The Germany Experience

Alicia is a soul and blues singer currently living in Germany. She moved from Texas, USA to Germany complete her studies just over a year ago. I discuss with Alicia what her mindset is after moving countries in such a turbulent year, what her feelings on Germany are, and how she was able to speak out for Black Lives Matter from Germany.

Watch Alicia's BLM speech in Hannover

Visit Alicia's website to watch videos of her performing and to learn more about her: Alicia Cibola Music
Follow her on Instagram: aliciacibola
Alicia on YouTube: Alicia Cibola

SEGEPADFO:
Advent time is also time for me to face off with my sworn rival, Nicole of The Expat Cast, to see who can raise the most money for charity. This year, the cause is funding a mobile kitchen in Freiburg for Über den Tellerrand. Über den Tellerrand aims to  create opportunities for people of different cultures to meet and and to integrate.

For more information, visit TheGermanyExperience.de/Charity2020

POSTCARDS FROM 2020:
What was 2020 like for you? What did you learn? And most importantly, what message do you want to give to others? I want to compile your responses and put together an episode called Postcards from 2020. Send me your contributions: write me a message at TheGermanyExperience.de/contact, leave me a voice message through my website, or write me an email at [email protected].


JOIN THE THE GERMANY EXPERIENCE FACEBOOK GROUP

Visit the official The Germany Experience website

Contact me: [email protected]

Support the show

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran

Visit the official SEGEPADFO page for more information!As we did last year, Nicole of The Expat Cast (my sworn rival) and I will be facing off to see who can raise the most money for charity this Advent. SEGEPADFO stands for "Second Ever Germany Expat...

You probably know Antoinette Emily from her YouTube channel. Originally from New Zealand, she moved to Germany to be with her then-boyfriend (now-husband) over 10 years ago. We discuss the story of how she came to Germany, the importance of having international friends in Germany, raising bilingual children, why you probably shouldn't build a house in Germany, and, of course, her YouTube channel.

Antoinette's YouTube channel: Antoinette Emily
Antoinette on Instagram: @antoinette_nz

GERMAN UNCOVERED COURSE - BLACK FRIDAY DISCOUNT!
The German Uncovered language course, plus bonsues, is discounted by $200 until 30th November 2020! You get the story-based language course, PLUS access to the German Grammar for Beginners and the German Accent and Pronunciation Masterclass courses. The discount code is BLKCM2020 . Use this link:

German Uncovered Course - Black Friday Discount

(I am an affiliate partner of Fluent Language, so if you sign up for that course using my link, you will be helping the show!)


JOIN THE THE GERMANY EXPERIENCE FACEBOOK GROUP

Visit the official The Germany Experience website

Contact me: [email protected]

Support the show

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran

Sneha from India moved to Germany in 2011. A professional Indian classical dancer, she was expecting something similar to New York, where people knew about the artform of Indian classical dance. Instead, she found herself constantly having to explain to Germans that it wasn't Bollywood dancing that she does...

Sneha explains how she quickly started establishing herself in her artform in Germany by putting on shows, and then later teaching young girls the art of Bharatanatyam. She also takes us through the story of how, when her personal life began falling apart, Munich showed her love and gave her life. And, we discuss the uncertainty that artists face when they choose to dedicate their life to their passion.

Sneha on Instagram:  snetanz
Sneha's dance institute: abhinayaindischertanz

GERMAN UNCOVERED COURSE - BLACK FRIDAY DISCOUNT!
The German Uncovered language course, plus bonsues, is discounted by $200 until 30th November 2020! You get the story-based language course, PLUS access to the German Grammar for Beginners and the German Accent and Pronunciation Masterclass courses. The discount code is BLKCM2020 . Use this link:

German Uncovered Course - Black Friday Discount

(I am an affiliate partner of Fluent Language, so if you sign up for that course using my link, you will be helping the show!)

OTHER NOTES

• My guest appearances on Geopats NaPodPoMo:
  • 43: Podcast Rebranding & Community with Shaun of The Germany Experience Podcast
  • 44: Beginning Podcast Challenges with Shaun of The Germany Experience Podcast
• My YouTube channel: The Germany Experience on YouTube 

JOIN THE THE GERMANY EXPERIENCE FACEBOOK GROUP

Visit the official The Germany Experience website

Contact me: [email protected]

Support the show

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran

Back in May 2020, I had Linda of the Travelteening blog on the podcast to talk about moving to Germany and traveling around with teenagers. Now, I have the teenagers on! Anna and Alex talk about their move to Germany, their lives here, and about traveling with family.

OTHER SHOW NOTES

• Lockdown ignored: Munich police shut down child's birthday party with 100+ guests
• My "Warteschlangenungeduldigkeit" post on Instagram 
• Bavarian Infection Protocol Ordinance in German: Infektionsschutzmaßnahmenverordnung 

GERMAN UNCOVERED STORY-BASED LANGUAGE COURSE
German Uncovered is a comprehensive German course for beginners, where you learn German through an exciting story. After each chapter, you learn vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation based on what you read in the story. Disclaimer: I am an affiliate partner of German Uncovered, and I will earn a commission if you sign up using the links below).

Try out the course for free: Experience Story-Based German Learning for Free

And sign up for German Uncovered: German Uncovered


JOIN THE THE GERMANY EXPERIENCE FACEBOOK GROUP

Visit the official The Germany Experience website

Contact me: [email protected]

Support the show

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran

You sent in your questions, and I put them to Germans to get the answers. It's Ask A German time!

The three German guests are the always funny and entertaining hosts of the German podcast, Ach! They answer the questions that listeners sent in over the past few months, and in the process shed some light on some issues foreigners in Germany know all too well. We even come up with a new crime in Germany: Warteschlangeungeduldigkeit (waiting line impatience).

Their website: das-a.ch
Follow Ach! on Twitter: das_ach

The questions that we covered:

• Are Germans obsessed with fruit?
• What's up with German pillows?
• What are the best onomatopoeic German words?
• What things would they change about Germany?
• Why are credit cards still not the preferred payment method in Germany?
• What should foreigners in Germany do less of?
• Why do some German toilets have a shelf or platform?

Some things we mentioned:

• Dominik's previous The Germany Experience guest appearance: The top 10 grossing movies in Germany
• The Ach! episode mentioned as an example: MAURICE G. FLITCROFT: PROFI-GOLFER, KRANFÜHRER, LEGENDE
• The pillow question comes from Steph Fuccio of the Geopats podcast.
• The episode where I interview the writers of "From the Burgeramt to the Bedroom": The essential book for new expats in Germany
• Dominik's dream pillow that he didn't want to "promote": https://www.bett1.de/produkte/bodyguard-stutzkissen-plus
• The Schtzngrmm onomatopoeic poem: https://www.lyrikline.org/de/gedichte/schtzngrmm-1230
• The episode with Amy: Sandals and socks, making friends with Germans, and "selfishly" staying in Germany
• The Asterix & Obelix episode that demonstrates German bureaucracy: Permit #A38 (Passierschein A38)

A note of correction: I mentioned I spoke to a Brazilian and a "Belgian" in a recent episode about German idioms...of course, Ivan is from Bulgaria. In the heat of conversation, my brain substituted "Belgian" in. Thanks a lot, brain (and apologies to Ivan).

JOIN THE THE GERMANY EXPERIENCE FACEBOOK GROUP

Visit the official The Germany Experience website

Contact me: [email protected]

Support the show

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran

Fiona and her husband are opera singers from the UK who moved to Germany for work. I first met her when she appeared on the episode about Parkrun in Germany, and I wanted to find out more about her path to journey and experiences here...so I invited her back on the show. In our chat, she talks about how she learnt about the "Mittagsruhe" rule in Germany, what a "Kinderladen" is and why it's a help for integrating, the effects or Brexit on her life, and "Geisterfahrers" (wrong-way drivers).

Fiona on Instagram: @volbeat_flo
Fiona on Twitter: hoppersgirl
You can watch videos of her singing opera here and here.

SHOW NOTES:

• In the episode I referred to the Spiegel report, but here is a full article on the coronavirus survey: Umfrage: Fast ein Drittel für härtere Corona-Maßnahmen
• The Danish band Fiona loves: Volbeat
• Number of UK citizens emigrating to EU has risen by 30% since Brexit vote

JOIN THE THE GERMANY EXPERIENCE FACEBOOK GROUP

Visit the official The Germany Experience website

Contact me: [email protected]

Support the show

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran

Ricardo from Brazil and Ivan from Bulgaria are the people behind the Can You German? Instagram account. They met by chance in Germany, where they became friends. Later, when Ivan was stuck in Brazil due to COVID-19, they spent a lot of time together, and it was during this time that Can You German? was born.

We discuss their Instagram page, why German is obsessed with idioms that have to do with sausage, ass, and pigs, and the culture shock for men when they learn that sitting down to pee in German is the norm.

Follow Can You German? on Instagram: @canyougerman

OTHER SHOW NOTES:

• The Langenscheidt youth word of 2020 is "Lost"
• The Germany Experience was featured in Almonds + Sunset's 7 Inspiring Expat Podcasts to Listen to Right Now list
• German signs for sitting down to pee
• The Dark series website: https://dark.netflix.io/ 

ASK A GERMAN: SEND ME YOUR QUESTIONS
I have lined up three "qualified" Germans (i.e. they're German) to answer your questions! So if you have a question (or questions) that you have been wanting to ask Germans but never have, now's the time! Get in touch and send me your questions in one of the following ways:

• Go to thegermanyexperience.de/contact and send me your question
• Mail me: [email protected]
• You can also leave me a voicemail on my website by clicking on the little microphone icon on the bottom right of your screen.

JOIN THE THE GERMANY EXPERIENCE FACEBOOK GROUP

Visit the official The Germany Experience website

Contact me: [email protected]


GERMAN UNCOVERED STORY-BASED LANGUAGE COURSE
German Uncovered is a comprehensive German course for beginners, where you learn German through an exciting story. After each chapter, you learn vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation based on what you read in the story. Disclaimer: I am an affiliate partner of German Uncovered, and I will earn a commission if you sign up using the links below).

Try out the course for free: Experience Story-Based German Learning for Free

And sign up for German Uncovered: German Uncovered

Support the show

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran

Elysse is the host of Elysse Speaks, a YouTube channel about her experiences learning multiple languages (including sign language). One of the languages she speaks is German, and I invited her on the podcast to talk about German, what would have been good to know before learning German, and why learning German is like being in a complicated but cool relationship.

Elysse's video that we base our discussion on: What I wish I knew BEFORE learning German

Subscribe to Elysse's YouTube channel: Elysse Speaks
Follow her on Instagram: @elyssespeaks

Elysse's German learning resources:

• The Easy German podcast
• italki: Learn a language online
• German Grammar Drills by Ed Swick
• Learn German on Lingolia

ASK A GERMAN: SEND ME YOUR QUESTIONS
I have lined up three "qualified" Germans (i.e. they're German) to answer your questions! So if you have a question (or questions) that you have been wanting to ask Germans but never have, now's the time! Get in touch and send me your questions in one of the following ways:

• Go to thegermanyexperience.de/contact and send me your question
• Mail me: [email protected]
• You can also leave me a voicemail on my website by clicking on the little microphone icon on the bottom right of your screen.

JOIN THE THE GERMANY EXPERIENCE FACEBOOK GROUP

Visit the official The Germany Experience website

Contact me: [email protected]


GERMAN UNCOVERED STORY-BASED LANGUAGE COURSE
German Uncovered is a comprehensive German course for beginners, where you learn German through an exciting story. After each chapter, you learn vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation based on what you read in the story. Disclaimer: I am an affiliate partner of German Uncovered, and I will earn a commission if you sign up using the links below).

Try out the course for free: Experience Story-Based German Learning for Free

And sign up for German Uncovered: German Uncovered

Support the show

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran

Sarah from Canada came to Munich 4 years ago to get her Masters degree. At first the plan was to stay two years (which at the time she felt was too long). But soon she fell in love with Munich and found many reasons to stay. Sarah discusses those reasons with me, as well as how she went about learning German, the magic of the word, "Doch", and her observations of environmentalism in Germany.

Sarah also hosts a podcast about international life with a focus on relationships called Falling Hard, and she has a blog about environmentalism and the economy called Circular Not Infinite. Her Instagram is @Sar.Cotter. You should also follow her podcast on Instagram: @fallinghardpodcast

Later in the episode, I also talk to Kerstin, creator of the German Uncovered story-based language course.

Try out the course for free: Experience Story-Based German Learning for Free

And sign up for German Uncovered: German Uncovered

Note: I am an affiliate partner with Fluent Language (because I like the concept of the course), so if you sign up for the course using those links, you'll also be helping The Germany Experience podcast.

OTHER NOTES

• My guest appearance on the Americans Drinking Whiskey in Germany podcast: Making Friends with Germans
• My guest appearances on Ach! bonus episodes: Bonus 152 and Bonus 153

JOIN THE THE GERMANY EXPERIENCE FACEBOOK GROUP

Visit the official The Germany Experience website

Contact me: [email protected] 

Support the show

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran