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 in Meersburg.
That’s a long, demanding time, especially as John came from ‘down under’. He missed his wife and children. He didn’t miss his mother-in-law.
Shortly before the end of his course, he was thinking about presents for his loved ones and not so loved ones.
As John wanted to learn German, we pointed out to him that the German translation for ‘gift’ is ‘das Geschenk’ and that, conversely, the German noun ‘das Gift’ means ‘poison’ in English,
A smile flitted across John’s face. “Yes, now I’m going to get some ‘gift’ for my mother-in-law.”
Beware of false friends!