People all around the world are mourning the loss of Robin Williams and the tragedy of his death. Here are 3 articles for German learners to honor the late, great actor and comedian.

Easier:  From the Deutsche Welle:  http://dw.de/p/1Csji

Medium:  From Focus.de:  http://www.focus.de/kultur/kino_tv/polizei-berichtet-hollywoodstar-robin-williams-ist-tot_id_4053766.html

Advanced:  From Spiegel.de:  http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/kino/robin-williams-nachruf-auf-den-us-schauspieler-a-985686.html

The Kaffeeklatsch in Seattle, Washington is a fantastic stop for anybody hankering for a solid cup of coffee and high quality German baked goods.

Here's a sample of their offerings:

Bienenstich

Hefezopf

Pretzel (Brezel)

Laugenbrötchen

Linzertorte

Fruit Blechkuchen

Check out their menu here for more inspiration.

Kaffeeklatsch Seattle - A Social Gathering Around Coffee

12513 Lake City Way N.E.

Seattle, WA 98125

206-462-1059

www.kaffeeklatschseattle.com

The brothers Albrecht founded the discount chain Aldi in Germany after World War II. Now, four years after his brother Theo, Karl Albrecht has passed away, signaling the end of the first generation at Aldi.

The brand Aldi has grown to become a world-wide chain of discount stores, with their own Aldi-branded products and efficient store layouts, with weekly specials on special purchases--a different theme every week.

One of the things the brothers Albrecht were best known for was their incredibly high level of privacy and lack of publicity. There is only one famous picture available of them (left), partially because they were not interested in fame, but in running their business, but also because Theo Albrecht, who died in 2010, was kidnapped in 1971 and returned after 17 days and a ransom of 7 million Marks was paid.

Aldi is significant in German culture and the German economy, as anybody and everybody shops at Aldi--their products are frequently top-shelf, but with bottom-shelf pricing.

Here's a pretty standard German pop song "200 Tage Sommer," from the singer Elif.

A few words to help you understand it:

kriegen = to get (slang)

Ich kriege dich nicht aus meinem Kopf = I can't get you out of my head.

Du machst mein Leben etwas leichter = You make my life a bit lighter.

wiedersehen = to see each other again

So here's a mini German music lesson for you:

Schlager is a form of music unique to German--it's its own genre. Comprised mainly of catchy tunes (that lead to ear worms), straight-forward forms and uncomplicated texts, you can hear Schlager at Oktoberfest, pretty much any Karneval celebration anywhere in Germany, and of course on German television.

You can easily dance to it and it's a good bet that you can dance with your kids to it and not worry about the texts.

A lot of Schlager shows are shown on TV in the evenings and are recorded performances in front of live studio audiences; and frequently, the singing is not live, it's lip-synced in-studio. I don't know why this is, but it happens all the time--even Nelly Furtado lip-synced one of her songs live on a German show.

Here's a great example of Schlager from Roberto Blanco, one of Germany's most well-known Schlager singers. "Wenn der Sommer erwacht" (When summer wakes up) from 2013:

Students of foreign languages sometimes get upset when they get frustrated. They get really frustrated and really upset because what they want most is to speak a foreign language, they've done their homework, they've studied, and somehow the pieces just don't fit together or the pieces they want don't come together when they speak.

It's a hard-core experience.

Some students think I learned German easily because I learned it quickly--it was not easy and my German skills were and are hard-won with hundreds and thousands of hours of listening, reading, and practice behind them; here's a short story to highlight one of my hardest moments.

In 2004, when I lived in Germany and was already fluent (and already spoke Schwäbisch), I went camping on the beautiful island of Rügen, in the far north-east corner of Germany. It's stunningly beautiful up there, the natural landscape undisturbed by "modern" development, with slow, rolling hills and the houses have thatched roofs. One morning it was my turn to go get rolls for breakfast so I hopped on my bike and rode through the campground to the small outdoor building where a local baker was selling bread and pastries. I asked for what I wanted, but had literally no idea what the saleswoman was trying to tell me.