What is Mariä Himmelfahrt?

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Aug 15, 2024

Mariä Himmelfahrt
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

What is Mariä Himmelfahrt?

This intriguingly-named German festival is the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It celebrates when the Blessed Virgin Mary was taken up to Heaven.

Strictly speaking, this feast commemorates two events – the departure of Mary from this life and the assumption of her body into heaven.

Official Church doctrine of the Assumption says that at the end of her life on earth Mary was assumed, both body and soul, into Heaven.

The death or ‘Dormition’ [kind of Latin for transition to sleep] of Mary is not recorded in the Christian canonical scriptures. Hippolytus of Thebes, a 7th- or 8th-century author, claims in his partially preserved chronology to the New Testament that Mary lived for 11 years after the death of Jesus.

The term Dormition expresses the belief that the Virgin died without suffering, in a state of spiritual peace. This belief does not rest on any scriptural basis but is affirmed by Orthodox Christian Holy Tradition. It is testified to in some old Apocryphal writings, but neither the Orthodox Church nor other Christians regard these as possessing scriptural authority.

Where is it celebrated?

In the German-speaking world, it’s a bank holiday in the predominantly Catholic states of Bavaria and Saarland. It’s also a bank holiday in Switzerland (some cantons) and in Austria. So, if you are out and about today in Munich, Augsburg, Saarbrücken, Zürich or Vienna you can expect public transport to be disrupted and businesses closed. It’s celebrated with a day off in a huge number of other Roman Catholic countries, not least France, Poland, Portugal and in Christian Orthodox Romania.

How can I celebrate Mariä Himmelfahrt?

This is a day to collect flowers and healing herbs from your garden of the countryside. Herbs such as thyme, marjoram, St John’s wort, verbena, clover and chamomile are traditionally included in the floral arrangements. They then carefully arrange them into a posy called a Kräuterbüschel, taking the bundle of blooms to the church to be blessed during the August 15 service. The origin of the practice is uncertain, but legend has it that when Mary ascended into heaven, a beautiful fragrance emerged from the flowers. The practice is said to be one thousand years old. It’s also the time of year when you can start gathering the first nuts, perhaps hazelnuts or walnuts – Mary’s nuts (no sniggering at the back).

Why Mariä not Maria?

Another way of writing “Mariä” is “Mariae” – an Umlaut, or double dot above, originated as a way of adding an E. “Mariae” is Latin for “of Mary” so “Mariä Himmelfahrt” translates as “of-Mary Heaven journey”, i.e. Mary’s journey to Heaven. “Fahrt” means “journey”, from “fahren” – “to travel”. This is related to the English “fare” (as in ‘bus fare) or “thoroughfare”.

What else is going on today?

Happy Independence Day to people in India and in South Korea.

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4 Skills Assessment Full Detailed Report
General Evaluation
Xxxxxxx has a great grasp of the English Language; however, there is definitely room for improvement. Specifically, in terms of grammar, some tenses need a brush-up to further emphasise their use and placement within a sentence.

Recommended Program: B1.4
The use of advanced vocabulary should be encouraged, followed by tips and tricks on how to avoid using basic vocabulary. In general, all areas could be improved, and reading/listening to certain media types, such as: articles, journals, e-books etc., would help to improve that.

Fluency
xxxxxxx is a confident speaker and is proficient at using the target language. He is talkative and can 'hold his own' during a conversation. He tries to answer in as much detail as possible, although he could be more informative. The conversation often fell short, with just a few short-phrase answers or awkward silences, between topics. There were some issues when linking sentences to each other, such as his heavy usage of 'and' and 'but' without using other linking words. Passive forms were also ok, but when posed to ask a question in the passive form he had some difficulty. Despite making a few mistakes here and there he tried his best to keep the conversation going and he did not let his mistakes ruin the flow of the conversation. He has limited knowledge on certain topics such as education, law and history in terms of vocabulary and his lack of knowledge in these subjects was quite noticeable.

Grammar
xxxxxxx showed a great use of grammatical rules and construction. He has a very good grasp of certain tenses, such as simple present / past perfect and past continuous tenses. He made a few mistakes with the past perfect simple / continuous, as he sometimes misused them. He also had some issues with the future continuous tense, not always using it when it was appropriate to do so. In general, he used passive structures correctly and also used inquisitive tags and phrasal verbs properly. In some cases, he did put the pronoun after the verb but once the structure was explained he was always quick to self-correct.

Pronunciation
His pronunciations were great overall; however, it should be mentioned that he has a strong accent and this does sometimes affect the clarity of his speech. Even though this was the case, it was not always so noticeable and he did not make many mistakes. The biggest issues are with certain advanced vocabulary related to certain themes and with adjectives such as 'reputable', 'overshadowed', etc. He also had several issues with the pronunciation of the past simple tense, especially with the (t) sound.

Vocabulary
He exhibited a great command of a broad range of vocabulary and its use during a variety of topics. He used extensive words and absolute adjectives, although he would more often than not use more simple vocabulary. The use of advanced adverbs was a little sparse, and words like 'very' and 'a lot' were used to replace them.

Writing
His writing skills are very good although, as with his speaking assessment, similar mistakes were made. In general, tense use was ok, but he was unable to use more advanced tenses in writing or speaking. He therefore didn't use them to their full potential and ended up using more basic tenses instead. The third and second conditional were not used to their full effect, especially considering the essay topic was about where he sees himself in the future.

Suggestions:
Xxxxxxx has a great grasp of the English Language; however, there is definitely room for improvement. Specifically, in terms of grammar, some tenses need a brush-up to further emphasise their use and placement within a sentence. In general, all areas could be improved, and reading/listening to certain media types, such as articles, journals, e-books etc., would help to improve that. The use of advanced vocabulary should be encouraged, followed by tips and tricks on how to avoid using basic vocabulary.

4 Skills Assessment Spoken & Writing Listening & Reading
Name of participant	ID No.	Date	Overall Grade	Oral Score	Written Score	Listening Score	Reading Score	Comments
			A2.2	A2.2	B1.1	A2.1	A2.2	Fluency is good. Accuracy is good. Tenses are OK. Does not use past tense. Vocabulary is OK. Understands questions asked, but struggles a little to speak due to lack of confidence.
			A2.2	A2.1	A2.2	A2.2	A2.2	Good sentence structure and good knowledge of the language. Fluency and accuracy are good. Speaks clearly. Some grammar gaps.
			A1.2	A1.1	A1.2	A1	A1.2	Has basic English skills. Sentence structure is OK. Fluency and accuracy are not very good. Bad habits from home language, does not use past tense (simple)
			A1.2	A1.2	A1.2	A1.2	A1.2	Has good fluency. Gets their point across easily. Tends to stick to the basics only. Lots of bad habits. e.g. continuous tense for everything.
			B1.1	B1.1	B1.2	B1.1	A2.2	Has good, clear sentence structure. Wide range of vocabulary. Has done English courses before.
			A1.1	A1.1	A1.2	A1.1	A1.1	Has some basic knowledge. Tends to use simple structure. No complex grammar. Their writing seems to be a bit better than their spoken.
			B1.3	B1.3	B1.3	A2.2	B2.1	Has very good fluency and OK accuracy. Tends to use continuous tense form for more structures. Bad habits and grammar gaps.
			B1.2	B1.2	B1.3	B1.1	B1.2	Shy, has good fluency. Wide range of vocabulary. Uses simple present and past tenses and sometimes past participles.
			A1.1	A2.2	A2.1	A1.2	A1.2	Spanish accent. Speaks very well. Sentence structure is good but not accurate, some grammar gaps and bad habits. Very chatty.
			A1.2	A1.1	A1.2	A1.2	A1.1	Speaks with an Ethiopian accent. Has good knowledge of the language. Sentence structure is good, has both good habits and grammar gaps.

2 Skills Assessment Spoken & Writing
Name of participant	ID No.	Date	Overall Grade	Oral Score	Speaking	Comments
			B2.2	B2.2	B2.2	Excellent language range. Some minor bad habits due to limited exposure and practice. This is also confirmed in their writing.
			B2.1	B2.2	B2.4	Very good language range and ability. Some minor bad habits. Writing skills are somewhat weaker than speaking skills.
			B1.4	B1.4	B1.4	Is very fluent when speaking. Has very good range and accuracy. Has just returned from the USA after completing studies. Writing is very good.
			B1.2	B1.2	B1.2	Very good fluency and understanding of the language. Has travelled to Scotland, UK and USA. Uses present perfect tense and past simple tense very comfortably.
			B1.2	B1.2	B1.1	Has very good fluency and range. Some grammar gaps due to limited exposures. Not always totally confident.
			A2.2	A2.2	A2.2	Good fluency and range. Has lost some accuracy and confidence due to limited exposure to the target language.
			A2.1	A2.1	A1.2	Has good language ability and knowledge but does not always use it unless prompted. Tends to stick to simple and familiar language structures and grammar. Writing skills are somewhat weak.
			A1.2	A2.1	A1.2	Has good fluency and range. Struggles with using more complex grammar and structure. Writing skills are somewhat weak.
			A1.2	A1.2	A1.2	Has good fluency and range. Does not use correct structure or grammar and tends to translate mentally from Arabic before speaking. Writing and comprehension are weak.

Spoken Assessment
Name of participant	ID No.	Date	Overall Grade	Speaking	Comments
			B1.4	B1.4	Is relatively fluent in their speaking and can relay their message across clearly. However, they lack the professional ambience.
			B1.4	B1.4	Two main weaknesses: pronunciation, and the need to learn to use short, precise, direct sentences which sound professional and accurate, rather than casual and inefficient. Also tends to speak quickly and thus articulate poorly because they want to show a strong command of the language, which is unfortunately reflecting negatively on their speaking abilities.
			B1.2	B1.2	Has an elementary background of the target language. However, they need to practice more grammatical skills in order to strengthen verb tense and sentence structure knowledge in order to use the correct grammar in spoken language.
			B1.2	B1.2	Has a sound basic background in communicating using the English language, but needs to be prompted to interact more frequently. Has not had much exposure to English whilst in Turkey,
			A2.1	A2.1	Has good fluency and range, but structure and accuracy is weak. Tends to translate from Arabic to English.
			A2.1	A2.1	Has good fluency and is able to get the point across very well. Lacking in range and structure. Has a lot of grammar gaps and bad habits.