Xavier Naidoo

Du bist nicht allein (you’re not alone) when you hear Xavier’s voice

In order to celebrate the coming FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa
Today I’m gonna to introduce you one of the important German singer in FIFA

Xavier is a German singer and songwriter who is a mixed blood child between South African and Indian. Most of time, he sings in German and occasionally in English. He's not only a singer and also a lyric composer :D

Because of his soulful voice made him become the spiritual singer for German National Soccer Team. He is the pre-German soccer team’s coach: Klinsmann favorite singer!!

He sings R&B and soul which are not so common in German songs, so I really find he’s a really special singer for you to listen to :)

Not only because he has a consoling voice, but also he often sings songs that can inspire other people, not just boring love songs! Moreover, if you want to learn some beautiful German lines you can get some in his lyrics ^^

For example
Dieser Weg (This road)
Klismann’s favorite song and played many times at 2006 FIFA World Cup http://www.myvideo.de/watch/6739127/Xavier_Naidoo_Dieser_Weg

Alles kann besser werden (All will turn better)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMIGQp4YhuU

Du bist nicht allein (You’re not alone)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmnHi1mRu_0

By these songs, let’s also expect Germany to gain the champion in 2010 World Cup ^^

Let's fly in the Classroom

This week German movie discussion is Das Fliegende Klassenzimmer (The Flying Classroom)



I first watched this film when I was a second grade student in Wenzao, who still knew so little about German, but I absolutely find this movie fantastic!


The reason I love this film is that there’re so many cute children in the film and is quite different from those brutal battlefield films.
Sometimes this film even reminds me more or less of Les choristes, probably is because it's also a story related to a group of children chorus. :)

Das Fliegende Klassenzimmer (The Flying Classroom) is adapted from a novel written by the German writer Erich Kastner.

The main character is Jonathan who is a twelve boy, but has already gone through six boarding schools. His last chance is Leipzig's St. Thomas School, home of the world-famous boys' choir. For Jonathan, there's no better place to be.

As he makes friends with his roommates, they take him to their secret meeting place: an abandoned train car. There they discover a mysterious stranger named Bob one day – and the script for a play, The Flying Classroom.

With new music and rap lyrics, it's going to be the kids' personal contribution to the school's Christmas show.

Unaware of the play's author and what it means to their favorite teacher Justus, the kids unwittingly trigger a turbulent chain of events which is the climax of the whole story!

The rest of the drama should leave for you yourself to find out :)

Besides, i think this film is cool because it offers a contrast between chorus and rap and these children are so talented!

many of us may think these two things are irrelative, however, you can find it's very interesting in this film.

from the film, I learn that happiness is actually not that difficult to find.
And relationship between human is not that complicated, sometimes you just have to think it in a direct and straight way. Don’t often project one’s own interpretation on others, which usually leads to misunderstanding.

there's a trailers for Das Fliegende Klassenzimmer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UoknsuaBao
soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyylwY7mvXM&feature=related

Keep in touch!

just find out that i haven't pointed out about the communication in Germany which is quite important

esp. for our poor students :P

alright

first get to Germany, you have to get yourself a SIM card

when i was in Heidelberg, the one i used is T-mobile

it's a big firm in Germany, probably like CHT in Taiwan

however, after i got one, i just found out that actually there was a cheaper one

eplus

because no matter what using handyphone is still a extravagance in Germany

my suggestion is that you don't have to use that expensive one

besides, i found out that German don't use handyphone often like many asians do, probably is because it's indeed a luxury

moreover, i think their qualities are almost the same, so there's nothing to worry about :)

second, i wanna introduce you a speical kind in Germany

it's like telephone card and it can save you a lot of money

you can buy it in some asian shops like what i did before

(maybe about 5 Euro, i'm not sure anymore, but not expensive! i can ensure that)

this card gives you a code

after entering a code, you can call your home number

i used one card to call home four or five times in about ten minutes :) quite cost-effective :D

use these tips , you can keep in close touch with your family and friends without burdens!!

Blueprint

This week major topic- German films

Not only from music can you learn a language but also from the film can you gain something fun while acquiring a language and its culture


Some people may have stereotype about German films which are quite gloomy and always related to the battles

(Probably because of their historical hostilities or maybe due to their “great man”- Hitler, for your reference, don’t think nowadays Germans still want to remember Hitler, actually Germans feel pretty shamed about the whole historical events and Hitler, now no any German would like to have Hitler as their last name)


However, German actually have produced many good movies and I would like to introduce you some in the following few weeks




Blaue Print (Blueprint), first introduced by my German teacher when I was fourth grade in Wenzao, was a movie based on a book written by Charlotte Kerner


The film raises the ethical issue of human cloning


At the age of thirty the world-famous composer Iris learns that she has an incurable illness. She, a person who wanted to live forever to maintain her talent, does however not give in. In order to preserve her art and also herself, beyond death, she has herself cloned. Her daughter Siri, whom, in this way, she turns into her virtual twin, learns as a child that she is the world's first cloned human being. In fact a blueprint: a blueprint of her mother. From that moment on nothing is as it was before.

the rest for you to discover from the movie ;)


I love this movie not just because of its plot but also its music. The music was not only the background movie but indeed has a deeper meaning.

For example, the soundtrack hit: The Truth Lies kept me thinking about many things
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9woX47GsIVo
What is the real truth? What if something you believe is truth but suddenly turns to a lie, it hurts more, doesn’t it? I think these questions also remain in Siri’s mind.


Besides, you can see Iris’s every image in Siri, like their name, if you write Iris from the back to the front, you would find it is Siri! Surprising, right?


Moreover, Mozart’s Sonate A-Dur KV 331 is also the theme music in the film. The motif keeps repeating in the movie seems to indicate Siri is always another Iris, that’s all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=UKC3FRJMrUc&feature=related


I cried every time when I watch this film. It reflects so many conflicts that still existed right now in everyone’s house. Parents put their unfulfilled dreams as the great expectations on children and never let children do what they really want. It’s just like another reprint of parents.

if you're quite interested in it
you can rent the DVD or you can burrow it from me :)

Silver Music in Germany

Although I love listening to music all the time,

my major music type is not rock

I’ve not been so familiar with rock music until I learned German

At first, I just want to use the same approach like what I learned English

learning languages from movies and music.

I don’t want my learning of languages becomes such a burden for me.

Therefore, I usually appeal to entertainment.

There’re a lot of rock bands in Germany and I think German is good in singing in some rock style music or rap

Probably just my personal opinion, but I think maybe it’s due to some historical events, Germans are braver to express their discontent.

And I just think both rock and hip hop music are suitable for expressing unsatisfied feelings

but many Germans actually don’t really sing in German

and that’s quite annoying for me because it means it’s not easy to find a GOOD German song

However, Silbermond is the first German rock band I knew and I think is the best that I would like to recommend them to you.

The first song I would like to introduce to you is a sweet love song- Symphonie (Symphony)

Tell the truth, I am not so into love song, but I think this one is sweet
maybe the lyrics are not so sweet as the melody, but i still consider it as a good song :)

Besides, it’s one the most famous song of Silbermond since it later becomes the cover version of Sarah Brightman.

ref: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xybG0JAO-Dc
German lyrics for you to learn some German ;)
http://www.lyricsdownload.com/silbermond-symphonie-lyrics.html
English translation: http://www.metrolyrics.com/symphonie-lyrics-silbermond.html
or for someone who learns Spanish :D
http://www.lyricsdownload.com/silbermond-symphonie-spanish-version-lyrics.html

Some other recommened :)
Das Beste
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlopE0yBei8
Letzte Bahn (with lyrics)
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=me49mV_N_tA&feature=related

Das Beste and Symphonie are soft rock music

The following would be much "rocker" (comparative XDD)

An Dich
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!feature=related&v=HtLfQ0jke9g
Ohne Dich
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN5v7Y7zFLA

There is plenty of good music from them
If you find they fit your type, maybe you can also search their songs online

Furthermore, their official website :)
http://www.silbermond.de/

JOURNEY never end

Morgen! Wie geht's?

(Moring! how's going?)

well, how's everyone's winter vacation?

too short, huh?

don't wanna come back soon after Chinese New Year?

i know how does it feel cuz me either

however

throw this unchangeable prob away to the sky

give these courses a big smile

though i know it's hard

Because of the start of this semester,

gonna run the blogger again

which is beyond my expectation

i thought blogger writing would be end last semester

that's why i put cultural shock as the ending of my German journey

and these days, i kept thinking

should I continue writing the blogger with this theme

or should i change it to another one?

and finally i came up with some themes

good songs intro or

great films intro or

some tips to make your life splendid or

more details about Germany trip?

too many choices to make a decision

then

i decided maybe i can integrate them

give some introductions about

German bands

German music

German movies

tourism spots i'd been

some small tips to learn German

(gonna recall my German learning memory :P)

since there're some classmates

who are learning German as second langauge now

i hope these entertainments from Germany

can strengthen your motive of learning German

Exploring journey would never end

ready to explore more!!!! :)

Besides, hope you can really learn something here

and for a blogger writer,

i believe by introducing these things can also help me to learn more ^^

Bis bald!!

(see you soon)

PS, the pic is the railway in Germany

Culture Shock!!

>> Cultural Shock <<


Although I’ve learned some German culture before going to Germany, the journey to Germany still brought me some cultural shock.

Some people in Taiwan assume Germans are aloof and bumptious.
However, this kind of stereotype is totally wrong.

Germans are actually pretty friendly especially when you are able to speak a little German.
Most of time, there were Germans who come and talked to me. Therefore, don’t worry that you would become isolated if you go to Germany ^^

They might first talk to you in German.
However, when they find out that you can’t speak German, they will have conversation with you in English.


The most interesting thing is that if they see you are an Asian, they may speak Japanese. (= =”)

Please forgive them (even though I really wanted to hit him at the moment :P)
Because for foreigners, Japanese may be the easiest Asian language. Moreover, of all the Asian languages, the pronunciation of Japanese is more like German.

For example, I had a lot Japanese friends who speak German so well, but they are not willing to speak English.



I remembered there was once English learning cram school making fun of German’s English in their promotional commercial. A lot of people presume that German speak poor English.
This supposition is also wrong.
Actually most of teen Germans can speak fluent English. Besides, because of the regional relation, their English are more like British English.



Furthermore, I met some black people in Germany. Well, due to a lot of movies, many Taiwanese people think the black are dangerous. However, they’re not. You can on the other hand get along well with them. You can show something you knew about black such as hip hop, slangs like “wat up?”, they will love you more.


I’m sooooooo appreciating that I had a chance to travel and learn in Germany which not only help me to improve my German but also let me learn many cultural differences and life experiences.