Just for a change, I’ve been traveling in time for this post! How I was given a family travel journal from 1912 When I started studying French and German at university my Grandmother unexpectedly gave me a leather-bound travel journal written in 1912 by her German grandfather, Johann. Until then I had no idea that…
Surprises
Hygge, and how we recreated it at home
I first heard of the Danish word “hygge” last winter, but this winter it’s all over the place in the UK and helping to sell lots of Christmas decorations and gifts. Candles, thick brightly-coloured socks, books, pastries, coffee, hot chocolate….The closest translation is “Gemuetlichkeit” in German. We don’t have an equivalent in English but the…
German textbooks: how they’ve changed!
It’s easy to forget how much language learning has changed over the years, unless you think back to your schooldays. You probably spent five lessons a week with “La Famille Bertillon”, and got to know them very well. Longmans Audio Visual French? Le Francais d’Aujourd’hui? Jean Pierre est dans le jardin. Beep! I’ve been looking…
“Victorian Bakers” – and Victorian Butchers
Victorian bakers My daughter and I watched the recent “Victorian Bakers” programmes on BB2 and were shocked at what a hard life the Victorians had. The series showed what arduous work it was in the Victorian bakery, with huge manual hand cranks, progressing to steam-driven machines, and no electric machines until around 1900. We didn’t…
Twixtmas, a new word in English
Ever heard of a time of year called Twixtmas? Well, we hadn’t either, until yesterday. Twixtmas, we found, refers to the 5 days between Christmas and New Year. It’s being promoted by a non-profit making organisation called the Flexible Thinking Forum and the website is www.twixtmas.com. For each of the 5 days (27 – 31…
Mysterious Mistletoe
The afternoons are so short this time of year – I’m glad for Christmas decorations adding a bit of sparkle and wish they stayed up for the whole of January. If they’re not electric, decorations are usually brightly coloured: yellow (candles) or red (holly) or green (leaves). This is about how we came across a…
