German I, Semester I; Das Wetter

Sections:

Introduction  |   Section 1  |  Section 2  |   Section 3   |  Dictionaries

Section One:

Part A  |   Part B  |  Part C  |   Part D

Section One - Part A The Spreewald region southeast of Berlin is one of the most beautiful and unique nature preserves in Europe. The tributaries of the Spree (“shpray”) River and surrounding forest (Wald) create an inland delta with a network of over 50 miles of branching water paths. For people who live in the Spreewald interior, shopping, commuting to work and transporting larger objects is traditionally done by boat. The most famous product of the region is the Spreewald pickle. In 1991, the Spreewald was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Preserve.   Wie ist das Wetter heute? One common and very useful thing to be able to talk about is the weather. View the presentation to see what expressions are used to talk about the weather in German. Be sure to repeat after the speaker and try to imitate the pronunciation as best you can.   Practice your new vocabulary with these practice activities. Jigword 1 Speedword 1 Das Lesestück (Reading Passage) Read the following selection and then answer the questions based on what you have read. Click on the questions to check yourself. Ich heisse Sabine Schiffer. Ich wohne in Berlin, Deutschland. Ich lerne Deutsch und Englisch. Ich schwimme gern. Ich spiele Rockmusik und Rapmusik. Wie ist das Wetter in Berlin? Das Wetter ist schlecht in Berlin. Es ist kalt im Winter, und es regnet. Es schneit im Dezember, Januar und Februar. Es ist es mild und kühl im Frühling. Wie ist die Tempertur im Sommer? Die Temperatur ist 27 Grad im Sommer. Es ist sehr heiss! Wie ist die Temperatur in Berlin im Sommer? Es ist sehr heiss. Die Temperatur ist 27 Grad. Wie ist das Wetter in Berlin im Frühling? Es ist mild und kühl. Wie ist das Wetter in Berlin im Winter? Es ist schlecht und kalt. Regnet es im Winter? Ja, es regnet im Winter. Was lernt Sabine? Sabine lernt Deutsch und Englisch. Wo wohnt Sabine? Sabine wohnt in Berlin.   Berlin In Unit 3, Das Wetter, we are going to learn about Berlin, Germany. Do you know where Berlin is? Berlin is located in the northeastern portion of Germany, and is the capital of Germany. About 3.5 million people live there, and the city is growing. The weather there is quite similar to that of the northeastern states, with freezing cold temperatures in the winter, and a variety of climate changes in the summer. Summers can sometimes be very cool with a lot of rain, but they can also be very warm or even hot. Germans typically do not have air conditioning in their homes, as hot weather does not last. You might experience airconditioning in some of the larger department stores and food chains, but don't expect it in independently owned or mom-and-pop types of stores, cafés, or restaurants. Sometimes you can hear about a 'heat wave' hitting the city with temperatures in the upper 80s and lower 90s, which in Germany is considered to be very hot. Berlin has a very interesting history as you will learn in this chapter. After World War II, the victorious Allies divided Germany into two sections, East and West Germany. East Germany , occupied by the Soviet Union, had a socialist government, while West Germany , occupied by the U.S., France and Britain, had a social-democratic government (which is very similar to ours in the U.S.). After 40 years of being divided into two separate countries, Germany was reunited on October 3, 1990 (Tag der Deutschen Einheit), and has had to deal with many economic hardships, namely converting the old Ostmark to the West's Deutsche Mark. Now, all of Germany uses the Euro since they are members of the European Union (EU). Some peculiar things you might notice while you are in Berlin might be that some people living in the former East-bloc portion of the city have unusual apartments. Some of the apartments may or may not have a private bathroom. For example, if you have a "shared" or "common" bathroom, you would have to go outside of your apartment and into the hallway to reach the WC (a borrowed abbreviation for Water Closet) which only has a toilet and a maybe a small hand sink. Believe it or not, there used to be shared WCs in the United States up until about the 1960s in the older apartment buildings on the east coast. You also should know that in Germany, you need to ask Wo ist die Toilette? or 'where is the toilet' if you need to use one, because if you asked a German 'where is the bathroom', they would think that you wanted to take a shower. Some other interesting things you might notice are that there are unusually large apartment buildings that are so large that they seem surreal. These large apartment buildings and apartment groups of buildings can seem to tower overhead like a skyscraper you would see in a downtown area of a large American city. The reason they were built that way was because the former East German government wanted to eradicate homelessness, thus they built and supplied every citizen with a place to live. Today, however, you would notice that most of the middle- and upper class citizens have moved on to better and more modern housing, leaving these large apartment blocks to the poor and immigrant communities. You will also see in Berlin a wide variety of architectural styles. Some of the buildings are very old, but some of them were re-built after WWII in the same style as the original building. Much of Berlin was destroyed during WWII, especially the Potsdamer Platz area. You might also see "ein Trabi", or a Trabant, which was a type of car built by the East Germans. Trabis aren't very common today, as they weren't exactly reliable, but some have 'retro' value.   Let's look in on the weather in Berlin Visit this website to check out today's weather in Berlin, Germany. Go to the Discussion Area and submit the following post. Write the day's date in correct German that you have learned, then tell what the weather is like in Berlin today. Click to look in some other German city and say what the weather is like in that city on the same date. Then tell what the weather is like in your city on the same date. This assignment is worth 16 points. Unit Vocabulary All the vocabulary in this unit relates to the general theme of talking about the weather, clothing, seasons and things you like to do in various parts of the year. Click on the two links below to see and hear all of the vocabulary and sentences you will learn here. As you go through the unit, return to this from time to time to practice this vocabulary. Vocabulary 1 Vocabulary 2 Now go on to Part B!

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