Posted on by Peter Rettig

European Travels 1: Rembrandt, Reunion, Dunes, and “Fietsen”...

European travels As we are planning to travel more through Europe in the coming years - mostly after Labor Day - we are starting our European Travels series with this post.
Our travels will typically start in the Netherlands, before or after a Dutch family reunion. Therefore, its subtitle - "Rembrandt, Reunion, Dunes and Fietsen" -  seems quite appropriate!
Traveling to Europe after Labor Day can only be recommended. The trains are not as crowded and the interstate roads - while always busy – don't have the massive tie-ups that often occur during the main travel months in the summer.

We are lucky to be members of an international family that gets together once a year, in late summer or early fall. The reunions take place mostly in cities or villages in the Netherlands, but we've also attended gatherings in Werden, Germany, and in Brugge, Belgium.

These reunions (see last year's 3 Languages, a Pyramid, Napoleon and a Family Reunion) are not only an opportunity to touch base with family members, but they also give us the chance to use and practice our languages.

Frankfurt - Amsterdam

Our flight from Boston to Frankfurt am Main was event-less. As usual, it was easy to pass throughFernbahnhof sign - Gamesforlanguage.com passport control, pick up our luggage, and walk over to the “Fernbahnhof” (long-distance train station) to board our train to Amsterdam.

Frankfurt
has another train station, this one for local trains, as the signage makes quite clear. It's the “Regionalbahnhof,” in case you just want to head into the city. (If you do, our blog post about Michael's visit to Frankfurt may interest you.)

The ICE trains are pleasant and convenient. We learned from one of the daily papers that they are now already in their 4th model series. Normally we like to select a “quiet” compartment after arriving from Europe so we can pick up on some lost sleep. (A quiet compartment is marked by a sign with a man saying "Psst" and a second one that has a cell phone with a line through it.) 

Here's a quick explanation for the three terms mentioned above:
• Fernbahnhof - station for long-distance trains
• Regionalbahnhof - station for regional trains
• ICE  - Intercity-Express (high speed trains that run through Germany and surrounding countries)

Amsterdam

Amsterdam Centraal Station - Gamesforlanguage.com A few hours later when exiting the “Centraal Station” (see left) in Amsterdam, we stepped into bright sunshine and 80 degrees weather. Amsterdam's central train station is an imposing building sitting right on the banks of the Ij river.

The station was designed in the Gothic/Renaissance Revival style by the Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers (1827-1921) and first opened in 1889. Cuypers is the same architect who also designed the building of the Rijksmuseum.

In front of the train station, you're immediately faced with crossing a busy street that takes you over a canal. Our Airbnb was located in the center of Amsterdam, so that's where we needed to go.

Our quarters were only a 12-minute walk from the train station. Our host must have heard our approach as he greeted us before we could ring the bell. The room was in a typical Dutch row house and situated below street level, along one Amsterdam  B&B at Canal - Gamesforlanguage.comof the typical Amsterdam canals. With big windows and a glass door opening to the sidewalk and street, it looked very inviting. The inside was attractively furnished and well equipped.

Our host gave us detailed instructions: how to use the coffee maker, get Internet access, etc. He also explained that the shower and toilet had to be pumped up to the sewer line and that the water level of the canal was less than one foot below our room floor. He hastened to assure us: “Don't worry, it's safe, this building has been here for over 200 years.”

A bottle of red wine was waiting for us as a nice welcome gesture and we enjoyed our two nights there.

Amsterdam is a great city for walking. From Centraal Station to the Rijksmuseum, which is at the other end of the historic center, it's only about a mile.

Dutch bike sign - Gamesforlanguage.com But - you have to really watch out to avoid the bike riders, who seem to attack you from all directions as you try to cross the street. They are clearly a privileged class in the Netherlands. 

One-way streets? They are one-way just for cars. Bikes or mopeds are not shy about taking them in either direction, even with cars heading their way. Often there are signs that expressly make bikes and mopeds “the exception,” as on this typical one-way sign, “uitgezondered” (except) for bikes and mopeds, which can still come towards you.

We'd been in Amsterdam before. This time we stayed only one dayAmsterdam:Eye Film Museum - Gamesforlanguage.com in the city as we were familiar with many of the sights and had done the must-do activities, a canal cruise, the Anne Frank house, Rembrandt House, etc. Our host suggested that we take the free ferry across the Ij river, just on the other side of Centraal Station. We did so the next morning under blue skies, together with a crowd of pedestrians, bikes, and scooters.

The spectacular structure of Amsterdam's Eye Film Institute certainly invited a look, and anyone interested in the cinema and its history will enjoy spending time in there.

Rijksmuseum

Rembrandt's "Nightwatch" - Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam - Gamesforlanguage.comWe spent the afternoon in the famous Rijksmuseum, which had been closed for several years during extensive renovations. We went straight to the Honor Gallery with its masterpieces of the Dutch Golden Age by Rembrandt van Rijn, Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen, Jacob van Ruisdael, and others.

We stood quite a bit of time in front of Rembrandt's “Nightwatch,” one of the most prominently exhibited paintings.

From the available information sheet, we became aware of a lot of details that the casual observer would miss: the chicken hanging from a young girl's belt, the mascot of the guard unit, or Rembrandt's face peering out from behind one of the soldiers. The claws of the dead chicken on the girl's belt represent the “clauweniers” (arquebusiers) and the dead chicken suggests a defeated adversary.

A Family Reunion and a Roman Castellum 

Soest, a small town east of Utrecht was again the location of our Dutch family's reunion. Communication is not a problem because all members speak English and often one or two other languages to boot. We always have fun distinguishing the various German, Austrian, and Swiss or the British, Canadian, and U.S. accents.

One of Ulrike's distant cousins had just moved with his wife and young child from Mexico to Amsterdam, the Netherland's capital city. While both their English was excellent, they spoke no Dutch (yet) and it'll be interesting to see their progress when we see them again. (Maybe next year?)

While my Dutch had improved substantially and I could follow many Dutch conversations, speaking fluently remains a challenge. Nearly all of the Dutch relatives' English is better than my Dutch. Besides, they're eager to practice their English.

We always learn something new about the area or city where the reunion takes place. This time we all went on an excursion to the Castellum Hoge Woerd, in De Meern, near Utrecht. This is a replica of a Roman fort with an exhibit of a recently discovered Roman river barge (below). It took us back to the time the Romans ruled in the area. (see also: http://www.castellumhogewoerd.nl)
Castellum Hoge Woerd, Netherlands - Gamesforlanguage.com

Roman barge - Gamesforlanguage.com The museum is brand new, with free entrance. Interactive displays of Roman life and culture added to the interesting stories of our guide: He imagined what could have caused the sinking of the over 90 feet long barge as the Roman skipper was guiding it down the river. (The river since then has changed its course, and is now called the “Oude Rijn.”)

The river's mud had preserved both the hull and the skipper's tool chest quite well for nearly 2000 years. It made this an extraordinary find and allowed for many speculations about the skipper (a veteran Roman soldier?), his skills as a carpenter, the load the barge might have carried, and his likely connection to the leader of the Roman Castellum. (Did he know him from serving with him earlier?) The barge was found close to the location of the original castle, of which only foundations remained. It was part of the Roman fortification line, the “limes” that stretched across Europe.

These excursions always present wonderful opportunities to talk with family members in the bus, during a coffee break, or when looking at something of common interest!

Fietsen” (biking) to the Dunes

Soest Dunes - Gamesforlanguage.com Soest lies about over 80 miles inland from the coast. Discovering large stretches of sand dunes during a bike trip therefore was quite surprising. (If you are interested in the origin of "fietsen", read our next post: European Travels 2: The Netherlands and the Dutch Language)

The dunes were created by heavy westerly winds during the second to last ice age. (see: “Soester Duinen” Dutch Wikipedia) Later, woods and heath grew around it.

The area is now a nature reserve and a popular place for bike and walking tours. It is also a beautiful spot to just sit and enjoy the stunning natural landscape. Families with children used a brilliant Sunday afternoon to enjoy the beach-less dunes, as you see on this picture.

The Dutch have developed extensive, numberedsenior bikers in the Netherlands - Gamesforlanguage.com bike networks, for which already many apps exist. I downloaded the Android app “knooppunten” (junctions). It lets you plan your trip, provides a map with the bike path and numbers, and gives you various statistics.

On this Sunday afternoon, we saw a wide range of bikers on these bike paths: Families with young children on the parents' bikes or riding in front of them; groups of seniors on a leisurely outing, (see picture right) riding high on their typical Dutch bikes; teams of quite determined looking men in full gear on their racing bikes.

What was quite noticeable for citizens of the U.S.: Except for the men with their racing gear, (and maybe a few of the younger children), none of the bikers wore a helmet!

Canal Cruising

The next stage of our Europe trip this year was a week on the Dutch canals with friends from the U.S. This was the fourth time we were canal cruising in the Netherlands. Gliding through the country side at about 8 miles/hour lets you take in many sights you'll miss when traveling by car – and you can read about it in this post.

Bio: Ulrike & Peter Rettig are co-founders of Gamesforlanguage.com. They are lifelong language learners, growing up in several European countries before moving to Canada and the United States. You can follow them on FacebookTwitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact.

Posted on by Ulrike Rettig

How to Speed up Your Italian Learning with Facebook and Social Media

Gamesforlanguage Facebook PageAs we and others have suggested, setting your phone, tablet, Mac/PC, etc. to the language you want to learn is a great way to increase your daily exposure to that language.

Maybe you're not yet ready to do this for all your electronic gadgets and applications. But, if you're a Facebook user, that's a good place to start. You'll be able to pick up Italian social media terms and pay attention to some Italian grammar forms at the same time. (Gamesforlanguage's Facebook page in Italian, above, left)

SETTING YOUR COMPUTER OR LAPTOP

You easily can set your Facebook language on your computer or laptop (temporarily, if you want) to Italian. On your personal Facebook page, (see mine, below, right) Facebook Page  Ulrikepull down the arrow, top right, click on “Settings” then click on “Language” (left margin).

Beside “What language do you want to use Facebook in?” click on “Edit,” pull down “Italiano,” and Save Changes.

Setting your language back to English:

To get back to English, you just need to do the reverse, but now use the Italian links: Pull down the arrow, top right, go to “Impostazioni” (Settings), then click on “Lingua” (Language).

Beside the question “Che lingua vuoi usare in Facebook?” click on “Modifica” (Edit). Pull down English, and save by clicking on “Salve le modifiche” (Save the changes). “Annulla” means “Cancel.”

Facebook - managing your pages in Italian - Gamesforlanguage.comSETTING YOUR iPHONE/iPAD OR ANDROID DEVICES

On an iPhone or iPad, you have to set the language by going into your iPhone or iPad Settings and change your iPhone/iPad Language. You cannot do it just for your Facebook app, etc. (I imagine that it's similar for Android phones and Tablets.)

Click on Settings, General, Language & Region, and change your iPhone/iPad language to Italiano.

Setting your language back to English:

Go to “Impostazioni” (Settings), then “Generali” (General), “Lingua e Zona” (Language & Region), “Lingua iPhone/iPad” (iPhone/iPad Language), and finally, “English/inglese.”

THE FAMILIAR “TU” FORM

To interact with you, Facebook uses the friendly, familiar “tu” form. For example, “Your pages” is “Le tue pagine.”

Or, see the familiar imperative form. “Describe who you are” is “Descrivi chi sei.” The polite forms would be: “Le sue pagine” and “Descriva chi è.” (See more about the familiar imperative forms below.)

FACEBOOK VOCABULARY

The vocabulary you'll learn by navigating your Facebook page in Italian is both sophisticated and generally useful. Besides, you can learn some basic grammar forms pretty painlessly, simply by seeing them over and over again in a functional context.

Cerca persone, luoghi, e cose - Search persons, places, and things

Trova amici - Find friends

Diario - Timeline (“diary/log”)

Informazioni - About (“informations”)

Altro - More (“other”)

In the Profile (Profilo) section: 

In breve - Intro (“briefly”)

Descrivi chi sei - Describe yourself (“describe who you are”)

Home: (Home)

Modifica Profilo - Change your Profile

Lingua - Language

Preferiti - Favorites

Notizie - News

Pagine - Pages

Gruppi - Groups

Applicazioni - Apps

Seeing a Post and reacting to it:

Reacting to post - Facebook Gamesforlanguage.com

X ha aggiunto - X has added

X ha condiviso - X has shared

X ha aggiornato - X has updated

Mi piace - Like (“I like it/It pleases me”)

Commenta - Comment

Scrivi un commento - Write a comment

Condividi - Share

Rispondi - Reply

Visualizza traduzione - Show translation

Creating a Post:

A cosa stai pensando? - What's on your mind? (“What are you thinking about?”)

Avvenimento importante - Life Event (“important event”)

Managing your Pages:

Le tue Pagine - Your Pages

Crea una Pagina - Create a Page

Gestisci le Pagine - Manage the Pages

Crea un gruppo - Create a group

Nuovi gruppi - New groups

Impostazioni - Settings

Esci - Log out (“leave”)

Centro assistenza - Help (“help center”)

EXPRESSIONS WITH “PIACERE”

To translate “Like,” Italian uses the verb “piacere” for the idiomatic expression “Mi piace” (I like it/I enjoy it, or more literally: It pleases me).

You often hear “mi piace” and variations

“ti piace” (you like),

“gli piace” (he likes), etc. in conversational Italian.

The word “piacere” is also a masculine noun and used in common expressions such as

“per piacere” (please);

“con piacere” (with pleasure/gladly);

“che piacere vederti” (great to see you);

“è un piacere conoscerla” (pleased to meet you);

“fare un piacere a qn” (to do sb a favor), and others.

(Our Italian Quick Game “Mi dispiace” (I'm sorry/I regret) let's you practice a few of the “piacere” variations.)

TWO USEFUL GRAMMAR FORMS

Familiar Imperative Forms

For commands like “find, search, comment, share, view, write, log out” etc., you can learn the Italian familiar imperative forms. It's a fun and easy way to get these forms firmly into your mind.

These take an - a ending (which is also in the infinitive ending):

trovare - trova (to find - find! fam.)

cercare - cerca (to search - search! fam.)

commentare - commenta (to comment - comment! fam.)

creare - crea (to create - create! fam.)

visualizzare - visualizza (to view - view! fam.)

These take an -i ending (with verbs that have infinitive ending of -ire or -ere):

condividere - condividi (to share - share! fam.)

gestire - gestisci (to manage - manage! fam.)

risponere - rispondi (to answer - answer! fam.)

scrivere - scrivi (to write - write! fam.)

uscire - esci (to log out - log out! fam.)

Noun Plurals

Masculine nouns ending in -o:

il gruppo - i gruppi (group)

il commento - i commenti (comment)

il luogo - i luoghi (place; note the plural spelling)

Masculine nouns starting with a vowel:

l'amico - gli amici (friend, m.)

l'informazione - gli informazioni (information)

l'impostazione - gli impostazioni (setting)

Feminine nouns ending in -a:

la persona - le persone (person)

la lingua - le lingue (language)

la pagina - le pagine (page)

la cosa - le cose (thing)

This is just some of what you can do. There are lots more tabs you can pull down, for example the “Informazioni” (About) or the “Altro” (More) tabs.

Or click on other options in “Impostazioni,” (Settings), such as “Notifiche” (Notifications), or “Persone che ti seguono” (Followers/Persons who follow you). One click leads to another and to more Italian.

Since the language is functional and you may already know the English for many of the terms and sentences, you'll be able to easily guess what the Italian means.

Whatever you don't know, you can quickly check against your English Facebook page, or look up online.

Have fun! It's a taste of what immersion in Italian may feel like.

Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of GamesforLanguage.com. She is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, the Netherlands, and Canada. You can follow her on FacebookTwitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact.

Posted on by Ulrike Rettig

German Travel Memories 1 - Michael in Frankfurt am Main

travel memories of Frankfurt a.M.The German Travel Memories expand on our GamesforLanguage travel-story based courses, which use the cities' real street names, places, restaurants, hotels, etc. We visited many of them ourselves and tell you a little more about each German city.   

In future blog posts, we'll provide additional details for each of the cities our young travelers visit in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.

That we chose Frankfurt for Michael's first stop in Germany was no accident: My husband Peter grew up in Bad Nauheim, a small town 20 miles north of Frankfurt. (Skyline of Frankfurt across the Main River at sunset) 

Ken Burns' PBS documentary reminded us recently that Franklin Roosevelt had attended school in Bad Nauheim for several weeks, while his father sought the water cure for his heart condition. (Read our post: Where “Bad” doesn't mean “bad” - Franklin Roosevelt in Germany...)

Visiting Frankfurt? Here's a short introduction to this lively, cosmopolitan German city. We'll also list a few basic terms in German that will help you make your own travel memories.

We'll follow Michael's discoveries in Frankfurt, for those of you who have done or are doing our German 1 course: Michael in Deutschland.

In our travel-story course, you learn daily conversational language. The vocabulary listed here is a combination of some words taught in the course as well as other useful terms.

Quick Facts about Frankfurt

Frankfurt am Main is located on an ancient ford (German: "Furt") on the Main River in the federal state of Hesse.

(There's also a Frankfurt an der Oder, a city that is located on the Oder River in the state of Brandenburg, at the Polish border.)

Frankfurt am Main is the 5th largest city in Germany. Its metropolitan area has a population of over 5 million. The city is an important financial center. Its stock exchange (Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, FWB) ranks among the top 10 stock exchanges of the world. (Frankfurt with the twin towers of the "Deutsche Bank" below)

Frankfurt is also known for its trade fairs, which go back in history to the Middle Ages. The city hosts the world's largest book fair, which takes place annually in October. The first Frankfurt Book Fair was held in 1485. (For further reading)

  • der Fluss - the riverFrankfurt a.M. - Deutsch Bank Towers
  • das Bundesland - the federal state
  • die Grenze - the border
  • die Stadt - the city
  • der Großraum - the metropolitan area
  • die Bevölkerung - the population
  • das Finanzzentrum - the financial center
  • die Börse - the stock exchange
  • die Buchmesse - the book fair

Frankfurt Airport 

Michael is a young student who learned some German at home and later studied it in school. However, this will be his first visit to Germany.

On his flight to Frankfurt, Michael chats in German with the flight attendant and with the woman who sits next to him.

Frankfurt airport is the 4th busiest airport in Europe, after London, Paris, and Istanbul. With its 297 destinations in 104 countries (as of 2015), Frankfurt's airport may have the most international destinations in the world. (Further information)

As Michael goes through passport control, he continues to use his German. Responding to the standard immigration/passport control questions, he has to explain why he is traveling to Germany and how long he will stay. 

  • der Flug - the flightGerman passport control
  • der/die Flugbegleiter(in) - the flight attendant m/f
  • der Flughafen - the airport

die Passkontrolle - the Passport Control (did you notice the "Paßkontrolle" spelling on the picture? If you don't know, which one is correct or why, write as at contact, or comment below and we'll explain.)

  • Sind Sie geschäftlich hier? - Are you here on business?
  • Wie lange bleiben Sie? - How long are you staying?
  • Eine gute Zeit! - Have a good time!

(A few years ago, we made our own travel memories, trying out the dialog of Scene 4, and the officer responded exactly as in our dialog - "Guten Morgen. Sie sprechen Deutsch!" - when I gave him my American passport but greeted him in German.)

Districts of Frankfurt

Frankfurt is divided into 46 districts. The financial center spreads across several districts in and near the inner city.

A little farther out, you'll find a number of residential areas that are still well-connected by subway and tram to the city center and its core, the historical quarter.

Leipziger Straße, where Michael's aunt and uncle live, is a charming street with bistros, shops, and apartments in the residential district called Bockenheim.

Not far from Leipziger Straße is one of the four campuses of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität with its lively student quarter.

(Aerial view of Frankfurt-Bockenheim below, right)

  • der Stadtteil - the (city) districtFrankfurt Bockenheim
  • die Innenstadt - the inner city
  • die Wohngegend - the residential area
  • die U-Bahn - the subway
  • das Universitätsgelände (der Campus) - the campus
  • das Studentenviertel - the student quarter
  • die Kneipe - the pub
  • das Geschäft - the shop

Der Römerberg

Michael's cousin Julia shows him around Frankfurt's historic quarter ("Altstadt").

Römerberg market place - Frankfurt a.M.They walk across the central market square, which is called "Römerberg," (see picture left with Justizia statue) literally translated as "Roman mountain." Curiously enough, the name may have nothing to do with early Roman settlement, which can be documented for the time between 75 and 260 A.D. (or if you prefer, C.E.)

Rather, there are various speculations about the origin of the name "Römerberg." One idea is that the name comes from the presence of Italian merchants that frequented the popular meeting place for fairs and markets during the Middle Ages.

Another is that the square was considered a focal point for celebrations during the Holy Roman Empire (a multi-ethnic empire, which lasted from the early Middle Ages to the early 19th century and included, among others, the Kingdoms of Germany, Bavaria, Burgundy, and Italy.) For more information click here.

Frankfurt was heavily bombed during World War II (1939-1945) and its historic city center was reduced to rubble. Most of Frankfurt was rapidly built up again, but without much attention paid to architectural style.

However, city planning took hold in the 60s and 70s and in the 1980s, some of the buildings in the historic city center were rebuilt in the old style. In 2010/11 a new effort was started, called the "Dom-Römer Projekt," to reconstruct another 35 buildings using old historical plans.

Reconstruction has included the timber-framed houses on the Römerberg, as well as the city hall, called "der Römer." The step-gabled house became Frankfurt's city hall in the 15th century and has been the seat of city government ever since.

(See picture below right of Frankfurt old town.)

  • der Berg - the mountain Frankfurt old town
  • die Römer - the Romans
  • der Römer - Frankfurt's city hall
  • das Rathaus - the city hall
  • das Mittelalter - the Middle Ages
  • die Altstadt - the history quarter
  • der Marktplatz - the market place
  • das Gebäude - the building
  • das Fachwerkhaus - the timber-framed house
  • der Weltkrieg - the world war

If you happen to visit Frankfurt, here is a suggestion for a walk through the Old Town.

Die Zeil

During their walk through the historic center, his cousin Julia asks Michael if he wants to go to the Zeil with her to do some shopping. It's about a 10 minute walk from the Römerberg to get there.

Die Zeil is a well-known, busy shopping street in the center (Innenstadt) of Frankfurt. Its name dates back to the 14th century, when it referred to a specific row of houses. Over the centuries, the street was extented and became a boulevard of palaces, grand buildings in various architectural styles, fine restaurants, and numerous department stores. Many of these were not rebuilt after the second World War.

From 2004 to 2009, the Zeil underwent major renovations, and the Myzeil shopping arcade with its gigantic glass façade was added. It has eight floors and its architecture is stunning.

(See picture of MyZeil shopping arcade below, right)

  • die Zeile - the rowMyZeil - Frankfurt a.M.
  • die Einkaufsstraße - the shopping street
  • der Reiseführer - the travel guide
  • die Renovierung - the renovation
  • das Kaufhaus - the department store
  • die Architektur - the architecture

Das Frankfurter Goethe-Haus

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), Germany's most famous writer, was born and grew up in Frankfurt am Main, then still an Imperial Free City of the Holy Roman Empire.

Goethe got his education from private tutors, with a special focus on languages (Latin, Greek, French, Italian, English, and Hebrew). He loved drawing, and read as much as he could of literature, history, and religion, in books that were in his father's library.

In 1765, at the age of 16, he (reluctantly) began his law studies, at the universities of Leipzig and Straßburg, finishing his law degree in Frankfurt in 1771. During his time as a student, he became close friends with other writers, fell in and out of love, and started writing passionate poetry himself. In 1772, he gave up his law career and left Frankfurt. (

Goethe is probably best known for two works. One is his loosely autobiographical Sturm and Drang novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther" (1774), which he wrote in the course of six weeks. Upon publication, the novel instantly made him world famous. People started dressing and acting like the young Werther. Unfortunately, it also led to some copycat suicides.

Goethe's Italian travel memories ("Italienische Reise") were subject of a New York Times article.

Goethe's other well-known work is the drama "Faust I" (published in 1806). This was a reworking of the old Faust legend - a scholar's pact with the devil - that had been popularized by Marlowe in his "Tragical History of Doctor Faustus" (1604).

The Goethe-Haus (see picture below, right) documents the writer's formative years in Frankfurt. (For further reading about Goethe, click on this Wiki entry

  • der Dichter - the poet, writerGoethe Haus - Frankfurt a. M.
  • die Kaiserstadt - the Imperial City
  • die Bildung/Ausbildung - the education
  • die Sprache - the language
  • die Bibliothek - the library
  • das Jurastudium - the law studies
  • das Gedicht - the poem
  • Sturm und Drang - Storm and Stress (early Romanticism)
  • Die Leiden des jungen Werther - The Sorrows of Young Werther

Michael spends a few more days in Frankfurt. Among the other sites he visits, these may also interest you:

Other Places to visit in Frankfurt

The Archäologische Garten: an archeological museum that includes remnants of ancient Roman settlement.

Frankfurt Cathedral: the city's main cathedral, constructed in the 14th and 15th centuries. Roman-German emperors were crowned here during the time of the Holy Roman Empire.

Haus Wertheim: a timber-framed house on the Römerberg that was undamaged during World War II.

The Alte Oper: the former opera house, built in 1880.

Michael's Next Travel Memories Stop 

Travel memories of Heidelberg - GermanyFrom Frankfurt, Michael takes the train to Heidelberg. There he gets together with a friend he had met in Boston. Read about Heidelberg in German Travel Memories 2 - Michael in Heidelberg.

Register or log in again and continue with the German 1 course. When you reach the Heidelberg Scene you'll also learn the English translation of the town's name.

In Why did Mark Twain like Heidelberg? we further speculate about why Twain stayed in Heidelberg for three months in 1878.

 

Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of GamesforLanguage.com. She is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, the Netherlands, and Canada. You can follow her on FacebookTwitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact.