wort der woche: das treppenhaus

Treppenhaus is one of scores of German compound nouns, that is a noun made up of two or more nouns. Treppe means stairs and Haus means house. Put together they describe the hallway of a building shared by multiple occupiers. If the building has several Klingelknöpfe (doorbells) then you can expect to walk into a shared Treppenhaus on entering the building.

In many old town houses which have been divided up into apartments the Treppenhaus might contain several lockable letterboxes. The Briefträger (postman/woman) can then easily deliver mail to all the residents of a large house without having to climb five or six sets of stairs in each building.

Another feature of German Treppenhäuser is the light switches. There is a light switch on each landing so that anybody entering or leaving the building can switch on the stair lights. After two minutes the lights then go off automatically, saving electricity and cutting down on waste. Legendary German efficiency.

Elegant art nouveau staircase in Vienna

german and english words 1

German and English words can sometimes look quite similar. Look at these German words and see if you can guess what they mean in English. Scroll down the page when you have had a go and see if you were right.

1.    hier
2.    das Bier
3.    der Wein
4.    der Sommer
5.    die Zigarette
6.    der Hund
7.    das Papier
8.    lang
9.    braun
10.  der Fisch
11.  das Insekt
12.  das Schwein
13.  der Garten
14.  die Lampe
15.  das Bad
16.  die Idee
17.  die See
18.  der Balkon
19.  das Feld
20.  das Gras
21.  der Kanal
22.  der Reis
23.  der Honig
24.  der Traktor
25.  der Apfel

1.   here
2.   the beer
3.   the wine
4.   the summer
5.   the cigarette
6.   the dog (hound)
7.   the paper
8.   long
9.   brown
10. the fish
11. the insect
12. the pig (swine)
13. the garden
14. the lamp
15. the bath
16. the idea
17. the sea
18. the balcony
19. the field
20. the grass
21. the canal
22. the rice
23. the honey
24. the tractor
25. the apple

How did you get on? Did you notice that if you are trying to work out the English meaning of a German word you might only need to change one or two letters? Sometimes the English word is very old - like swine and hound.

wort der woche: mohnbrötchen

If you happen to be in Germany for breakfast and are offered Mohnbrötchen then snap them up. They are tasty white bread rolls (Brötchen) sprinkled with poppy seeds (Mohn) and are often eaten at breakfast spread with jam (Marmelade) or Nutella. Many Germans prefer a savoury start to the day and take their Brötchen with ham (Schinken) or cheese (Käse). In Austria and southern Germany these rolls are known as Semmel.

As well as Mohnbrötchen you may see weiche Brötchen on the menu. These are soft rolls and much easier to chew. What do you think is sprinkled onto a Sesambrötchen?

Can you spot any of these delicious morsels in the picture below?

Orangensaft
Käse
Müsli
Tee
Kaffee
Joghurt
Honig
ein gekochtes Ei
Tomatensaft
Knäckebrot
Äpfel

willy puchners farbenlehre

The Austrian artist and illustrator of children's books always has his paints at hand on his travels round the world. You can see more of his fascinating creations on the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung website.

wischi wischi waschi wischi

Once heard, never forgotten, this foot-tapping tune will keep your hands busy as you try to remember which part of your body you are supposed to be washing next!

Winterwetter auf Rügen

Es ist sehr, sehr kalt im Winter. Das Meer friert und es schneit sehr viel.

Rügen

Rügen is Germany's largest island. It lies in the Baltic Sea near the northeastern province of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The island has been popular with visitors since bathing became fashionable in the nineteenth century.

Painter Caspar David Friedrich's picture Kreidefelsen auf Rügen made the chalky white cliffs on the island famous and today there are numerous seaside resorts around the island. The cliffs at Rügen are as high as 161 metres above sea level (about as high as the Blackpool Tower) and you can follow a clifftop coastal path to enjoy wonderful sea views and enjoy some delicious German fare in the Waldhalle Gaststätte.

Weiße Felsen auf Rügen

Caspar David Friedrich's painting: Kreidefelsen auf Rügen

Gasthaus Waldhalle

Brauner Bär by Eric Carle

This wonderful book by Eric Carle is great for helping children learn the names of colours and animals in German and makes a marvellous resource for a performance poem.
The book can be read aloud and repeated by children as young as seven, and my Year 3 class have thoroughly enjoyed repeating the words and taking on different roles, as well as creating some original artwork for the different creatures in the book.
Take a look at the pictures and see if you can match them up to the words below:
      weißer Hund
      goldener Fisch
      lila Katze
      gelbe Ente
      brauner Bär
      roter Vogel
      blaues Pferd
      grüner Frosch
      schwarzes Schaf

In meinem Koffer

Unscramble these words to find items to pack in your suitcase. Click on the pdf icon to link to the puzzle.

Clothes.pdf Download this file

Puzzled Pets

Can you solve this crossword? Small reward if you print it off and bring it to me at school! Click on the pdf icon to link to the puzzle.

Pets.pdf Download this file