How Germans (sometimes) speak English

[Schroeder]

Hi guys,

I've stumbled across this channel today and thought I'd share.

This might help some of you to understand Germans if they speak in a funny way.:D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkP-swtAt9Y

The entire channel is about stuff like that.:yep:

[August]

Hi guys,

I've stumbled across this channel today and thought I'd share.

This might help some of you to understand Germans if they speak in a funny way.:D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkP-swtAt9Y

The entire channel is about stuff like that.:yep:

Are you Mister German Man? :)

[Commander Wallace]

I tend to use hand gestures which are universally understood, usually. :D

I remember in High School when taking a foreign language. I was told the German language is the hardest language to learn if you're not from Germany or a native speaker.

I think the Russian language would be as difficult if not more so with The Russian Alphabet using letters from the Cyrillic script. That is if you are not a native speaker of Russian. The modern Russian Alphabet consists of 33 letters.

Cool Video. Thanks for posting.

[vienna]

Try learning Japanese or Mandarin; now there's a challenge...



<O>

[Torplexed]

I took two years of German (Deutsch, as the teacher preferred us call it) in High School. I find if I watch a German language film I can pick out a noun here and a verb there, but all these years later I can't put the whole together.

Danke Gott for subtitles.

[Oberon]

Could be worse, could be an Englishman destroying the German language...or in particular, this Englishman destroying it. :haha:

It's all Germanic anyway. :O:

[Betonov]

Go learn Slovene and then complain that German is a hard language to learn :O:

[Catfish]

Mandarin, polish, finnish, hungarian ... there's a lot that is much harder to learn than german :yep:

But as a german i certainly have to note, some languages are sooo inexact, and it's meaning open to interpretation :O:

[Commander Wallace]

Try learning Japanese or Mandarin; now there's a challenge...


<O>

I never tried to learn them but I imagine they would be rough. With Chinese, there are two dialects, Mandarin as you said and Cantonese. There is a language learning program called Rosetta Stone that promises to cut the learning time in half. I know a number of Companies that do business in other countries use this program.




Go learn Slovene and then complain that German is a hard language to learn :O:

We don't need to learn Slovene, that's what we have you for. :) If something like that comes up, we just send it to you for deciphering.:O: Seriously, your language would a challenge too, I'm sure.



Catfish Said German wasn't hard to learn but I'm not so sure on that. Catfish is from there and probably was speaking it before he was 2. :O: I have tried to learn German a bit in my free time, which I have little of and it's not easy. Time to contact Rosetta Stone I think.

This question is for anyone not from the U.K or the U.S. Was English a problem with regards to picking it up or learning it ?

[Jimbuna]

I used to be pretty fluent in Dutch and it was pretty humorous to meet people of both Dutch and German nationalities in a bar on the odd occasion because both parties usually flatly refused to speak the language of the other and we would all end up speaking in English which could make matters more problematic because of my strong northern accent.

I doubt the above occurs as often these days because historical differences tend not to be focused on with the younger generation which all in all is a good thing.

The ongoing situation in the EU may well change that though :)

[Schroeder]

This question is for anyone not from the U.K or the U.S. Was English a problem with regards to picking it up or learning it ?

I had big difficulties in my early years when all we did was learning grammar. I don't care for grammar rules I just learn a language by listening to or reading it. I don't give a poo whether something is a "past participle" or "active participle". I don't even know what that would be in German.:haha:

I still have some of my old "work books" from English classes with plenty of gap texts in them. Boy, I really have to cringe when I read the garbage I wrote back then in 7th and 8th grade.:wah:

It all became better from 9th grade on when we focused more on writing essays and actually spoke the language ion class. No more grammar theory but actually using the language. However I didn't become as fluent as I am now until I started to read stuff on the net on a daily basis. However that is not a typical problem with English for me but any foreign language in general.

I used to be pretty fluent in Dutch and it was pretty humorous to meet people of both Dutch and German nationalities in a bar on the odd occasion because both parties usually flatly refused to speak the language of the other
Germans don't learn Dutch so they couldn't speak the language even if they wanted to. ;)


and we would all end up speaking in English which could make matters more problematic because of my strong northern accent.
I believe someone once asked me about "U-boat" stuff on TeamSpeak and I sent him the "NewView" program....:rotfl2:
(ok, it probably didn't help that my hearing is pretty bad...)

[Betonov]

Seriously, your language would a challenge too, I'm sure.


See it for yourself :O:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUkkW7cauPE&t=0m54s

[Schroeder]

See it for yourself :O:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUkkW7cauPE&t=0m54s
It seems Betonov isn't the only one in Slovenia to terrorizes people so here goes a different version of what i said earlier:
Roses are red, some dictionaries are blue in Soviet Slovenia language terrorizes YOU!:doh::timeout:

Dowly, we now need a Finnish version of that just to completely blow our minds.:o

[Nippelspanner]

Dowly, we now need a Finnish version of that just to completely blow our minds.:o
Oh God no, please no, no please... oh gawd! :timeout:
It would never end.
Just recently he explained something Finnish to me.
I tried hard to pretend that I even remotely follow his mad assertions,
but when it was finally over I just wanted to shower and drown in Whisky.

Basically:
http://i.imgur.com/yEQ8sfs.gif

[Oberon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4yeqSgNxiE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k7VoFiagfs

[Bleiente]

Was ist denn hier los, was gibt es denn da über die deutsche Sprache zu lästern, die ist doch schick und sehr gut im Gebrauch anwendbar!?!

"Feldwebel... nehmen sie sofort diese Männer in Gewahrsam, wir werden sicherlich noch einige Ausführungen als auch Ausflüchte -ob ihrer Motivationen zu dieser Sabotage- beim Verhör zu hören bekommen"...
"Jawohl - Herr Hauptmann!" :rotfl2: :D

[Betonov]

Vreme jutri bo sončno z občasno koprenasto oblačnostjo s pomladnimi temperaturami do dvajset stopinj celzija.

[Schroeder]

Vreme jutri bo sončno z občasno koprenasto oblačnostjo s pomladnimi temperaturami do dvajset stopinj celzija.
Gesundheit!:doh:

And yes, Google translate told me that this is a weather report....

[Betonov]

I gave you a handicap.
Like Herr-Berbunch realised, google transalte can't help you when I talk in my native dialect.

Včerišn šiht se ni lih najbol končov zame, ta zjeban prst mam še bl zmesarjen k sm si noht utrgov in sm itak vsako stvar pretipov k jh je v fabrk.

[Bleiente]

"Feldwebel... dieser -vermeintlich slowenisch stämmige- Betonov scheint der Rädelsführer dieser ganzen Verschwörung zu sein, darüber hinaus hat er wohl auch das "Dritte Gesicht" und weis unter anderem das Wetter zu prophezeien.... Rufen sie sofort den Adjudanten von unserem Reichs-Heini an, der hat bestimmt Verwendung für diesen Kerl!"

"Jawohl... Herr Hauptmann... ähmm das ist doch jetzt alles nur Quatsch, oder ist dies tatsächlich Ihr Ernst?!?" :rotfl2:

[Schroeder]

Včerišn šiht se ni lih najbol končov zame, ta zjeban prst mam še bl zmesarjen k sm si noht utrgov in sm itak vsako stvar pretipov k jh je v fabrk.
I just tried to run that through the universal translator of the USS Enterprise...it melted.....:doh:

[Betonov]

Hast Heini rote Haare ??
Und is Heini ein Frau, ich habe keine Liebe für Schwanze.

[Bleiente]

Nein... als Reichs-Heini wurde der Massenmörder und Befehlshaber der SS Heinrich Himmler im geheimen sogar innerhalb seiner Organition genannt.

Aber ganz ehrlich gesagt, wenn man sich über diese kapitalen Schweine nicht lustig macht, was wäre dann noch das (verlorene) Leben ihrer Opfer wert...

Das selbe ist gleichermaßen anwendbar z.B. auf den IS... auch nur alles Macht- und Geldgeile Schmieren-Komödianten... menschlicher Abschaum. :yep:

No ... as Reichsheini the mass murderer and commander of the SS Heinrich Himmler was even mentioned in the secret within its Organition.
But quite frankly, once you think about these capitals pigs not funny, what would be still the (lost) life worth their victims ...
The same is equally applicable e.g. to the IS ... even all power and money Horny Dope comedians ... human scum.

No ... saj Reichsheini je tudi omenjeno množični morilec in poveljnik SS Heinrich Himmler v skrivnost znotraj njenega Organition.
Ampak čisto odkrito, ko si misliš o teh prestolnicah prašičev ne smešno, kaj bi bilo še vedno (izgubljeno) življenje vredno njihove žrtve ...
Enako velja enako npr na IS ... celo vso močjo in denarjem Horny Dope komikov ... človeški izmeček.

[Betonov]

Ah, Heinrich. Ich habe gehofft Heini bedeutet Helga.

[Oberon]

Quid hic agatur infernum? :hmmm:

[Betonov]

Eh, nič posebnega. Samo debata o nemščini je iztirila v večjezično debato o Himmlerju in rdečelasih Helgah

[Dowly]

Godwinin laki on vahva tässä. :hmmm:

[Jimbuna]

Nuts!!

[Schroeder]

Godwinin laki on vahva tässä. :hmmm:
Goodwin is strong everywhere.:yep:

[vienna]

I never tried to learn them but I imagine they would be rough. With Chinese, there are two dialects, Mandarin as you said and Cantonese. There is a language learning program called Rosetta Stone that promises to cut the learning time in half. I know a number of Companies that do business in other countries use this program. ...

Actually, there are many more dialects in Chinese, all using the same basic characters as a writing system. There are some small variations in the precise formation of the characters from dialect to dialect, but the differences are minor enough not to be a great hindrance. If you every watch Chinese language TV or see a Chinese language film, there will almost always be a subtitle of Chinese characters across the screen so, even if the film is in, say, Cantonese, others who speak a different dialect can follow along with the dialog. When I was growing up in San Francisco, I used to go to Chinese shows and films, always in the predominant dialect in SF, Cantonese. I used to go to a theater which, IIRC, was on Columbus Avenue, north of Chinatown. Going to a movie back then was a sort of communal activity for the Cantonese and I had to become accustomed to the fact house lights were not going to be dimmed all the way and that there was going to be a fair amount of conversation by those around me. It was very different from the more mainstream film going experience...

There has long been a push by the Red Chinese government to have all of their citizens speak, write and read the same dialect, a modernized derivative of Mandarin. This has met with a good deal of resistance from the citizens and has been the source of much friction between the government and those who wish to preserve their identities via their dialects...


<O>

[Bleiente]

Ähmm... Ihr könnt schon irgendwie allein lesen als auch vor allem ganz demokratisch allein denken... fast wie die alten Griechen??? :/\\!!

[Torplexed]

It's long been a common belief among all the travel gurus here in the US, that if we Americans just put a little effort in learning the language of whatever European nation we are planning to visit, that we'll be swell ambassadors of our nation and that they will just love us for being able to croak out a few token words of their native tongue.

If they ever saw the train wreck that often ensues when these amateurs try buying or ordering in a language they barely know, you wonder if they would change their minds. :O:

http://pyxis.homestead.com/European_Dining.jpg

[August]

Ich hab das Jagerschnitzel mit pomme frittes bitte. :D

[Bleiente]

Mhmm... in Ihrer Ausführung muß ich ihnen in der Allgemeinheit und der letzten deutschen Vergangenheit leider zustimmen, dieses Anbiedern war und ist erbärmlich.

Ich als freigeborener Mann in/aus Preußen rate jedoch, kümmern Sie sich gefälligst um ihre eignen Kartoffeln.
Wenn dies Ihrerseits nicht akzeptabel erscheint, wird Nordamerika zur Vermeidung weiterer weltweiter katastrophalen Zwischenfälle unserseits neu besiedelt.

Ich denke, in Ihrem geneigtem Sinn für Völkerverständigung und Humanismus zu handeln und verbleibe

mit den freundlichsten Grüßen
:rotfl2:

[Oberon]

恥
ず
べ
き
表
示

[Bleiente]

Ja - was zum Teufel- echt nette Wandmalerei. :yeah:
Der inhaltliche Sinn bleibt mir jedoch vorerst verwehrt... :hmmm:

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

Quid hic agatur infernum? :hmmm:
Diolch i chi am addysgu mi beth "beth ddiawl sy'n digwydd yma?" yn Lladin yw! :D

[Oberon]

Diolch i chi am addysgu mi beth "beth ddiawl sy'n digwydd yma?" yn Lladin yw! :D

:salute:

Hit sy sum getæse árping to cunnan hér! :yep:

[Buddahaid]

Sumpthin tells me we ain't in Kansas no more.

[HunterICX]

ksnap er de balle niej van wa er allemoal geluld word hiero, alle zeker nun klap van de molen gehad, ofwa.

[Lionclaw]

Jaha, det här verkar vara en internationell tråd där personer skriver på sitt modersmål. Då får väl jag också göra det då.

Jag tror jag förstod det Dowly skrev: "Godwins lag är stor här."
Om jag förstod det rätt, min finska är lite rostig.

[Schroeder]

<O>
So the <O> in your post means that you are of Asian descend?
I knew we would figure it out eventually!:D:woot:

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

:salute:

Hit sy sum getæse árping to cunnan hér! :yep:
Chan eil fiù 's Google Translate dh'fhaodadh obraich a-mach dè tha sin a' ciallachadh, tha e den bheachd gur e Corsican! :haha:

[Betonov]

It's long been a common belief among all the travel gurus here in the US, that if we Americans just put a little effort in learning the language of whatever European nation we are planning to visit, that we'll be swell ambassadors of our nation and that they will just love us for being able to croak out a few token words of their native tongue.



Most often is enough just to learn greetings. If you're expected more, than you're dealing with a nationalist and should revert to your native dialect just to annoy him.
We're mostly annoyed with either complete ignorance of the land you visit (like asking in Slovenia where are the endless fields of tulips, read a guide on the flight in) or unnecessary boasting (looking at a medieval castle and starting how buildings are taller in Manhattan. Yeah, we know, and one chair in that castle is older than your entire country plus the colonial years)

Personally I preffer if people start with English with me. At least I know from the start which language to use.

One funny story.
A few years ago I was in Croatia and wanted to ''not be one of those tourists'' so I talked in Croatian. After a while our host says: pričaj Slovensko, bolje ču te kužit (speak Slovene, I'll understand you better) :oops:

[Bleiente]

Lost believed photographs of the near-contemporary history rediscovered.
Very detailed and credible to observe the "dictator erectus" in its natural environment and application of a non longer very common dialect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br9Y_ZPcrAI


Hail Hynkel... :arrgh!:

[Oberon]

Chan eil fiù 's Google Translate dh'fhaodadh obraich a-mach dè tha sin a' ciallachadh, tha e den bheachd gur e Corsican! :haha:

:haha:

Chan iongnadh orm gun iadsan na tuig sean sassanach!

http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/Celtic-Chariot-1.jpg

[Lionclaw]

Seems like everyone has gone nuts around here. :P :D

[vienna]

So the <O> in your post means that you are of Asian descend?
I knew we would figure it out eventually!:D:woot:

Not even close; the symbol means nothing to anyone else other than myself and a few people I have known over the decades...

My contact with Asian cultures stems from growing up in San Francisco and from my father being a merchant marine. He had a great many friends and acquaintances who were from Asia and many of them would come over to visit our family. Additionally, SF was the home of the largest Chinese community outside of mainland China and, since, as I grew up, I spent a lot of my time wandering around the city, I spent a lot of time in Chinatown and used to know a number of the locals and their customs. I used to know rather a few phrases and words in Cantonese, but I have long since forgotten almost all of it due to lack of use and practice. I did enjoy going to the Chinese opera performances and the other popular entertainments...


<O>

[Schroeder]

Not even close; the symbol means nothing to anyone else other than myself and a few people I have known over the decades...

Darn, I was sure I had cracked the Enigma code!:wah:


My contact with Asian cultures stems from growing up in San Francisco and from my father being a merchant marine. He had a great many friends and acquaintances who were from Asia and many of them would come over to visit our family. Additionally, SF was the home of the largest Chinese community outside of mainland China and, since, as I grew up, I spent a lot of my time wandering around the city, I spent a lot of time in Chinatown and used to know a number of the locals and their customs. I used to know rather a few phrases and words in Cantonese, but I have long since forgotten almost all of it due to lack of use and practice. I did enjoy going to the Chinese opera performances and the other popular entertainments...


<O>
I've been to San Francisco's China town in 2001 but only for a few hours as a tourist. It was a very interesting experience.:yep:
Certain parallel societies over here could learn a thing or two from the Chinese about coexisting peacefully with the host population.:shifty:

[Oberon]

I always thought the <0> was for:

http://cdn.meme.am/images/1259583.jpg

[Catfish]

<O>

It is an eye.

Or a submarine, from above :D

[Dowly]

This reminded of our beloved GT and as the video is in Finnish (eng subs), I think it belongs to here.

From a Finnish comedy show Ihmisten Puolue (=People's Party):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovbjmmmRMpA

[vienna]

It's long been a common belief among all the travel gurus here in the US, that if we Americans just put a little effort in learning the language of whatever European nation we are planning to visit, that we'll be swell ambassadors of our nation and that they will just love us for being able to croak out a few token words of their native tongue.

If they ever saw the train wreck that often ensues when these amateurs try buying or ordering in a language they barely know, you wonder if they would change their minds. :O:

This reminded me of an incident that pretty much turned me off from trying to learn Spanish. In 1965, when I was 14, my family spent the summer in Central America. My Spanish language abilities were quite limited (the first Spanish words I learned were from an Irish grandfather), but, like a lot of Americans, I thought my skill was better than actuality. One day, we went to a large mercado (sort of like a bazaar) and I spotted a stall selling cooking items of a type my mother had been seeking. I went up to the owner, a rather large and imposing woman with a gaggle of children at her side, and, using my self-imagined really great Spanish, proceeded to ask if she had the particular item for my mother. However, I realized I couldn't remember the exact word for the item, so I tried to describe the thing. She just looked at me stoically and I assumed she didn't understand exactly what I was on about. I tried all sorts of explanations, descriptions, and even resorted to a sort of mime; nothing changed the expressionless woman's ability to understand me. Eventually, my mother came up to the stall and asked me what was going on; I described the whole experience to her and she, in turn, spoke to the woman in Spanish. There then ensued a torrent of rapid-fire Spanish which I could not comprehend culminating in a loud burst of laughter from both women. I asked my mother what was so funny and she said the stall keeper had know almost from the start what I was seeking, but, since she had never heard Spanish spoken so uniquely (which I assume is a nice way of saying "badly"), the stall keeper kept feigning ignorance in order to see how long I would continue. Thus the end of my ever wanting to learn Spanish...

Darn, I was sure I had cracked the Enigma code!:wah:

Then I will continue to sink your shipping... :arrgh!:

I've been to San Francisco's China town in 2001 but only for a few hours as a tourist. It was a very interesting experience.:yep:
Certain parallel societies over here could learn a thing or two from the Chinese about coexisting peacefully with the host population.:shifty:

Chinatown has a long history dating back to well before the Civil War and, sadly, there have been many incidents of violence against the Chinese in the area, almost all of them by white citizens who wanted to rid themselves of the "heathens"; just good Christians trying to spread their "charity" and "goodwill to all men". Violence against Chinese in Chinatown by vigilantes is well documented and is one of the reasons there was a strong distrust of outsiders within the Chinese community...

When you went to Chinatown, did you get to wander the alleys? There are still rather a good number of old-style establishments in those byways, not to mention a large number of Mah Jong and underground gambling parlors...


<O>

[Schroeder]

When you went to Chinatown, did you get to wander the alleys? There are still rather a good number of old-style establishments in those byways, not to mention a large number of Mah Jong and underground gambling parlors...


<O>
I'm afraid I don't know anymore (it's been a while). I remember one bigger street with plenty of shops and of course the obligatory visit to a fortune cookie bakery. It was a "guided" tour in a holiday package so we didn't really stroll around by ourselves.

[Commander Wallace]

Seems like everyone has gone nuts around here. :P :D

Not anymore than usual :)