I just came back from Italy. I again witnessed how it’s all about our mind whether we improve in our target language abilities or not. It’s an attitude – a mindset (of course, we also need time and situations that involve the language. More on that in another post).

So I was in Italy with my mom to visit relatives. I understand a lot of Italian, I don’t ...

Der Mutterschaftsurlaub: Maternity Leave

This oxymoron is composed of 3 parts: Mutter (mother) + schaft (work) + urlaub (vacation). What I love is that the word combines schaft (work) and urlaub (holiday) – because maternity leave is literally a mother’s ‘working holiday’. Any mother with kids knows that all we get are ‘working holidays’. And anyone who has ever been on maternity leave definitely knows it is no holiday. So, if you ...

On Tuesday, October 3, unumondo, Ladies Inside, KOSMOS, and She Started It will host the screening of the documentary She Started It, followed by a panel and networking. The documentary is a feature length film on women tech entrepreneurs. It highlights successful role models for young women and is first documentary to go behind the scenes of running a tech startup as a young woman. It explores the cultural roots ...

WG (die Wohngemeinschaft): shared flat/ apartment

This word is mostly used in its abbreviated form WG and is very commonly used in the German speaking part of Switzerland/Germany to describe most 20 to 30-year- olds’ living situations. In Switzerland (Zurich) there are several websites that market available WGs.

The complete word is made up of 2 parts (Wohn + Gemeinschaft) which literally translate into ‘living community’. When you live together ...

Learning German in Switzerland can be especially difficult. The Swiss, bless their souls, love practicing their own second language skills and are more than happy to switch to English when they can. While this may seem convenient, research has shown that without the need or opportunity to practice second language skills, those skills will not develop. To complicate matters more, it’s unlikely you’ll hear High German but rather ...