A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN OBJECTS

I would like to recommend you the fascinating series by BBC about the 100 objects contributed by the British Museum, London and which

narrates the history of the world. Open the website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/explorerflash/#/contributor/137/

and now use the scroll bar on the right hand side to choose a date/period you want to know more about. Pictures of objects appear and

you should choose one of them for more detailed information to appear. On the left hand side you can see another filter window.

I, for example, wanted to know more about “THE ADMONITIONS SCROLL”, one of the most important paintings in the world which

embraces three different art forms, painting, poetry and calligraphy. It’s in fact known as the admonitions by the instructress to the

courtladies. It’s an ancient guide of maners and above all of morals. I recommend you heartily to download the listening comprehension.

Here is the link with the detailed information.admonition The poem was originally written approximately 290 AD to reprimand the

empress Jia.

After having read the transcript or listened to the audio you can play the following game I’ve developed.

On the left hand side of the cards you have the first part of the sentences and on the right hand

side there is the second part. Try to match the sentences!BRITISHMUSEUM

I also add a vocabulary list  in English/German/Italian which should help you to understand the transcript of “THE ADMONITIONS SCROLL”Historyofvocabulary

BERLIN/KaDeWe

Hier seht ihr zuerst das Bundeskanzleramt.

Auch von mir zu Berlin:http://www.langedi49.ch/langedi49/exercises_D_2.html

Vielleicht wollt ihr zuerst einige Fragen zu Berlin beantworten.

NUN ZUM KaDeWe -KAUFHAUS DES WESTENS

Da wir uns momentan in unserern Deutschtstunden über Berlin und das Einkaufen unterhalten,

habe ich nach einem Video gesucht, das uns einen Einblick in das zweitgrösste Kaufhaus Europas,

das KaDeWe, gibt.

Ich fand dieses Video von Nico sehr lustig auch, wenn ich bei weitem nicht alles verstehe. Nico

möchte auf jeden Fall ein Experiment machen. In der 6. Etage des Kaufhauses gibt es eine Art

Luxussupermarkt und dort oben möchte Nico satt werden, ohne einen Cent zu bezahlen und dies

ungeachtet, ob er den Verkäufer/innen auf die Nerven geht. Seht selbst, ob Nico sein Ziel erreicht.

Ich habe auch ein Arbeitsblatt entwickelt und bitte euch, wie folgt vorzugehen.

Nico im KaDeWe, posted with vodpod

Weissrussland/Belarus/Witebsk

Im Stadtpark Mark Chagall mit Geige

Meine Kollegin, die in Minsk an der Belorussischen Staatlichen Universität, der ältesten Universität von Weißrussland, Deutsch

unterrichtet, hat mir angeboten, Arbeiten ihrer Studenten zu deren Land bei mir auf dem Blog zu veröffentlichen. Ich fand diese

Idee ganz toll und denke, dass wir so einige Neuigkeiten erfahren können.

(Bei dass Sätzen muss man das Verb an den Schluss des Satzes setzen. Als Letztes das Modalverb. Nelle subordinate con dass i

verbi in ultimo.

In subordinates with dass you have to put the verbs at the end.)

Zuerst noch kurz zur Universität:

Sie wurde 1921 gegründet und es gibt 17 Fakultäten.Das Studium an der Universität dauert fünf Jahre lang. Zweimal im Jahr,

im Januar und im Juni, legen die Studenten die Prüfungen und Zwischenprüfungen in verschiedenen Studienfächern ab. An der

Uni studieren auch die jungen Leute aus den GUS-Ländern, China, Turkmenistan usw. Die Studenten werden an der Fakultät

für internationale Beziehungen ausgebildet, sie studieren Fremdsprachen. Am Ende des Studiums werden sie Dolmetscher/

Übersetzer mit 2 Fremdsprachen: Englisch

(die 1. Sprache lernen sie in der Schule und dann weiter an der Uni) und Deutsch  (die 2. Sprache lernen sie an der Uni  nur

während 2,5 Jahre.)

Hier ist nun die erste Arbeit von Olja Lapschina, der ich hier herzlich danke.

Ich habe hier unten einige grammatikalische Erklärungen auf Italienisch und Englisch beigefügt,

sowie des Wortschatzes. Orange ist immer Engslisch und violett

Italienisch.

 

Witebsk: die geliebte Heimatstadt (L’amata città natale /home town)

Es gibt immer einen Ort im Leben jedes Menschen, der besonders beliebt ist. Wenn man dort wohnt, und besonders wenn man dann entfernt davon ist, hat man das besondere

Gefühl zum Ort.

Man erinnert sich an hervorragende Momente, die man  im Ort erlebt hat und diese Erinnerungen bleiben in dem Menschen für immer.

(Hier haben wir zwei Relativsätze. Der bezieht sich den vorausgehenden Ort und die auf Momente. Qui abbiamo due frasi

relative. In italiano si userebbe che che siriferisce a luogo/Orte Momente/momenti. Here above we’ve got two relative sentences.

In English we could say that/which – for objects-and refer to places and moments.

IRAN

My friend Roesemarie was so kind to write a  summary of her  very execptional trip to Iran.

At the bottom of the page there are also some vocabulary explanations and ranslations into German and Italian.

It would be great if you partecipated in the following poll.

 

This picture from the Nasir al Molk mosque in Shiraz gave me goose pimples so I just had to put it first!

I’ve explained certain vocabulary and translated into German and Italian:

I was determined to visit Iran despite the many objections from my friends and family and the mostly negative news which reach us

daily on its political situation.  I was driven by my curiosity.  Who were these ancient and legendary people who once populated this area? 

Who were the poets who chanted its beauty, the love for nature, the search for love and the sense of being?  Where were those magic

places named Shiraz, Isfahan, Hamadan, Yazd, Persepolis?

CHRISTCHURCH

Christchurch/map/interactiv

The following article is in English with vocabulary explanation in English, German and Italian.

The folgende Artikel ist auf Deutsch mit Worschatzerklärungen auf Englisch, Deutsch und Italienisch.

Il seguente articolo è in inglese con spiegazione di vocaboli in italiano, tedesco e inglese.

I know that you’ve all heard about the terrible earthquake by which Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island New Zealand, was struck (explanations of how to use this

word see below) on 22 February  2011 and that due to this catastrophe many people died and  many buildings were destroyed. Some parts of the city still seem to be without

drinking water or electricity.

Christchurch is a very nice city and has approximately 350’000 inhabitants. There are beautiful parks and excellent schools and the cosy tramway usually takes you on a

sightseeing tour around the city.

Unfortunately, the very famous ChristChurch Cathedral, which was built in the 19th century and  finished in 1904 has been very badly damaged. Its spire which reached 63 metres

above Cathedral Square  is in ruins and left only the lower tower standing.  The many buildings nearby are also ruined. The cathedral is in the centre of the city and is surrounded by

Cathedral Square. The tower had offered a good view over the centre. The cathedral also had a very impressive organ. I only hope that it still exists.

Last but not least the cathedral used to be the best known and most visited building in New Zealand!

What’s the name of the capital city of New Zealand?

I’m sorry for all this and  wish youl  good luck!

Hier noch ein Link zu einem Artikel auf Deutsch:http://www.focus.de/panorama/welt/christchurch-bisher-145-erdbebenopfer-in-neuseeland-geborgen_aid_603590.html

Worksheet:Christchurch

EGYPT/ÄGYPTEN/TUTANKHAMUN

DEUTSCH: SIEHE UNTEN

Artikel mit Wortschatzerklärung  auf Englisch und Italienisch und Grammatik/Passiv/Nebensätze: Ab A2-B1

First of all, let’s hope that we can soon return to this fascinating country! Speriamo tanto di poter presto ritornare in questo paese affascinate! Hoffen wir, dass wir bald in dieses faszinierende Land zurückkehren können!

All around the world many people are worried about the situation in Egypt and very sorry also for the pillages that have lately occurred  at the Egyptian Museum of Antiquity in Cairo.

That museum can be compared with the Louvre in Paris and it contains many very important pieces of ancient Egyptian history.

It houses, for example, the world’s largest collection of  Pharaohnic antiquities and the many treasures of the Pharaoh TUTANKHAMUN of the 18^th dynasty. The current museum is

in Tahrir Square where many actual protests are taking place.

It was Howard Carter an English  archeologist who is known as the primary discoverer of  Tutankhamun’s tomb on 4 November 1922. Carter’s water carrier seems to have found

the steps leading to the tomb. It was by far the best preserved and most intact pharaohnic tomb ever found in the Valley of the Kings.

When Carter  and his companions arrived they made a „tiny breach in the top left hand corner“ of the door and by means of

a candle they could see that the gold and ebony treasures were still in order. Inside the tomb there was a large collection of artefacts, which should accompany the pharaoh to the

hereafter. There were weapons, ivory, alabaster and gold bracelets, necklaces or other decorative jewellery. They found the famous chest with the green gem in form of a scarab

and with the eye of Horus in the middle and above all the  famous GOLD MASK in the burial chamber. In that room there were murals all over. Carter had never seen anything

so magificent like that.

When Tutankhamun came to power he married his half sister and they had two daughter, both stillborn. During his reign he lifted the ban of Amun (God) and traditional privileges

were restored and the capital was brought back to Thebes.

Scientists still do not agree on Tutankhamun’s reason of death. Did he die at the age  of nineteen because he was suffering from malaria or maybe  because there used to be incest

or was he poisoned? However, the latest scans show that he had many broken bones  and that one leg got infected. Scientists suppose that he may have fallen from his wagon due to a fight.

Click on this link and you can, for example

-read the article

-and then listen to it and at the same time do a drag and drop exercise TUTANKHAMUN

I would like to end this comment in English with a little bit of grammar:

This is a link to the New York Times about Ëgypt:http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/egypt/index.html

Arbeitsblatt/worksheet

SOME SENTENCES TO THE PASSIVE

Passive present	Passive perfect	Passive simple past	Passive future
The Tutankhhamun tomb is found by Howard Carter.	The Tutankhamun tomb has been found by Howard Carter.	The Tutankhamun tomb was found by Howard Carter in 1922.	The Tutankhamun treasures will maybe be destroyed.

 

SOME SENTENCES TO THE CONDITIONAL

FACT	HIGH PROBABILITYpresent tense	LOWER PROBABILITYpresent tense	CONDITIONAL IN THE PAST
If  the Golden Maskis in the museum, they steal it.	If the Golden Mask is in the museum, they will steal it.	If the Golden Mask was in the museum, they would steal it.	If the Golden Mask had been in the museum, they would have stolen it.

Ich  habe auch gelesen, dass die Ägypterinnen durch diese Revolution eine neue Position in der Gesellschaft erreicht haben. Und DW hat einen Artikel für Deutschlerner, mit Wort-

schatzerklärugen veröffentlicht, der die Probleme der Unternehmen thematisiert, die in autoritären Ländern tätig sind.http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,14833134,00.html

Diesen Artikel über Ägyptens jüngste Geschichte , den ich auf Andy Neusteins (http://www.toronto.diplo.de/contentblob/2073266/Daten/268478/download_deutsch_blog.pdf ) gelesen habe, lege ich euch sehr ans Herz:http://www.tlaxcala-int.org/article.asp?reference=3858

KAIRO

Die ganze Welt schaut in dieser Zeit nach Ägypten und auf die umliegenden Länder und wir sind besorgt, weil der ägyptische Präsident Mubarak nicht zurücktreten will.

Leider ist ja auch das Ägyptische Museum mit den äusserst wertvollen Tutanchamun Schätzen geplündert worden. Dieses Museum beherbert die wichtigste Antiksammlung

der Welt. Es kann an Wichtigkeit mit dem Louvre verglichen werden. Ich habe gelesen, dass die eigenen Angestellten des Museums diese Plünderung verursacht haben.

Es sollen auch 2 Mumien zerstört,  sowie Vitrinen  mit wervollem Schmuck eingeschlagen worden sein. Das Ägyptische Museum ist im Stadtzentrum am Tahir-Platz und wird nun vermehrt von der Arme beschützt.Die ganzen Schätze sind auch nicht versichert!

Worksheet/Arbeitsblatt:Arbeitsblatt/workshheet

Nach dass und weil kommen die Verben an den Schluss des Satzes.

Hier eine  graphische Erklärung zum Passiv:

nach Ägypten schauen	to look towards Egypt	guardare verso Egitto
zurücktreten	to abdict	dimettersi
wertvoll	precious	prezioso/i
plündern	to pillage	saccheggiare
beherbergen	to house	ospitare
die Antiksammlung	collection of antiquities	collezione di antichitä
die Angestellten	the employees	gli impiegati
zerstören	to destroy	distruggere
beschützen	to protect	proteggere
der Schatz	treasure	il tesoro

BERLIN

IM FOLGENDEN BEITRAG KÖNNT IHR  MITTELS FOTOS, AUDIO, ARTILEL UND  GRAMMATIK  ETWAS ÜBER BERLIN UND DEUTSCHLAND ERFAHREN.

Als erstes sehen wir hier die Gedächtniskirche oder ihre Ruine, sowie die neue Kirche.

Ihr könnt hier eine “drag&drop” Übung mit Fotos  betreffend Sehenswürdigkeiten in Berlin machen. http://www.langedi49.ch/BERLIN2.htm

Zu Berlin einige schriftliche Fragen

Setzt bitte diese Verben in die folgenden Sätze ein. (Die Antworten findet ihr am Ende dieser Seite.)

gebaut

lenkt

verbindet

erinnern

niedergebrannt

zieht

ist

steht

1. Die Gedächtniskirche wurde während des 2. Weltkrieges beinahe……………………………….Die Berliner wollten die Ruine jedoch

nicht abreissen und so …………….. die neue Kirche nebenan.

2. Die Mauer wurde vor allem ………………….,um die Flucht aus dem Osten in den Westen zu erschweren.

3. Das Brandenburger Tor ist ein nationales Symbol, das viele Ereignisse der Geschichte Deutschlands, Europas und der

Welt …………………..

Die Siegesgöttin VICTORIA ………. einen von 4 Pferden gezogenen Wagen in die Stadt hinein.

4. 2711 Betonstelen ……………. an die verfolgten und ermordeten Juden des 2. Weltkrieges.

5.  In dieser Stadt gibt es viele Neubauten zu sehen. Am Alexanderplatz z.B.

……….ein richtiger Bauboom im Gange.

6. Im Reichstagsgebäude tagt der Deutsche Bundestag. Die Kuppel ……………..Tausende von Touristen an.

wollte

gegeben

wohnen

war

zählt

arbeiten

abreissen

empfehlen

sage

7. Im Tacheles Gebäude …………….und……….. viele sehr interessante Künstler. Man …………….das etwas heruntergekommene

Haus schon oft ………………., aber es hat immer grosse Opposition………………….

8. Am Checkpoint Charlie ………. oft Schauplatz spektakulärer Fluchten aus dem damaligen Ost-Berlin. Dieser Checkpoint ………………zu

den bekanntesten Sehenswürdigkeiten dieser Stadt.

9. Zu………………………ist auch eine Bootsfahrt auf der Spree.

10  Nach all diesen Sehenswürdigkeit ………..ich PROST!

Antworten:niedergebrannt/steht/gebaut/verbindet/lenkt/erinnern/ist/zieht

wohnen/arbeiten/wollte/abreissen/gegeben/war/zählt/empfehlen/sage

H.C.ANDERSEN/Denmark

Deutsch siehe unten

Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense in 1805. By the way, Christian  and Hans are traditional Danish names. Most of us know him probably for his  fairy tales and his real life also had some aspects of such children’s stories. He was born as the son of a poor cobbler and he died as a rich and famous man, celebrated around the world, the intimate of kings and queens. His books have been translated into 15o languages! In the period when he was born only 60% of Europeans children survived and most of them grew up illiterate.

Sometimes, because he was  tall, ugly with a big nose and big feet, he was portrayed as a simple, innocent, child-like spinner of tales, a character from his own stories, but letters and diaries by Andersen’s contemporaries, however, draw the picture of a very different man: a sharply intelligent, ambitious writer with a hardscrabble past and tortured soul. The message of his stories has

various layers and is in my opinion, also for adults interesting.

Like The Ugly Duckling,one of his very famous books,  born in a humble duck-yard yet destined to become a swan seems to be authobiographical.

Speculation suggest that Andersen was the illegitimate son of Christian Frederik, the Crown Prince of Denmark and later King Christian VIII of Denmark.

Here a summary of the plot.

At the beginning of the tale a duck mother hatches her eggs and one of her little hatched out birds is perceived by the other ducks as a different and homely little creature and suffers very much because it is verbally abused by the neighbours and ostrasized by them. It sadly decides to leave the farm and lives with wild ducks and geese until hunters slaughter the flocks. It then finds home with an old lady but her cat and hen tease it mercilessly and again it sets off on its own. It sees a flock of migrating wild swans and is delighted and excited but can not join them. Winter arrives. A farmer finds and carries the freezing little bird home, but the foundling is frightened by the farmer’s noisy children and flees the house. It spends a miserable winter alone in the outdoors but, when spring arrives, it is welcomed into a flock of beautiful swans for it has matured into one of them. It turned out that one of the swans eggs had rolled into the ducks nest and therefore produced all this confusion.

If you click on the following link you can listen to the summary:The Ugly Duckling

Vocubalary list to „The Ugly Duckling“

English/itliano/Deutsch

to hatch the eggs	covare le uova/brüten
duck/pl. ducks	anatra/e- die Ente/n
goose/pl. geese	oca/oche- die Gans/Gänse
to perceive	percepire- wahrnehmen
to ostrasize	emarginare- ausschliessen
neighbours	vicini di casa- die Nachbarn
to slaughter	macellare- schlachten
flock	lo stormo- die Schwarm
swan/s	cigno/i- der Schwan/¨ne
to set off on ist own	partire da solo- alleine fortgehen
to flee	fuggire- flüchten
it turned out that	si è verificato/è successo che- es hat sich herausgestellt

By the way, Odense’s old town enchanted me completely and in one of the yellow houses H.C. Andersen grew up. The town is on the island Fyn and can easily be reach in one day by train from Copenhagen.The museum dedicatd to H.C. Andersen  fits perfectly well into the surrounding.The writer left his hometown at the age of 14, after having worked for some days in a factory. He travelled all alone to Copenhagen to become famous and rich. He was determined to join the Royel theatre

but the director blunty sent the scruffy urchin away. He was desperate because nobody wanted to help him and he run out of money. Eventually it was Mr Weyse, an accomplished composer who took pitty of the boy and promptly raised a sum of money on the boy so that he could study and rent a room.

Some taletitles:

- The Princess Test

- The Tinder-Box

- The Princess and the Pea

- The Little Mermaid

- The Butterfly

- The Emperor’s New Clothes

To our trip in Denmark I made the following video.

Copenhagen and surrounding, posted with vodpod

Vielleicht hat jemand Lust sich dieses Video von der Geschicht “Das hässliche Entlein auf Deutsch” anzusehen.

Hier eine kleine Wortschatzhilfe

1.Der Bauernhof/ la fottoria 2.ausschlüpfen/ sgusciare, 3.der Tollpatsch / il scemo, 4. verspotten/deridere, 5. davonlaufen/scappare, 6. einsperren/chiudere dentro, 7. der Käfig/la gabbia

8. der Schilf/la canna, 9. stolz sein/ essere orgoglio, 10. füttern/dare da mangiare.

 

 

Velofahren in Amsterdam

Auf Swissinfo.ch habe ich kürzlich wieder einmal bestätigt bekommen, was ich schon selbst gesehen habe, nämlich, dass das Velo das wichtigste

Fortbewegungsmittel ist in Amsterdam. Das Fahrrad soll das Symbol der Stadt sein und anscheinend  grössere Wichtigkeit haben als die berühmten

Brückchen, Kanäle oder das miserable Essen.

Wie ihr hier auf diesen Fotos seht, stehen die Fahrräder überall.

Setzt die Präpositionen in die Lücken.

(a=unter,b= in, c=von, d=an,e= entlang, f=an, g=aus, h=auf, i=zum, 2x während =k,l,,m=mit, 2xbei=n, o=in)

Die Fahrräder stehen der Strasse …………

1)   Die Velos stehen …….. jeder Ecke.

2)   Sie stehen …….. jedem Brückengeländer.

3)   Das Fortbewegungsmittel steht ………jedem Baum.

4)   Die Uni hat sogar Leute angestellt, die Fahrräder ……. ihren Parkplätzen

……. feuerpolizeilichen Gründen verschieben.

5)    Der Velofahrer ist absoluter König …….den Strassen Amsterdams.

6)   …… Amsterdam wird das Autofahren ……. Eiertanz.

7)   Der Autofahrer ist ……..einem Unfall immer Schuld

8)   Jemand soll sogar einen Radfahrer gesehen haben, der …………des Radfahrens

Gitarre gespielt hat.

9) Es soll Velofahrer geben, die …….der Fahrt Akten studieren.

10) Fahrräder werden oft gestohlen und dann ……Gewinn weiterverkauft.

Antworten:1e/2f/3a/4c,g/5h/6 o,i/7n/8k/9 l/10m/

Das ist ein Arbeitsblatt:Velofahren in Amsterdam2

South Africa/Nelson Mandela

more about “South Africa“, posted with vodpod

(I’ve taken off the  wordpress slideshow because, infortunately, it doesn’t open properly.)

Deutschlerner finden unten auf dieser Seite eine Power Pointübung mit Fragen

The kick-off of the first FIFA world Cup on African soil , or more precisely in South Africa, will be on the 11th June 2010. The whole world will therefore have its eyes concentrated on that country. I don’t understand anything about football and would therefore like to write something about the person who has certainly done very much for his country so that the apartheid system has been abolished.

Listen and answer:M1

First something about South Africa’s history. The first white people from Europe arrived on the most southern coast of Africa in 1652. For the next 200 years the bushman fought against the whites who took their land. But in the end the old weapons of the indigenous people could not win against the modern weapons of the Europeans.

Listen and answer:M2

After the discovery of diamonds in the British city of Kimberley in 1867 and the discovery of gold in the African province of Transvaal in 1886 the black people were forced to dig in the respective mines. and the money went mainly to the whites.

Listen and answer:M3

In 1936, while Nelson Mandela was at school, the white Parliament in Cape Town removed the right to vote from those Africans who had that right and a new law forced all African men to carry a passport in order to travel, otherwise they were put to prison.

In 1948 the political system called „apartheid“ was introduced by Dr Malany, which means that there were signs, which indicated where „Only Whites“ had the right to be.

Listen and answer:MM

Early one morning in December 1956 Nelson Mandel was taken to Johannesburg’s old prison, the Fort, where he discovered that the police had arrested 156 people; members of the ANC and other freedom groups.

In the 50s there was the Treason Trial and in 1963 the Rivonia Trial. He was then accused of sabotage,, a crime that could be punished with death. In court Mandela said that the black people wanted equal political rights and the ANC was fighting fort  that.

Listen and answer:M4

He was found guilty and  was imprisoned on Robben Island from 1964-1970. He was released from prison in 1990. He ran for presidency in 1991 and retired in 1994. It was certainly thanks to him that so far in South Africa there has been no civil war, but people are still worried that the day Mandela dies there could come up many problems.

Listen and answer:M5

This link leads you to a BBC audio documentary about jobseekers in Johannesburg.http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2010/04/100421_at_the_edge_in_soweto.shtml

More about Africa on my website:books