There are lots of reasons why German is a really cool language – far too many to list in their entireity – but here are just a few

1. Being phonetic, it’s so straightforward to pronounce. You get some amazing consonant clusters like “Dschungel” (jungle) and “Tschechien” (Czech Republic).

2. If you’re prone to catarrh, trying to pronounce a word like “Chuchichaeschtli” (Swiss German for kitchen cupboard) is a really great way of clearing your throat.

3. It’s full of genuinely enormous compound words like “Rolltreppenbenutzungshinweise” (tips for using an escalator) and ” Rindfleischetikettierungsueberwachungsaufgabenuebertragungsg esetz ” (the law which regulates the supervision of beef) (more…)

 Apart from my website obviously, my best birthday present this year was a novel by the Swiss author Martin Suter. An old lady in a Davos bookshop recommended his books to my sister and I about four years ago, and ever since we’ve been avid fans. I enjoy reading Swiss literature in general; it’s subtly different to German literature, and Martin Suter writes in a conversational way which is easy to follow and doesn’t make you wish you were sitting next to a dictionary. (more…)