German words - same, easy, difficult, confusing

Where can you learn and practise speaking German? 

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You can use German in Germany, Austria and German-speaking parts of Switzerland.  Also Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and parts of Belgium and Italy.

Flag of Luxembourg.

Flag of Liechtenstein.

 German - English  the same word

The same words, except that nouns start with a capital letter in German

English - German

laptop - Laptop

party - Party

popcorn - Popcorn

snacks - Snacks

team - Team

German - English easy to remember  similar words

nie - never (letters n to start and e later)

Salzig - salty - the first three letters are the same and the last letter has a tail, also called a loop and a descender

Schokolade - chocolate

sehr - very  (Both words have the letters e and r)

English to German easy words

chocolate - Schokolade (Capital letter at the start for a noun. Three letters changed. Add an s at the start, change c to k in the middle and t to d at the end )

German - English, new and difficult to remember

dort - there

kerzen - candles (The two languages use the sounds of ck and n)

ohne - without (The letters o and h are in both words)

Popmusic - pop music (capital for a noun, and German runs words together)

viele - many

German - English - confusing words

immer - always (not just immediately, right now, but all the time)

Kekse - cookies USA / biscuits UK ( not cakes)

Lust - desire for (noun, not sexual like the English word lust, but could be craving for a food, or to be in the mood to eat something, or to feel like having it)

Kuchen - cake

magst du - do you like (not do you make, I think of do you munch)

Spiele - games (not a long story, which is Yiddish)

toll - great (not tall, nor the noun toll, but think of a great size and a great toll, alt is high)

Useful Websites for learning German

Learning languages including German and many more online for free

duolingo.com

Translate words and sentences

translate google

Useful phrases and sentences for travellers

wikivoyage phrasebook German

Describe parts of a letter

https://bydawnnicole.com/the-anatomy-of-letters/

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Americanisms such as dish soap - and British words such as elevenses

We just moved the UK clocks forward on the last Sunday in March, at 2 am. The Americans and people all over the world, those who have a summer time clock, and that's not everybody, change clocks on different days.

The popular memory aid is Spring forward, Fall back.

The Americans use the word Fall where the Brits would say autumn. But fall back is a phrase we would use.

Every day when I read the mail online I see Americanisms. When I don't notice Americanisms, I read comments in which British readrs ask for an explanation - or express outrage. Here are a few which have puzzled or confused me and others in the past.

Americanism - British English

after (as in a quarter after) - past (as in a quarter past)

elementary school - primary school

cookies - biscuits

dish soap - washing up liquid

Fall - autumn

Ground beef - minced meat 

hack - tip/trick

make a left - turn left

my bad - my mistake

over easy (eggs) - cooked both sides

parking lot - car park

semester - term

Shopping cart - shopping trolley

spring break - Easter holiday/school holidays

take out - take away

vacation - holiday

British English - Americanisms

autumn - Fall

biscuits - cookies

break - half term

brolly - umbrella

car park - parking lot

Easter holiday - spring break

elevenses - mid morning break

fresher - freshman 

holiday - vacation

minced meat  - ground beef

my mistake - my bad

past (as in a quarter past - after (as in a quarter after

primary school - elementary school 

shopping trolley - Shopping cart

take away - take out

tip/trick - hack

turn left - make a left

washing up liquid - dish soap

American English and British English - shopping for food and cooking

If you are cooking you may find different terms in American and British recipes. Here are some more to add to your list or quiz:

American - English
cookies - biscuits
powdered sugar - icing sugar
parking lot - car park
shopping cart - trolley
whipping cream - single cream (or double cream). In the UK whipping cream does not exist.

English - American
biscuits - cookies
icing sugar - powdered sugar
Single / double cream - whipping cream

Finally an American cup is not the same as an English cup. You can't just pick up a UK cup and assume they are all a standard size. You would think a cup would be a cup, the same worldwide, wouldn't you?

Wiki says:
The cup is a cooking measure of volume, commonly associated with cooking and serving sizes. It is traditionally equal to half a liquid pint in US customary units, or between 200 ml and 250ml (​¹⁄₅ and ​¹⁄₄ of a litre) in the metric system.

Useful Websites
visitbritain.com
visitbritainshop.com
visitlondon.com
visitsingapore.com
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/07/flags-and-food-for-singapores-national.html

About The Author
Angela Lansbury, the author, - not related to Angela Lansbury the actress nor any of the other dozen people named Angela Lansbury or Lansbury.
I have many more posts on Americanisms and language. I teach English and other languages to individuals and companies. I am a polyglot. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Americanisms and Britishisms which travellers need to know: from British autumn to trousers, from American bassinet to underpants

American - English
bassinet - Moses basket
candy - sweets
cookies - biscuits
cop - copper
crib - cot
diaper - nappy
drooled - dribbled
eraser - rubber
Fall - autumn
fanny pack - bum bag
federal - national / nationwide
fussy - grizzly
hood - bonnet
onesie - Babygrow
pacifier - dummy
pants - trousers
scallions - spring onions
sneakers - trainers
sprinkles - hundreds and thousands
store - shop
stroller - pram/push chair
sweatshirt - jumper
tired - knackered
turn signal - indicator
trash - bin
truck - lorry
trunk - boot
underpants - pants

 


English - American
autumn - Fall
Babygrow - onesie
biscuits - cookies
bin - trash
bumb bag - fany pack
boot - trunk
copper - cop
cot - crib
dribbled - drooled
dummy - pacifier
grizzly - fussy
indicator - turn signal
jam - jelly / preserve
jelly - Jello
jumper - sweatshirt
knackered - tired
lorry - truck
Moses basket - bassinet
nappy - diaper
national - federal
pants - underpants
pram/pushchair - stroller
rubber - eraser
shop - store
spring onions - scallions
sweets - candy
trainers - sneakers
trousers - pants

Useful Websites
visitbritain.com
visitbritainshop.com
visitlondon.com
visitsingapore.com
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/07/flags-and-food-for-singapores-national.html

About The Author
Angela Lansbury, the author, - not related to Angela Lansbury the actress nor any of the other dozen people named Angela Lansbury or Lansbury.
I have many more posts on Americanisms and language. I teach English and other languages to individuals and companies. I am a polyglot. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Americanisms - what they mean and why they appear worldwide include on the WWW and UK newspaper

Problem
Why are articles in English / British newspapers filled with Americanisms?

Answers
1 The articles are copied from American websites / sources.
2 The author is American or has a computer set to American spelling.
3 The newspaper site has a spell checker which changes words to the most frequently found spelling on the internet which is the American version.
4 The newspaper is catering to its readers and has more American readers. I often have more American readers than British readers. Assuming that everybody in the world has equal access to the internet, as there are more Americans you would expect more American readers of everything. The numbers also varies with the subject matter. Another factor is the time of day - when the Americans are awake and the Brits are asleep.

US - UK
biscuit - savoury biscuit
cookie - biscuit
hack - hint / tip


UK - US
biscuit - cookie
hint - hack
tip - hack
scone - biscuit (savoury with a grill)

Angela Lansbury, English teacher, author, speaker.

The origins of pancake day?

What's the origin of pancake day? Using up flour and food, old food, which you will given up for lent, a Christian festival. But it probably goes back to pre-Christian days, when spring cleaning got rid of old food ready for the next harvest.

I wonder whether the fast days were for going without to help eke out supplies for your own family, or throughout the community. Or could it have been to stop the old food contaminating the new? Looking at the cereal and dairy supplies (in pancakes), you are removing the old flour, giving the utensils a rest period (like the seventh day of rest for families and animals, and fields lying fallow).

A Discovery channel programme investigated the ten plagues and the deaths of the firstborn Egyptian children of the ruling class.  The called in detectives and forensic investigations of possible causes of death. After eliminating as unlikely the invasion of every home and striking down of only one inmate, they looked at the possibilities or deliberate or accidental poisoning.

Investigators compared mass deaths with later outbreaks in rural communities. They found incidences in American history of deaths from St Vitus's dance, which is caused by contamination of stored cereal crops (used to make flour) in unduly wet weather.

The conclusion was that it was likely that the richer pharaonic tribes lived in one area, eating one feral crop, whilst the slave or servant or foreign group lived elsewhere eating another crop. The richer people had stores of crops. The first born child was traditionally given a double portion of the food, because the firstborn was favoured, (and often as much as four years older if breastfed).

Not knowing the cause of the problem, or knowing the cause and wanting the entire population to abide by the rules for preventing it happening again, the rulers then established a rule or tradition of using up old flour, making it both fun (pancake day) and serious (abstaining for lent).

The Jewish festival of Passover celebrates the passing over of the children who were not killed by the angel who supposedly slew the Pharoah's first born, and includes removing all wheat from the house for a week, and using all new crockery. This was depicted in paintings as the last supper, a springtime meal. (Though the bread is might be shown in famous paintings as risen dough rather than flat unleavened bread.)

If you do not observe the Jewish nor the Christian abstentions, you may still find yourself surrounded by people celebrating pancake day and may wish to have fun following the recipes given for making pancakes.

Commerce and marketing now cater for all religions and traditions and are keen to promote anything which sells more goods and keeps well-fed happy customers. If you eat pancakes, but have not had any recently, you will enjoy the promotion of pans and pancake recipes.

Pancakes in America are often small fat items. They can be bought readymade in stacks like biscuits (which in the USA are called cookies).

British pancakes are larger and thinner. British pancakes are half way between the American and French versions.

The thinnest pancakes are the wafer thin French crepes which are huge and rolled up, sold around moated Mont St Michel, in Northern France, sometimes with the addition of Grand Marnier or liqueur.

Enjoy pancake day.