The words speziell and besonders can be used as adjectives or adverbs, and are often translated as "particular," "particularly," "special," "specially," or "especially." 

banner PLACEHOLDER

When speziell is used as an adjective, it reflects a uniqueness or particularity. As an adverb, it conveys a sense of specificity or purpose, and may be used when referring to something designed for a particular function or context.

Und Klingonisch ist dafür schon sehr, sehr speziell.

And Klingon is therefore indeed very, very, special.

Caption 24, Klingonisch-Kurs: Außerirdisch sprechen lernen

 Play Caption

Mehr als eintausend Tanks mit radioaktivem Wasser sollen mit einer speziellen Filteranlage entleert werden.

More than a thousand tanks of radioactive water are to be emptied using a special filtration system.

Captions 36-37, Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten Die Inflation verlangsamt sich

 Play Caption

Ihre Gehirne haben speziell entwickelte Bereiche, in denen sie lernen, Probleme zu lösen und zu kommunizieren.

Their brains have specially developed areas in which they learn to solve problems and to communicate.

Captions 64-65, Die Top Ten: Die 12 freundlichsten Meerestiere der Welt

 Play Caption

The word besonders refers to something that stands out or is remarkable compared to the norm. It is often used to emphasize a quality or characteristic.

Was ist so besonders an der Stadt?

What's so special about the city?

Caption 46, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Hessen

 Play Caption

Der Mensch pflegt mit dem kalifornischen Seelöwen eine ganz besondere Beziehung.

Humankind maintains a very special relationship with the Californian sea lion.

Caption 74, Evolution: Die Küsten

 Play Caption

Heute hab ich ein ganz besonders leckeres Gericht für euch rausgesucht.

Today, I have picked out a particularly delicious dish for you.

Caption 4, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Nordrhein-Westfalen

 Play Caption

Further Learning
You'll find many more examples of these words on Yabla German, and you can practice creating your own sentences that use them as an adjective or an adverb. 

Among the first words you learn in German are langsam (slow) and schnell (fast). Let's take a look today at some more detailed terms related to driving tempos.

Boote müssen sich von den Meeressäugern fernhalten und sie müssen langsam fahren.

Boats must stay away from the marine mammals and they must drive slowly.

Captions 28-29, Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten: Schwangere Schwertwale im Pazifik

 Play Caption

Wenn die Straße frei ist, abends oder nachts, dann kann man sicherlich schon mal schnell fahren.

If the street is empty, evenings or at night, then you can certainly drive fast sometimes.

Captions 33-34, AutoMotoTV: Schnell fahren auf der Autobahn

 Play Caption

As you see above, langsam fahren is "to drive slowly," and schnell fahren is "to drive quickly." The adverbs langsam and schnell can also be expressed in comparative and superlative forms: langsamer fahren and schneller fahren ("to drive slower" and "to drive faster"), as well as am langsamsten fahren and am schnellsten fahren ("to drive slowest" and "to drive fastest").

The related noun for "slow driving" is das Langsamfahren, and for "fast driving" das Schnellfahren. A person who drives quickly is called der Schnellfahrer or die Schnellfahrerin. 

... fahren wir Schritttempo, wir dürfen uns dort überall bewegen,

... we drive at walking speed, we are allowed to go everywhere there,

Caption 72, Rollendes Vergnügen: Segway-Touren

 Play Caption

The term das Schritttempo means "walking speed" and Schritttempo fahren means "to drive very, very slowly." The street sign for this is usually used in areas with a lot of pedestrians or where children are at play. It's a white sign with a red circle, in which the words SCHRITT FAHREN appear in black capital letters.

Ich kann jetzt auch bremsen und anhalten.

I can now also brake and stop.

Caption 40, Fahrschule: Wie man die Kupplung bedient

 Play Caption

The verb bremsen means "to stop," and has the related noun die Bremse ("the brake"). Just like in English, this is more commonly seen in the plural form die Bremsen ("the brakes").

Im Falle einer Bedrohung können sie plötzlich schnell beschleunigen.

In the event of a threat, they can suddenly accelerate quickly.

Caption 72, Die Top Ten: Die 12 freundlichsten Meerestiere der Welt

 Play Caption

The verb beschleunigen is "to accelerate", and its direct antonym is entschleunigen—"to decelerate."

Cool, gib Gas, schnapp ihn dir!

Cool, step on the gas, get him!

Caption 74, Großstadtrevier: St. Pauli rettet HSV

 Play Caption

The phrase Gas geben is an expression that literally means "to give gas," but is similar to the English idiom "to step on the gas," which is how you make a motor vehicle accelerate.

Further Learning
Search for some other adjectives and adverbs for "slow" (such as träge and schleppend) and "fast" (such as zügig and rasant) on Yabla German. To learn some more driving terms, watch the videos Schnell fahren auf der Autobahn and Wie man die Kupplung bedient.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for our next lesson and send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.