Documentary Filmmaking, in Berlin the new course by the Daring House Film Production

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Create your own short documentary in six classes!

Berlino Magazine and Berlino Schule in collaboration with Daring House Documentary School are hosting a basic module about Documentary filmmaking. On 2th October there will be a free presentation of our Filmmaking course. The workshop will then continue with classes on Tuesdays, from 20:00 till 21:30 for 5 weeks at Daring House Studio, Auguststraße 88, 10117, Berlin-Mitte.

Course objectives

Now more then ever digital technology allows people to express their own vision of reality – and this is what our course is about. In a set of structured meetings, attendees will learn how to find, shoot and edit a story, in close interaction with an enthusiastic group of people. The films will then be presented at a short documentary film festival held in Berlin, with an awards ceremony and attendance certificate for everybody.

The course will let you create your film FOR REAL. During classes, you will use your own camera and have a look at videos of nice and established filmmakers.

The module is for those who want to try their hands at filmmaking as a hobby or are considering making it a profession; for journalists wanting to expand their audiovisual skills; for film-enthusiasts wanting to learn the process of filmmaking.

The course will be held in English and the instructor also speaks fluent German, Italian and Spanish.

Program

Class 1 – Filmmaking 101 – 2.10.2018, 20:00-21:30 – FREE TRIAL LESSON.

– What is a documentary? Break free from the accepted rules and create your “own” story.
– Tragedies, illnesses, catastrophes and sad people. Why you should try (also) to tell happy documentary stories.
– How are documentary stories told? The different styles of storytelling: real life, interviews, with or without a host, mockumentary.
– Any story is a good story if well told. The approach to find a story and the importance of personal feelings in storytelling.
– What do I need to shoot: camera/smartphone, pc.
– Writing or not writing? How far should filmmakers go with their script.

Class 2 – Working with your story – 09.10.2018 – 20:00-21:30

– How to tell if a story is worth being told
– Red flags 1: stories you should avoid.
– Red flags 2: people you should avoid.
– How too approach a person to shoot a documentary.
– Shooting: how to make your story appear natural.
– The “fly on the wall”: how to disappear behind the camera.
– Emphatic listening and the key to good interviews.

Class 3 – Hands on your camera – 16.10.2018 – 20:00-21:30

– Basics of smartphone cinematography. How to hold a smartphone camera and how to operate it.
– Basics of camera cinematography avoiding zoom and multi-focal lenses.
– Audio: why a good sound is more important that good images.
– Shooting with natural light.
– Creating a shooting frame: concepts of shooting aesthetics.
– Project pitching! Suggesting stories and creating shooting teams.

Class 4 – Editing – 30.10.2018 – 20:00-21:30

– Basics of editing: please start telling your story from second 1.
– Why knowing editing is important to shoot good images.
– Editing with free programs.
– Editing with professional programs.
– Documentary dramaturgy: please don’t bore your audience.
– Creating emotions with editing. How to play an audience like an instrument.
– “Kill your darlings”: why your personal shooting experience is different than the story you are telling.
– Working with music: from Dogma to La La Land.

Class 5 – Rough-cut workshop – 06.11.2018 – 20:00-21:30

– Review of the projects and tips to make them even better.
– Closing a project: why “films projects are never finished, but abandoned”.
– Basics of subtitling.

Class 6 – How to call yourself a filmmaker and closing the final cut – 11.12.2018 – 20:00-21:30

– Review of the projects and tips to make them even better.
– Dreaming about a filmmaker career? Here’s what you need to know.
– Don’t trust the festival. A quick guide to festival submissions.
– “We are all dead” and other depressing statements by filmmakers and artists in general.
– The documentary film industry. How to have fun making film art and live happily.
– Preview of the following modules.

Price

The course costs 175€.

The teacher

Stefano Casertano is an award-winning filmmaker living in Berlin since 2006, CEO of the production company Daring House. His last film as director “People of Love and Rage” won the Eindhoven FIlm Festival and the Special Mention of the Jury at the Rome Independent Film Festival. As a producer, his animated short “The Ballad of the Homeless” screened at the Cannes Film Festival, won a Nastro d’Argento, was a candidate at the David di Donatello and won the LA Short Fest, being shortlisted for the Academy Awards. Stefano is currently producing his fourth documentary “Eighteen Penalties” about the story of the football matches between Italy and Germany produced by Istituto Luce and Lichtblick Film, with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture and the German Film Funding Institute. Stefano also serves as producer and filmmaker for video productions for media outlets such as El Paìs, Sky, La7, RBB and Rai. Before embarking in his film career, Stefano completed an MBA in Media and Communication at Columbia University in New York and a Ph.D. “Magna cum Laude” in International Politics at Potsdam University in Germany. He has been international correspondent for Linkiesta.it, Finanza & Mercati and Pagina99, and his articles have appeared on World Affairs, Project Syndicate and RealClearWorld.

Advanced modules to be scheduled:

– Documentary filmmaking advanced module

– Immerse yourself in a story and create a structured film plan. Basics of color and audio correction.

– Documentary filmmaking technical module

– How to shoot a video with a reflex camera

– Music videos – How to shoot a music band

Documentary Filmmaking Course

6 lessons from Tuesday 2nd of October. from 20:00 to 21:30

2nd October 2018: free trial lesson (20-21.30).

Facebook event

Lessons will be held at Daring House – Auguststraße 88, 10117, Berlin.

The course costs 175 €

INFO AND REGISTRATION

For info and registration send us an email at: info@berlinoschule.com with object: Filmmaking

Why should everyone study German according to the British writer John le Carré

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During the prize-giving ceremony for the best German professors of Great Britain, John le Carré explains why everyone should study German. A speech extract of the well-known British writer David Cornwell (better known by his pen-name John le Carré) has been published in “The Guardian”

“I started learning German when I was 13 and I still can’t explain why it was love at first sound. The answer must be obvious: my professor’s wit”: that’s how the speech begins. The famous writer John le Carré fondly remembers his first teacher of German, Mr. King, a man who chose to go against the wind. Rather than supporting the anti-German propaganda of the time, the teacher wanted to convey the beauty and the power of the German language, culture and literature to his students. He said that: “One day the real Germany will come back.”

An “out of common” language

Le Carré recalls when he used to listen to CD’s in his classroom and German actors reading poems by Heinrich Heine or Eduard Mörike. It was just listening to those sounds (and reproducing them) that le Carré started to fall in love with German. “I was in love with the idea that these poems and the language I was about to learn, belonged to me and nobody else because then, German wasn’t a common subject and most of my classmates only knew few words: for example Achtung (attention!) and Hände hoch (hands up!) learned from watching war movies.

From being a student in Sweden to becoming a German teacher

In 1948, John le Carré decided to quit the private school in England. Since he couldn’t go to Germany, he moved to Sweden where
he enrolled at the faculty of German literature at the University of Bern at the age of 16. Le Carré explains that he had an excellent teacher there too, Frau Karsten. While joining the military service, he was transferred to Austria and afterwards he graduated in languages at the University of Oxford. After his studies, he started teaching German at Eton.

A funny language

The writer says “dealing with German is very funny” and he explains why German perfectly matches with the play. “You can easily coin many long words (true words), just for fun. For example, this is the word I learned from Google: Donaudampfschiffsfahrtsgesellschaftskapitän» (captain of a steam shipping company on the Danube)”. Moreover, the author mentions Mark Twain: “Some German words are so long they seem to have a perspective”. Then, he goes on: “you can invent crazy adjectives, like “my Playstation, which has (recently been thrown from the window by my parents)”

The language of gods

And yet German is not only a “playful” language, but rather a language of purity. “When you get really tired of that massive number of nouns and participles used to make compounds, please remember you can always get inspired by Hölderlin, Goethe or Heine poems and never forget that German can reach extremely high levels of brevity and beauty – which is for us, the language of gods”.

Learn a language as friendship act

According to John le Carré, studying a foreign language is a friendship act comparable to a handshake. As soon as you start learning a new language, you start getting closer to the other, her/his culture, behaviour and way of thinking. The writer mentions Carlo Magno: “Getting in touch with another language is like owning a second soul”.

Mental fluency

Le Carré states that “merging these two souls requires mental fluency. It’s important to be clear and never get satisfied unless you find the equivalent word. If the equivalent doesn’t exist, you have to find a complete sentence or periphrasis in order to express the same meaning”. Not without reason, le Carré thinks that his most methodical editors are foreign translators. Then he goes on “the German translator is particularly exasperating”.
The importance of a pure and rational language as truth warranty
Le Carré also mentions the importance of a pure and rational language. Without specifically citing the name of the present U.S. president, the writer refers to “contradictions and incomprehensible declarations from the other side of the Atlantic”. Moreover, he adds “for a man who’s actually in war with the truth and reason, an objective language stands for a threat; the enemy’s voice, or better a fake news, to him”.

The learning of German in the Brexit Era

Le Carré praises language teachers and particularly German teachers of Great Britain which are told to be “dying breed”. Lastly, he says that the teaching of the German language and culture massively contributes to
maintain a balanced and civil debate on Europe. Teachers often refer to those “illuminated young people that, with or without Brexit, consider Europe their home, Germany as their natural partner and language as a natural bond”.

Biography

Born in 1931 in the South of England, John le Carré has been considered the most important writer of twentieth century’s spy fictions. His books, also inspired by his professional experiences and set during the Cold War, are famous worldwide. Infact, during the Second World War he joined the British secret services and his novels include “The spy from the cold”, “All men of Smiley”, “The mole”, “The perfect spy” and “The tenacious gardener”. Fascinated by the charm carried by the foreign languages, le Carré studied at the University of Bern and then at Oxford, where he graduated in German literature. He has been taught for two years at the prestigious Eton College and then became an official of the Foreign Office, the British Foreign Ministry. First, he became Second Secretary at the UK Embassy in Bonn and later he went to the Hamburg Consulate as a Political Counselor.

Drawing with pencil, the brand new workshop of Berlino Schule held by an American artist

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Drawing with pencil is the brand new workshop that is going to start at Berlino Schule

On the 4th of October, starting from 8 p.m., Berlino Schule (Gryphiustrasse 23) will host the FIRST TRIAL CLASS of the drawing with pencil course – basic level – held by the American figurative painter Nick Skoug.

For the first lesson, you’ll be required to bring one or more drawings in order to discuss them during the class. After it, the teacher will do a demo in order to show what you will be learning in the next sessions.

 If you would like to participate, please send an email to info@berlinoschule.com

COURSE DATES

After the first lesson, the course will take place every Thursday from 20 to 21:30 until the 15th of November. The lessons will be held in English. The price of the whole course amounts to 140€.

COURSE AIM AND STRUCTURE

Students will learn the basics of observational drawing. Topics covered will include: gesture, line, light and shade, light logic, perspective,and proportion. Each session will include a critique and feedback on student work. The course will conclude with an exhibition of the students’ work.

THE PROGRAMME

Introduction – Free trial class
For the first lesson, you will all look at a drawing that you have brought, the teacher will give some feedback and then do a demo for the rest of the class. This will demonstrate what you will be learning in the next sessions.

Lesson 1 – Gesture

This lesson will focus on basic sketching, and capturing the gesture, or ‘feeling’, of what you are drawing. This is the first step that lays the foundation for a finished drawing, and gives a sense of life and movement to the subject.
Lesson 2 – Line
Lesson 2 will cover line drawing. You will do some exercises focusing on the lines and contours of the subject, training the eye to follow the outside edge and the ‘inner corners’.
Lesson 3 – Value
Following the line drawing, this lesson will focus on light and shade. You will look at the range of value (chiaroscuro), from the lightest to the darkest parts of the drawing, and how to organise them and put them down.
Lesson 4 – Light logic
Continuing on from the last lesson, this one will take a closer look at light and shade. You will now look at the different types of light and dark (highlights, cast shadows, reflected light, etc.).
Lesson 5 – Perspective and proportion
Finally you will look at perspective (one and two point) and how it figures into a drawing. You will also look at proportion, and how to effectively measure when drawing and show depth and space in 2D space.
Lesson 6 – Outside drawing
For the final lesson, you will go outside and do some drawing from life. This will be a great opportunity to apply everything you have learned in class in real space.

MATERIAL

Graphite drawing pencils (2B, 4B, 6B)
One kneaded eraser (Knetradiergummi)
One drawing pad (A2 size recommended) or a sketch pad

THE TEACHER

Originally from the Los Angeles area, Nick Skoug is a figurative painter that lives and works in Berlin. Before moving to Germany, he studied drawing and painting in California.
After receiving his BFA from the California State University, Long Beach, he came to Europe, attracted by the history and the art. This interest was encouraged by a brief study abroad in Florence and an ongoing study of the German language.
With a foundation in traditional observational techniques, he explores a variety of subjects. While these subjects are often contemporary, the past continually asserts itself as well.

TO SUM UP

From the 4th of October tll the 15th of November – each Thursday from 20 to 21:30. 
Berlino Schule, Gryphiusstr. 23, 10245 Berlin
Price: 140 €
Info and registration: info@berlinoschule.com

#quantoèbellaberlino, the photocontest dedicated to the most beautiful pictures of Berlin

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Berlino Magazine and Berlino Schule organize a photo contest to show the beauty of the German capital.

The contest #quantoèbellaberlino gives you the chance to win a German course during Berlino Schule’s Summer School, which will take place from July to September.
The topic of this year’s contest is Berlin’s beauty: every corner of this amazing city leaves all the people open-mouthed and breathless. Just go for a walk near Hackescher Markt or go to the Kreuzberg district and you will be enchanted. The pictures in the competition must capture characteristic corners or little-known landscapes, which can fully express the magical beauty of the city.

How to take part in the #quantoèbellaberlino photography contest

Follow the instructions:

– Be sure to “like” Berlino Schule and Berlino Magazine on Facebook

– Upload the photo using your Facebook account, making sure that the privacy for the viewing is set to “EVERYONE”

– Provide a title for the picture followed by the hashtag #quantoèbellaberlino

– Tag in the caption of the photo both Berlino Schule and Berlino Magazine

Here an example:

How we choose the winners of #quantoèbellaberlino

All the posts will be reviewed by the team of Berlino Magazine and it will then share every photo within 24 hours from the publication on the album #quantoèbellaberlino – Contest fotografico on Berlino Magazine’s facebook page.
The deadline for entries is July 1st 2018, 00:01 a.m.
Our team will select the winner (aka the picture that will have received the highest number of likes on the page of the magazine – shares do not count, but they definitely help!) on 02.07.2018 at 12:00 p.m. In case of a tie, the picture uploaded earlier will win. We will only consider one photograph for each person.

Prizes

First prize: Summer School in Berlino Schule

Berlino Schule’s Summer School is the study holiday you’ve been waiting for.
The winner of the contest #quantoèbellaberlino will have the chance to attend a super intensive course of two weeks, five hours per day (from Monday to Friday). The school is located in Friedrichshain, one of the most beautiful, lively and safe district in Berlin.
Summer School will take place from July 2nd to September 7th 2018, as follows:

2 July – 13 July
16 July – 27 July
30 July – 10 August
13 August – 24 August
27 August – 7 September

There will be morning (9.15-13.30) and evening (14.00-18.15) classes.

Second prize: A dinner for two

The second prize is a dinner for two people at the restaurant MedEATerranean TRIP, in Gabriel-Max-Strasse, 19 – 10245 in Berlin. During the dinner two glasses of wine are also included.

Third prize: Beer, beer, beer!

The third prize is a taste of handcrafted italian beers accompanied by an appetizer, at the italian pub Birra in Prenzlauer Allee, 198 – 10405 in Berlin ( here our article about the pub’s history).

Accommodation:

Berlino Schule has entered many agreements with apartments tenants and hostels, all over the city to make the search for an accommodation easier for its students.

For further information send an email to: info@berlinoschule.com

Good luck to everyone – we look forward to your submissions!

You cannot live in Germany if you don’t understand the importance of the word “Bitte”

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German is notoriously not one of the simplest languages around. Some words, though, are more important than others to live in Germany.

Among articles, cases, separable verbs and extremely long words it is hard for those who either need or simply want to learn it (it’s been proved the latter are 0,01% of the world population). Most people give up immediately, without even really starting, standing up from the Volkhochschule (VHS) chairs right after learning that together with a noun they need to memorize also the correct article. Even more give up after learning that there are no proper rules to know if a noun is feminine, masculine or neuter.

 

Approaches vary.

Some manage to overcome the first obstacles and they are content with a very limited vocabulary sufficient to survive without losing their mind. A rare few are brave enough (and to them my admiration!) to try and assimilate everything they can of this multi-faceted language. Nevertheless, there are such direct and common words that it is impossible not to learn them even just by walking among Germans for a few hours. The most famous of them is without any doubt the word “Bitte”.

Now I will describe you a common scene. A mother and her child enter a café and go to the counter. You are there, with your hot and sweet coffee, waiting to finish it, get out and have a smoke, when the child, encouraged by an over-excited mother, asks the barista, “Could I have a glass of water?”

A reasonable barista would just take a glass, fill it with water and pass it to the child, dismissing him in ten seconds. Considering that baristas are not always reasonable, this specific one exclaims, “What is the magic word?”

Disaster!

 

The child is dumbstruck. He really doesn’t know the magic word. He looks around, speechless and disoriented. His mother is tomato-red from the embarrassment. She knows the magic word, but she cannot give him a hint so she stays silent.

Recognizing the awkwardness of the situation, the barista tries to help him, “Pl…?”

Faced by this insistence and inability to prepare a glass of water without asking weird questions, shyer kids would tearfully close themselves off, give up drinking for the next few years and regret the good old days when attaching themselves to their mother’s breast was sufficient to quench their thirst. The bolder ones would maybe try to make a joke, to tease and make fun of the barista.

In both situations, the barista could do nothing but raise the white flag and say with an endearingly fake smile, “Please! The magic word is please!”

 

A scene like this one would be unheard of in Germany.

If you were to tell it to a German they would say you are delusional or maybe simply too cynical.
German kids understand the use of the word “Bitte” even before they are born. It’s one of the first genetic upgrades to happen in the belly. So natural that when first the nurse spanks the newborn baby, he glares at her with an implicit dry “Bitte?!”. When a German child asks for an ice-cream or a glass of water he adds his nice “Bitte” automatically. He does not realize that he is using a “magic word” that could create tension, embarrassment and guilt in mothers concerned with the right way to educate their children.

A multipurpose word…

 

“Bitte” can be translated with both “please” and “you are welcome” and it is this important double translation that makes it one of the first words we learn, together with the frequency of its use.

One of those useless American universities between Massachussets and Alberobello did an even more useless study on German practices. According to it, the use of the word “Bitte” is the third most common practice after drinking Apfelschorle and ringing the bicycle bell, standing at a solid 87.5%. I heard personally someone using the “Bitte” before starting a violent fight, complete of kicks and punches. I cannot imagine the same thing happening in my city of birth, Neaples, and the mere idea of someone starting a fight with the equivalent of “Bitte” makes me laugh.

…and with many variations

Very important for Germans is not only the use of the word “Bitte”, but also of its most common variations: “Bitte schön” and “Bitte sehr”.

Cashiers are definitely professionals of the use of the word “Bitte”. They are so used to it that it is likely that they are all having therapy for excessive politeness. Even their voice tone is such that the “Bitte” always comes out the same with every client. Last week a LIDL cashier managed to repeat it one thousand times in one shift and as a reward they received a new conveyor belt on which the shopping slides wonderfully.

Servers are instead specialists of the “Bitte schön”. It is often used together with its big brother “Danke schön” with which clients thank them for the service. At this point, a dialogue ensues, which resemble closely the tweeting of birds in love one can find in Tiergarten. This is part of living I Germany and it is not rare to find servers so experienced that they can express different emotions just by lengthening the “ö” and transforming it in something resembling a “Bitteschööööööön”.

Last but not least is “Bitte sehr”, a slightly more refined, elegant variation, fitting of a Mitte habitué or a gentleman who gives his seat to women on buses. Usually foreigners use it when they want to show they have at least a B1.1 in German.

One can never go wrong by using the “Bitte”.

 

It’s one of those wild cards like “ganz” that you can use freely without looking completely inept. The way one abuses this word is the same of such words as “genau” or “super!” or weird expressions like “Keine Anhung” or “auf jeden Fall”. You will find yourself using them when you expect it the least. And in the end, it doesn’t matter if you cannot get the intonation or the sentence structure wrong. The only thing is, whatever you do, you always remember to use “Bitte”.

FOTO © FRECH – Family – CC BY-SA 2.0

 

10 German words you need to know

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Those who study or studied German in the past know that it is not an “impossible” language, but even an enjoyable challenge, as it tests us daily. Mark Twain, the American writer known for his troubled relationship with German, which he did not like, but found extremely stimulating, used to say, “My philological studies have satisfied me that a gifted person ought to learn English (barring spelling and pronouncing) in thirty hours, French in thirty days, and German in thirty years. It seems manifest, then, that the latter tongue ought to be trimmed down and repaired. If it is to remain as it is, it ought to be gently and reverently set aside among the dead languages, for only the dead have time to learn it.” Here we give you 10 German words that have no direct translation in English. It is thanks to these very words that we can better learn German culture. Every single word helps us not only to improve our vocabulary, but also to deepen our knowledge of a new world.

1. Sehnsucht
For those who study or studied literature and specifically German Romanticism this word has always been a subject of discussion. It comes from Old High German and it meant “sickness of the painful craving”. Nowadays it is sometimes translated with “nostalgia”, but in fact it is a nostalgia caused by the unknown something, the Romantic undefined. Nostalgia is the pain of going back, Sensucht instead can be both the pain caused by the craving for something in the future and towards something in the present.

2. Weltschmerz
Literally “the pain of the world”, Weltschmerz is that pain one feels when the real world cannot fulfill our expectations. The term was coined by German writer Jean Paul and instills a pessimistic world view.

3. Torschlusspanik
The literal translation of the term is “closed door panic” and it means that specific anxiety caused by a deadline and the knowledge of the passing of time and the need to act. The closed door is an opportunity and it stands for a missed chance that we could later regret.

4. Fernweh
How to translate this word? We could define this feeling as “nostalgia towards faraway lands”, in which this land is not our own birth land (in which case we would use Heimweh). Fernweh means the desire to pack and leave to discover faraway places to bring in your heart always.

5. Zweisamkeit
When one talks about loneliness, one thinks about a single person, isolated by others. Robert Musil in his “The Confusion of Young Törless” writes about coupledom and affirms that “to be in a couple is nothing more than a double loneliness”. Even spending most of the time with a partner, isolated from the rest of the world, means living in solitude. And yet, the two elements of the Zweisamkeit don’t complain because they feel complete.

6. Backpfeifengesicht
The meaning of this world is much more familiar than you would think. Do you know the kind of people you feel like slapping in the face just by looking at them? From today you can call them with the German term, instead of calling them “faces to slap”.

7. Feierabend
If you are ew in Germany and you just found a job, you will often hear your colleagues saying, “ich mache Feierabend” and you will wonder how come that they go partying every night without inviting you, while you go back home completely knackered. Feierabend in fact means that moment of the day when you can relax and dedicate yourself to something that is not work.

8. Reisefieber
Literally “travel fiever”, it means that anxiety that you feel before travelling, connected to packing and preparing the necessary documents. Not everybody suffers from this, but some will see themselves in the subject who suffers from Reisefieber and arrives at the airport three hours in advance after repeatedly weighing their luggage and checking their documents.

9. Vorfreude
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing said, “To look forward to pleasure is also a pleasure.” Vorfreude means exactly the foretaste of a pleasure that we are waiting for: it means to enjoy our dreams and expectations.

10. Waldeinsamkeit
“Solitude of the forest”, it is that feeling you feel when you walk on your own through a forest. Waldeinsamkeit is a term very dear to the ascetic monastic and to German Romantic traditions that encouraged the reconciliation of man and nature.

Foto di copertina © pixabay.com CC BY SA 2.0

10 German words that every language should have

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They say that the language of a nations reflects its culture and mentality, even more so if there are words that can’t be directly translated in other languages.

 

These are precisely the most interesting words to study or observe with attention because they allow us to really grasp a different culture and norms. So here are 10 beautiful and intricate German words to learn:

#10 SCHILDERWALD

A forest of road signs. So many road signs that you’ll get confused by all the directions indicated and get lost.

#9 KOPFKINO

To have a mental movie going on. Well, to whom did it never happen? Imagining in our head the best and worst scenarios we would say.

#8 LUFTSCHLOSS

In English we would say “to build castles in the air”. Something desired, but far away from reality: a project or idea that can be hardly achievable.

#7 SCHNAPSIDEE

That crazy idea that you will get in a moment of absolute euphoria, at times caused by an excessive consumption of alcohol. Genius ideas that might reveal to be a total disaster or an acclaimed success.

#6 AHNUNGSLOSIGKEIT

The lack of knowledge, opinions, awareness. According to the context it might indicate being naive, ignorant or ingenuity.

#5 FINGERSPITZENGEFUEHL

An immediate awareness and empathy with our surroundings, that allows us to respond promptly and diplomatically.

#4 STREBEN

The origin of the term resides in the German romantic period, when this word indicated the detachment from everyday life to reach that intangible level of perfection. Today the term indicates the effort and determination required to fullfill one’s ambitions.

#3 GEBORGENHEIT

Most of the dictionaries translate this term simply as “certainty”. In reality there are many more nuances that go over and across the meaning of this word: an incredible combination of certainty, protection and intimacy derived from relations with others, in particular your family.

#2 VERSCHLIMMBESSERN

Making a situation worst in the attempt of making it better. Like trying to fix that bad haircut at home on your own..

#1 WANDERLUST

The desire to leave. That uncontrollable itch that makes you want to travel and explore the world, see new places and make new experiences.

————

Are you getting intrigued by the German language or wish to refine your vocabulary? Then take a look at the German courses that Berlino Schule organizes! 

10 indispensable dialectal terms if you are in Bavaria

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A rich region, cities full of history, gorgeous forests, and beer flowing to rivers. These are just some of the reasons why a visit to Bavaria is a must.
Incomprehensible to the profane – even those not fasting from Hochdeutsch, the German standard – Bavarian dialect is an indispensable element to live fully in Munich and the surrounding area. Here, there are newspapers and television broadcasts in Bairisch, which are sometimes hard to understand even for a northern German, and certain terms, at least the basic ones, can be useful for getting in touch with locals more easily. We chose ten of them, just to give you an idea.

 

Medieval greetings: Grüß Gott and Servus.

The Bavarians have their own way to greet each other. Forget the Hallo and Guten Tags that you learned in school and unlock the religious Grüß Gott, literally “greeting God”, but translatable as “good morning” or “hello”. Or, if you want some other feudal suggestion, you can use Servus, literally “slave”. A greeting formula that can be used even to say goodbye to someone.

 

Buam and Madln, ladies and gentlemen.

Sometimes you can find these two terms on the toilet door, and if you miss the pictures, you may get confused. So, better to know that Buam is used for men, Madln for ladies.

Dirndl and Lederhosen: the traditional clothes.

You will have seen them a thousand times, at the Oktoberfest or any in any stereotyped representation of Bavaria, but you never remember the precise name. Well, the Dirndl is the typical gown of the Bavarian (and also Austrian) ladies, while the Lederhosen (which, strictly speaking, is not a dialectical term) are the traditional leather pants worn by the young.

Fesch, or “attractive” or even “fresh”

It is the equivalent of the German standard hübsch. You could, for example, hear it in conjunction with Madl in a phrase like Ja mei, was für ein fesches Madl ! : “What a beautiful girl!”

 

Schmarrn, if someone says nonsense.

The Schmarrn (or Schmarren) is originally a dish (similar to a pancake) but, figuratively, it is also used as a derogatory expression, to mean “nonsense”, when someone is saying something unwise or fake .

 

The equivalent of oder: Gell.

As you may know if you have been living somewhere in Germany, Germans usually used “oder?” or more colloquially, “ne?” at the end of the sentence to stimulate the response of others. It is the equivalent of our “or not?”, “is not it?” Even in this case the Bavarians stand out, and their particle for this function is “gell”.

 

I mog di, or “I like you”.

f you are talking to a Buam or a Madln really fesch and want to declare it, you will need to use these simple words: I mog di, “I like you”. It will not be too hard to remember, given the similarity with the Hochdeutsch, Ich mag dich.

When you leave: Pfiat of.

Probably, in your opinion, you will be accustomed to the classic Tschüß or Hello. In Bavaria, they use as usual a formula that has a religious etymology: Pfiat of, which literally meant “God Protect You”. Anyways it is a nice way to say hello, right?

 

Give your consent: freilich.

Those who live in northern Germany, you will be used to give your consent or approval after a question by using terms like natürlich – of course – or selbstverständlich – obviously, of course. In Bavaria you will need to reset on freilich. A bit of patience.

 

Maß, the Bavarian beer unit.

To what do you think it equates to? One liter, of course. Do not try to get a beer below the Maß, or you might as well not drink at all.

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5 German expressions that you won’t forget easily

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Are you studying the language of the devil and you don’t know to which saint to turn to anymore? No panic! We put together an exhaustive list of common German expressions that you will hardly forget. So close your grammar books and follow us!

 

1. Arschgeige (r. Arsch = ass, e. Geige = violin); literal translation, dipstick / dipshit/ arsehole

The typically German mastery of composing and using of composite words is known throughout the world. Our teutonic hosts have invented all sorts of these, both when sober and under the influence of susbstances. Arschgeige belongs to the second group.

2. Arschbombe (r. Arsch = ass, e. Bombe = bomb); literal translation, cannon ball

We continue the list of composite words with “ass”. And no, it is not referring to the effects of lactose on your flatmate, but to the jumping in the water in a cannon ball.

3. Arschloch (r, Arsch = ass, s. Loch = hole); literal translation, asshole / twat and so on

Yes, if you hear someone calling you an Arschloch you have every right to get mad.

4. Ich habe die Nase voll davon; literal translation, my nose is full / I’ve had enough

From the ass to the nose. This nice and colorful expression is used to describe situations, people, places, things, cities, etc. of which one has had enough of. It is a highly versatile and effective expressive.

5. Null – acht – fünfzehn; literal translation, zero – eight – fifteen

Did you know? Even with numbers you can say so many things in German. Especially if their combination refers to a heavy machine gun used by the German army in World War I. Surely you will have seen it in some documentary or vintage movie, but what you may not know is that in 1914 the infantry’s army’s automatic weaponry was about 12,000 more than the one in the other armies. The Germans were so fond of using the model number as an expression to indicate not an erotic position, but a mediocre person. Evidently the gun did not work very well.

 

Cover Photo: © Nina Helmer CC BY-NC ND 2.0

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Brad Pitt nominated as testimonial of the German language in the world. Here’s why.

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Throughout his career Brad Pitt has been called a lot of things, but surely he missed the title of being “a promoter of the German language”.

When not busy with the big screen or with humanitarian actions, the actor added another talent to his extensive curriculum. We are talking about the nomination to the tile of Sprachwahrer for the year 2014, an initiative promoted by the notorious German newspaper “Deutsche Spachwelt”. The award was given to someone that has demonstrated its dedication to the language, giving it value and merit. We can therefore define them as “language promoters”.

The actor, that has distant German origins, is in fact one of the most famous German scholars as well as a regular visitor of the country. We recall Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds” of 2009 that was shot in the studios of Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam. Estimator of the Teuronic art, he expresses with enthusiasm his passion for the language by saying “I like German, I even find it beautiful and melodious” as reported in Kölner Express.

The title is, however, very controversial and amongst the other formidable contenders we remember: Monika Gruber, the German cabaretist famous for her politically correct linguistic manipulation, Heike Diefenbach and Michael Klein with their battle fought with words and petitions, working towards an ideological and free scientific language. Last but not least Johannes Singhammer, vice-president of the German Parliament, appointed for his tireless actions in promoting the German language.

Amongst the winners of the previous editions we remember the Deutsche Bahn (the German railway), Loriot (a famous German comedian, in 2011) e pope Benedetto XVI (in 2005).

Photo © Red Romero Ramos CC BY SA 2.0

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