists can meet and defeat, playing Scrabble in many different languages. And they are promoting it so zealously that even Joe Nobodys like me have been invited. Unfortunately, I (typically) missed the cut-off date, and, besides, I only speak two languages… and some incrediblly lacklustre French and Spanish. And to think, I could have WON something!

Would any of you enter a Polyglot Scrabble competition? Do you consider yourself a Polyglot?