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Most world languages have nouns that are either masculine or feminine. German, besides capitalizing all nouns, goes them one better and adds a third gender: neuter. The masculine definite article (“the”) is der, feminine is die, and neuter is das. German-speakers just seem to know whether Wagen (car) is der or die or das. (It’s der Wagen.) And they also know that the other German word for car is das Auto. But when referring to cars by brand name, it’s always der Ford, der VW or der Mercedes.

It’s not the actual person, place or thing that has gender in German, but the WORD that stands for the actual thing. That’s why a “car” can be either das Auto (neut.) or der Wagen (masc.).

Forget linking gender to a specific meaning or concept. Although nouns for people often follow natural gender, there are exceptions such as das Mädchen, girl. There are three different German words for “ocean” or “sea”—all a different gender: der Ozean, das Meer, die See! And gender does not transfer well from one language to another. The word for “sun” is masculine in Spanish (el sol) but feminine in German (die Sonne). A German moon is masculine (der Mond), while a Spanish moon is feminine (la luna). It’s enough to drive an English-speaker crazy!

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Back when Facebook was a mere seed in the mind of Mark Zuckerberg — or the Winklevoss twins, depending on whose side you are on — Friendster was all the rage.

To the younger ‘uns who’ve never been, Friendster was the virtual hangout for everyone, and it pioneered the social network that Facebook has become famous for.
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The next examination Start German 1 (A1) by the Goethe Institute in Cebu will be held on August 6 and 7, 2011. Registrations to participate in this exam in Cebu must be done until July 22, 2011.
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After an approximately four feet long Python had been chasing some residents fear, the snake in the town of Cainta, province of Rizal was caught on Tuesday morning.

The constrictor was seen on a vacant lot in the San Andres village after residents told that a python had eaten chicken in the area, said one resident, who had captured the snake.
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“WOW Now you can see who is looking at your profile!” – So or simular posts and events circulating now on Facebook in large numbers. Friends invite the users to use a feature to see who has visited their profiles. The goal of these messages is always the same: The receiver will click a link that lures in a trap.
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Bloody ritual in the Philippines: In memory of the suffering of Jesus several believers was nailed to the cross. On Good Friday the faithful do remember in this way the suffering of Jesus. The brutal spectacle attracts thousands of tourists.
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“Tiny amounts” of radioactive materials from the quake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan have already reached the Philippines, according to the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI).
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There is no threat to the Philippines from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant in Japan despite the latest fire and explosion at the distressed facility, the Department of Science of Technology and the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) said Wednesday.

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Podcast means producing and publishing audio and video files over the web in a specific format. The term podcasting is derived together from the name of the MP3 player “iPod” and the word “broadcasting”. Podcasting works with all standard MP3 players. (Read more…)

When it comes to learning a foreign language, always listening, speaking, reading and writing are in demand. Due to the various offers on the Internet today it is not hard to practice these skills, especially reading and listening. In this article we focus on reading practice.

Learning should be fun. If one practice using textbooks only, one often turns in circles with repetitive lyrics that are tailored to the vocabulary of the learner. This is good for a start, but boring in a long run. Students should challenge themselves and learn to deal with different text content and difficulty level. Because if you face the language in everyday life, there is no agreement on the current knowledge of the texts.

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