Monthly Archives: February 2015
Word of the Day: Baumwollspinnerei
Today my students and I journeyed to one of the must-see sites in Leipzig: the Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei. The site bears ample witness to Leipzig’s historical importance as a center for German industry. A Baumwollspinnerei is a “cotton spinning plant.” The Leipzig Baumwollspinnerei dates from 1884. … Continue reading
Words of the Day: besser als Wien
So a quick preposition question for anyone reading who is fluent in German. What is the right preposition to use when you want to say that something is “better than _____”? My German dictionary makes me think that als is the … Continue reading
Word of the Day: Vaterlandsliebend
Vaterlandsliebend means “love of country,” and it’s the word I chose after our visit yesterday to the Monument to the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlachtdenkmal) in Leipzig. At various points during our visit I thought that the monument might better be labeled monument … Continue reading
Word of the Day: evolutionäre Anthropologie
Yesterday was extraordinary. Before coming to Leipzig I had heard many good things about the local zoo. Suffice to say that our time at the Leipzig Tiergarten surpassed all my expectations. It’s not going too far to say that after over … Continue reading
Words of the Day: Tag out des Jungen
I’m going to risk being wrong with today’s Words of the Day, my attempt to translate the English phrase “Boys’ day out” into some sort of German equivalent. I’m confident that the genitive plural Jungen is correct, but German confounds the … Continue reading
Word of the Day: städtischen Geschichten
This afternoon I had the pleasure of taking my first real “ramble” in Leipzig. I love rambling. When I don’t have so many kids to take care of (my own, not my college students) I dream of doing long weekend … Continue reading
Word of the Day: übersetzen
It’s been a while since I’ve posted any reflections on the German language. There is one in particular I’ve been considering the last few days. Recently I began reading a wonderful book by Stephen Pinker, The Sense of Style: the Thinking … Continue reading