Kultur 6

For the article about Germany's Bild newspaper, I was surprised to find out that it is much more common to read such a news source in Germany compared to in the USA. While in the USA most stories in such a news source are made up, I think that since the stories in the German Bild are based on actual events, this could be why it is more widely read. For the second article, I think it would be odd to always have my door closed but I can understand how this might be the Germans way of keeping a more professional appearance. In response to the last article, I am glad that Americans like to keep things as simple as possible most of the time (especially for every day tasks!).

AMD 6

For AMD6, I watched clips of "Friends" auf Deutsch. In the first clip, Chandler and Ross go to a hotel and try to make up the money they lost on their expensive hotel room by taking the hotel amenities. In the second clip, Joey is on the television show "Pyramid" and causes his partner to lose since he messes up all of the questions except for one. In the last clip Joey, Ross, Monica and Chandler see how long they pass a ball back and forth. I have previously seen most of these clips in English, so it was easier to understand what was going on and I was able to guess at the meaning of some of the things they said. I previously watched different clips of "Friends" in German for an AMD assignment, and overall, I think I am continually understanding the dialogue better.

Kultur 5

For the article "Women in Germany", I was not too surprised to learn that women's' rights are at a level similar to those in the USA. The only difference between the two seems to be that fewer women have high ranking careers in Germany compared to men. This article seemed to be the only one that showed similarities between the USA and Germany. I found it interesting that although Germany can seem similar to the USA, there are many different parts of their culture that clash with ours. For instance, in the way Germans flirt seems much less aggressive and more committed. I have heard of Klofrau's in the US but they definitely do not seem to be as common as they are in Germany. I was also surprised to read about the street etiquette in Germany. Its not too difficult to give a quick apology for getting in someone's way so it seems odd to me that they don't.

AMD5

For this AMD, I changed the language setting on my Facebook to Deutsch. I could understand most of what was going on because I recognized some of the words, but I was also able to follow along by remembering what the different phrases originally were. This also helped me to learn some new words. Some of the phrases are: like = gefällt mir; comment = kommentieren, mutual = gemeinsame. It wasn't too difficult to use facebook in this form, but after awhile I started to forget what the different phrases meant and had to rely on the location that they appeared on the page. I really liked this AMD assignment since it helped me to learn some new vocabulary!

AMD4

For the AMD4 assignment, I watched an episode of the show "Scrubs" in German. The episode I watched "My Nightingale". For the previous AMD, I also watched an episode of Scrubs in German. I definitely understood more of the dialogue this time and was able to follow what was happening more of the time. I was able to recognize some of the vocabulary we have learned so far, and guess at what some of the other phrases meant from the context in which they were said.

Kultur 4

From the Brennpunkt Kultur, I think its a really great thing that schools in Germany place such a high importance on being multi-lingual and studying abroad in order to make their citizens more well-rounded. I found it interesting that it is such a hassle in Germany to own a car, but it is probably good since it encourages people to walk/ride a bicycle. I have heard before that the German railway is an excellent form of transportation and that it is quite popular/well used. From the articles, I was surprised to see how popular bicycle transportation is. Also, the roadways in Germany seem to be have more strict rules that are actually enforced compared to the USA. It also seems that taking the German underground subway can be rather tricky. I think that its a great quality of the Germans that they are so organized in every aspect of their lives, so I thought it was funny that the disorganization of the street signs in one city was so significant.

AMD 3

For this AMD assignment, I watched an episode of the show "Scrubs" in German. The episode I watches was "My Overkill" (Staffel 2, Folge 7). I have seen this episode before in English, so I was able to follow along somewhat and understand what was happening while hearing it in German. I was able to recognize some of the vocabulary we have learned in class and the nominative vs. akkusative forms of the dialogue. There were a few parts where the dialogue was a bit fast, but for the most part I was able to keep up.

Kultur 3

I thought that "An Obsession Explained: Beer, Brewskies and Liquid Bread", was a very interesting and informative article that explained the different stereotypes about Germans and their beer. I was not too surprised to learn how important eye contact during a toast is to German's or that there are so many breweries in Germany, but I found it interesting that it takes so long to serve a drink. For the article, "Capping the Bottle: Germany Looks to Tighten Up Public Drinking Rules", I would have to agree that a ban on public drinking may not be the best solution and I think the idea of establishing a room for public drinking is by far the best solution they have come up with so far for this problem. For the article "Eco-Centric Germans: Organic Food Obsessions", I think that it is a good thing that Germans are so health-conscious. I have heard before that Germans' much preferred organic to anything else, but I did not realize that this obsession was so wide spread through out the country. For the two articles on German humor, I found it interesting that happiness is seen as a sign of being less intelligent. I was not too surprised too learn that there are differences in the humor of different regions in Germany, since this seems like something that might occur in most countries, but I thought it was interesting that the regions differ so greatly. I think that the Germans are very smart to use the metric system, since overall its ranges of values make more sense and the conversions are much nicer!

AMD2

For AMD2, I listened to German songs that are currently popular. The songs I listened to were: Schau nicht mehr zurück and Lila Wolken. A lot of the songs popular in Germany are in English so I also listened to a few other German songs that are not as popular. These songs are: Sleipnir and 99 Luftballons. Some of the popular songs include She Wolf (Falling to Pieces), Stardust, Summertime Sadness and Feel Again. The song, Gangnam Style, is also quite popular. The first song, Schau nicht mehr zurück, is about how the singer is not going to look back on the past but instead look forward to the future. The second song, Lila Wolken, is about being young and living life to the fullest while still young. The third song, Sleipnir, is about a battle. The fourth song, 99 Luftballons, is about the cold war and is a song of protest. Also, I was surprised at how many words I was able to recognize in all of the songs.

AMD1

For AMD1, I read the article, "Kurzer aber heftiger Herbststurm sorgt für Schäden in Berlin" in German. The article is about the damage inflicted by a recent Autumn storm in Berlin. According to the article, the storm caused a tree to fall on the train tracks in Berlin and interrupted the normal train schedule. Another tree fell on a house, there was damage to other buildings and there was flooding in the streets. The storm occurred between 15.40 and 17.30. There were a lot of words I did not recognize, but I was able to find some verbs and adjectives that I recognized which made it possible to guess what some of the words I did not know meant. Some of the words I did not recognize were: heftiger, lahmgelegt, sowohl, and rollen.

Kultur 2

For the article, "The German National Pastime", I found it interesting that the amount Germans complain is so much larger than in the US. I have always thought that people in the US tend to complain a lot, so I cannot imagine how much the Germans must complain if the person who wrote the article noticed such a significant difference between the two countries. For the article, "The Germanic Stare Down", I thought it was interesting that this particular aspect of German culture has stayed around for so long after the 20th century. In a way, its good that Germans feel such a strong civic duty to their fellow countrymen, but I also think that this particular characteristic of Germans could get to be overbearing and rather annoying. Also, when I visited Germany, I noticed that people definitely seemed comfortable with staring. For the article, "Brutally Honest: Have you gained weight?", I think it is good to an extent to be so honest so that people will not misinterpret what you say, but I think that this brutal honesty does not need to extend as far as the article says it does. For the article, "By the Numbers: An Obsession with Statistics", I think that this is a very good quality in the German culture. Germans seem to be very knowledgeable of not only the statistics of places, but also with history and current events.

Mein Lieblingswort ist Fußball.