Blog
Wahrnehmung
- High German: Die Wahrnehmung
- English: Perception
I love the combination of ‘Wahr’ (truth) and ‘Nehmung’ (taking) to mean the English word ‘perception’.
The German word Wahrnehmung reminds me that our perceptions (how we take the truth) are not necessarily the same as truth. In our current world of ‘fake news’ I think remembering this is especially important.
Overview
Some say (Swiss) German isn’t a beautiful (let alone sexy ...
My name is Melani. I’m old enough to remember Spice Girls and life before the Internet, but also young enough not to remember the events that led to my country’s re-independence, or well, anything else that happened before 90s, for that matter.
I come from Estonia. After finishing high school there at 19 and having studied in France and Belgium for a while, I’ve ended up in ...
Die Gegenwart: the present (time)
If we take this word apart we find it is made of gegen (against) and wart (waiting). So literally, the word means ‘against waiting’. I find this word so beautiful because of what it represents. In the present, we aren’t (or shouldn’t) be waiting for anything – we are here.
Additionally, I’m assuming this word was developed after the words ‘gegen’ and ‘wart ...
Der Beruf: Occupation
While in English we often (or at least technically) refer to a ‘Job’ as an ‘Occupation’ (literally something that occupies us and our time), I love that the German word for occupation (Beruf) is composed of the word ‘Ruf’ which translates into ‘Call/ Calling’. The German word reminds us that our ‘occupation’ should not simply be something that ‘occupies’ our time, but rather something that ‘calls’ us ...
Vitamin B
- High German: Vitamin B
- Swiss German: Vitamin B
- English: Good connections
If you want to find a job in Switzerland, or anywhere for that matter, you will need a good dose of Vitamin B. This has nothing to do with the vitamin B complex that help your body process fat and protein, but everything to do with the people you know who can help land you that job ...