Posted on by Peter Rettig

"Dimmi quando..." - An Italian Song for Language Learning

Language learning with Tony Renis' "dimmi quando" (Updated 8-25-2017) A previous blog post featured a French song as a prime example for improving one's language skills in a fun way. Some readers asked us about Italian and Spanish language learning songs.

As the Italian song we have selected “Quando, quando, quando”, an Italian pop song with a bossa nova rhythm.

Alberto Testa wrote the lyrics and Tony Renis (see his picture above), who also wrote the music, performed it first in 1962. Click on Tony's YouTube clip, and the original Italian lyrics you'll find HERE.

Pat Boone, Connie Francis, Michael Bublé et al

What made this song so well known, was the fact that “Quando, Quando, Quando” was retained in many languages, although the lyrics were modified and adapted.

Over the years, many artists performed the song in English, including, among others, Pat Boone, Connie Francis, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Michael Bublé, who included it in his album “It's Time” in 2005.

There are well-known versions in German, French, Spanish, and in many other languages, and you can find YouTube clips of quite a few. Click on Michael Bublé's English version here.

Typical Italian

What makes this song a good candidate for language learning - apart from the “ear-worm” refrain – are a few typical Italian constructions and the future forms of several verbs:
dimmi – (tell me!) a word combination of two words “di” (tell!, say!) and “mi” (me), which you may hear quite often in Italy, e.g. in “Dimmi tutto”...
dirmi – (to tell me) similar as above, but instead of the imperative the infinitive.
baciandomi – (while kissing me), again a word combination of “baciando” (a gerund of baciare, for those who care) and “mi”.
the future tense – e.g. “tu verrai” (you'll come), “tu mi bacerai” (you'll kiss me), “attenderò” (I'll wait), “vedrò” (I'll see), “dirai” (you'll say), “lasceremo” (we'll let go), etc.

And I'll bet, once you hear this song a few times and understand the Italian lyrics, certain expressions will stay with you.

And even if you don't care for “Dimmi quando...”, but are trying to learn Italian - find Italian songs you like and use the web to help you translate them. You'll enjoy them even more when you can sing and understand them!

Postscript: I recently came a across the post of a young Polyglot-in-the making. She suggests four simple steps for learning with songs to improve both your listening and speaking (maybe even singing!) skills.
1. Listen!  2. Sing!  3. Translate!  4. Retranslate!
It's fun AND effective and it works for all languages!

Posted on by Ulrike Rettig

Language Building Blocks: Words, Phrases, Sentences in Context

Building blocksNo matter what stage you are in when learning a language, think of "building" your skills, step by step. Words and phrases that you learn in context provide you with "building blocks."

Most people learn a new language to communicate with others.

To really understand a conversation and take part in it, you need more than just words or a series of phrases.

You need to understand how words and phrases connect to create meaning. Nothing does this better than learning language in what the linguist Stephen Krashen calls "comprehensible context."

The Context Helps You Remember

There's another reason for learning language in context. You remember words and phrases much better if you can associate them with a real situation.

Yes, there are ways to create associations to boost your memory. But to do this for every word seems impractical if you want to speak in full sentences.

On the other hand, if you can create a situation in your mind and connect certain phrases with it, you'll have the language ready when you need it.

For example, when shopping in a Spanish speaking country, the following phrases would be very handy: "Estoy buscando ...." (I'm looking for ...); "¿Tiene usted un/una ...?" (Do you have ...?); ¿Cuánto cuesta eso?" (How much does this cost?).

Or a practical example from our FrenchTraditional French soup course where the origin of the “bouillabaisse” is explained: “Pour réussir cette soupe, quand l’eau bout, tu baisses le feu!” (To succeed [with] that soup, if the water boils, you lower the fire [heat])

Now, you may need to learn the verbs, nouns, etc. individually, but will certainly remember them better when you recall the context of this sentence.

Listening to and singing foreign songs is another excellent way to increase your vocabulary, especially if a song's refrain stays with you. (For a post on a German song for learning, click here.)

Build Your Language With All Four Skills

To really absorb a word or phrase, you need to read and write each one of them, in addition to hearing and repeating the sounds.

Small children obviously learn just with spoken language, but don't forget, they'll spend years learning to read and write their first language. The same would be true for fluency in a second or third language.

For adults, reading and writing are highly effective tools for learning and practicing a foreign language. According to a post on the Lifehack blog post: "... it seems that writing anything down makes us remember it better." 

Learning just with audio, leaves you clueless as how to spell many of the words. Should you travel to the country, you may experience quite a few funny or unwelcome surprises.

Grammar Holds Language Together

Learning words and phrases in context also provides another benefit: You'll absorb plenty of grammar without needing to memorize rules. The key is to pay attention. Your brain is wired to figure out and interpret the "grammar" of a sentence.

As a matter of fact, Human Braindifferent areas of the brain seem to respond to various types of sentences.

A study at the University of Rochester suggests that "...humans rely on several regions of the brain, each designed to accomplish different primitive tasks, in order to make sense of a sentence... Depending on the type of grammar used, the brain will activate a certain set of regions to process it."

Just by paying attention, you'll easily notice how the language you're learning is different from English.

For example, things to look out for: Does your foreign language normally drop pronouns?; Are articles used and do they have gender?; How is the word order different?; How do you make a question?; How do you make a negative sentence?

Once you've noticed details like that, you'll see them again and again as you continue to read and practice. Also, when you do look up some rules, they'll start to make a lot more sense.

Intensive and Extensive Learning

It's not a bad idea to alternate short texts that you work with intensively, with reading longer texts rapidly or "extensively," where you only occasionally look up a word.

For a short text you can practice each word individually, listen to it, pronounce it, write it, and pay closeAmelie attention to the grammar.

With a longer text, you would read freely and guess from the context what some of the unknown words mean.

Of course, you also have the option of watching short and long videos, or once you are up to it watch foreign movies.

The more clues the text or the video gives you, the better you'll be able to guess what it's about and the more you'll understand.

Use as many tools as you can for building your language with words, phrases, and sentences that fit together.

It's a great feeling to start taking part in foreign language conversations with friends and new acquaintances!

Posted on by Peter Rettig

"Guten Morgen Liebe Sorgen" - German song for Language Learning

Listening to foreign songs is an excellent way to memorize key phrases and expressions – and having fun with German language learning . Sometimes, you may even start humming and repeating the refrains without exactly knowing the meaning.

In an earlier blog post - 6 Tips for Learning a Foreign Language - we had suggested listening to songs as tip #4, as listening to music and songs can also fuel your enthusiasm for learning a new language.

Language Learning with "Guten Morgen, liebe Sorgen...."

This song was written and first performed by Jürgen von der Lippe in 1987.It's his greatest musical success German language learning with "Guten Morgen liebe Sorgen"...and he sang it for the next 20+ years, with a refrain that is hard to get out of one's mind.For those who don't speak German at all, this YouTube clip provides a (not always correct) translation.

You also may understand why the song is still popular in Germany today. And for those who know some German, similar points as above also apply:

• The refrain both with its perfect (Morgen-Sorgen) and partial (da-klar) rhymes is still an ear-worm.
• Expressions such as “na, dann ist ja alles klar” (well, then everything is ok) can easily be remembered.
• Vocabulary such as “behende” (nimbly), “Schwung” (momentum), “Bettvorleger” (rug beside a bed) you probably won't find in your typical language course.
• German has a lot of little words that add meaning to the message, words which often don't translate literally into English. In a song, these may be exaggerated and stressed, and thus be understood more clearly.
• For example, "schon" (already) in the line "seid ihr auch schon wieder da"; or "na" (well) and "ja" (indeed), in the line "na, dann ist ja alles klar."

Which brings me to this question: Which, in your mind, are the English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish songs that make great tools for someone learning the language? Songs that have a refrain and lyrics that are memorable? Drop us a line to contact@gamesforlanguage.com.

Posted on by Ulrike Rettig

3 Choices in “Disruptive” Language Learning

Disruption "Disruption" by Jean-Marie Dru was published in 1996 and is therefore not a new concept. In educational circles, however, it's a new trend and the education blogger Kirsten Winkler often writes about digital disruption in her blog. 

It's no surprise that language learners are also being impacted by - and by in large are benefiting from - the ever snowballing movement for "disruptive innovation in education." It affects even those of us who are no longer in school or college.

In order to engage with other cultures, to travel, to live or work abroad, many people are eagerly learning a second or third language. Until a few years ago, our options were mostly limited to slugging through a textbook on our own, attending Continuing Education evening classes, hiring a private tutor, or buying expensive language learning CDs and DVDs.

Now with the Internet as a disruptive force, our choices have mushroomed.

INNOVATIVE WAYS TO START OUT

It means, that we can put the large cookie-cutter style language programs aside and have fun with an array of fresh products created by innovative language learning companies.

Anyone learning a new language has to make a start. One way is to learn a series of relevant words or phrases that will be useful forever. And if you want to stick with it, you have to find a way to really engage.

NEWS BASED LEARNING

voxy Another approach is to practice with content that is time- and place relevant - such as daily news articles that interest you. For example, Voxy.com is a platform that uses daily news to create short lessons that you can access from mobile devices any time during the day. At the moment Voxy only offers English for Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese speakers, but more languages are in the works.

CROWD-SOURCED LEARNING

Because it provides easy access to native speakers, this approach has gained popularity quickly. Ideally, with such a program you can pace yourself, learn from live feed-back, and start creating social contacts in your new language.

For example, besides providing free language-learning, Duolingo.com is also a crowd-sourced learning platform. At the moment Duolingo offers 5 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese.

VIDEO CHAT CONVERSATIONS

Skype, and Apple's video chat app called "FaceTime" provide the tools to have live, face to face conversations with foreign friends and language exchange partners. Various companies provide language services using these technologies, but you can also set up conversations on your own!

Go for it!

Not everybody will feel comfortable with these new approaches. For others, these programs are great additions to more traditional learning materials. Users of Internet-based language programs seem to be mostly a younger crowd (which includes the thirty-somethings).

Is that because they have grown up using computers for learning and like trying out things on the Internet? Whatever the reason, new approaches can take the “chore” out of language learning. That’s a good thing. So go for it: Try one way of learning, or try them all. You can’t lose.

Posted on by Ulrike Rettig

How to Speed up Your Spanish Learning With Social Media

Learn Spanish - Yay mediaI've been learning Spanish for about eight months now. After a few lessons with Rosetta Stone (see my blog #3) and the initial 6-week boost with our Spanish 1 course, progress now is slow but steady. Learning a new language means building new skills, gradually.

During the weeks before election, one or the other candidate spoke or had ads in Spanish. I could understand most of these, no problem! I feel that I'm ready to add Social Media to my tools for improving my Spanish further.

30 Minutes a Day

Life is busy, but most days I do manage to squeeze in about 30 minutes of Spanish - 10 minutes here, 5 minutes there. My learning "schedule" is scattered throughout the day. Generally, it consists of:

  • Reading a few pages of my Spanish ebook (at the moment, Zafón’s La sombre del viento) );
  • Playing a couple of Vocabulary Games with sound;
  • Reading Spanish newspaper articles online;
  • Watching a Spanish soap for 10-15 minutes in the evening
  • Doing a couple of grammar exercises from an old fashioned book with my husband over coffee. We chuckle over some of the weird and useless sentences that come up - such as: ¿Cómo come Juan? (How does Juan eat?) and ¿Dónde beben los animales? (Where do the animals drink?)

Social Media for Learning Spanish

It's easy to add Spanish to your Twitter(left) or Facebook feeds. And, you can read the posts when you have a spare moment or whenever you feel like it.

Choices are endless, but they'll all grow your grasp of Spanish and the culture of Spain and Latin American countries. You'll begin to better understand how opinions are formulated, how regional humor is expressed, how discussions are carried on, etc.

12 Social Media Terms in Spanish

So, if you are ready to participate in Spanish on Social Media, here's a start with some basic social media terms:

  • Compartir - Share
  • Conectar - Connect
  • Comentarios - Comments
  • Enviar - Send
  • Escribir - Write
  • Recuérdame - Remember me
  • Seguir - Follow
  • Twittear - Tweet
  • Usuario registrado - Registered user
  • Lo más visto en ... - The most seen on ...
  • Lo más debatido ahora - Most talked about now
  • Lo que hacen tus amigos - What your friends are doing

Once you have mastered some of the basics of a new language, using your Social Media News Feeds is also a great way to foster your motivation. News Feeds let you connect to the topics that interest you and expand your vocabulary in just those areas. Research has shown that learning new words and phrases in context will help you retain and use them more easily.

Posted on by Peter Editor

“Zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen” While Waiting in Line

Grand Place, BrusselsDuring a recent trip to Europe, I realized again that you can "zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen": practice your foreign language skills even while waiting in line. (Can you now guess the translation of the German idiom?)

Waiting has never been one of my particular pleasures, (just ask my sons) but this time I quite enjoyed it!

Grand Place, Moules et Frites, et Gaufres

We were spending a few days in Brussels, marveling at the wonderful “Grand Place” (see image) and city hall, enjoying “moules et frites”, “gaufres” (waffels) with ice cream and strawberries, and hearing all kinds of different languages in the busy streets.

At the end of our stay I needed to get some train tickets for our afternoon trip to Bruges. We were going to meet some of our extended family members there for a family reunion. I was surprised by the long lines at the railway station, both in front of the two ticket machines as well as at the ticket windows.

Getting in line at one of the counters, I asked the man behind me (in French), whether he knew of any other ticket machines in the station. He did not, but we continued our conversation.

British Comedy-Drama set in Bruges

Bruges TowerI quickly earned that he was actually French, not Belgian, and had just visited Bruges as well as Brussels. He was now returning to Paris.

As we were talking about our travel experiences – he gave me some good recommendations for Bruges – and waiting in line suddenly became enjoyable.

He also commented that Bruges was really a worthwhile place to visit – and not at all what the somewhat facetious line in the 2008 British dark comedy-drama (“In Bruges”) implied: “Hell is staying in Bruges forever.” 
 
We had both seen the movie and talked about some of the scenes. (On the left, the Bruges tower, where much of the movie's action takes place.)
 
And when he then complimented me on my French, I remembered a German proverb: “zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen” (literally: to hit two flies with a fly swatter). The equivalent in English is: "to kill two birds with one stone", which seemed to me a very fitting translation in connection with the film.

So, waiting in line, especially in a foreign country, not only lets you exercise your foreign language skills, but it also lets the waiting become more enjoyable – and you may even pick up some good tips and information.

I for one, will start to apply this notion also while waiting in other lines at home.

Posted on by Ulrike Rettig

5 Ways to Build your Vocabulary

German Ballon words screenVocabulary acquisition is an essential part of language learning. Individual words and phrases are the building blocks of communication. Words greatly enhance your communication.

How many words you need for basic, effective communication is up for debate. It depends on the language and the kinds of topics you want to talk about. 

Opinions differ quite a bit. At one end of the spectrum, for example in German, 2000 words can get you started pretty well and provide a good base to build on. [Langenscheidt: Basic German Vocabulary] Near the other end stand 10,000 words as the native vocabulary mastered by a five-year-old who is ready to start school. The bottom line is that you need build your vocabulary!

DictionariesUltralingua

First, keep a dictionary handy. It's the most basic tool for any language learner. You'll use it for quickly looking up a new foreign word you come across, for double-checking the meaning or the spelling of a word or phrase, to search for verb conjugations, or for finding the target language translation of words in your own language.

You'll also want to see common expressions where a particular word shows up. For example, Ultralingua (a sophisticated multilingual translation dictionary) offers these features, and, in addition, you can download iPhone or iPad apps. Having a dictionary on your mobile is really convenient when you're traveling. Such apps contain much more information than the mini-dictionaries I used to travel with.

An excellent online dictionary which I use a lot, even on my phone, is Word Reference. The dictionary is free but uses ads for revenue.

Learning how to use a dictionary takes a little practice. For example, some words have more than one translation, or are used only in specific contexts. Or, some words have associations that you want to be aware of before you use them.

Here are FOUR more tools for building your vocabulary:

Flashcards

Flashcards are a great way to create a base of words and phrases, and you can keep using them to continue building your vocabulary.

Resources abound and they come in all kinds of configurations: Words + Translation; Picture + Written Word; Picture + Written Word + Sound, etc. Some of the programs incorporate spaced repetition, some allow you to add your own vocabulary. A popular flashcard program, to name one, is Anki

Mindsnacks siteLanguage Exercises & Games

Good language exercises and fun games can take vocabulary to the next level. Besides learning new vocabulary, you can practice verb tenses and conjugations, drill subject and object pronouns, learn to build sentences, etc. Besides our own program GamesForLanguage, Mindsnacks is definitely a fun program to try.

Reading with TranslationLingQ site

Once you have a grasp of basic vocabulary and grammar, reading has to be the best way to keep on building vocabulary. When you read a longer text, the same words and phrases will often come up several times.

Depending on your venue, you can get a translation with a click, or by checking a printed translation. With time, you'll get better at guessing the meaning from the context. A versatile program like LingQ provides what cofounder Steve Kaufmann calles "compelling content" - a library of texts and tools for learning.

You can also read foreign language newspapers online and use Google Chrome's Language Immersion feature.

Listening: Podcasts, Audio Books, and Videos

Understanding a stream of foreign words may be the hardest skill to Fre German podcastslearn (besides speaking fluently). The trick is to listen to the same audio many times. Your goal is to hear the words and phrases distinctly, and not as a stream of gibberish.

When listening to foreign language audios, you'll keep hearing words you know. With time and some repetition, you'll start to put them into your long-term memory. But you'll also hear new words and by hearing them in context, you'll learn to understand them.

Learning new vocabulary can be a bit of a chore. The key is to use a variety of tools and make a kind of game out of it. Have Fun!

Disclosure: We have no financial relationship with any of the programs that are linked in this blog post.

Posted on by Peter Rettig

The "French Connection" of 1066

Battlefield of Hastings, England Following up on my previous blog post Everybody speaks English anyways. Really?, and prompted by our visit to the battle field of Hastings (see left), I was wondering about the French Connection. 

After all, the English forefathers had to get used to the French tongue for several hundred years – and there are many similarities between both languages.

A Momentous Event

Our visit to the battlefield in Hastings, England, and to the Tower of London refreshed some forgotten school knowledge.

It also reminded us that the Norman invasion and the victory of Duke William II of Normandy over the English army under King Harold II on October 14, 1066, represented a momentous event during the height of the Middle Ages.

The victory of William the Conqueror, how he is now mainly known, not only resulted in the French-speaking Normans' control of England, but also had tremendous influence on the English language. By imposing the French language on his court and administration, William caused many French words to become part of the English language.

White Tower in LondonWhile the reign of the Normans may have begun with the victory at Hastings, it took much more for them to control the towns and the country side.

William immediately set out to take charge by introducing a series of laws, and building fortifications and castles. One of them, the Tower of London has a long and interesting history.

The White Tower, on the right, gave the entire castle its name and was begun by William already by the end of 1066. It served as royal residence, armory, treasury, as well as home of the Royal mint and the Crown Jewels.

Its location on the Thames and its fortifications which were expanded over the centuries gave it a commanding position to control London and the Thames river traffic.

While French was the language of the nobility in England for about two centuries, English continued to be spoken by the common people.

After King John lost Normandy in 1204, the use of French started to decline and English again became dominant by the beginning of the 14th century. Further, in 1362 Parliament passed a law requiring all lawsuits to be conducted in English.

True and False Cognates

Laura K. Lawless on about.com estimates that about 10,000 French words were adopted into the English language during the nearly 300 years following the Norman invasion, and that ”English speakers who have never studied French already know 15,000 French words.” She also compiled a list of 1,700 words – true cognates – that you can access with the Vrais Amis link.

There are also plenty of “false cognates.” When learning another language it's often quite helpful to also study the false cognates. Not knowing their meaning in the foreign language can lead to embarrassing moments. You can take a look at the Faux Amis, the French-English false cognates .

Learn French Easily

For English speakers who want to learn French, there are many online resources available today. (For obvious reasons we like our own French 1 course.)  In one of our next posts we'll discuss various online programs that let you improve your vocabulary and/or learn French (or other languages).

And - just maybe - a reminder of the close connection between English and French will motivate some English speakers to give French another try.

FREE French Language Games and Courses

And, if you want to learn or practice some French, just click on the FREE (no registration required!)  French Language Games, see how much you already know, and check back from time to time for new ones and, please, SHARE us with your friends.

And don't forget: You can practice French online for FREE with our 36-Scene travel story "Daniel en France" HERE.

Like Gamesforlanguage, Lingohut is also completely free with over 100 vocabulary lessons!

Other Language Learning Resources

We recently discovered a very effective app for learning French: MosaLingua. There are currently iOS and Android Apps, with a MosaLingua Desktop App for PC, Mac and Linux users just launched. You can also try out the "Lite" version for FREE! We like the apps a lot and are currently using them ourselves. Read Ulrike's Review HERE.

Disclosure: The MosaLingua links above are to a partner's program with revenue sharing, should you subscribe or buy. We would receive a small payment, which helps us to keep our site ad free.

Posted on by Peter Rettig

Traveling Abroad - “Everybody speaks English anyway”- Really?

Traveling by plane - Gamesforlanguage.comMany Americans and for that matter many natives of other English speaking countries (Ireland, UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) often feel that the effort of learning another language is just not worth it: “Everybody speaks English anyway” is a not uncommon excuse.

How about you, when you travel abroad?

Essential Vocabulary

The fallacy of this notion becomes evident as soon as your travels take you off the beaten path. Knowing at least a few basic words becomes a matter of necessity when you’re looking for the bathroom or a street or place to stay.

Admittedly, traveling with a guided tour group as part of an all inclusive package greatly reduces such necessity. But the inability to communicate in the local language may also limit your travel experiences.

Several years ago, we traveled to China as part of a professional delegation. We had prepared ourselves diligently with audio courses (though for obvious reasons, learning to read and write Chinese was way beyond our efforts to prepare for the trip).

Our audio lessons had included Chinese numbers, and thus we were able to “negotiate” in Mandarin during our visits to various markets. We also found other basic vocabulary very handy, when asking for directions, requesting a restaurant bill, or asking how much something costs.

A snake in a bottle on the Li River

Li RiverLater on during a boat cruise down the Li River (see photo left) we encountered a travel group from Rome.

After we had quickly determined that our Italian was much better than their English, we had a long and very enjoyable Italian conversation with two of the couples.
 

We told them about our recent stay in Rome, they told us about a trip they took to New York and plans to visit the Grand Canyon sometime in the future. Having the vocabulary to talk about travels was a huge asset.  

snake bottleWe were all deliberating whether to dare a drink from an ominous looking bottle (see photo) with a dead snake in it, but for good reasons we finally decided against it.

Which illustrates another point: When traveling you may meet people who will also speak your second (or third) language. And for many people who travel, the ability to communicate in a language other than their own will create memories that last.

“Assassins et Assassinés”

Our recent trip to England just reminded me again how much more you can get out of traveling when you understand (and ideally also speak) the local language.

While sitting in a pub or joining a walking tour through a city, you pick up tidbits of information that would elude you otherwise. Obviously, it was easy for us in London where we learned much on David Tucker’s (the co-owner of “London Walks” and author of “London Stories”) “Shakespeare’s and Dickens’s London Walk.”

Père Lachaise, Paris - Gamesforlanguage.com However, several years ago we joined a French tour at the Père Lachaise cemetery (see photo left) in Paris. Our guide was the well-known “Nécrosophe” Bertrand Beyern and we visited the graves of “Assassins et Assassinés” (Assassins and Assassinated ones).

Not only was the walk fascinating and funny, but we learned a lot about Paris history and events at the same time. Not to mention that Bertrand’s stories nicely stretched our French vocabulary. Both the London and Paris walks made us realize how differently humor is expressed in each language.

Which brings me to the conclusion: Not everybody speaks English, and the most memorable events of a trip often don't happen in English, they happen in a foreign language!

Posted on by Ulrike Rettig

Cool German Idioms 2 - beißen

apple - Gamesforlanguage

Some idioms with "beißen"

in den sauren Apfel beißen
(literally: to bite into the sour apple)
to bite the bullet
 
die Farben beißen sich
(literally: the colors bite each other)
the colors clash
 
ins Gras beißen
(literally: to bite into the grass)
to bite the dust

den letzten beißen die Hunde
(literally: the dogs will bite the one who is last)
the last one's left holding the bag
 
ein Rätsel (a riddle):
Was hat sieben Häute und beißt alle Leute?
What has seven skins and stings all people?
Antwort (answer):
die Zwiebel (the onion)
 

The German letter ß vs ss

Maybe you are wondering about the German letter "ß", also called Eszett "sz" or Scharfes-S.
In a spelling reform in the early 90s, the use of the "ß" vs. the "ss" was simplified.

It is now much easier to remember: after a short vowel or Umlaut you'll find "ss".
Examples are: müssen, küssen, lassen, fassen, Tasse, Kasse, Riss, Biss, etc.

After a long vowel (or double vowel) you'll find a "ß".
Examples are: beißen, heißen, genießen, Maß, Straße, Fuß, Gruß, etc.

We came across this change during a trip from Stralsund to Usedom - Exploring 2 German Baltic Islands, when we realized that the town "Saßnitz" on the island of Rügen, changed its name in 1993 to Sassnitz (short "a") in accordance to the new rule!  Leave it to the Germans to also spell town names grammatically correct!

 
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