Jeff

Germany





General Info: Germany is a country in central Europe. The capital of Germany is Berlin and the 2010 estimate puts the population at 82,282,988 people. In Germany the currency used is called Euro (above right) and their president as of this year is Christian Wulff (above center). Germany's official language is German and some other languages that are commonly spoke there are Sorbian, Turkish, Kurdish, Danish, North Frisian, and Romani. The overall area that makes up Germany is 357,021 square km and one thing that they are famous for is their German Sausages. One place that would be worth visiting is the chalk cliffs which are in Jasmund National Park. They are national landmark and are one of the biggest tourist attractions in Rugen Island. It goes along the sea and the cliffs go as high as 161m. One final thing is food. A type of food that is very popular in Germany is Sauerbraten. It is a large roast that the people flavour differently depending on what part of Germany it is and it's made of pork, veal, or beef.

Standard Of Living: Germany has a very high standard of living. The wealth is distributed so evenly that the government gives people money if they make below a certain income.

Education: Unlike the education system in Canada when children are 6 they can either go into pre - higher education which lasts until they're 15 or they can go into a sort of grade primary which lasts until they are 10. When they are 10 they can go into a variety of lower secondary programs. Some last until they're 15 and others last until they're 16. They can also go into general secondary which lasts until they're 19 or they can go into integrated secondary which lasts until they're 15. They can also go to vocational secondary which, depending on what type, can go from ages 15 - 18, 16 - 18, or 18 - 20. Then they can do a 2 year coarse called vocational. After that they can go to different levels of university. There is fachhochschulen (1st level), Hauptstudium (2nd level), and promotion (3rd level). Their school year goes from October to August.

Translation? Here are some words that you would need to know if you were going to Germany.

Hello = Begrüßung Where is = Wo ist How do I get to = Wie kann ich zur Thank you = Danke schön! Danke!

National Anthem:

Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit, fuer das deutsche Vaterland! Danach lasst uns alle streben, bruederlich mit Herz und Hand! Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit, sind des Glueckes Unterpfand. Blueh im Glanze dieses Glueckes, bluehe deutsches Vaterland!

English:

Unity and right and freedom for the German fatherland;

Let us all pursue this purpose brotherly, with heart and hand.

Unity and right and freedom are the pledge of happiness.

Flourish in this blessing's glory, flourish, German fatherland.

Stereotypes: Here is a list of some of the common stereotypes about Germans

1. They all have blonde hair and blue eyes 2. They always wear lederhosens 3. They are fat 4. They always eat sauerkraut and bratworst 5. The men have long beards Canada VS Germany: There are a couple differences between us and Germany other than the obvious like they speak a different language than us and their money and anthem is different than ours. One is there are 7 different languages commonly spoke there but here there are only two. Something else is their population is 82,282,988 people while ours is only about 33,100,000 people. One final thing is the area that makes up Germany is 357,021 square km while ours is 9,984,670 square km.

Sports: The national sport of Germany is soccer. It is extremely popular in Germany and the German Team has won a lot of titles. As for hockey, their team is fourth best in the world. Wildlife: Some of the common animals that can be found in Germany are mallards, foxes, hedgehogs, and the ones commonly used as pets (ie: dogs, cats, birds, ect..). One animal that isn't common to see but can still be found in Germany is the European Kingfisher. Danse:﻿  One style of danse in Germany is called the slap danse. To do this two circles are made, one inside the other, and the men are in the inside circle facing their partner. Then the rest is done in this order: slap your thighs, clap your hands, slap your partners right hand, slap your thighs, clap your hands, slap your partners left hand, slap your thighs, clap your hands, slap your partners right then left hand, slap your thighs, clap your hands, slap your partners right hand with your left and their left hand with your left at the same time, then repeat but instead of clapping their you wave the index finger of the corresponding hand, take your partner in a ballroom hold, gallop forward 7 steps counter - clockwise then backwards 7 steps clockwise and gallop 7 steps counter - clockwise again, the men take the woman on their left into a ballroom hold, gallop 7 more steps counter - clockwise then repeat the danse. Music of Germany: From what I have seen so far during this project the people of Germany seem to play all types of music generas. One kind of music that first became popular in Germany is trance in the 1990's. It's a combination of tempo and rythem structures of tecno and melodic overtones that resembles house music. As for clothing from what i've seen in music videos the mainstreme musicians would wear things like the ones here do. The only time that people might wear something different is if it's a special occasion (ie: Octoberfest). Then they might wear lederhosens.

Involvement In Everyday Life: From what I've seen so far music in everyday life in Germany is similar to ours in some ways and different in others. It's similar because their mainstream music acts the same way as ours but it's different because they don't get to learn about it in school.

Music Education: The music background of people in Germany dosen't come from the schools because of things like low budgets. One person that's trying to change this is a violinist named Anne - Sophie Mutter. She created and is currently trying to impliment a music curriculum.

Musical Celebrations: One celebration that involves music in Germany is Octoberfest which is the largest beer drinking festival and lasts for two weeks. One example of how music is used in Octoberfest is on the second Sunday there is a live concert with around 400 musicians performing.

Music Awards: Some of the music awards that involve Germany are MTV Europe and the ECHO Music Awards and one music competition show is Eurovision.

Instruments:

Germany doesn't have a national instrument but one common instrument in Germany is the lute. The lute is an instrument that was used as far back as medieval times and is played by plucking the strings. It has a pear shaped body, a fingerboard with frets on it and it usually has a bent neck. Some other common instruments would be things like woodwinds, guitars, ect.

I couldn't find the top 10 German artists so here are the top 10 songs in Germany of 2010

1. Empire Of The Sun - We Are The People 2. Israel Is - Over The Rainbow 3. The Black Eyed Peas - The Time (Dirty Bit) 4. Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are 5. Duck Sauce - Barbra Streisand 6. David Guetta F. Rihanna - Who's That Chic 7. Rihanna - Only Girl 8. Unheilig - Winter 9. Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar 10. Revolverheld & Marta Jandova - Halt Dich An Mir Fest

German Musicians:

There are many musicians in Germany and here are just a couple from today. Some of the most famous German musicians that are still around today are Scorpions and Rammstein who is the highest selling German artist.  Scorpions

The group Scorpions was formed in 1965 by Rudolf Schenker in Germany. All of their songs were written in english and they released their first album in 1973. One year later they went on their first European tour and in 1975 they went on their first UK tour. One of their most popular and recognisable songs is Rock You Like A Hurricane.



Scorpions - Rock You Like A Hurricane - []

Rammstein:

Rammstein is an East German band that consists of Till Lindemann on vocals, Flake Lorenz on keyboard, Oliver Riedel on bass, Christoph Schneiner on drums and Paul Landers and Richard Z. Kruspe - Bernstein on guitar. They became the first German band to get nominated for a Grammy for best metal performance in 1999.



Rammstein - Due Hast - [] Rammstein - Feuer Frei - []

Honorable Mention: Falco: Sure Falco (Johann Holzel) is Austrian, but he created songs in German like Der Kommissar and one of his biggest hits Rock Me Amadeus.



Falco - Rock Me Amadeus - []



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