Learn German step by step, day by day, phrase by phrase. In today’s show you’ll learn to order coffees in German. Spend 5 minutes with us and gain confidence in speaking German with our 20-week course. You can automatically download each new episode for free by subscribing in iTunes. Please visit our website for more information.

“Sorry for the long time without a post, tons of things to do. I am currently planning a trip to Guatemala for 8 to 10 weeks, so this is a good opportunity to talk about the country. Furthermore I have canceled the contract for my apartement and still need a place to store my stuff and somewhere to sleep when I am back…
You can find out more about Guatemala at http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala
Guatemala ist ein Staat in Zentralamerika, im Süden der Halbinsel Yucatán. Der Name Guatemala leitet sich vom toltekischen (Nahuatl-) Wort Cuauhtemallan ab, was soviel wie ‘Erde der Bäume verrottet’ bedeutet. Guatemala grenzt im Südosten an Honduras, im Süden an El Salvador, im Norden an Mexiko und im Osten an Belize. Guatemala hat zwei Küsten, im Osten einen schmalen Zugang zum Karibischen Meer und im Südwesten die Pazifikküste.
Der nordöstliche Teil, El Petén, ist Tiefland mit fast durchgehendem tropischen Regenwald. Im Zentrum Guatemalas liegt das Hochland mit Vulkanen bis zu 4.220 m Höhe. Hier ist auch einer der höchsten Vulkane Mittelamerikas zu finden, der Tajumulco. Mit seinen 4220 m, überragt er das Hochland von Guatemala.
Klima
Der schmale, flache und fruchtbare Küstenstreifen am Pazifik hat durchgehend feuchttropisches Klima.
Das Hochland ist von sehr unterschiedlichen Klimazonen geprägt. Wegen der Lage zwischen 1.300 und 1.800 Metern über dem Meer, herrscht fast das ganze Jahr über ein mildes Klima mit Tagestemperaturen zwischen 18 und 28 Grad Celsius. In höheren Lagen kann die Lufttemperatur vor allem im Januar und Februar stark sinken.
Das Hochland ist das kulturelle und bevölkerungsreichste Zentrum Guatemalas. In einem tiefergelegenen Teil dieser Hochlandregion liegt die heutige Hauptstadt Guatemala-Stadt.
Ballungsgebiete
Die wichtigsten Städte sind (Stand 1. Januar 2005): Guatemala-Stadt ca. 2,5 Mio. (inoffizielle Schätzungen gehen bereits von 5 Millionen Einwohnern aus), Mixco 297.039 Einwohner, Villa Nueva 218.294 Einwohner, Amatitlán 61.562 Einwohner und Chinautla 61.520 Einwohner. Im Weiteren Quetzaltenango 112.121 Einwohner, Escuintla 69.311 Einwohner, Cobán 59.428 Einwohner, Huehuetenango 28.500 Einwohner, sowie Antigua mit 20.600 Einwohnern.
Bevölkerung
59,4 % der Guatemalteken sind europäischer oder gemischt europäisch-indigener Abstammung. Diese Bevölkerungsgruppe wird lokal anders als in anderen Ländern Mittelamerikas als Ladinos bezeichnet. Der europäische Anteil ist überwiegend spanischer Herkunft. Weitere 40 % der Gesamtbevölkerung sind Indigene, meist aus den Völkergruppe der Maya. Der Rest der Bevölkerung ist asiatischer Abstammung oder zählt zu den Garifuna, an der Karibikküste lebenden Nachkommen der Kariben, von diesen unterworfener Arawak und entflohener und ursprünglich aus Afrika stammender Sklaven der Insel St. Vincent.
The picture is a prove that we do have bad weather from time to time as well -) Hope it will be better next weekend as I am planning to climb mount Wildhorn (10656 feet).
Stürmischen Gruss aus Luzern,
Stephan Wiesner
Use this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com
”

“Learn German step by step, day by day, phrase by phrase. In today’s show you’ll learn how to deal with using mobile phones in a German-speaking country. Spend 5 minutes with us and gain confidence in speaking German with our 20-week course. You can automatically download each new episode for free by subscribing in iTunes. Please visit our website for more information.
”

“Making a reservation in a hotel in a foreign country can often be a little difficult, especially when making the reservation by telephone. This lesson will give you the necessary tools to achieve this daunting task. We already had this topic in lessons 024 and 025, so you might want to take a look at the archive as well.
The PDF (we have 8 pages today!) with the transcript, exercises, fotos, additional information, etc. Can be bought for only 49 Cents. It is in the same format as the PDF files from the last few sessions.
The picture shows the Graustock (8730 feet), which is a great mountain for a “”Schneeschuhwanderung”".
Lucerne, 04.02.2008
Stephan Wiesner
stephan@german-podcast.de
Use this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com
”

“Todays lesson is a beginners lesson, as the last poll indicated that about 70% of you are studying German for less than 3 years.
There is no PDF for todays lesson, but you can find a transcript of the text I read (and much more) at www.LuLu.com, you can also order it from Amazon, it might take a day or two longer to deliver, though.
If you like it, please buy the book or pay for the download of the Ebook-version and write a nice comment at LuLu or at Amazon.com and if enough of you buy it, I will continue the series and start on writing book number two .-)
Remember that there is a blog-page where I try to post something German every day:
http://learn-german-blog.blogspot.com/
Finally todays picture shows one of the many shop windows we see around the city at the moment, claiming that everything is very cheap at the moment (Ausverkauf).
Lucerne, 25.01.2008
Stephan Wiesner
stephan@german-podcast.de
Use this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com
”

“Learn German step by step, day by day, phrase by phrase. In today’s show you’ll learn how to change money in a bank. Spend 5 minutes with us and gain confidence in speaking German with our 20-week course. You can automatically download each new episode for free by subscribing in iTunes. Please visit our website for more information.
”

“Today we talk about a very important topic: How to talk to a doctor. You will learn how to make an appointment and how to describe different symptoms.
Lesson 050 was about this topic as well, so you might want to check there for further exercise.
There are two Podcasts concerning the PDF transcript for today: Lessons 059 and 060.
Todays picture shows the river Reuss with the Nölliturm in Lucerne
Lucerne, 18.01.2008
Stephan Wiesner
stephan@german-podcast.de
Use this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com
”

“Learn German step by step, day by day, phrase by phrase. In today’s show you’ll learn to find cash machines and enquire about changing currency. Spend 5 minutes with us and gain confidence in speaking German with our 20-week course. You can automatically download each new episode for free by subscribing in iTunes. Please visit our website for more information.
”

“Todays German lesson is about how to make an appointment with a dentist. We will hear a telephone interview, then I will go to the dentist and she is going to examine me and give me a root canal treatment. Ouch!
Lucerne, 13.01.2008
Stephan Wiesner
stephan@german-podcast.de
Use this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com
”