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Advanced German: Language, culture and history
Advanced German: Language, culture and history

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Übung 5

Hören Sie sich Teil 2 des Hörberichts an und machen Sie sich auf Englisch zu den folgenden Punkten Notizen:

  • dyke-building over the centuries;

  • heathen customs;

  • the flood of 1962;

  • the East Frisian character;

  • the interrelationship between the landscape and the East Frisian character.

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Transcript353KB PDF document
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Answer

As well as helping you to record important information, note-taking under specific headings as in this activity is a useful technique that will help you check your understanding of the main points.

  1. Dyke-building over the centuries:

    • crucial activity throughout the centuries, was always a matter of life or death;

    • oldest dykes date from eleventh century;

    • those dykes provided protection only in summer;

    • in winter they could not contain the floods;

    • from thirteenth century onwards so-called winter dykes were built;

    • these protected larger areas all year round.

  2. Heathen customs:

    • animals and humans were sacrificed to protect dykes;

    • example of baby that was sacrificed can be seen in museum.

  3. Flood of 1962:

    • dyke gave way;

    • debris from dyke was slung against house walls, walls gave way;

    • whole row of houses had to be cleared to shore up dyke;

    • children were sent home from school;

    • situation was very threatening.

  4. East Frisian character:

    • home-loving people (‘rooted in the soil’), don't like to be moved;

    • rather cold and distant but with dry sense of humour (rather like English sense of humour);

    • local communities very important to them, like to celebrate and keep local customs alive.

  5. Interrelationship between landscape and the East Frisian character:

    • very distinct group of people with their own way of life, result of barren landscape;

    • large meadows, open landscape, causing solitary/isolated existence with little communication and some loss of social skills.