Berlin: Deutschlands Haupstadt

1. The official home page of Berlin, Berlin.de (http://www.berlin.de/) offers a virtual tour of Berlin, information for the tourist and businessman, and an overview of the city's history. In German and English.

2. Detailed maps of Berlin and other German cities can be found at the Standtplandienst home page, maintained by Stadt Info Verlag (http://www.stadtplandienst.de/). Pick a tourist attraction and then find out how to get there. In German and English.

Geburtstage

1. You can wish a friend "happy birthday" or send another greeting by choosing one of the many free electronic greeting cards at Grußkarte, a site sponsored by Blumengruß (http://www.grusskarte.de). Or go to the page maintained by Arktis software (http://www.arktiscards.de) that has cards with the polar bear motif. In German.

2. Find out whose name day today is or look up your astrological forecast, Sternzeichen, at this site provided by Harenberg Verlag (http://www.harenberg.de/patrone.html). You can also find out what happened on this day in history and which famous people have a birthday on today's date. In German.

3. Plan a party for a special event at the home page for Michael Steding Partyservice (http://www.steding.de/). Look at the pictures, and choose a menu. Perhaps you would like a party in a tent? In German.

Die deutsche Sprache

1. The official home page of the the Goethe Institute (http://www.goethe.de/dindex.htm) has links to institutes all over the world. There are online listings about art and cultural events in Germany, information about learning German, and much more. Look for the Goethe Institute nearest you. Did you ever ask yourself, "Why am I studying German?" The answer is in English at this site (http://www.goethe.de/uk/saf/werbung/english/index.htm). Primarily in German, however, links to specific countries are often bilingual.

2. The Institut für Deutsche Sprache in Mannheim (http://www.ids-mannheim.de/) has links to online dictionaries, word games, and scholarly information about German language, as well as a complete history of the spelling reform. You may need your teacher's help to find your way around this reference site. In German.

3. Inform yourself about German dialects. Visit the site Deutsche Genealogie: Dialekte (http://www.genealogienetz.de/gene/misc/dialect-d.html) where you can find information about the regional origins of dialects. In German and English.

4. On this site for Dialects in Germany (http://www.webgerman.com/german/dialects/) you find more examples of German dialects, many with good-quality audio recordings. In English and in German.

5. If you want to find out more about one German dialect, visit Südhessich for Beginners (http://www.jakob.at/hansi/hjdict.html) Here, you get South Hessian expressions directly translated into English. In English and German.

6. At the home page for the Swiss band Generell (http://www.generell.ch/), you can listen to their songs sung in the German of Switzerland. Just click on "Leider." In German.