Turning your world upside down…

How many of us have tried to stand on our head or tried to give a 180 degree shift to our vision? Except the ones who are fond of gymnastics or power yoga, not many of us would have tried this. And the ones who have, I am sure it would have been really painful when you attempted it for the first time.

But the experience that I am about to share now had a typical combination of both of the above stated scenarios. It was my first experience of its kind and believe me there was no pain associated with it. In fact it was more than fun for me to have come across such a unique concept. The place I am talking about is Madame Claude in Berlin. Hope that most of you have already visited this place and for those of you who haven’t, here is an advice; check it out the next weekend. It’s located at Lubbener Strasse 19 and is a very interesting place to hang out with friends.

It is basically a club with a very unique setting within. One would find tables, chairs, paintings, seating and various artefacts arranged in order from the ceiling. Yes, you have read it correct!!! The setting of the room is such, that everything is arranged upside down. Now for those of you worried about what happens to the people, recollect the last sci-fi movie you had seen, something like a scene from the Mission Impossible series, whereby Tom Cruise would have all set of technological devices to make him walk on the ceiling. Yes, we must all wear special shoes to walk on the ceiling. Isn’t that amazing…

Well not really, as the last bit of it was a figment of my imagination. The furniture hanging from the ceiling is not for use but for show. Once inside, you would still stand on your feet, unless you are too drunk to do that, and behave as inside any other club you must have visited lately.

So what is special about this place??? The unique arrangement of the furniture provides a memorable ambiance for us to spend some quality time with friends over comparatively seeming economical drinks…Hence a must visit on my list for tourists in Berlin…Upside Down

Knowing others is Wisdom

“Knowing others is wisdom and knowing yourself is Enlightenment”-Lao Tzu.

Deciding upon what is to share is a tough task, not because one doesn’t have things to share, but because one doesn’t know what the audience is looking for. Pondering upon the thought, I realized an important phenomenon about my writing. Since, the time I have been writing on this wonderful platform provided by Deutsch Akademie, I did not introduce myself to my audience. Not that my introduction is of utmost importance, but if you all know something about me, it would be easier to connect to my though processes.

Ok…Talking about myself, as I always want to be known for the work that I do, my descriptions mostly revolve around the same. To start off, I am a Computer Engineer from the land of snake charmers (at least this is what the Britishers called our country as).For those of you who don’t understand the phrase, please don’t bother yourself with it, its India. Since childhood, I was good in mathematics and to everyone it seemed that engineering would be a part of my aptitude. Not that it wasn’t  as I did fare decently well on both the academic and professional fronts, but hardly did this give much happiness or satisfaction to me. Since childhood I was much inclined towards various forms of art and expressions. Theater, singing and dancing were my favorite hobbies. Throughout my school days, never did I let go any opportunity to participate in any of such events. This inclination of mine also took me to a part time film school, during my college days, where I learnt acting and movie making.

Keeping this parallel desire alive within me was not an easy task, especially when I started to work in the industry as an IT professional. My mind always wanted me to continue with my heavily paying job but my heart used to weep at the monotonicity of the work. Every morning I used to stand by my mind but one fine day I decided to listen to my heart. It did not happen as suddenly as I just wrote, but instead life did give me an opportunity to live for my happiness. I got an offer from a production house to work as an assistant director for one of their latest movies that was to hit the floors and I grabbed it with both hands.

Having gained considerable experience in making a film, I had to learn the art of selling it. To conquer this art and to direct my career graph upwards, I chose to pursue an MBA degree from a renowned international institute. This is where HTW Berlin came into picture and brought me to the beautiful city of Berlin. The hospitality of the Germans and the quality of education, both have impressed me so greatly that my desire to have a longer stay in Berlin is tremendous. This is precisely why I have chosen to learn Deutsch (although my academic course, MBA, is completely in English) and which is why I am here at one of the best institutes for learning Deutsch, the Deutsch Akademie.

Finally something for you all to recognise me, I am putting a photo of mine along with a small request…please do not laugh if you do not like the pic…

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Silvester in Berlin

Silvester in Berlin

 

Silvester in Berlin

For those of you who do not know what the above phrase means, a small read here and you will be sorted. This is not referring to Silvester Stallone’s visit to Berlin; instead it refers to a vacation which coincides with the New Year’s celebration. Traditionally Silvester is the day of the Feast of Pope Sylvester I, a saint who served as Pope in the Roman Catholic Church. The feast day is held on the anniversary of his death, the 31st of December, a date that coincides with the New Year’s Eve, in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. Because of this coincidence, several countries, primarily in Europe, use a variant of Sylvester’s name as the preferred name for the holiday; these countries include Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland and Slovenia(please note , the list may not be complete).

Talking about the celebrations, undoubtedly the most awaited festivity of the year needs great celebrating; the city of Berlin is magnificent in throwing an ostentatious bash to not only its guests but also the natives. Beautifully lit streets crowded with enthusiasts, long lasting parties at clubs, various events being organised across the city…It seems as though the city does not sleep during the Silvester week.

On the much awaited night, there is a start studded program at the heart of the city, the Brandenburger Tor. Celebrities and eminent personalities make their way through the crowd as their respective limozeenes drop them off to red carpet entrance of Hotel Adlon. The venue is surrounded by hundreds of people who sing, dance and light fireworks as they eagerly wait for the clock to tick 12:00.

As the final countdown for the New Year begins, the venue erupts. With the strike of midnight, a flurry of fireworks surround the Brandenburger Tor and everyone is seen hugging and kissing each other, wishing all a very Happy and Successful new year. The celebrations continue for a few hours as international music is played for the people to move their feet around. All in all, truly a memorable and enriching experience.

 

 

Important Event in Berlin

Important Event in Berlin…

Hey friends, today as I sit down to pen my thoughts for the blog, I wanted to write about something that will be very informative and useful for everyone here. As I was reflecting on events to share, an interesting fact came to my mind that my professor at the university had shared with us today. It was “Connecticum 2013”.

I am pretty sure that most of us know what this is all about… but there would be some who are hearing about this for the first time. Now if you happen to fall in the second category, then you are reading the right page because here I am going to share some crucial information I have about the event “Connecticum 2013”.

We all are here in Deutschland, learning Deutsche at the Deutsch Akademie. I believe one of our major reasons to come here and study the local language is our respective careers. Some people will begin and take the first step in their careers while others will move up and climb the next ladder to success. But in order to do all this, one thing which we all need in common is the right profile or the right job to place ourselves. Now this is what exactly the event “Connecticum 2013” does.

The Connecticum is one of the biggest job fairs for students and alumni, held once in a year in Berlin. This year it is to be held from the 23rd to 25th April 2013. There are more than 350 renowned employers who give presentations and offer exciting job opportunities to students, graduates and professionals. People all over Europe and Asia come over to Berlin to visit this job fair on previous recommendations from their colleagues and friends. Main focus of this event is caters to the needs of the engineering, computer science and economics streams.

So all those who are currently looking for a job or want an exciting opportunity to switch, this event might serve you as a great tool to inform yourself about the prospects that are currently on offer in the market. Hence, for those of you interested, please do your research on the official website of the event. You can reach there by searching about it on Google.

Hope this information will be of use to all the readers…

AbKürzungen verstehen

Guten Aben !
Today in Deutch class we were learning about the AbKürzungen ( Abbreviations) on the Zeitung ( Newspaper).
When you try to fin accomodation in Berlin or wherever in Deutchland, if you check the newspaper adverstisements you will fin a lot of AbKürzungen ( Abbreviations).
here we try to hep you to understand the most important abbreviations you wil have to deal with, when looking for accomotion:

AbKürzungen erklären:

Here there are  the most commun abbreviations:
m2 = Quadratmeter
ruh. = ruhing
Kü oder K = Küche
Gart = Garten
ca. = circa
kl. = klein
Whg. = Wohnung
B. Bad
Balk. Balkon
Zentr. Zentral
Zi oder Z . Zimmer

Die Miete. The expenses:

 Die Miete:
+ NK/ HZ
+ NK: Nebenkosten: Wasser. Treppen, Müllabfuhr
+ HZ: Heinzung
+ Strom: Elektrizitët
+ kT: Kation
+ Prov. Inmob. = Provision for real state agency.
And that´s all folks.  Good luck if you are looking for accomodation!
Prost! 🙂

sistemas de transportes en Berlin.

Los sistemas de transportes en Berlin.

Berlin es la ciudad mejor comunicada que creo he estado en mi vida. Tambien es una ciudad un poco desconertante por lo grande que es y el hecho de que no tenga un centro concreto, ya que mucha gente considera que la ciudad tiene dos centros: en el Oeste: Zoologischer Garten Berlin y en el este: Alexanderplatz. Y entre ambos centros un parque enorme que los separa: Tiergarten.
Pero volviendo al tramporte que podemos usar en Berlin:
— Primeramente el metro- Conocido como U-Bahn:
El metro de Berlín está compuesto por 9 líneas, todas ellas con tramos subterráneos y también algunos que van sobre la superficie.el metro de Berlín es uno de los más funcionales de Europa y hace que los desplazamientos por la ciudad sean rápidos y seguros.
— Trenes de Cercanias: ( S- Bahn):
Los trenes S-Bahn son el equivalente a los trenes de cercanías de muchas ciudades españolas. Junto con el metro hace posible llegar en muy poco tiempo a cualquier punto de la ciudad. El S-Bahn es un sistema de transporte urbano formado por trenes metropolitanos que circulan a lo largo de 15 líneas, recorriendo la práctica totalidad de la ciudad de Berlín.
Los tranvias:  Algo curioso: En la Alemania del Este fue el método de transporte más utilizado, y hoy en día todavía lo sigue siendo. En el Oeste de Berlin no vereis tranvías, sólo autobuses. El tranvía de Berlín está compuesto por 22 líneas y casi 400 estaciones, lo que le convierte en uno de los sistemas más largos del mundo.
Los Autobuses: Existe una extensa red compuesta por 150 líneas que cubren la práctica totalidad de la ciudad. Pero lo más interesante son los autobuses nocturnos. Porque una vez que deja de circular el metro en Berlin, los autobuses nocturnos realizan las mismas rutas que el metro.
Entonces amigos, si estais en Berlin o vais a venir a Berlin, seguro que al menos os quedareis tan mararavilados como yo con la red de transportes de Berlin. Si duda una de las mejores del mundo.
Tschüss! y ¡ nos vemos por Berlin!
Cesar 🙂

Unsere 3 Blogger erzählen uns über ihren Deutschkurs und ihr Leben in Berlin

 

Enrique aus Spanien, Cesar aus Spanien und Parthasarathi aus Indien sind unsere aktuellen Blogger und berichten uns über ihre Erfahrungen im Deutschkurs und ihre Erlebnisse in Berlin. Cesar schreibt teilweise auf englisch, teilweise auf spanisch, Enrique schreibt auf spanisch und Parthasarathi berichtet uns auf englisch. Falls ihr über sie lesen möchtet, klickt einfach auf die folgenden Links, um direkt zu ihren Blogs zu kommen:

Hier kommt ihr zu Parthasarathis Blog auf englisch.

Hier kommt ihr zu Enriques Blog auf spanisch.

Hier kommt ihr zu Cesars Blog auf englisch.

Hier kommt ihr zu Cesars Blog auf spanisch.

Die DeutschAkademie Sprachschule Berlin wünscht euch ein paar entspannende Ostertage und viel Spaß beim Lesen der Eindrücke und Aktivitäten in Berlin mit dem Deutsch Intensivkurs unserer beiden Blogger Cesar und Parthasarathi :)!

Something for the Taste Buds…

Unfolding a place without citing its delicacy isn’t the best of the ways to pronounce it. Hence this one is dedicated to all the foodies out there.

As already mentioned in my previous post, being a vegetarian does limit much of one’s options to savour on the varieties of cuisines that are on offer across the street. This is specifically true in Deutschland as various forms of meat essentially constitute the staple diet of the natives.

So what I am here to write about??? My disappointments about my inability (choice rather) to relish the delicious preparations made out of meat???Well certainly not!!! Instead I am here to write about something which all foodies would love to read about.

This post is dedicated (do these words not directly reflect my admiration) to a food item which is more readily available than traffic signals (certainly a hyperbole) in Berlin. Referred to commonly as the Döner Kebap, this is a unique concept found widely across Germany and some parts of Europe (that is what I have heard from some friends of mine who have travelled across).Traditionally this consists of a piece of bread flavoured with sauces and stuffed with vegetables and potatoes. For the non-vegetarians, the potatoes are replaced with chicken or some other form of meat. The taste buds are triggered by the sauces used to marinate the bread and the powdered spices used to garnish it, serve the purpose of icing on the cake.

Easy on the pocket, this is a great grab for those who want a filling and comparatively (home-made food is better) healthy meal (the quantity is sufficiently big for me to not call it a snack). Certainly, in my opinion, a wiser substitute to burgers and pizzas on those days when you want to give cooking a miss.

Out of all the places and varieties that I have tried out, I am personally a big fan of an outlet named Mustafa’s. Although it is a small joint outside the U-Bahn station of Mehringdamm, it usually puts one through a considerably long wait, all thanks to the maddening rush outside. If legends are to be believed, döners from this place are famous across the country (although I have not verified the factuality of the claim).Nevertheless, the grilled Brinjals teamed up with grated cheese and tofu always lay the ultimate punch on our taste buds for us to forget the toil. And talking about genuine popularity, no one should really care about stories when such delicious food is available for a meagre of 2.5 Euros. Surely a win-win situation!!!

DONER KEBAP

SACHSENHAUSEN

visita a Sachsenhausen

Buenos días,

El pasado Domingo estuve visitando junto con mi amigo Felipe el campo de concentración Nazi de  Sachsenhausen , Es un campo de concentración muy cerca de Berlin y de facil acceso.  Está localizado en Oranienburg y podeir ir alli directamente con el S Bahn, al final de la linia S1.  Se tarda aproximandamente 1 hora en llegar alli. La visita además es gratuita y merece la pena.

IMG_6306Establecida en 1936, fue el primer campo de concentración en suelo alemán y se  utiliza principalmente para los presos políticos, tres años antes de su apertura  oficial, que ya había servido como un campamento establecido apresuradamente,  utilizados para los opositores de Berlín de los nazis. La mayoría de sus 200.000  reclusos tenían que trabajar en instalaciones de producción de armas en los  alrededores de Berlín. IMG_6360

Sachsenhausen sirvió también como un campo de  entrenamiento para oficiales de la SS que serían enviados a otros campamentos en  toda Europa. En 1961 el campamento se convirtió en un monumento a sus víctimas.  La zona tiene algunas instalaciones y cuarteles conservados como museosIMG-20130325-WA0008Ubicado en la población de  Oraniemburg , fue construido por los nazis en 1936 para confinar o liquidar masivamente a opositores políticos,  judíos, gitanos, homosexuales, posteriormente también prisioneros de guerra y finalmente  Testigos de Jehová. Aproximadamente unos 30.000 prisioneros de todo tipo fueron asesinados dentro del campo.

Con la ocupación soviética de Alemania Oriental, entre agosto de 1945 y la primavera de 1950,  fue transformado en un campo especial del NKVD donde se recluyó a unos 60.000 presos políticos, así como militares y funcionarios del III Reich. 12.500 de ellos murieron, en su mayoría de malnutrición y enfermedad.

IMG-20130325-WA0007bn

Foto final, ya anocheciendo junto con Felipe Prieto en la puerta de Sachsenhausen.

tschüss!

 

 

¿Por qué es tan difícil aprender alemán?

¿Por qué es tan difícil aprender alemán?

Buenos días, hoy abordaremos una tema que todo nos preguntamos.. ¿ Por qué es tan dificil aprender alemán?

Aqui tenemos un explicacion basicamente, segun los especialistas:

Respuesta incorrecta 1:  El alemán es muy difícil de aprender porque tiene declinaciones. Esto es una frase muy oída en las academias de alemán en los niveles A1, pero tiene poco fundamento. Las declinaciones no serán, ni de lejos, el mayor de sus problemas.

Respuesta incorrecta 2: El alemán es muy difícil de aprender porque tiene palabras muy largas. El alemán tiene palabras muy largas porque, cuando se describe un concepto con mucha precisión, se puede hacer una palabra muy grande en vez de varias palabras separadas. Pero la palabra más larga de su vocabulario común en alemán es probablemente Jägermeister o como mucho Europameisterschaft .

Respuesta correcta 1: El alemán tiene un vocabulario interminable. Según reciente estudios, el español medio usa en su vida diaria no más de 1.000 palabras diferentes.
Cuántas palabras usa el alemán medio en su vida diaria es un tema sobre lo que los lingüistas alemanes no se ponen de acuerdo, pero para que ustedes se hagan una idea podríamos decir que el alemán medio usa aproximadamente 4.000 palabras en su vocabulario habitual. Aqui tienen ustedes el primero de sus problemas serios. El alemán con el que tienen que convivir diariamente en Berlín tiene muchas más palabras que su lengua madre.

Respuesta correcta 2: Los géneros y los plurales. El alemán no es sólo mucho más amplio y preciso que el español en cuanto al vocabulario. Además, cada una de las palabras de esta interminable lista tiene su género y su plural. La reglas que nos permiten saber si una palabra es de un género o de otro, o saber como se hace su plural, juegan un papel absolutamente marginal. Es decir, que prácticamente no hay reglas para ello.

Respuesta correcta 3: Las oraciones subordinadas (Paradigma del desconocimiento del propio nivel).Como todos ustedes ya deben saber, hacer frases subordinadas en alemán es muy difícil. Cuantas más frases subordinen, más difícil. El orden de las palabras, el posicionamiento de los verbos, las particules separables…