How languages actually work
Sourced explainers on the bits of German that textbooks skip: why nouns have gender, what doch is doing, and the words you only hear once you live there.
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Why you forget vocabulary even after studying it
Forgetting is not a sign the studying failed. It is the mechanism the studying is supposed to work with, and almost every beginner uses it backwards.
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Why Germans call a mobile phone a "Handy"
It looks like English. It is not English. Handy is a German word built out of English parts, and it is the clearest example of a pattern that catches out every learner.
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Why German nouns have gender, and why a girl is neuter
German gender is not about masculinity or femininity. It is a grammatical filing system, and once you see what it is actually for, das Mädchen stops being an insult and starts being a rule.
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What "doch" actually means, and why English has no word for it
Doch is the German word learners give up on. It is not untranslatable: it does three separate jobs, and once you can name them, you can use it.
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The German words you hear every day in Munich but never learn in class
Textbook German gets you through the paperwork. It does not get you through a bakery in Bavaria. These are the words I had to learn by being confused in public.
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