GermanPod101.com Blog

Germany won last night 3:2 against Turkey, after a very spannend (exciting) match. Both Mannschaften (teams) played exceedingly well. Of course LOTS of people were watching, many of them at public viewing places, so they could share the Erfahrung (experience) with other fans. One of the largest public viewings was in Berlin between the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) and Yitzhak-Rabin-Straße. 500,000 people could fit there - and already one hour before the match that limit was reached and further fans could not be accomodated. Can you imagine that? A tenth of the Bevölkerung (population) of Berlin’s larger metropolitan area was there to see the match, one hour before it even started!

Also a lot of people were probably watching the match in their local Kneipe (pub) or on their TV - public television broadcast the match live, though with some Sendestörungen (disruptions of the transmission).

Anyway, now Germany will face either Spain or Russia in the finals. The Gegner (opponent) is decided tonight, and the big match will be on Sunday. If you are at all into soccer, don’t miss this! Of course the best thing to do for your German is to watch the match with German commentary - after you have studied Advanced Audio Blog #6 for some basic vocabulary.

Right now, if you go to a German pub, if you take a taxi or even just if you walk along a street, you can’t avoid talk about Fußball (soccer). Germany is on its way to become Europameister (European champions) this year, and everybody is going crazy. Turkey still has a good chance of winning, so really everybody is going crazy. (Turks are the largest group of immigrants in Germany.)

This is the one time when people will show off German flags, when normally they’re taboo. The year Germany became runner-up to Weltmeister (world champion) at soccer, there was actually a shortage of flags because the stores were unprepared. And tonight is going to be the craziest game of all: Germany against Turkey in the semi-finals. Everybody is talking about it, even the foreign press noticed.

Let me tell you: even in peaceful times the majority of Germans can explain the most obscure rules of soccer. If you don’t know what soccer is about right now, or if you don’t have any opinion about the upcoming game, you’re out. You can’t retain any kind of respectability in Germany. So, if you expect to come into any kind of contact with Germans during the rest of the European cup, or if you always wanted to know what the craze is about, study

Advanced Audio Blog #6

- all about soccer.