Willkommen!!

Welcome to our class blog!

We will be using this blog throughout the semester for two kinds of assignments:

1. Once per chapter, the homework plan will direct you to post a response to the culture readings for the chapter on the blog.

2. Roughly every other week, the homework plan will direct you to post here for your Abenteuer mit Deutsch (AMD) assignment. First you do a fun activity that involves German, then you post about it. You should spend an hour total on this (maybe 45-55 minutes doing something, 5-15 minutes posting about it). See Was ist ein AMD, AMD Ideen and Beispiele for ideas. This should get you excited about the kinds of things you can do!

Whenever you post something, please include your name and the name of the assignment (e.g. AMD2, Kultur5) as labels. See "Blog: How To" for more details!

AMD 1, Yuntao Chen

Words in italic are English words that I do not yet know how to say in German.

Für diese AMD habe ich eine episode aus der Documentary ,,Die Deutschen" gesehen. ,,Die Deutschen" ist ein Documentary Series von die Deutsche TV station ZDF, which depicts several significant events in German history in drama/documentary settings. 

Die episode that I watched was titled ,,Barbarossa und der Löwe". Es erzählt die Geschichte  von der berühmt König Barbarossa und sein Bruder ,,Heinrich der Löwe. Es ist interassent zu lernen, dass ,,Barbarossa'' ist nicht der formell Name von der König. Sein Name soll ,,Frederick I" sein. Er gebt der Name ,,Barbarrossa", weil er rot Bart hat. Sein Bruder ,,Heinrich der Löwe" war der Herzog von Sachson und Bayern. It was him who ordered to build die Stadt ,,München", which means "with the monks".

Ich glaube, dass es ist schön der Documentary für AMD zu sehen. Ich kann Deutsch und die deutsche Geschichte zusammen lernen kann. So I plan to watch this series for the next few AMDs.

AMD 1

For my AMD, I decided to watch the rest of Mostly Martha. I actually enjoyed this movie, and don't think that all German movies are bad, which is the opinion on meine Freundin, Marie. Some amusing parts in the movie was when Mario got Lina to eat when nobody else could, and when Marie's Freundin said, "Mein Baby kommt." I felt so bad for little Lina when she was forgotten by Martha! Some familiar terms in the movie that I noticed were, "schade," or that's a shame, and the verb gehen. I also thought it was amusing how at first Lina was a very one syllable person.

AMD 1

Für mein AMD 1, ich habe Deutsch Musik gehört. Ich genieße deutsche Musik manchmal. In diesem Video, there is a rap battle between two rappers. Der erste Rapper heißt SpongeBOZZ und der andere Rapper heißt Ahmed. This rap battle event is hosted by JBB 2013, also know as 'JuliensBlogBattle' on Youtube. Der deutsche Rap ist schwer zu verstehen. Sie sprechen sehr schnell. In addition to talking too fast, I also don't understand most of the words they say anyways. If I had a better grasp on German vocabulary I might be able to somewhat understand their raps.

You can listen to the rap here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onfJIOEN1-k#t=57

Most of the page is in German, so you can also read the comments in German as well. Einige sind sehr interessant. I would not expect too much from the comment section because most comments are spam anyways.

AMD 1

Für AMD 1, habe ich Bella Martha und No Reservations gesehen. No Reservations ist das amerikanische Remake des Films Bella Martha. I decided to watch both of them in order to determine if there were any striking cultural differences between the two. Overall the remake, No Reservations, was seemingly the same as Bella Martha as the plot and even the entrees were mostly consistent, except for a change in language. The story presented throughout the movie was one that was obviously easily relatable with both cultures since there was no change to it. I like how that shows how little or insignificant the differences between Germany and America are since their impact isn't as influential enough to effect the small things like movies or music. Small differences however did still persist between the movies. The most noticeable difference that I discovered was how much more the grieving was palpable in Bella Martha than No Reservations. This also lead to serious search for the girl's father which was completely forgotten in the American remake. It was obvious that the American version was more concerned about the romantic aspect of the movie which I believe has to do with the fact that American audiences prefer the happy endings, with cute moments and romantic gestures along the way. It just seemed to me that Bella Martha had a more realistic view on a person would have responded to that situation instead of presenting the Hollywood version. I think for that I would recommend Bella Martha over No Reservations even though the slight cultural change does take getting used to. Bella Martha und No Reservations waren sehr gut. 

AMD 1

For my AMD I played the video game called League of Legends, aber auf Deutsch. Upon entering the log on screen I saw several questions, and, I'm not sure, but I think one of them was grammatically incorrect.

I thought this might be an error because the verb is typically first in the sentence to indicate a question, but in this case "du" preceded "hast". I decided not to worry about grammer and pressed "Einloggen". Upon logging in I looked through a couple characters and found a fun quirk with a character named "Lux".




















In the English version of the game Lux had an ability called "Finales Funkeln" that was randomly renamed to "Final Spark". However, in the German version of the game her ability was called Finales Funkeln. The anomaly made me realize that Lux was a German character, as Finales Funkeln is German for "final sparkle". After reading over her abilities I started a game.

Unfortunately, League of Legends is a very fast paced game, so trying to read German while playing was very difficult. However, while I did struggle playing the game, I was able to understand some of the voice acting. For example, Lux often says "eine taktische Entscheidung Beschwörer", a tactical decision summoner, and another character named Leona says "die Sonne geht auf", the sun comes out. So, while this was not the best game for German play, I did have fun reading about characters in German, and listening to their voice actors.

AMD 1

Für AMD 1 ich used my Freund help. Er heißt Tony und er wohnt in Deutchland. He's only lived da for about zwei Wochen so I decided to "interview" him about the differences he has noticed and places er besucht. Er ist Munich gegangen. Er sagt dass the zuerst Dinge he noticed about the clubs in Munich was that the behavior of guys and girls was opposite that of America. By that he meant girls were not afraid to approach the guys first. Er hat Glyptothek auch besucht. Er sagt that it was much larger in person and was a memorable experience. I also asked him about the people he's encountered the short while he's been there and he said most are friendly and approachable but quick to correct you on something. He also made it a point to say how much cleaner the public bathrooms are and how "creative." Here is what I mean by that:

Here is a picture of the Glyptothek too!

Guten Abend Klasse!

 

AMD 1

Für AMD 1, habe ich Oh, wie schön ist Panama noch einmal gelesen. Das Buch ist sehr einfach jetzt lesen. Der kleine Bär ist meine Lieblingsfigur. Er ist süß und sympathisch. Der kleine Tiger ist sein beste Freund. Wenn sie eine Kiste von Bananen finden, sie wollen nach Panama reisen. Sie treffen eine Kuh, ein Fuchs, ein Hase, ein Igel, und eine Krähe. Alle Tiere geben der Bär und der Tiger beschissen Richtungen. Endlich finden sie ihr Haus. Sie sind froh in ihr gemütlichen Haus mit ein Schornstein. Ich liebe dieses Buch.

AMD1

For this AMD, I decided to do something simple. I simply just read Wikipedia articles on some of the things that I am interested in. I looked up NBA players, singers, and my most favorite thing of all, roller coasters. It was very cool how I was able to understand the context of the sentence, based off of the information I known prior to reading the article. After I was done reading the article, I looked at the English version then went back to the Deutsch. That is when everything was a lot clearer. It was nice to see the bio of my favorite artist in my second favorite language because it was like I had no idea who the person was, but I knew a copious amount of information about them. As far as the roller coasters go, it was just as great reading about them. I actually could figure out some of the words because the article would state statistics about the ride that I knew already so I was able to put 2 and 2 together and figure it out. This was a nice AMD for me to do.

AMD 1

Für AMD 1, habe ich Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen gelesen. Ich habe nie Harry Potter auf Deutsch gelesen. Es war anspruchsvoll aber ich weiß viele Wörter. Ein paar neue Wörter war: Umhängen= cloaks; Wutanfall= tantrum; das Lenkrad= steering wheel. Wörter weiß ich war: Wände= walls (a little tricky at first because I thought wand); um die Ecke= around the corner; Parkplatz= parking lot. Ich werde mehr Seite nächste AMD.

AMD 1

For me, finding an Aktivität auf Deutsch is as easy as picking up the phone.  For this one I decided to give a skype call to my Tante Erne, a very lovely, but lonely, Frau after Onkel Manfred suddenly passed away last year at the age of 81 (they are actually my Father's Aunt and Uncle).  We stayed with Tante Erne for part of our trip to Deutschland diesen Sommer to visit family.  She was happy to answer my call at 18.00 local time, despite being amidst her dinner perperations she happily set aside her Maultaschen to talk with me.  She was interested to hear how classes were going, and we conversed mostly in German, as her English is not very good, and I am learning German, after all.  She was happy to hear that I have madeone of the competition teams for Ballroom, and warned me that being Schwäbish, both her and mein Vater may pronounce things differently from how the instructor spoke, but I assured her that it would be okay.

The last night we were there before flying home, she made Röte Grutze for dessert, and was pleased to learn that I made it successfully based off her rezepte over die Weinachstenfreizeit.  She was curious to know how I was getting along without a fresh Schwäbiche Brezel each morning; "Das geht mir schlect, mit keine Bretzeln." "Aah, denn Timothy, du müssen bald wiederkommen!" I certainly hope so.

AMD 1

Ich habe Disney Lied gehört. Ich denke dass er war eine gutes Idee denn ich weiss die Wörter auf Englisch. Ich habe die Untertitel auf Deutsch gelesen und denn ich weiss das English, war er einfach.
 Combining my knowledge of the songs in English with my understanding of German, reading only the German subtitles, I could understand most of the songs.

First, I listened to 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' ('Kann es wirklich Liebe sein?') from the Lion King. In general, the song conveyed many of the same themes as the song in English, but was a lot more poetic and sinister. For example. "Kann es wirklich Liebe sein" means (from what I understand) "Can it really be love?" which has a much different connotation than "Can you feel the love tonight?" Additionally, an idiom I thought was particularly funny was when Timon says, "Sie ist das A und O!" which they translate as "She's the most important thing."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRHTX7XJEa4

Next, I listened to 'Colors of the Wind' ('Farbenspiel des Winds') from Pocahontas. Remembering from Kultur1 from Deutsch 101, that Germans love Native Americans, I thought the comment on the song, "Ein sehr schönes Lied ♥" was quite apt. Overall, the lyrics followed the English quite closely, probably because the song is animated to match the English song lyrics. The result was rather amusing because, in an attempt to translate closely, most of the lines don't rhyme at all. Also,  "Farbenspiel" means, literally, "color play," which is extremely accurate in the context of the way this song is animated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJMQB1n4Kjs

Finally, I listened to 'I'll Make a Man Out of You' ('Sei ein Mann') from Mulan--a personal favorite. (Ich bin Chinesinn!) The German lyrics for this song did not match up nearly at all with the English ones. Besides 1 line, "Ihr müsst so stark sein wie ein Taifun," all of the German lyrics were significantly different than the English. I was a bit surprised when they said, "Ihr müsst so heiß sein wie Höllenfeuer", meaning (loosely) "He must be as hot as a hell-fire." I'm not sure whether Germans have the same connotations to the world "hell" as English-speakers do, but I was surprised to see that word in a children's movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQnhY06g-nU

AMD 1

Guten Tag!

Ich habe Bella Martha gesehen. In das Film ist Marthas Schwestern gestoren. Dann hat Martha mit Lina (ihre Schwesters Tochter) gewohnt. Das Film gefällt mir, aber es ist sehr Traurig.

I really liked this movie, but it was really sad. I felt bad that Martha's sister died and also felt sad for Lina! It was a horrible situation for both of them! Der neu Koch in der Küche war sehr nett und Italienisch! Martha und ihre Schwester mögen Italienische Männer!

I liked that he was so nice to Lina and even got her to eat. At the end of the movie they were a cute little family!

During das Film, Ich habe wörter geschreibt. Or I wrote notes about stuff I liked, wanted to remember or vocab from Chapter 7.

Kannst du mir einen Gefallen tun? = Can you do me a favor?
Schade = Too bad
?? = Bite the dust (I couldn't make out what they were saying but I would like to know how to say it!)
Vocab = Zufrieden = satisfied, glauben (Glaube) = to have faith...

One part I have an issue with is that "no thanks" is not the same as "Nein danke, ich möchte nicht." At that point in the movie Martha was sitting at the table not eating and basically refused to eat Mario's food. The English translation made her answer sound nicer...

Lastly, I really liked "Martha! Mein Baby kommt!" Because it sounds funny... und Ich denke, dass "Schade" mein Lieblingswort ist.  

Ciao und Tschüss!
Taylor Kost

AMD1,Michael Nizinski

Für mein AMD habe ich Nachrichten gelesen. Der erste Artikel ist über Machthabers Kim Jong  Un und seinen Onkel  Jang Song Thaek. Kim Jong Un hatte seinen Onkel getötet. Den USA sagen diese extreme Brutalität von die immer gesehen. Der zweite Artikel ist über syrischen Bürgerkrieg und sie sind Giftgas gelebt . Sie hatten Giftgas da Leute gelebt. Der dreiste Artikel ist über Europäische Union und der syrische Flüchtlinge. Europäische Union hat nicht offen zu syrische Flüchtlinge. Deutsch hat sehr offen zu den syrische Flüchtlinge. 

AMD 1

Ich habe Livemocha gegangen und viel point gewinnen. Es ist ein gutes review auf Deutsch, aber nicht zu lernen. Der pace ist sehr langsam und langweilig. Ich habe das Wetter, die Jahreszeiten, und meine Familie gelernt. Ich empfehle nicht es weil wir sind besser auf Deutsch. Es ist gut ob Sie sind neu in Deutsch. Die Website ist neu und noch being developed. Ich werde use es zu review Deutsch 101 aber ich könnte schlafen. Es gibt nicht viel zu sagen über Livemocha.

AMD 1

Ahhhh AMD, we meet again.  Per usual, I watched the show that is the voice of our generation: South Park.  Today, I revisited one of my favorite episodes, "Dances with Smurfs."  In this episode, Cartman becomes the reader of the school announcements.  He slowly transforms into Glenn Beck and uses the announcements to verbally lash out against the school's president: Wendy.  Cartman quickly gains a following and convinces people that Wendy's agenda was to "Kill Smurfs."  Eventually he turns it into both a book and a movie, but Wendy strikes back and gets the last laugh.
One of the first thoughts that popped into my head while watching the show was whether or not Germans understood all of the American references.  First of all, they have a character, Casey Miller, who is supposed to be like Casey Kasem.  In the American episode, the voice acting was flawless and I immediately knew who they were impersonating.  But the voice actor in the German version didn't sound anything like him.  So I wonder, did they get the joke or was it lost in translation?
Second of all, like I said before, Cartman transforms into Glenn Beck.  I remember when I first saw this episode, I had no idea who Glenn Beck was.  I later looked him up and formed my own opinion of him.  Did German viewers do that?  Do they even know who Glenn Beck is?  I will admit, though, South Park's portrayal of Glenn Beck isn't too far off...
I wonder, is there a German version of Glenn Beck?
Lastly, I noticed something else, something I've also noticed from the movies that we watched in German 101: for certain English phrases, there are more than one way to say it in German.  In this episode, that phrase was "Oh my God."  Not only was there the literal translation ("Oh mein Gott") but the subtitles also translated "Nicht du fassen" (sp?) as "Oh my God."  Although I find this really fascinating, I also find it strange that they use these different phrases instead of using one translation.
Maybe we'll learn about that later on in class...

Lecker!

Für mein AMD, ich sehe ein Video über Essen. Es heißt "Lecker aufs Land: eine kulinarische Reise" (der Link ist http://www.swr.de/lecker-aufs-land/video/-/id=8350492/1e378in/index.html). Im Video die Erzählerin spricht über eine Frau und ihre Familie. Sie verkaufen Erdbeeren von ihren Bauernhof. Sie verkaufen auch Erdbeerschnapps, Erdbeerliqeur, und Erdbeermarmelade. Das Video schaut die Familie auf den Bauernhof arbeitet. Sie haben Schweine, Kühe und Ziegen. Die Frau sagt zu ihren Mann, dass er die Schweine nicht reißt, weil sie für Essen nicht sind.

Dann die Frau sagt Roastbeef an Remouladensauce, mit Weidegockel an Erdbeer-Curry-Sauce, und für Nachspeise Latte-Macchiato-Parfait kochen. Es gibt auch Rezeptes für alle die Gerichte. Ich will das Latte-Macchiato-Parfait. Ich denke es sehr lecker sehen. Sie macht auch Alkoholfrei Erdbeere-Daquiris. Ich finde das auch lecker.

Ich mag nicht die fünf Frauen auch im Video. Sie sind sehr, sehr ärgerlich und blöd. Sie kommen für Abendessen mit der Frau und ihrer Familie, aber ich kann nicht ihnen zuhören.  Gestammt, ich mag diese Video.

AMD1 - Mostly Martha - Connor McCausland

Für mein AMD1, ich sehe "Mostly Martha" (der ganz Film). Ich findet der Film interessant bei unser Unterricht, damit ich wollte es über geschrieben.
Der Film war sehr gut, aber ein bisschen "corny". Ich sagte das Ende perfekt -- Martha und Mario romantisch engagieren -- und Martha kann nicht sagen "Auf Wiedersehen", um Lina. Es tut mir leid für diese "spoilers".
Insgesamt, Schauspieler dieses Films waren talentiert. Die Musik war auch sehr schön.
Meine Lieblingsschauspieler was Sergio Castellitto (Mario).
Meine Lieblingsszene war wann Mario kommt zu Martha's wohnung und kocht mit Lina.

Dieser Film ist ein "Romantische Komödie", aber es ist nicht so lustig. Aber es ist niedlich.

Ich gehe es ein 3/4! Ein guter Film mit einer guten story.

(Hier ist ein vorschau...in Englisch?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-jlmaYX2n0

AMD 1 by Josh Crane

Josh Crane

Für AMD 1, Ich habe ferngesehen im mein Freunden zimmer. Die Bekundung war ein Spielshow (gameshow). Zwei Männer haben gebeantwort fragen vor viel Menschen. Die Bekundung habe geendet wenn gewann eins Mann in “Putt-Putt Golf.” (The game ended when one man won in putt-putt). Das Mann habe geerhalten 3.000.000 Euros. Das ist über 4,018,200 U.S. Dollars! Ich habe geerkennt Wörter wie “das stimmt,” “zwei minuten,” “dreizig Sekunden,” und “Ich weiß nicht.” Am Ende der Bekundung habe gespielte ein Lied in Englisch, welche sehr Klischee war.