Wald und Wiesen...

Exploring the Great Outdoors

The great outdoors - for some a constant call to explore the unknown, for others a parallel universe full of dirt and dangers. Where do you stand on this? Do you enjoy taking in the beauty of Wald und Wiesen ('forest and meadows')? Do you have a blast jumping into a See ('lake') once in a while and taking in the beauty of nature? Or do you say no to time spent draußen ('outside')?

Whichever it may be, you are likely going to find some similarities with either Tobias or Florian today! Tobias is an avid hiking fan and loves to spend hours discovering the great outdoors. Florian, on the other hand, doesn't care much about frische Lust ('fresh air') and time spent im Grünen ('in the open').

Eine Wiese im Sonnenschein. (A meadow in the sunshine.)

Much to Florian's dismay, he recently lost a bet to Tobias. Because the loser has to partake in an activity that the winner chooses, it's time to go Wandern('hiking') together today! While the boys are packing up their Rucksäcke ('backpacks'), let's get prepared and take a good look at the most important German nature terms.

Essential German Nature Vocabulary

Let's look at some vocabulary we use when going outside:

Vocabulary	Pronunciation	Translation
die Natur	dee NAH-toor	the nature
draußen	DROW-sehn	outside, outdoors
im Freien	ihm FRIY-ehn	outdoors
der Sonnenschein	dehr Sohn-nehn-SHIYN	sunshine
der Regen	dehr RAY-gehn	the rain
die frische Lust	dee FRISH-uh Luft	the fresh air
im Grünen	ihm GRUEH-nehn	out in the open, literally: out in the green

What about the parts of nature and some animals me may encounter? Let's take a look:

Vocabulary	Pronunciation	Translation
der Wald	dehr Vahld	the forest
die Wiese	dee VEE-suh	the meadow
der See	dehr SEH-eh	the lake
die Bäume	dee BEU-muh	the trees
die Blumen	dee BLOO-mehn	the flowers
die Bienen	dee BEE-nehn	the bees
die Fliegen	dee FLEE-gehn	the flies
die Mücken	dee MUECK-ehn	the mosquitoes

These are the terms we might need for Tobias's and Florian's hike:

Vocabulary	Pronunciation	Translation
der Spaziergang	dehr Spah-TSEER-gahng	the walk
das Wandern	dahs VAHN-dehrn	the hiking
die Wanderstiefel	dee VAHN-dehr-stee-fehl	the hiking boots
der Wanderweg	dehr VAHN-dehr-vehg	the hiking trail
die Landschaft	dee LAHND-shahft	the landscape
der Ausflug	dehr OWS-floog	the excursion/trip
der Rucksack	dehr RUCK-sahck	the backpack

Are you wondering how you could apply these new terms in simple sentences? Some options are:

• Ich brauche etwas frische Luft. ('I need some fresh air.')
• Die Mücken nerven mich. ('The mosquitoes are going on my nerves.')
• Hast Du Lust auf einen Spaziergang? ('Are you keen on going for a walk?'