Ben und Ian sprechen über Filme

Ben has sadly left and we're missing him already. But before he went we recorded a few new podcasts so we'd have something extra to remember him by: the general topic this week is films, but as ever we ramble around a bit! Enjoy!

We'll post the other recordings over the next couple of weeks.

Click on the title to listen or right-click and "save as" to download.

So long and thanks for all the fish

Fellow Shimnaens,

It is time Abschied zu nehmen. Having Andrea Bocelli's song stuck in my head, I'm writing my very last entry as a Foreign Language Assistant of Shimna Integrated College. It is time to pass on the torch to another German, who will hopefully at least half as motivated and devoted as I was (I think we will all agree that you cannot find a person with the same qualities (or flaws) like myself). Es hat mir sehr viel Spaß gemacht and I hope that I taught all of you well and that you got a bit more interested in both German as a language and German culture. This picture may be a reminder of my odd but nontheless high quality jokes:
It's been a blast for me and I'll leave Northern Ireland with fond memories.


Take care and good bye


Ben

Even more Munich photos!

This is probably the final instalment!

View of BMW-Welt from the Olympiapark:

Dachau town (much prettier than the concentration camp!):


That's about all our best photos - if you were on the trip and have any snaps you'd like to see here, pass them on to your German teacher! Everyone had a great time, practised their German and gained a really good appreciation of German history and culture.

Jahresschau

Ich bin auf diese Seite gestossen. Auf ihr kann man die letzten 60 Jahre von Deutschland in 15 minuetigen Videos nachverfolgen.

Viel Spass


http://www.60xdeutschland.de/

Ben und Ian: Gesundheit!

A third podcast from Ian and Ben, this time discussing health issues. Suitable for advanced learners. Click on the post title to listen, or right-click and "save as" to download!

Viel Spass!

More Munich photos!

Im Hofbräuhaus:

Die Blaskapelle:

Auf dem Viktualienmarkt:

Das Olympiastadion:

Ian und Ben: Kultur!

Another podcast, slightly later than we had planned to post it! Another one next week!

Enjoy!

click on the title to listen (right-click and "save target as" to download!)

München Fotos!

Here we are outside the Bayern München training grounds:

and here are Bayern München training:

This is Bismarck outside the Deutsches Museum:

and this is the groovy water sculpture inside the Deutsches Museum:

Watch this space - more to come later!

Ian and Ben talk about Transport

In a new podcast series, Ian and Ben have chats about issues which are (loosely) connected to A-level topics: all intermediate/advanced learners of German should find something if interest here. We'll post a new one every couple of weeks or so!

Today's topic is Transport.

click on the title of this post to listen, or:

http://www.shimnacollege.org.uk/german/Transport2.mp3

Shimnagerman on Twitter!

Now we're tweeting away!

www.twitter.com/shimnagerman

Montanalingua III - The Revenge of Montanalingua!

Zum dritten Mal kehrten wir zurück nach Greenhill YMCA um abenteuerliche Aktivitäten zu erleben, alles in der deutschen Sprache, und mit Hilfe von den vielen echten Deutschen, die dort oben in Greenhill leben!

Es hat viel Spaß gemacht, und wir haben viele wichtige und interessante neue Wörter gelernt!

Dibborsch ÄLA

Guten Tag liebe Shimnaner,

It is time for yet another blog entry. This time it is all about Fastnacht (Fas(s)enacht, Karneval etc.), Carneval. Alongside other countries -the most famous being probably Brazil and Spain- Carneval is celebrated in many parts of Germany. It depends very much on the region; You would find it being celebrated mostly in the southwest of Germany. The town I grew up in doesn´t celebrate Fastnacht very much, the neighbouring town, Dieburg, however, does not only celebrate it but actually has the carneval club (KarnevalsVerein Dieburg) with the most members in Germany.

The Fastnachtszeit starts on November the 11th at eleven past 11 (So 11th of 11th month at 11:11, can you spot the pattern? ;-) ) and ends in February just before the Fastenzeit (the lent), which starts on Aschermittwoch (Ash Wednesday). During that time there are lots of Karnevalssitzungen (carneval`s session), in which you have Karnevalsmusik (oompah oompah music), dances (traditionally dancers are called Funkenmariechen) and jokes, whose quality is debatable.

The weekend before Aschermittwoch is the highlight of what is sometimes called die Fünfte Jahreszeit (fifth season). People, even adults, dress up and go to parties or just meet in the street to celebrate Strassenfastnacht (carneval in the street). On Tuesday or Monday, depending on where you are, Fastnachtsumzüge (processions) take place, where people, who are dressed up, walk through the streets and throw sweets, Kamelle, for the children to catch or to pick up . Originally used to welcome the spring, Karneval now is used to celebrate on last time before the fasten starts. So people use their last chance, Faschingsdienstag (shrove tuesday, which some of you might know as pancake tuesday) to enjoy the thing they want to give up for lent to the fullest.

To set themselves apart from other towns, you have a special way of greeting eachother. In Köln it would be "Kölle Alaaf", in Düsseldorf "Düsseldorf Helau" and in Dieburg, the town i went to school, "Dibborsch Äla"


So have a nice term break and Dibborsch ÄLA