Have you ever noticed that the adverb persönlich in German has three possible translations in English? Let's take a look. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

As you would expect, it can mean "personally":
 

Mir ist es persönlich 'ne Herzensangelegenheit.

For me personally, it's a matter that's near and dear to my heart.

Caption 12, Berlin - Hotel Adlon feiert 15 Jahre Neueröffnung

 Play Caption

Sometimes it has more or less this meaning, but is better translated as "he himself" or "she herself":
 

Nein, er hat tatsächlich auf meinem, äh, Telefonapparat angerufen. -Persönlich?

No, he actually called me on my, uh, telephone. -Himself?

Caption 6, 3nach9 - Ehrlich Brothers - Show-Magier - Part 1

 Play Caption

Reisen, vielleicht sogar mit Niki Lauda persönlich als Piloten [sic, Pilot]

Traveling, perhaps even with Niki Lauda himself as pilot

– ab Frankfurt ist das möglich, dreimal täglich, morgens, mittags und abends.

— it's possible from Frankfurt three times a day, in the morning, at midday and in the evening.

Captions 58-59, Fluglinien - Niki Air

 Play Caption

You may also sometimes see the word höchstpersönlich, which can be used to emphasize that a task or appearance won't be delegated to another person. 

However, persönlich can also mean "in person":

War ja... Wir haben... wir haben ihn zum ersten Mal auch persönlich kennenlernen dürfen.

It was indeed... We were... we were also allowed to meet him in person for the first time.

Caption 32, 3nach9 - Ehrlich Brothers - Show-Magier - Part 2

 Play Caption

Das kann man entweder persönlich tun in einer Filiale oder online.

You can do that either in person at a branch or online.

Caption 14, Eva erklärt - Bankkonten

 Play Caption

One thing to remember: persönlich does not mean "personable"! This would be sympathisch or freundlich. 
 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
Search for more examples on Yabla German and try out a few sentences of your own in which you use persönlich to talk about your personal experiences, preferences, and opinions, or to talk about something you will do yourself or in person. 

It is sometimes easy to be misled by German adverbs, which may not be quite what they appear at first glance. Take the adverb bislang: if you break it into its constituent parts bis ("until") and lang ("long"), you might conclude it means "for a long time"—but you would unfortunately be wrong. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

There are, however, a number of other expressions in German that mean "for a long time":

seit langem (or seit Langem, both are correct):

Dieses Tier wollte er schon seit langem filmen.

He has wanted to film this creature for a long time.

Caption 47, Abenteuer Nordsee - Unter Riesenhaien und Tintenfischen

 Play Caption

lange Zeit:

Im Jahr neunzehnhundertdreiundfünfzig gab es in der DDR einen Aufstand, an den lange Zeit in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland ein Feiertag erinnerte.

There was an uprising in the GDR in nineteen fifty-three, which a holiday has memorialized for a long time in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Captions 22-23, Bundesrepublik Deutschland - Einbürgerungstest - Part 11

 Play Caption

seit langer Zeit:

Comedy geht mir seit langer Zeit aufn Keks.

Comedy has been getting on my nerves for a long time.

Caption 2, Filmtrailer - Hexe Lilli - Part 3

 Play Caption

or simply lange: 

Und wir haben uns mit, äh, Siegfried lange unterhalten dürfen.

And we were able to speak with, uh, Siegfried for a long time.

Caption 29, 3nach9 - Ehrlich Brothers - Show-Magier - Part 2

 Play Caption

But back to bislang: it can be variously translated as "up till now," "until now," or "so far," depending upon the context: 

Die vierzehnjährige Floh hat bislang noch keine eigenen Kinder bekommen.

Up till now, the fourteen year old Floh still has never had any children of her own.

Caption 13, Unter fremden Fittichen - Uhu-Mama zieht Hühnerküken auf

 Play Caption

Überraschungssieger und damit neuer deutscher Meister ist der bislang in der Szene unbekannte Alexander Lehmann aus Kiel.

Surprise winner, and therefore the new German champion, is Alexander Lehmann from Kiel, who was unknown in the scene until now.

Captions 5-6, Die Insel Fehmarn - Speedsurfen auf Fehmarn

 Play Caption

Bislang konnte das die Ausbreitung der Läden aber nicht stoppen.

So far, however, this hasn't stopped the spread of the shops.

Caption 35, Perlentee - In allen Mündern

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
Go to Yabla German to search for other examples of how the adverb bislang and expressions meaning "for a long time" are used in a real-world context.