Facts and Episodes
about Germany, the Germans and the German language
How the Decision Tree Found its Way into our German Language Training
I had done my best and tried to explain to my American client Tom when to use 'haben' as an auxiliary verb and when to use 'sein' in the perfect German. But Tom wasn't entirely satisfied. "That's certainly right, Niels. But I'm an engineer, and as an engineer, I love...
Cross Culture: Should you use “du” or “Sie” to address someone? A very German problem
When I think about which intercultural topic I have spent the most time on with our clients over the years, the answer is very clear: time and again it has been and still is about the very question: "Duzen oder Siezen"? The phenomenon of formal or informal forms of...
“Vee haf vays of making you talk” (in German)
Yes, we have these means, and we have proven a thousand times over that they are extremely effective. But, of course, they are not the means you know from old war films of brutal SS men who use torture to force their prisoners to say what they don't want to say. Those...
Business German: Four particularly important verbs and their pitfalls
If you take a beginner's course in general German, you may never encounter these verbs. If , however, you want to learn Business German efficiently, you will encounter them in the very first lesson - provided, of course, you learn Business German from a provider with...
Most Relevant German Verbs
If you want to or are supposed to learn German, you will have to learn German vocabulary, among other things. This may not be much fun, but it is unavoidable if the project is to be successful. Of course, you have the same problem in other languages. If you want to...
Article Rules: What Mark Twain Didn’t Know
"Every noun has a gender, and there is neither sense nor system in the distribution; therefore you must learn the gender of each noun by heart. There is no other way. If you want to tackle this, you must have a memory like a memorial book." This is how Mark Twain saw...
Cross Culture: Crossroads and Roundabouts
At the end of a long trip through the UK, we met Gordon in London. Gordon had worked as a banker in Frankfurt for a few years. During this time, Gordon had visited us several times for intensive German courses in Meersburg. Now he was back home. We met in one of those...
German Vocabulary Training
Anyone who wants to communicate successfully in a language needs, of course, an extensive vocabulary. This is a necessary, but of course not yet sufficient condition. Of course, knowledge of grammar, among other things, is also indispensable. But let's concentrate on...
Business German: Off the Peg or Unique?
You will hardly find a language course provider that does not also offer 'Business German'. "Something to do with business - we'll manage that." That's probably the thinking of some of our competitors. But what can you, as a demanding manager, expect from such...
About False Friends – and Mothers-in-Law
Close family relationships can result in harmony, but also conflict. This applies to relationships between the German and English languages just as much as in real life. John was with us for six weeks on a one-to-one intensive German course at S&W Training...
Fitness Test: German Prepositions
For anyone who wants to learn another language, prepositions can be like little devils. "Which preposition goes with which verb?" Logic alone is often not enough to answer this question. The result: mistakes. So far this applies to many languages. Anyone who wants to...
Cross Culture: The ‘Typical German Manager’
The abbreviation S&W in our name stands for ‚Sprache & Wirtschaft‘ - 'Language & Business'. Our special business expertise not only enables us to teach Business German in a particularly qualified manner on request. https://sw-training.com/business-german/...