Course Description

This course highlights all the most important  German holidays. Use the information as  content for German conversations, writing tasks and oral exams.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Objective = Develop German Culture Knowledge (Use What You Learn As The Content Of Your Written Exams).

    • Customs And Traditions Are Linked To German Legal Holidays (Calendar)

    • The Best Website For Monthly German Holidays, Festivals & Culture

  • 2

    August Culture

    • Supermarket Meat Is Labeled According To Animal Welfare

    • Germany's Shakespeare Is Goethe - Birthday August 28

    • German 1: Learn This Famous Goethe Poem: Wanderers Nachtlied (No Text)

    • German 1: Learn This Famous Goethe Poem: Wanderers Nachtlied (Only Text)

    • German 2: Learn This Famous Goethe Poem: Gefunden (Female Reading)

    • German 2: Learn This Famous Goethe Poem: Gefunden (Male Reading)

    • Honors German: Learn This Famous Goethe Poem: Erlkönig (Divide Up The Stanzas Among Your Group)

  • 3

    September Culture

    • Video: Last Week Of September Through First Week Of October = Oktoberfest

  • 4

    September Feiertag in Bayern: Bavarian Oktoberfest-The World's Largest Folk Festival

    • Video: History of the Oktoberfest

    • Listening Comprehension Quiz: History of the Oktoberfest

    • Video: An American Explains the Oktoberfest

    • Video: Come Take a Tour of the Oktoberfest

    • Video: History of the Biergarten

    • Video: Learn How to Do the Schuhplattler Dance

    • Video: Learn German Oktoberfest Vocabulary

    • The Oktoberfest "Fairgrounds" & Lebkuchenherzen

  • 5

    September/Oktober Feiertag in Bayern: Traditional Oktoberfest Songs

    • Video: The Easiest Oktoberfest Song to Learn

    • Video: Learn to Sing and Dance this German Party Song

    • Video: The Most Famous Oktoberfest Song- Sung By Two Famous Singers From German Schlager History

    • Video: Learn the Lyrics to the REFRAIN of this Oktoberfest Song So You Can Join in the Fun

    • Video Testimonial: An American Tells You How Important It Is To Learn German Party Songs

    • Video: This Bavarian Band is Reviving the Bavarian Dialect

    • List of Links: Learn to Sing this Bavarian Party Song

  • 6

    October Culture

    • Video: October 6th is German Unity Day (6min)

    • Photo Guide of The Berlin Wall = die Berliner Mauer

    • History of the Berlin Wall (p2- 6min)

    • Escape (p5- 9min)

    • Walled In (p6- 10min)

    • The Crossing At Bornholmer Strasse (p8- 9min)

    • Traces Of The Wall (p8- 6min)

    • Video: Why Halloween is Not Popular in Deutschland (explained from an American's perspective)

    • Video: The Difference Between Halloween in the USA and in Germany (explained from A German's perspective)

    • Spiel: Halloween Lotto (Need Copies Of Game Cards In Advance)

  • 7

    November Culture

    • November 1st Is All Saints Day

    • Tombstone Activity

    • Tombstone Worksheet (Fill In During "Graveyard Walk")

    • Geography: The Northern Lights

    • November 12 = Internationaler Zungenbrecher Tag

    • Bilingual Explanation of St. Martinstag

    • Here Is What A St. Martinstag Celebration Looks Like

    • Laterne Basteln (Template)

    • Finshed Samples

    • Event Idea

  • 8

    December Culture: Weihnachten (Germany Shuts Down For The 2 Christmas Days)

    • How to Wish Germans a Merry Christmas

    • Video: It All Starts With the Advent Wreath

    • Video: What Makes Christmas Time In Germany So Special?

    • Video: An Overview Of Christmas Traditions In Germany (English)

    • Video: Come Meet the Christkind! She Explains Her Role in English.

    • Video: The Christkind Speech That Opens the Christmas Season Each Year

    • Open A Door Each Day (Adventskalendar from the AATG)

    • Video: The Famous German Gingerbread Cookie + das größte Lebkuchenhaus (30 minutes all in German)

    • Video: Spend a Minute at the Christmas Market in Nürnberg

    • Video: Get an English-speaking Tour of a German Christmas Market!

    • Video: A Drive-Through Christkindlmarkt During Covid19

    • Video: Look at the Real Lights on this German Christmas Tree (First 10 Seconds)

    • Video: Christmas Tree Safety (in German)

    • Video: German Christmas Tree Humor

    • Video: How To Create A German Christmas Atmosphere In Your Place

    • Video: Learn the German Word "Bescherung" As You Watch It Happen in a German House

    • Assignment: The Most Famous Classical German Christmas Poem

    • Video: Pronunciation Help for the Christmas Poem Assignment

    • Listen to this Poem as a Heavy Metal Song

    • Video: Wer Sind Denn Alle Diese Weihnachtsfiguren? (auf deutsch)

    • Video: Sankt Nikolaus versus der Weihnachtsmann (for advanced students)

    • Video: die Sternsinger am Dreikönigstag

    • Video: Explanation in German of the Three Kings (die Drei Könige )

    • Article: How Do Muslims In Germany Celebrate The Christmas Season?

    • Video: Schneeflocken basteln

    • Make Your Own Schneeflocken Using Templates

  • 9

    Dezember Feiertag: Sankt Nikolaustag (December 6th, but the festivities begin on the evening of the 5th)

    • 5. Dezember: Heute Ist Sankt Nikolaustag

    • What is Saint Nikolaus Day?

    • Video: See Sankt Nikolaus and Knecht Ruprecht Walk Through a German Department Store

    • Video: Who is Krampus?

    • Video: Jimmy Fallen Discusses Krampus

    • Elf On A Shelf

    • Video: Krampus in Osttirol

    • Video: Brave Girl Plays Her Recorder At A Home Visit

    • Video: Krampus Day at School

    • Video: A Home Visit from Sankt Nikolaus and His Servant

    • Video: Watch Some Younger Children Get a Visit

    • German PP Sankt Nikolaus

    • Ich wünsche dir einen schön Nikolaustag!

    • Film: A Heidelberg Holiday

  • 10

    Dezember Feiertag: Silvester (New Year's Eve = games, punch, food, movie, speech, toasting, finally fireworks)

    • 7 Things You Need For A German New Year's Celebration

    • Video: The Most Traditional German New Year's Eve Game

    • Video: Recipe for the Most Famous Holiday Beverage

    • Video: The Most Traditional New Year's Eve Meal (10 minutes in German)

    • The Traditional New Year's Eve Film That Every German Watches

    • Video: New Year's Eve Political Speech

    • Video: Yes, Germans Also Toast To the New Year With Champagne

    • Learn How to Wish Someone a Happy New Year in German

    • Video: Silvester Fireworks at the Brandenburger Tor

    • Video: The World's Most Famous Classical Concert is Broadcast from Wien on New Year's Day

  • 11

    January Culture

    • Frohes Neujahr! Activity

    • Third Monday Of January is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

    • 33 Religious Affliations

    • The Movie

  • 12

    Februar Feiertag: Fasching/Karneval (like Mardi Gras in New Orleans)

    • Video: What is Lent?

    • Video: The Origins of Karneval Explained in German (1 minute)

    • Alaaf und Helau!

    • Video: The 5 Day Street Party Begins with "Weiberfastnacht"

    • Video: Come Visit the Three Major Cities for Fasching and Karneval Celebrations

    • Video: The Most Important Karneval Treat is the "Faschingskrapfen"

    • Video: An American Teenager Living in Germany Explains Fasching

    • Video: The Traditional Karneval and Fasching's Speeches

    • Video: Rosenmontag, "Kamelle Kamelle" and the Greeting of the Day

    • Leap Year = Schaltjahr (2024, 2028, 2032, etc.)

  • 13

    March Culture

    • March 17th- Let's Learn About Lucky Charms In Deutschland (auf Deutsch but with English Subtitles)

    • March 17th: Glücksbringer (nur auf Deutsch)

    • Basteln: Easy Fliegenpiltz (Only requires white paper and a red pen/pencil)

    • Basteln: Easy Origami 4 Leaf Clover (Only requires green paper)

    • Basteln: Origami Marienkäfer (Only requires red paper)

    • Basteln: Origami Schweinkopf (Only requires pink paper)

    • Basteln: Origami Horseshoe (Requires silver paper or silver sharpie or tin foil) Remember To Keep It Facing Up!

    • Advanced Basteln: 2-Piece Origami Glücksschwein (Only requires pink paper)

    • Advanced Basteln: Full Body Origami Schwein (Only requires pink paper)

    • Advanced Basteln: Origami Kleeblatt (Only requires green paper)

  • 14

    April Culture

    • Easter Monday = Georgiritt

    • Ostermontag = Georgi Ritt Traunstein Schwertertanz

    • Ostermontag = Pferde Werden Gesegnet Beim Georgiritt in Traunstein

    • The 3rd Monday of April = Böögg

    • Video: Böögg

    • April 23 = Day Of Beer

    • April 30 = Walpurgisnacht

    • Video: Walpurgisnacht Hexen Tanz

  • 15

    May Culture

    • May 21st: Albrecht Dürer born in Nuremberg

    • Dürer’s Self-portrait At Munich’s Alte Pinakothek

  • 16

    Regional Events- Rhein Wine Festivals, Leipzig Book Fair, Berlin Film Festival, Village Fests (ex. Dampfnudelfest)

    • Read: Dampfnudelfest

    • Foto: Regional Foods Map (click double-arrow in top right corner to rotate image clockwise)

  • 17

    Graduating Seniors' Group Project

    • German Team Painting

State Certified German Teacher For 30 Years

Dr. Bogard

The owner and creator of the Time To Learn German website is Eva Bogard, Ph.D. She was born in Manhattan (NYC) to a German mother and a German-American father. She earned her bachelor's degree in foreign languages at snowy SUNY-Oswego and completed her graduate studies in Second Language Education and Instructional Technology at sunny USF-Tampa, where she earned her Master's and Doctorate degrees. She has spent several colorful summers in France enjoying the language and culture in Paris, St. Malo and Tours, but is usually found during her long summer breaks on the beach in Florida, or in the mountains of southwest Germany. Professionally, she is very interested in online hybrid education, especially using instructional technology in both her classroom and online courses to teach foreign languages. Eva is an International Baccalaureate teacher, and a Montessori education enthusiast. She has taught German, French and Spanish, as well as, Information Technology and Business Management over the last 30 years.

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