German Language Episodes
Ask a German: Bureaucracy, German pillows, standing in line, and recruitment through fruit (Dominik, Jürgen & Philipp from Ach?)
Nov. 2, 2020
You sent in your questions, and I put them to Germans to get the answers. It's Ask A German time! The three German guests are the always funny and entertaining hosts of the German podcast, Ach ! They answer the questions that listeners sent in over the past few months, and in the process shed some …
Wurst/arsch/schwein idioms, why “Der/Die/Das” is weird, and sitting down to pee in Germany (Ricardo from Brazil & Ivan from Bulgaria)
Oct. 19, 2020
Ricardo from Brazil and Ivan from Bulgaria are the people behind the Can You German? Instagram account. They met by chance in Germany, where they became friends. Later, when Ivan was stuck in Brazil due to COVID-19, they spent a lot of time together, and it was during this time that Can You German?…
Things to know before learning German (Elysse from Elysse Speaks)
Oct. 12, 2020
Elysse is the host of Elysse Speaks, a YouTube channel about her experiences learning multiple languages (including sign language). One of the languages she speaks is German, and I invited her on the podcast to talk about German, what would have been good to know before learning German, and why lea…
The attraction of Munich, the versatility of “Doch!”, and environmentalism in Germany (Sarah from Canada)
Oct. 5, 2020
Sarah from Canada came to Munich 4 years ago to get her Masters degree. At first the plan was to stay two years (which at the time she felt was too long). But soon she fell in love with Munich and found many reasons to stay. Sarah discusses those reasons with me, as well as how she went about learn…
German youth words of 2020 (Nina from Germany)
Sept. 28, 2020
Every year, the Langenscheidt publishing house searches for the youth word of that year. It's happening again, and Nina from Germany (who previously appeared in the Fasching episode back in February) helps me explain the words and the memes behind them. We also try and figure out if the youth actua…
RERUN: Teaching English, Learning Languages, and Raising Bilingual Children in Germany (Lori from USA)
Aug. 17, 2020
Originally released on July 2nd, 2019 (episode #6). Lori from USA has been teaching English in Germany for almost 40 years, so it’s not surprising that she has a thing or two to say about learning new languages. In fact, her language pedigree goes back to even before she moved to Germany, when she …
Trilingualism, switching between languages, and Italian words adopted by German (Carmen from Italy)
June 22, 2020
Carmen is a trilingual Italian living in Munich, Germany. She speaks Italian, German and English fluently, and joins me to discuss her path to becoming trilingual, how she balances three languages, and the effects of learning multiple languages on her native language. We also talk about Italian wor…
You go me on the cookie! (Dana Newman from Wanted Adventure)
May 25, 2020
Dana Newman from the Wanted Adventure YouTube channel joins me to discuss her book, "You go me on the cookie!". The book (written in German) describes Dana's adventures (and misadventures) learning German, and also highlights the quirks and beauty of the German language. It was written for German n…
Some German idioms (Steph Fuccio from USA)
April 6, 2020
Steph Fuccio, host of the Geopats podcast, is new to Germany and to the German language. So as a new learner, I thought it would be fun to throw some German idioms at her and see if she could figure them out. If you're new to the German language (or even if you are not), it's fun to listen along an…
Finding yourself in a second language: language and identity (Steph from Germany)
March 2, 2020
Steph is from Bavaria, and moved to the UK when she was in her 20s before ending up in Austin, Texas. She learned to speak English at a native-speaker level, and found that it just suited her. Because she's got a fantastic command of both German and English, she has a lot of insights about being bi…
Lori From USA - Teaching English, Learning Languages, and Raising Bilingual Children in Germany
July 1, 2019
Lori from USA has been teaching English in Germany for almost 40 years, so it’s not surprising that she has a thing or two to say about learning new languages. In fact, her language pedigree goes back to even before she moved to Germany, when she was a German high school teacher in the States. In t…