One for the bucket list, the mad party that’s Oktoberfest. If you want to have the best experience, make the decision to learn some German for Oktoberfest with la Academia’s evening classes. It might get you into some of the best tents.
This year it’s on from September 16 to October 3. There’s a riotous mix of attractions – live music, fairground rides, and plenty of traditional German food and beer. Seven million litres of beer . . .
Oktoberfestbier is brewed exclusively for Oktoberfest every year. There are strict rules for the genuine tipple. It has to conform to the Reinheitsgebot (German Beer Purity Law) and it must have been brewed in the city of Munich. Perhaps the most important phrase to memorise for Oktoberfest is ‘Ein Bier, bitte’ (‘A beer, please’). Go carefully though, its alcohol content is a whopping 6%.
To get you started, here’s a few useful phrases:
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Bierzelt (das) A beer tent. There are 34 tents at Oktoberfest. The most important is the Schottenhamel. In 1867 this had just 50 seats, now it has around 10,000. It’s here, on the opening day at noon, that the mayor of Munich taps the first keg and calls out “O’zapft is!” (It is tapped). Now all the other tents may begin to serve beer.
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Brezel (die) is German for pretzel. In Bavaria also called Brezn. The perfect salty snack with your beer.
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Prost is German for ‘cheers’. You could also say ‘Zum Wohl’ (‘To your health’).
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Schweinshaxe (die) Pork knuckle. Bavarian food tends to be hearty – and this is probably the heartiest of them all. Think a whole ham hock with a portion of Sauerkraut and potato dumplings. Rib-sticking.
And finally – if you want to impress the locals, you’re not going to talk about Oktoberfest, you’ll call it ‘die Wiesn’.
If all this has whetted your appetite then contact us now to join one of our fun German evening classes.