HGS Languages

German Proverbs

Andere Länder, andere Sitten.

• Translation: Other countries, other customs
• Meaning: Foreigners have different customs [which may be perfectly normal there]
• Similar: When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Angst verleiht Flügel.

• Translation: Fear lends wings.
• Meaning: Fear will make you do things you would deem impossible in a different situation.

German Phrase of the Week

• Freunde in der Not, gehen 1000 auf ein Lot.
  • Translation: In time of need, 1000 friends shrink to a lot (16.5 grams).
  • Meaning: In bad times you have very few friends.
  • Equivalent: A friend in need is a friend indeed.
  • Equivalent: Remember man and keep in mind: A faithful friend is hard to find.

Language Trips!

   

 

Welcome back to most of year 7 who spent last week in Albert, Cologne and Barcelona practicing the language skills they had picked up this year and discovering the cultures of their chosen European country.  Reports to follow!

German Phrase of the Week

Stadtluft macht frei.

• City air makes you free.
• Meaning: In medieval times peoples living in free cities were free from a sovereign. They were not bond-slaves like the people in rural areas. So living in a city - ´breathing city air´- meant to be free from bond-slavery to a sovereign. People living in cities could express their own opinion without being harassed. If people escaped to a free city and lived there for one year and one day, they were free of any previous bond to a sovereign.

German Phrase of the Week

Setz nicht alles auf eine Karte.

• Translation: Don't bet on only one card.
• English Equivalent: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

German Phrase of the Week

Rom ist auch nicht an einem Tag erbaut worden.

• Rome wasn't built in a day.
• Meaning: If you aim high, allow time.

German Phrase of the Week

• Jedem Narr gefällt sei' Kapp.
  • Translation: Every jester likes his hat.
  • Meaning: Personal tastes differ.

Zungenbrecher

Es grünt so grün, wenn Spaniens Blüten blühen.

It turns so green when the flowers in Spain flower.
(The German version of "The rain in Spain falls
mainly in the plain" from "My Fair Lady.")

German Phrase of the Week

• Probieren geht über studieren.
  • Lit. translation: Trying is worth more than studying.
  • English equivalent: The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

German Phrase of the Week

• Nur tote Fische schwimmen mit dem Strom
  • Translation: Only dead fish swim with the stream
  • Meaning: People who do not possess willpower and individuality will simply follow the majority, doing what everyone else does, without thinking.