Liebe Leute!

Was gibt es denn schöner zu Weihnachten als eine schöne Weihnachtskarte? Nicht viel!

With the simple Weihnachtsbaum on the front only, you have plenty of room for your own, personal greeting on the blank inside.

Each package includes 6 cards and 6 envelopes, you only pay for the postage you need (no extra!), as PayPal will automatically calculate the postage for you. Wisconsin residents will automatically have 5.5% sales tax included. Please allow 3-4 days for processing.

Hier geht's zu diesen Karten im Shop!

*

Wenn Sie Weihnachten nicht feiern, oder Sie möchten statt Weihnachtskarten Neujahrskarten verschicken, können Sie das selbstverständlich auch! Für Sie gibt es die Neujahrskarten 2017!

Liebe Leserin, lieber Leser,

This is a safe place. This is a safe place for you. This is a safe place for you and me to be together.

Here at GermanWithNicole I have purposefully created a safe place for people to explore the German language, Germanic culture, thoughts about elements of our lives that vary from culture to culture. The main goal of this work is education and cultural understanding. At the heart of everything is compassion.

Here there are visitors from all over the world every day. Newsletter subscribers read in Iran, South Africa, Ireland, Peru, Brazil, Canada, quite literally all over the world. And you are all welcome here.

You are the reason I am here doing this. Writing this blog, teaching lessons, communicating with you on social media. I connect people to the German language, to new thoughts and ideas. Folks who come here are looking to understand something new, they are taking a risk not only to learn something, but also to better themselves. Their families. Their communities.

People are the Alpha and the Omega of this work. Germany has taught me so very much about people. From the very first time I read it, the first line of the German constitution moved me deeply:

“Die Würde des Menschen ist unantastbar.”

The dignity of a person is untouchable.

If you haven't heard of the Alumniportal-Deutschland (APD) yet, it's high time! If you have studied German in Germany, went to school there or have worked there, this is the German language social network just for you!

The APD is the social network for anyone who has a connection to Germany and it's a fantastic way to stay in touch with people you know from your time there and it's also a fantastic place to learn new things about the German language, others who have studied in Germany, and to widen your own network of contacts. (As we all know, it's who you know that matters most.) Knüpfen Sie hier Kontakte!

Join Groups

Whether you're a private person or a company, you can create a profile on the APD and join groups on every topic from "Deutsch als Fremdsprache" to "Praxisprojekt Nachhaltigkeit" and from "Fußballexperten" to "Essen und Trinken."

Read Interviews & News

There are regular features on German Institutes and there's even an article on Health Apps in Uganda. Where else do you hear about such cool apps making positive change elsewhere in the world?

Schwerpunktthemen

The editorial team at the APD is obviously very hard-working and they produce Schwerpunktthemen or Key Topics, themes they present and create a discussion around. Currently it's Ortswechsel - Neue Wege gehen, which explores the topic of changing where you are for a program of study, for taking a vacation, or even fleeing your homeland. It's a wide-open topic with many implications for people who are walking many different life paths.

Here at GermanWithNicole.com I'm always happy to hear from you, whether it's in response to a newsletter or a question submitted through the contact form. It's incredible how closely connected people are to German and what motivates them to learn.

It's fascinating to see how an interest in German can run through a family, too. Just recently a current client referred a cousin--who'd have thought that two people in the same family would be interested in learning German?

Das ist total interessant!

This German-reading and German-interested family is HUGE. I'm not talking about the two cousins--I'm talking about you, dear reader! Did you know there are hundreds of people who stop by this website every day? Most of them are not clients, they are folks just like you who are interested in learning German. Everyone has a love of the German language. And for some, it's a necessity for work or for daily living!

Everyone reading this blog post right now--yes you--you can get a free gift from me when you refer a new client.

The years 2015 and 2016 have witnessed huge growth here at GermanWithNicole.com, from the increase in client base to how much clients have grown in their German abilities, as well as my own growth and development as an instructor.

Growth in numbers:

Learn German Online with Nicole officially started in 2013. I began with one client and we met over Skype; now all my clients and I meet in a wonderful Adobe Connect classroom, which allows real-time collaboration with a shared whiteboard and audio-video communication. Es ist toll! This business has been going strong for 3 years already!

1 year ago I officially created the online presence GermanWithNicole.com; it was previously a subdomain of another website. Because there was so much interest and so much traffic, I had to move the site to its own domain. In this month so far there have already been over 11,000 visitors—that’s almost double the amount of visitors since this time last year!

Pinterest is my strongest social media presence with 26 boards and over 500 followers and I’ve just started a brand new LinkedIn page. There are a whopping 4 followers there, myself included, because hey—you gotta start somewhere!

It’s also been exactly one year since I attended the Goethe Institute’s Test Proctor training and I’m now certified to proctor 5 of their tests from level A1 to C1 and correct both speaking and writing. This means I can help you prepare for their tests!

In 1939 an American couple, Unitarian Minister Waitstill Sharp and his wife Martha Sharp, agreed to a secret mission in Europe helping people escape the Nazis and their horrifying acts.

Over the next two years, the Sharps helped dozens find safety elsewhere. Ken Burns and Artemis Joukowsky, a grandson of the Sharps, created this documentary, which is airing next week on PBS.

Ken Burns is a master of storytelling--stories of real human beings, people who made major changes that we feel today. Surely "Defying the Nazis:  The Sharps' War" will be no different.

In a time when we seem to have lost compassion for those who suffer, for those who are wrongly persecuted, for those whom are told that they are somehow not "right," that they are not "enough," we need stories like these to remind us of who we are as people. As human beings--before all the labels of country, religion, and politics.

In this very important documentary, you will learn how Waitstill and Martha Sharp left their two children behind to secretly intervene against the Nazis and how they risked their own lives for the sake others.

Now, generations later, we can see what they risked for everyones' future and the impact it has had on so many people.

Here's a clip detailing Martha's emigration project, in which she brought several dozen children to the US so that they might grow up safely. Separated from their parents, but safe from war.

Watch "Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War" next Tuesday on PBS.

The Sharps' War airs on PBS

Tuesday, September 20th, 2016

at 9 pm Eastern / 8 pm Central

Click here to find your local listing.

Join in the conversation

Use the hashtags #WeDefy and #SharpsWarPBS on social media to see what others are saying and to chat with them about the documentary. Click here to find out more about the #WeDefy project from the Unitarian Universalist Association.

It's impossible to teach or to learn German without running into the far-reaching ramifications of the Nazi Party, World War II, and the Holocaust. That's why this website is for everyone--you are all welcome here. I'm very proud to make sure you know about his documentary because this helps us create a more open dialogue about the horrifying events of WWII and how we do better together when we remember how much we need one another. When we look at how people like the Sharps stood up for complete strangers, it shows us how connected we are to folks all across the globe. And it gives us courage to stand up and fight for others.

 Martha and Watistill Sharp departing New York Harbor for Prague (via London) 1939

 Credit:  Courtesy of Sharp Family Archives

The Sharp Rescue Committee has issued a Call for Stories of Moral Courage. Do you know someone who has acted courageously, like the Sharps? You can interview them and submit your story via email to the Sharp Rescue Committee. Click here to find out more.