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Audio Blog S2
Ostern - Easter

Formal German
Formal English
Vocabulary
Grammar Points
Cultural Insight

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Formal German
Die 3 Osterfeiertage sind die hchsten Feiertage in der christlichen Religion. Sie stehen fr
das letzte Abendmahl (am Abend vor Karfreitag), den Tag als Jesus im Grab lag
(Karsamstag) und den Tag seiner Auferstehung (Ostersonntag).
In Deutschland haben sich -wie immer- Bruche zu diesem Fest entwickelt. Da die meisten
davon wenig mit Religion zu tun haben, wissen viele Deutsche nicht einmal mehr, was an
Ostern gefeiert wird. Die Kinder interessiert es meistens nicht wirklich heutzutage freuen
sie sich vor allem darauf Schokolade in der Form von Hasen oder Eiern zu bekommen.
Ursprnglich wurden kurz vor Ostern hart gekochte Eier bunt bemalt und im Garten
versteckt. Die Kinder durften diese dann am Morgen des Ostersonntags suchen.
Zustzlich wurden Kuchen in der Form eines Lamms oder Hasens gebacken und bei
manchen Familien gab es Hefezpfe zum Frhstck. Da viele Kinder sich heutzutage mehr
ber Schokoladeneier als ber echte freuen, werden die hart gekochten immer mehr
verdrngt.

Es ist nicht mehr genau bekannt, warum berhaupt bunte Eier versteckt wurden und was der
Osterhase mit dem Feiertag zu tun hat. Zum Osterhasen gibt es viele Theorien,
beispielsweise knnte er als Erklrung dafr dienen, warum die bunten Eier im Garten
versteckt sind die offensichtlich nicht von Hhnern stammen. Andererseits gibt es im
Frhling viele Hasen, so dass sowohl die Hasen als auch die versteckten Eier als Symbole fr
neues Leben dienen knnen.
Dies wrde zumindest zum religisem Hintergrund des Feiertages passen. Viele der
Osterkuchen haben auch die Form eines Lamms, was einerseits ein Symbol fr Jesus
Christus (Agnus Dei) ist, andererseits aber auch auf die jdischen Wurzeln des Feiertages
erinnert. Das Lamm steht im alten Testament fr das am Pessachfest geopferte Lamm
welches die Juden in gypten vor dem durch Gott geschicktem Todesengel bewahrte.
Nach einem anderem Brauch werden an Ostern an vielen Orten groe Feuer angezndet. Fr
viele ist das eine einfache Mglichkeit ste und Gartenabflle los zu werden, andere
verbrennen leider auch ihren normalen Abfall.
Oft treffen sich dutzende Leute schon frh an den hohen Holzhaufen um zu reden und ein
Bier zu trinken. Wenn es dunkel wird werden die Holzhaufen entzndet. Da es im Frhling
in Deutschland oft noch ziemlich kalt ist, sorgt die Hitze des Feuers fr eine sehr angenehme
Atmosphre.

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Formal English
The three Easter holidays are the most important holidays in the Christian religion. They
stand for the Last Supper (on the evening before Karfreitag), the day when Jesus lay in his
tomb (Karsamstag) and the day of his resurrection (Ostersonntag).
In Germany as usual customs developed for these holidays. Because most of them only
have little to do with religion, many Germans dont even know any more what is celebrated
on Eastern. The children are mostly not really interested today, they are rather looking
forward to getting chocolate in the form of bunnies or eggs. Originally hard-boiled eggs
where painted colourful and hidden in the garden shortly before Eastern. The Children then
could search for them on the morning of Easter Sunday.
Additionally cakes where baken (?) in the shape of a lamb or a bunny and some families had
Hefezpfe for breakfast. Because many children today like eggs made of chocolate more than
the real ones, the hard-boiled ones are more and more displaced.
It is not known for sure any more why coloured eggs where hidden at all or what the Easter
bunny has to do with the holiday. There are several theories for the Easter bunny, for
example it could be the explanation why there are coloured eggs hidden in the garden
which obviously
cant come from chickens. On the other hand side, there are many bunnies in spring, so that
both the bunnies and the hidden eggs could serve as a symbol for new life.

This would at least fit to the religious background of the holiday. Many of the Easter cakes
also have the shape of a lamb, which on the one hand side is a symbol for Jesus Christ
(Agnus Dei), but on the other hand side also reminds of the Jewish roots of the holiday. In
the Old Testament the lamb stands for the lamb sacrificed on the pesach holiday, which
protected the Jewish people in Egypt from the angel of death send by god.
Following another tradition, large bonfires are ignited at many places on Eastern. For many
people, this is an easy possibility to get rid of branches and garden rubbish, others
unfortunately also burn their normal garbage.
Often dozens of people meet early at the high piles of wood to talk and have a beer. When it
gets darker the woodpiles are lighted. As it is often rather chilly in Germany in spring, the
heat of the bonfire provides a very comfortable athmosphere.

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Vocabulary
German
Osterfeiertage
das letzte Abendmahl
Grab
Auferstehung
Brauch

English
Easter holidays
the Last Supper
grave, tomb
resurrection
custom, rite

Notes
noun
expression
noun
noun
noun

Lamm
Wurzel

lamb
root

noun
noun

opfern

to sacrifice

verb

neuter; plural: Grber

feminine
masculine; plural:
Bruche
neuter; plural: Lmmer
feminine; plural:
Wurzeln
weak verb

Grammar Points
The focus of this lesson is (Title of Grammar Point here)
Copy and Paste a line from the dialog that uses this grammar point here (If this is a romance language, please use
italics for this line)

"Copy and Paste the translation for the line above here" (Please keep quotation marks | Find this BLUE in the font
color box: top row, third from the right.)

4
Here we enter a textbook style explanation of the grammar point in general. For example: usage of
grammar point in the conversational context. The language style/register of the grammar point (is it
formal, informal, slang, standard, idiomatic expression, popular, etc.). An example of a situation you
will most commonly find the grammar point. An example of a ready to use structure of grammar point
(for example: To express necessity, use "Il faut" plus an infinitive verb).

(Subtitle of next explanation of grammar point here) (for example: conjugation, singular, plural, gender, etc. | Find this
BLUE in the font color box: third row, third from the right.)

A more detailed explanation of a more specific part of the grammar point. For example, if you want to
explain more about conjugation, it goes here. If you want to show the different gender forms
(masculine/feminine), it goes here.

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Examples of your explanation go here: (if there are more than two examples we use a table: see
below)

1. Example in language (Give the example sentence/word here. If this is a romance language, please use italics for this line)
romanization. (romanization of line above goes here - please delete this line if this is a romance language)
"translation." (translation of the line above goes here, please keep quotation marks)
2. Example in language (repeat above)
romanization.
"translation."

Construction (if
Native Language (only Romanization (of
necessary) such as
italicized for romanized your example if
gender, tense, person, languages)
necessary)
etc.

"English Translation"

Note: The table headings can vary but usually contain at least two of the headings above (Native
language and English translation). This works very well when you have a lot of sample sentences,
sample conjugations, etc.

(Subtitle of next explanation of grammar point here) (repeat above if necessary)

A more detailed explanation of a more specific part of the grammar point. For example, if you want to
explain more about conjugation, it goes here. If you want to show the different forms of masculine /
feminine, it goes here.
Examples of your explanation go here: (if there are more than two examples we use a table: see
below)

1. Example in language (Give the example sentence/word here. If this is a romance language, please use italics for this line)
romanization. (romanization of line above goes here - please delete this line if this is a romance language)
"translation." (translation of the line above goes here - please keep quotation marks)

2.

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Example in language (repeat above)

romanization.
"translation."

Construction (if
Native Language (only Romanization (of
necessary) such as
italicized for romanized your example if
gender, tense, person, languages)
necessary)
etc.

"English Translation"

Note: The table headings can vary but usually contain at least two of the headings above (Native
language and English translation). This works very well when you have a lot of sample sentences,
sample conjugations, etc.
Examples from this lesson (Here we copy and paste lines from the dialog that contain the grammar point)

Examples from this dialog:

1. Sentence from dialog in language goes here. (Copy and paste a line from the dialog that includes the grammar point - keep
italics for romance languages)

Romanization of sentence here. (Romanization of the line above - you can copy and paste from romanization transcript field above
- delete this line for romance language)

"translation of sentence." (Translation of the line above - you can copy and paste from the transcript field above - please keep
quotation marks)

2. Sentence from dialog in language. (repeat above)

Romanization of sentence.
"translation of sentence."

Sample Sentences: (Sample Sentences of the grammar point go here. If there are more than 2 examples, please use a table: see above)

1. Sample Sentence. (Give the example sentence/word here. If this is a romance language, please use italics for this line)
romanization. (romanization of line above goes here - please delete this line if this is a romance language)

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"translation of sample sentence." (translation of the line above goes here, please keep quotation marks)
- Sample Sentence.
romanization.
"translation of sample sentence."

Language Tip/Language Expansion/Pronunciation Tip (use this section for anything else)
Add additional information about the grammar point here. For example: placement of the adjectives,
exceptions, etc. related to the grammar point's theme. Add information on pronunciation, etc. Add
example questions if necessary.

Cultural Insight
Obwohl Ostern traditionell das grte christliche Fest ist, wird zumindest in Deutschland Weihnachten
deutlich mehr gefeiert. Es ist in einigen Familien blich, den Kindern an Ostern Geschenke zu
machen, jedoch nicht in allen und meistens auch nicht so viel wie an Weihnachten.
Ostern ist fr durchschnittliche Deutsche auch eher ein Feiertag fr Kinder, da diese meistens sehr viel
Spa daran haben die versteckten Ostereier zu suchen und sich ber die verschenkten
Schokoladenosterhasen freuen.

Jugendliche und junge Erwachsene freuen sich an Ostern eher ber ein paar freie Tage, besonders da
um diese Zeit hufig die Temperaturen zum erstem Mal wieder angenehm werden.
Mittlerweile verkaufen Supermrkte die Ostersigkeiten bereits direkt nachdem die letzte
Weihnachtsdekoration entfernt wurde, was viele Deutsche sehr strt. Andererseits kaufen
offensichtlich gengend Menschen bereits im Januar Osterprodukte, so dass es sich fr die
Supermrkte lohnt.

LC: AB_S2L7_051509

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2009-05-15