bi-an-nu-al
–adjective
1.
occurring twice a year; semiannual.
2.
occurring every two years; biennial.
Let me preface this by saying when we were discussing how to keep your language when you aren't able to speak to people regularly, I always think of soccer as the way i keep up. Soccer forces me to watch German language soccer programs and keep up with it on websites like www.bild.de and www.bundesliga.de.
That being said, I immediately had something in mind when I heard the word biannual. I know it seems that all my posts have to do with soccer but still. Germany's Bundesliga plays on a single table which means there are no conferences and all teams play each other twice, unlike the NFL where teams only play half the league. So back to the word. The teams biannually...or twice a year. There is what's known as a Hinrunde and Ruckerunde, essentially front round and return round, or back round. This is the same as Mexico's Apertura and Clausura league structure in FML, except there is no trophy for winning the Hinrunde or Rueckrunde, just a total one. There is a winter break between the two rounds lasting from early december to mid February. For example if Hertha Berlin played Bayern Muenchen (the kings of German fussball) at home in the Hinrunde, they would play in Muenchen in the rueckrunde. They play twice each year, making it a biannual event.
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I have been in the search for a medium to aid with my Spanish "retention" for quite some time. Maybe I need to start watching telenovelas hahaha (they never seem to keep my attention though, not even the english ones) You're lucky to have found something to keep your interest AND help with the German at the same time.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that was my biggest problem when I was learning German so long ago. There was just nothing for me to focus my attention on nor regularly keep my interest, outside of class. Fortunately with Japanese, I went into the language due to having an interest in certain aspects of it, and from there, discovering that there's a whole lot more to the culture that arouses my interests outside of what initially drew me in.
ReplyDeleteSo having something of interest in the culture that you can regularly come back to is definitely something that will help to better retain the language. Watching TV may not help too much with practicing speaking, but it can help with listening.
Good focus on biannual, twice a year, yep, that's how often they play...same is true, I suppose, for American pro football and so on....
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that I'm Hispanic and don't know anything about soccer. PuertoRicans don't play this sport and I just don't know why.
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