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Last weekend I lay in bed with a cold. So this weekend is a good time to talk about illnesses and how to get an appointment at the doctor in Germany and Switzerland.der Arzt/die Ärztin = doctordie Krankenschwester = nursedie Sprechstundenhilfe = receptionistdas Wartezimmer = waiting roomdie Zeitschrift = magazinedie Krankheit = illnessdie Grippe = fludie Erkältung = common coldder Schnupfen = common coldder Husten = coughdas Halsweh = sore throatdie Halsschmerzen = sore throatuntersuchen = to examineausziehen = to undressLucerne, 25.11.2007Stephan WiesnerUse this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com

Todays German lesson is about how to make an appointment with a dentist. We will hear a telephone interview, then I will go to the dentist and she is going to examine me and give me a root canal treatment. Ouch!Lucerne, 13.01.2008Stephan Wiesnerstephan@german-podcast.deUse this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com

Last Session was about food related topics and I want to continue with this in order to deepen your knowledge of food related vocabulary. And it is time to take a look at some grammar. The “Perfekt”, the “vollendete Gegenwart” is a good starting point. We are currently on place 18 of the American Top 25 (Education) on iTunes. If you like the podcast, why don't you vote for it on iTunes by following this link.The picture was taken on the 01.01.2008 on "Der Hengst" in the area called Entlebuch, central Switzerland.Lucerne, 08.01.2008Stephan Wiesnerstephan@german-podcast.deUse this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com

In today's lesson we will learn the names of some “Lebensmittel” taken from my kitchen.We start of course with Käse (cheese). Emmentaler is probably the most famous Swiss cheese.There is actually an area called “Emmental” which is very lovely. Looks kind of like the green hills I always imagined the hobbits from Lord of the Rings live in .-)Remember that there is a PDF containing the transcript and pictures of this lessen.Euch ein schönes neues Jahr, viel Erfolg und natürlich viel Spass beim Deutsch lernen :-)Lucerne, 02.01.2008Stephan WiesnerUse this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com

In today's lesson we will talk about different ways to introduce oneself. Different names, jobs and hometowns provide a good opportunity to learn some new words.Furthermore a big Dankeschön an D'Arcy for the large donation via PayPal.If you want to support me, just follow this link, enter the amount of money you want to donate and send it off .-)Luzern, 29.12.2007Stephan WiesnerUse this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com

This is a German vocabulary drill unit. We will repeat the vocabulary of the last few sessions. For this, I will say the English word, give you time to speak the German translation and then I will give the correct answer, giving you time to repeat it once more. Feel free to listen repeatedly to this lesson to "drill" the words.Todays pictures shows my brother Michael in the garden of my parents. He is playing with a remote controled airplane, one of his Christmas presents. Give us men a toy that moves and makes noise and we turn back into children at once .-)gesund = healthyder Zauberer = wizardder Furz = fartder Arzt/die Ärztin = doctordie Krankenschwester = nursedie Sprechstundenhilfe = receptionistdas Wartezimmer = waiting roomdie Zeitschrift = magazinedie Krankheit = illnessdie Grippe = fludie Erkältung = common coldder Schnupfen = common coldder Husten = coughdas Halsweh = sore throatdie Halsschmerzen = sore throatuntersuchen = to examineausziehen = to undressder Kürbis = pumpkindas Grossraumbüro = open

You really need to know about Goethe if you plan to come to Germany and not appear to be an uneducated person. So I will read on of his most famous poems "Der Zauberlehrling" for you.Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, geadelt 1782 (* 28. August 1749 in Frankfurt am Main; † 22. März 1832 in Weimar; auch Göthe), ist als Dichter, Dramatiker, Theaterleiter, Naturwissenschaftler, Kunsttheoretiker und Staatsmann der bekannteste Vertreter der Weimarer Klassik. Sein Werk umfasst Gedichte, Dramen und Prosa-Literatur, aber auch naturwissenschaftliche Abhandlungen. Er gilt als bedeutendster deutscher Dichter und ist eine herausragende Persönlichkeit der Weltliteratur.[http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe]As a kid we had to learn some of his poems (Der Zauberlehrling und der Erlkönig) by heart and read "Die Leiden des jungen Werthers". As a kid we hated him for that. As a grown up I came to really like some of his poems, especially "Der Schatzgräber".The Zauberlehrling is about the apprentice of a wizard. His

Allen from Wisconsin asked me about a catholic version of the bible. Though I do not know about that his mail got me thinking about Luther. Luthers translation of the bible into German lead to one German "Hochdeutsch" from the many dialects. Maybe I should tell that to some of my Swiss friends, who still talk in dialect .-)Here is one famous quote from that time:"Wenn das Geld im Kasten klingt, die Seele aus dem Fegefeuer springt. "It means that on could by letters of absolution. Those made the church rich and Luther mad, so he started his famous "95 Thesen". I am not going into religious details about Luthers work, but will concentrate on his translation work here.Luther translated the new testament during his time on the Wartburg 1521-22 and later the old testament. By 1525 a third of those Germans that could read owned a copy of his bible. He used the "Ostmitteldeutsch" of his hometown. This became what is now known as "Hochdeutsch".Luther is famous for his "volksnahe Sprache" and "vulgäre Ausdrücke" like:

Advent, Advent, ein Lichtlein brennt.Erst eins, dann zwei, dann drei, dann vier -dann steht das Christkind vor der Tür.[Kinder Reim]Es ist Adventszeit, Advent season, a good time to spend with your family, to look back to the things that happened during the year and ahead into the next one.This is especially true for me, as I am looking for a new job again. Things really did not work out with the team and the job was not what I expected and, ja, a lot of reasons. Anyway, Test Managers are asked at the moment, so it should be possible to find something.Ursprünglich entsprach der Begriff Advent dem griechischen Begriff epiphaneia (Erscheinung, siehe Epiphanias) und bedeutet die Ankunft, Anwesenheit, Besuch eines Amtsträgers, insbesondere die Ankunft von Königen oder Kaisern. Es konnte aber auch die Ankunft der Gottheit im Tempel ausdrücken. Dieses Wort übernahmen nun die Christen, um ihre Beziehung zu Jesus Christus, dem Sohn Gottes auszusagen. Die Adventszeit war ursprünglich eine Fastenzeit, die die Alte Kirc

Geschichten und Vokabeln rund aus dem Leben im Grossraumbüro sind heute an der Reihe...der Kürbis = pumpkindas Grossraumbüro = open-plan office, cube farmdas Papier = paperder Schreibtisch = deskder Computer = computerdie Tastatur = keyboardder Monitor = screendie Maus = mouseder Bleistift = pencildie Sitzung = meetingdas Telefon = telephoneder Schrank = lockerder Stuhl = chairfluchen = to sweardie Rolltreppe = moving stairsder Fahrstuhl = elevatorLucerne, 11.11.2007Stephan Wiesnerstephan@german-podcast.deUse this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com

Autumn is about to end. The trees start to seriously drop their leaves and sad and gray November is approaching. Today we will therefore sit down with a cup of tea and some Spekulatius cakes (my favorite) and talk about seasons.Here you see Luzern as we see it at the moment...die Jahreszeit - seasonder Frühling - springder Sommer - summerder Herbst - autumnder Winter - winterder Schnee - snowdie Blätter - leavesdie Sonne - sunder Regen - rainder Sturm - stormdie Schneekanone - snowgunThis picture is taken from half way up mount Pilatus, looking towards the mountain called die Rigi.Use this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com

Hallo Freunde, da bin ich jetzt also vom Strand in Sardinien direkt ins Büro der Credit Suisse. Kravatte statt Badelatschen. What a difference!Heute erzähle ich also ein wenig, wie es mir die letzten Wochen ergangen ist, von Klettern in Finale Ligure, Highlights des Kletterns auf Sardinien, was für eine komische Team Zusammensetzung ich habe und warum ich mal wieder im Hotel "wohne". Gespickt mit ein paar Vokabeln, versteht sich...der Strand - beachdie Fähre - ferrydas Klettern - climbingdas Eis - ice creamdie Nuss - nutdie Ferienwohnung - holiday flatkochen - to cookder Stein - stonetrocken - drydie Strassenbahn (die Tram) - tramdie kündigungsfrist - notice periodrennen - to rundas Training - trainingMüsliriegel -? (e.g. power bar)I let my other canon camera drop from about 10m, by the way, so it really was a very expensive holiday. On the first day, no less...Unsere Unterkunft in Finale. Hey, es sieht schlimmer aus als es ist, äh, well, at least it was quiet out there...Ich liebe solche Kletterrouten: 6a+,

The Gorge de la Jonte is a canyon in the south of France (Le Midi). The Jonte itself is a 38km long river. I have been on holiday there last week, climbing of course, and it really is a fantastic landscape. You can find out more here: http://www.pecheaveyron.com/aveyron_sud/jonte.php (en francais).There are several small and very beautiful villages close to the river, adding to the atmosphere. Everything looks surprisingly clean and freshly renovated. You can go hiking, biking, climbing, rafting there, enjoy the local wine and the baguettes. The picture shows me still laughing. That was before we climbed the pillar behind me. During that climb I did not laugh at all, as we say "mir ist das Lachen vergangen" .-)I booked the trip with Höhenfieber and the chose fantastic accommodations. We slept in a renovated house in the ruins of an castle from around the year 1000. Up on a hill the next house was more than a km away. Perfect to relax and enjoy the sunsets. Use this free podcast to learn to speak German. ht

Last week I rode my MTB across the Alps: Transalp. With 10 other "Biker" on a trip organized by http://www.dav-summit-club.de/. We started at the Bodensee in the north of Switzerland and rode across the San Bernardino pass to Locarno.6 days of "biken" with a typical "Höhenprofil" looking like this:Each night we slept in a different hotel in a different town (Appenzell, Chur, San Bernardino, etc.).The picture shows us standing above the Rhein, looking down at Lichtenstein and Vaduz.For me this was the first time that I did such an activity with Germans, so I will tell you a little about cultural differences that became obvious...The bad news is that I dropped my new Canon 400D into a canyon, destroying it and my most expensive lens .-( Good that I still have my Sony R1, a great camera with which I took many of my best fotos. Still, the Canon will have to be replaced when I find my new job and get my first salary...Lucerne, 26.08.2007Stephan WiesnerUse this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-p

We have two topics today:1) I finished the book. That is, the PDF version. It takes several weeks to get an ISBN and to publish the printed version.2) You will learn something about finding a job in Switzerland.The book can be bought and read/printed at LuLu. Later it will be available at Amazon as well. A preview is available and there is a homepage for the series. You know that I am not a native English speaker, but I hope that there are not too many mistakes in it. The German parts should be correct; I have made a teacher proof read it :-)If you are looking for a job in Switzerland, you might want to take a look at Monster. I usually find my jobs with head hunters, though. I am lucky because I work in software development and there are so many jobs available in this area at the moment. We have full employment here in Switzerland, so there are many opportunities, especially in IT and health care.Use this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com

Many animals live in the beautiful nature of Switzerland. Here are some of them:Der AlpensalamanderDer SteinbockDer SchwanDie EnteDie EidechseDie DohleCan anybody recommend a good trekking trip into a dessert (Wüste) that I could do in September? I am thinking about 2 to 3 weeks and it needs to be a little bit tough or really special. Not the usual tour in a jeep...I am going to make a Transalp tour (cross the Alps on my bike). Therefore I am training very hard at the moment. Went biking for 85km (nearly 1000m uphill) today. And that was reason enough to eat a full pound of roast potatoes (Bratkartoffeln, Rösties) with eggs and cheese. Hmh, that will refill my energy cells over night like nothing else .-)Use this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com

I have a dream about writing books - and live of it.Today I present some vocabulary from the book to learn German I am working on and you get the first two chapters for free.The summer finally returned to Switzerland, so I will spend the afternoon lying at Lake Lucerne reading Harry Potter...Here is a picture of some Swiss money.http://german-podcast.blogspot.com/Lucerne, 04.08.2007by Stephan Wiesnerstephan@german-podcast.deUse this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com

I prepared a little story to help you build your vocabulary. You can download it here:http://www.testmanager.info/Preview_Learn_German_with_a_Story.pdfPlease let me know what you think about that and if you think that kind of story helpful to you. You might want to take a look back at episode 2, which was similar.Today is the first of August. That is the national holiday of Switzerland.Am 1. August wird in der ganzen Schweiz der Entstehnung der Eidgenossenschaft gedacht. Die Eidgenossenschaft geht, wie es der Name schon vermuten lässt, auf einen Schwur zurück. Jedenfalls will es die Legende so. Im Jahre 1291 nach Christus trafen sich 3 Vertreter der 3 Waldstätten Uri, Schwyz und Unterwalden auf der Rütliwiese um ein Verteidigungsbündnis gegen die Österreicher und andere Feinde zu treffen. Um das Bündnis zu besiegeln, schworen sie den "Rütlischwur", den heute jedes Kind in der Schweiz kennt.[http://www.tell.ch/schweiz/1august.htm]The picture above is taken above the town Kandersteg, with a view on lake Oeschin

We have Franziska from Freiburg here and she tells you what she loves about the town.Freiburg (frz. Fribourg [fʀiˈbuʀ]) ist der Hauptort des Schweizer Kantons Freiburg und des District de la Sarine (deutsch Saanebezirk). Im internationalen deutschen Sprachgebrauch wird meist der Zusatz Freiburg im Üechtland verwendet, um Verwechslung mit Freiburg im Breisgau vorzubeugen.Weil das Üechtland jedoch eine veraltete Landschaftsbezeichnung darstellt, schreibt und spricht man in der Deutschschweiz in den meisten Fällen lediglich von Freiburg ohne Namenszusatz (schweizerdeutsch ausgesprochen als [fribʊrg]).We went hiking on mount Pilatus yesterday and met some Steinböcke. You can see on the foto that we got as close as maybe 5m to them.Lucerne, 22.07.2007Stephan WiesnerUse this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com

Wandern auf dem BärentrekI went hiking on the famous Bärentrek last weekend. The full tour lasts 7 days, but we did only two of those from Gimmelwals (Lauterbrunnen) to Rosenlaui (Meiringen). You can see a map and some pictures on the homepage.Edith and I used the evening to record some smalltalk, like you might encounter in a bed and breakfast or a mountain hotel like the one we stayed in.The tour passed some of the most famous Mountains of Switzerland like the famous trio Eiger, Mönch und Jungfrau. The Schreckhorn, Wetterhorn, Engelhörner and many more. The landscape was indescribable (unbeschreiblich).Use this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com