"Alte Liebe rostet nicht" say the Germans.

Old love doesn't rust.

Neither does new love!

So how do you say you're in love in German?

There's the classic, direct way:

Ich liebe dich.

Yeah, that's a good one.

And it's a big one.

If you don't want to jump in at the deep end of the pool, here are a few suggestions for you to talk about it.

There are a few standard ways of saying you're in love with someone as well as a couple of slang ways to say it.

If you're on the look-out for "like" ra…

This is an email that I received from a client this summer after she had her Swiss Citizenship Interview. In addition to practicing speaking in German, we spent several lessons discussing the Swiss governmental system and how to prepare mentally for such an exam. Our final lesson before her interview was a practice interview. Here’s what she had to say.

N.B. This email has been edited for privacy, clarity and formatting.

Hello Nicole!

I did make it through my German language test in Switz…

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know that I have been working on an official certification for teaching German as a Foreign Language. I started at the end of 2015 and got really behind so I ended up spending much of last summer sitting at my computer, working through all the information. It was a tough slog.

Sechs Module - Six Modules

The course has 6 different modules and each module was the equivalent of a 120-page book plus exercises. The exercises ranged from simple re…

If you are already living with less or a minimum amount of possessions, or would like to, this philosophy works in your favor when learning German. Experience a language which is significantly more predictable than English; German is a great language to explore!

You'll also discover here how, in many ways, German is actually easier than English. I say this as a native English speaker, a near-native German speaker, and an instructor for both languages.

Of course both languages have their own un…

At the end of the year a lot of Germans use the phrase zwischen den Jahren. Between the years?! That's not possible!

Or is it?

There are two things you need to know about this phrase zwischen den Jahren.

1. It's a real thing.

A lot of German offices shut down on Heiligabend (Christmas Eve) and don't open again until after Neujahr (New Year's Day). That means all their everything must be done on December 23rd! Since they won't be back to work until the new year has begun, then they have finis…

Today is the first day of Hanukkah (or Chanukka...no matter which way you spell it, it's the Festival of Lights!) It's the perfect opportunity for you to learn about Chanukka - auf Deutsch!

Currently there are approximately 98,500 members of Jewish communities in Germany. These members are a part of about 110 Jewish communities all around Germany, which you can read about here.

More on Chanukka - auf Deutsch!

When you've learned the vocabulary words, try reading this short article on Chan…

'Tis the season for concerts of the Messiah, composed by German composer Georg Friedrich Händel. (Which means I'm off to sing this weekend so I'm publishing this blog post early for you.) According to the legend, he locked himself in a room and composed night and day; according to his notes, he did write the entire piece in 24 days. The original autograph (what Händel wrote) was 259 pages long (source).

Here are 5 facts you might not have known about Händel:

1. Händel was born in 1685 in Halle…

Amended: This post now includes 8 Easy German Book recommendations for A1-level learners,
3 from adult literature and 5 from youth literature.

If you are an A1 German learner, then that means you are at the beginning level of German. You're a beginner. It stays that way for a while, so you might as well enjoy it! The A1 level is key for you because it gives you the basics of German grammar. A1 is the foundational level for all other levels. I frequently tell people:

Think of the A1 level l…

Assertiveness, old German ladies, and "gut."

Do you hail from the middle of the country? Nothing kicks the Midwest out of you like German, as Laura F. wrote in response to last week's post:

Growing up in the Midwest, one of the principles I absorbed was that it is terrible to hurt other people's feelings. In my early adulthood, I was really too agreeable for my own good. In Germany, living in their culture and using their language, I learned to be more assertive. It was in German that I firs…

For some people, German truly changes their lives. I know it did for me--I had never actually learned to speak a foreign language before and it opened up a whole new world of experiences, literature, travel, media, music, and more. Learning to put that verb alllll the way at the end of the sentence helped me think in larger, more encompassing thoughts, which changed how I planned what I wanted to say.

A lot of my clients have had life-altering changes by learning German and I want to share a fe…