Speak German with
Louth U3A

Group Leader - Martha Tonge

Mondays every fortnight at 10 am in Monks' Dyke Road

see write up of one December meeting, below

The German Group

In what is becoming a regular feature of our year, for one meeting in December the German Group joined up with our equivalent from Market Rasen U3A. ‘Not too much work’ had been the plea from Market Rasen, so about 18 of us met at Martha’s home for a more social occasion. Louth members took turns to read German Christmas poems and stories, and having done our  homework, were able to supply some ad hoc translation where appropriate. Martha interspersed these with recordings of Christmas music. Market Rasen planned to test our speed with German numbers, during a game of Bingo.
We enjoyed an extended coffee/tea break, which allowed more informal German conversation to take place, though sadly, the less skilled of us lapsed into English. We were also able to indulge in treats like Lebkuchen, Stollen and Schwarzwaldkirschtorte (spicey cookies, marzipan cake and Black Forest gateau). Martha pointed out that many of the traditional festive treats were symbolic of the Christmas story; for instance Stollen depicts the Child (marzipan) wrapped in swaddling clothes (dough sprinkled with white icing sugar).
We are grateful to Martha for all the work she does for the group and were  pleased to welcome a new member this year. We have room for more if you have some basic German on which you would like to build. At our regular meetings we each contribute a short prepared piece, which leads to grammar and vocabulary points and conversation; or work on a theme, story or poetry  suggested by Martha. Please contact Martha for further details.

Rachel & Ralph Hewes 13/12/09

TRANSMISSION FROM ACROSS THE NORTH SEA

Peter Ormerod, an active member of our German Group, has obtained a satellite dish and a digital decoder to receive German T.V. Our group had the pleasure of viewing a transmission “Live” from Germany , and we were all impressed with the quality of the picture and the programmes. It is also possible to receive other European language channels in Spanish, French, Dutch; even the Arab channel ALJAZEERA, which also broadcasts in English.

After a cup of coffee and biscuits at Peter's we were served an excellent lunch at the Windmill Hotel, Alford. Thanks to Peter and the rest of the group this turned out to be an informative and enjoyable meeting.

Bis nächste mal !

Martha

German Group

At the German group we often discuss holidays and different areas of Germany. The other group members have enjoyed a trip together along the Mosel and recommended several places to visit. My wife and I decided this was a good idea, and I searched German websites for flats/ houses to rent. We finally decided on a flat in Bernkastel-Kues and an email confirmed that the flat was free. We spent a week touring the area by car, also enjoying a cruise along the Mosel one day, and a trip to Burg Eltz- a real fairytale castle.

The flat we stayed in had a beautiful view over the Mosel valley and Herr and Frau Braun, the owners, lived downstairs and were very welcoming, even bringing us fresh bread rolls every morning for breakfast. Their English was very limited, but this was an extra bonus as I could make good use of the German which we practise at group meetings. The flat was very reasonably priced at 40 Euros per night, and eating out in Bernkastel was such good value- a meal for two with wine costing under 30 Euros- that we did no cooking in the flat!

An excellent holiday, which cost us less than many self-catering holidays we have had in England. If you would like to improve your German so that you can book holidays direct with German speakers, and get more out of stays in German speaking countries, come along to the German group.

Ralph Hewes