Language & Literature

Insults have always been part of youth language. But many people have the impression that discriminatory expressions have become more common in the everyday language of German youth.More ...

The fact that language changes is a natural phenomenon. Languages show signs of wear and tear. But does the feeling that the language is being reduced and simplified correspond to reality?More ...

The Germans have apparently tasted blood. Regionalist authors are racing with each other to write murders stories in which one thing is never lacking: local color!More ...

Each year in summer, things really get going at the Leipzig Sports School, and pretty ambitiously, too: for three weeks, under the guidance of the Goethe-Institut, 50 young people from around the world study German intensively in the morning and chase soccer balls in the afternoon. And this is by no means an exclusively male domain. Astonishingly many girls turn up and prove that they are absolutely able to be winners.More ...

Germany is not only the homeland of 80 million people, but also the land of the Wackeldackel (plastic dachshunds with nodding heads), Brückentage (bridging days during the week that let one extend one’s vacation time) and Politessen (female parking inspectors).More ...

Playing football while learning German: the concept is called Double Club. A visit with the enthusiastic players at Langley Park School for Girls near London.More ...

Time, a flower that blooms and wilts inside every person ... second by second, hour by hour, day after day, week after week … what a wonderful image, what a beautiful, quirky idea!More ...

Finn-Ole Heinrich is currently one of Germany’s most successful up-and-coming young authors. The secret of his success: he writes about socially significant topics in a gently political way, he is a good observer – and he is authentic.More ...

If you want to achieve anything in life you have to speak High German. That is at least the prevailing attitude these days. But it’s different on the arts and culture scene, where dialects are not just a sign of authenticity but also a source of comic relief.More ...

They call themselves Surfpoeten, Liebe statt Drogen, Supertopcheckerbunnys or Chaussee der Enthusiasten: the Berlin reading stages. Even the names give a clue: here it’s all about literature events that are a little different. Something that began at the start of the 1990s as a subculture in Berlin’s backyards and derelict factory buildings has spread through the whole of Germany in recent years.More ...

Googeln, flexen, skypen. Verbs derived from brand names have become an integral part of the German language. The intriguing thing about them is that there are not as many of them as one might imagine.More ...

The eyes of the axolotls spoke to me of the presence of a different life, of another way of seeing.

Julio Cortázar

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"Art is beautiful, but a lot of work", said one of the most famous German comic artists, Karl Valentin (1882–1948). This statement is especially true for the comics industry in Germany, because there is no special training programme for comic artists, nor can much money be made from this art.More ...