Loveparade

The Love Parade held in Duisburg, Germany was the biggest dance music festival in Europe, but this year it ended in tragedy as 19 people died and hundreds were injured.

Here are some German news reports covering the incident.

Welt-Online

Bild.de

deutsche Welle

Deutschland nach dem Mauerfall

Here are some extra resources about Germany and the Berlin Wall.

Dieses Video ist eine sehr schöne Zusammenfassung der Ereignisse nach 1989/1990.

Dieses Website hat alles, was man wissen will, ueber die Mauer und die Opfer der Mauer.

Hier gibt's Bilder vor und nach dem Mauerfall.

Dieses Lied war in Ostdeutschland verboten, aber dieses Lied war erlaubt.

das deutsche Radio

Listening to the German radio will help your listening skills. I know that there is no listening exam on the IB, but you will need to be able to understand spoken German to succeed in your speaking exam.

Instead of your favourite CD, try one of these radio stations in the background. The stations, like in England, cater for different audiences, so whether it's love songs, 80s or folk music you're after, you will find something on the website.

Enjoy!

Musik in Deutschland

Hello Stephanie and Year 12,

Sorry for the delay in my
response! My flight was cancelled on the way back and I had to stay
overnight in Berlin Schoenefeld airport, but I made it in the
end!

As for German music, the most striking thing is that you hear
so little of it on German radio!! Most of the songs you hear played are in
English, either by English bands or German bands singing in English. The
smaller German bands I have seen performing in Dresden also tend to sing in
English. The children recently did posters on their favourite artists and
singers like Michael Jackson were featured - again not so German!

However, Polarkreis 18 are a popular band here, and they actually come
from Dresden, and another successful local band is Silbermond (from a smaller
town in Saxony). Germany also has quite a thriving hip hop scene, with
artists such as Samy Deluxe - I can't say I'm much of a rap expert though!
I know there are different types of hip hop centred on Berlin and Hamburg.

I hope 2010 has got off to a good start for you all,

Best
wishes,

Charlotte

POPCAST

If you are interessted in music have a look at this POPCAST from the Goethe Institut.
The popcast is updated monthly and you can download or subscribe to the German rock, hip-hop, pop and electro podcast.

Try life in another language

Learning a language is not all about being able to speak or write it fluently. Another big part is an in-depth knowledge of the culture of the target language country. Channel 4 have put together a great website, which gives you just this type of cultural information.

There are sections on:

sport

fashion

music and festivals

There is a German music video from the band 'Fotos' (see also their MySpace page).

Channel 4 also recently challenged three people to organise a band tour across France, Germany and Spain. Would you have coped trying to keep a band happy in a foreign country? Here is the first of the episodes in Germany.