Sprachenatelier Berlin

Our language conveys meaning, our opinions, our feelings. It allows us to connect with other people. Usually a language develops and evolves with time according to cultural traditions and usage norms. Therefore it goes hand in hand with the culture and with the people who speak that particular language. It grows and transform itself to respond to its speakers' needs of expression. There are certain situations, feelings or even just words in a particular language that express just that thing you've always been wanting to say but never found the right expression for. So I am hereby utterly delighted to give you a list of my favourite untranslatable words in different languages (with commens, not witty, not ironic.. AT ALL.) Graphic by Stephan Hogel, Sprachenatelier Berlin Gezelligheid, Dutch. The comfort and coziness of being at home, with family, friends and loved ones. Graphic by Stephan Hogel, remixed from original Minimalism outside by 55Laney69 under the lic...

Sprachenatelier has been situated in the beautiful building on Frankfurter Allee for 13 years now, but the building has been around for over 100. Designed by architect Hans Liepe, the building was built between 1906-1907 by Oscar Garbe . In 1907, more buildings of a similar style popped up along Frankfurter Allee, which was a main transport link and a prestigious shopping street. It is, in fact, one of the oldest streets in Berlin. The building is a plastered build covering five floors, with balconies situated on the front side. There are two exits which lead to the two stair towers at the back. The most obvious thing about the building is the roof (which was sadly damaged in the recent fire: see the last blog post for details). The roof is what is known as a “hipped“ roof meaning that all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. At the back there is a square courtyard between this building and another five-story building behind it. Right ...

  Stefan Reiss, a short portrait Stefan Reiss currently lives and works in Berlin, where he studied fine arts and sculpture at the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee. In his works he explores different artistic mediums such as drawings, paintings, sculptures, and projections on a variety of more or less complex materials like wood, glass or recycled elements. Interview with the artist During the opening of the exhibition „Spectra“ I had the chance to have a lovely chat with Stefan about the artistic process behind his interactive works. He's always been passionate about drawing and painting but more recently he started exploring new technologies in order to create his pieces. He started drawing straight lines on a tablet and came up with the idea of simple but forceful colours to break the monotony. He believes that new technologies to create art are not simply an imitation of real traditional mediums but they can enhance the artistic experience for both the ...

Taking a quick break from the language tips and advice to report on this week's news! You may or may not have heard that there was a fire in our beautiful old building late on Sunday night (10.04). At the top of the building above our three floors, there are shared flats. It was here where the fire started, and was later found to be caused by a cable. The fire took almost 2 hours to be put out, and the emergency services were still there on Monday morning, blocking off the area and managing the damage. Two people who live in the top floor were evacuated and, luckily, nobody was hurt in the accident. Sadly, the beautiful tiled roof was seriously damaged and will need some repairing, but the school only suffered from a little water damage coming down from the top floor. The school was closed on Monday 11 th April to ensure the safety of the building for teaching. As of Tuesday, classes were running in the school again and now of cou...

  Photo by Renato Silva , Sprachenatelier A few weeks ago, we posted about the common mi stakes that English speakers make when learning German. Well, this week, it's time to look at things the other way around. Having spent five months in Austria teaching school children and working with Austrian people, and now living in Berlin, I think I am fairly qualified and experienced to talk about the mistakes that German speakers make when learning English. Often the mistakes they make can be understood when you look at the German equivalent, because a lot of people are still in the DANGER ZONE (see last post) and are translating literally. So, scroll down and have a read. If you are a German speaker, maybe you can learn something, and if you're an English speaker, maybe you recognise some of these mistakes from your own experiences in Germany. Let's get going! But first... 1) “ L et me make a selfie!“ Remember the world...

  Zum englisch e Version , klicken Sie hier ! Letzte Woche entschied ich mich gemütlich einen Kaffee trinken zu gehen. Mein Buch zu nehmen und einfach ein paar Stunden in einem der kleinen süßen Cafés von Berlin zu entspannen. Ich bestellte mir etwas zu trinken, machte es mir in einem großen Sessel direkt am Fenster gemütlich und war gerade dabei, in Begleitung der angenehmen Hintergrundmusik anzufangen zu lesen, als mir nach einen paar Zeilen etwas auffiel. Ich konnte mich einfach nicht auf das Buch konzentrieren. Stattdessen konnte ich nicht anders, als den Unterhaltungen um mich herum zu lauschen (etwas, das mir mit meinem holprigen Deutsch nicht sehr häufig passiert). Ein Pärchen lernte sich gerade bei ihrem ersten Date kennen, ein paar Mädchen hingen quatschend und tratschend vor einem Laptop, und die ziemlich angespannten Versuche einer Frau mit ihrem Verlobten und ihrem Vater am Tisch eine Unterhaltung zu führen. Hier saß ich nun, in einer netten, ruhigen Nachbarsc...

 For the German version, click here ! Last weekend, I decided to go for a coffee. Take my book. Spend a couple of hours in a cute little café chilling out. I ordered my drink, got myself cosied into the big armchair that sat in the window, and was just about to start reading my book against the gentle background hum of music and conversation when after five minutes I realised something. I couldn't concentrate on my book at all. Instead I found myself totally engrossed in the conversations around me (something that doesn't happen too often here with my level of German). A couple revealing their life stories as they introduced themselves on a first date, some girls gossiping around a laptop, and the painfully awkward exchanges between husband and father-in-law, as the wife sat politely trying to make conversation. There I was, sitting in a quiet little neighbourhood of Berlin, and the only conversation I could hear was in English. Of course, we all k...

For the German version, click here A short portrait: Carla Chan Ho-Choi Carla Chan Ho-Choi (1989) is a young Berlin and Hong Kong based artist. She graduated from the School of Creative Media, City University in Hong Kong and has been active in the international scene since. Her works have been selected for various showcases in Europe, USA and Asia. Carla works with a variety of multimedial tools, like video, photos and other interactive medias, to create minimal pieces that play between reality and illusion. The exhibition: To Outland This is Carla's first solo exhibition in Berlin and it revolves around warping texture, scale and movement of landscape of a journey through an alien land. I believe the title really embodies the nature of the exhibition. One step into the gallery and you can already feel as if you were entering a different dimension. Not only the visual elements capture your attention, but the show is a full-body experience set by the ...

Zum englische Version klicken Sie hier     Ein kurzes Portrait: Carla Chan Ho-Choi Carla Chan Ho-Choi (1989) ist eine junge Künstlerin aus Berlin und Hong Kong. Sie hat ihren Bachelor an der Schule für kreative Medien, City University in Hong Kong gemacht und ist seither international unterwegs. Ihre Werke wurden für verschiedene Ausstellungen in Europa, Amerika und Asien ausgewählt. Carla arbeitet mit unterschiedlichen Mitteln, wie zum Beispiel Video, Fotografie und andere interaktive Medien, um minimale Werke zu erstellen, die zwischen Realität und Illusion spielen. Die Ausstellung: To Outland Dies ist Carlas erste Ausstellung in Berlin und handelt von verdrehender Textur, Maßstab und Bewegung der Landschaft. Von einer Reise durch ein außerirdisches Land. Ich glaube, dass der Titel den Charakter der Ausstellung hervorragend widerspiegelt. Nur ein Schritt in die Galerie und schon fühlt man sich in eine andere Dimension hineinversetzt. Di...

Zum englische Version klicken Sie hier  Selbst als Muttersprachler schafft die englische Sprache es immer wieder mich zu beeindrucken! Sprachen wachsen und verändern sich ständig, und es gibt immer etwas Neues zu lernen. Schau dir doch mal die unten aufgelisteten Fakten an. Wusstest du, dass... das Wort " girl " im Englischen nicht immer für " Mädchen " gebraucht wurde, sondern eigentlich als Bezeichnung für " Kind " oder " junge Person " verwendet wurde? Dänisch und Westflämisch die zwei nächsten verwandten Sprachen des Englischen sind? " almost " das längste englische Wort ist, in dem die Buchstaben in alphabetischer Reihenfolge stehen? mit einer leicht erschreckenden Anzahl von 464 Einträgen das Wort " set " die meisten Einträge im " English dictionary " hat? laut einer OED-Statistik ein " x " als Repräsentation eines Kusses das erste Mal 1763 am Ende...

Zum englische Version klicken Sie hier  Damit du weißt wer wir sind und was wir machen, hier eine kleine Einleitung: Wir sind das Sprachenatelier Berlin, Institut für Sprachen, Kunst und Kultur. Wir befinden uns im beliebten Bezirk Friedrichshain, im Zentrum von Berlin. Dort sitzen wir in einem Altbaugebäude aus dem 20. Jahrhundert, direkt an der Frankfurter Allee, einer der ältesten Straßen Berlins. Das Sprachenatelier wurde 2003 als Sprachenschule und Atelier gegründet. Im Atelier ist bis heute die damalige Raumgestaltung erhalten und noch heute werden in ihm Ausstellungen, Lesungen und Konzerte veranstaltet. Auch nach 13 Jahren halten wir an unseren Zielen und Visionen fest, Sprachen mit Kunst und Kultur zu verbinden und einen Ort der Kreativität, der Vielfalt und Weltoffenheit zu erschaffen. Unser Angebot an Deutschkursen, welches auf alle möglichen Level der Deutschkenntnisse ausgerichtet ist, bildet den Kern unseres Sprachangebots. Eg...