Reply to: Learning German

[scooterscot]

Nah, just need imbissbuden Deutsch, that's what I use

Imbiss-Deutsch – Stupidedia
https://www.swr3.de/comedy/comedy-ar...ffl/index.html

Danke dir

[darmstadt]

Don't find verb placement such an issue anymore. You become used to it. But recognising accusative and dative drives my bonkers. Die, Das, Dem. Endings with en es oder em ARGH

Nah, just need imbissbuden Deutsch, that's what I use

Imbiss-Deutsch – Stupidedia
https://www.swr3.de/comedy/comedy-ar...ffl/index.html

[shaunbhoy]

It could be worse. If Poland was the place to go for a decent IT job you'd have to learn Polish... ouch!

No you wouldn't. Worked in Poland and everyone that mattered spoke good English.

HTH

[VectraMan]

Don't find verb placement such an issue anymore. You become used to it. But recognising accusative and dative drives my bonkers. Die, Das, Dem. Endings with en es oder em ARGH

Yes the v2 bit I found quite easy too. Putting the verb at the end still causes me problems, especially when there's more than one: "worden können lassen" - WTF?

But on the occasions when I know what gender a noun is I usually get the cases (even the adjectives) right now.

Generally I can write reasonably well with few mistakes, but when I try to speak I get flustered and forget everything and make a complete mess of what I'm trying to say and feel like I want to throw myself under the nearest bus.

But getting there... a few more years and maybe I'll be good at it. It's only 8 years since I first started trying to learn some German.

[NotAllThere]

It's a lot easier to speak German in Switzerland. They're so used to speaking dialect that their Hochdeutsch is rarely perfect, so they tend to use simpler expressions.

Swiss high German differs from German high German, so that can cause confusion - especially to Germans whose linguistic mindsets are not very flexible. E.g. "To park". GhG -> Parken. ShG -> Parkieren.

[scooterscot]

Verb has to be in second place. Apparently all Germanic languages do that too, except English.

Don't find verb placement such an issue anymore. You become used to it. But recognising accusative and dative drives my bonkers. Die, Das, Dem. Endings with en es oder em ARGH

[squarepeg]

It could be worse. If Poland was the place to go for a decent IT job you'd have to learn Polish... ouch!

[VectraMan]

On Wednesday with my wife and children I travel to the airport not.

Verb has to be in second place. Apparently all Germanic languages do that too, except English.

On Wednesday travel I with my wife and children to the airport not.

or

With my wife and children travel I on Wednesday to the airport not.

or

To the airport travel I on Wednesday with my wife and children not.

or even

I travel on Wednesday with my wife and children to the airport not.

[shaunbhoy]

The problem with taking the trouble to learn to speak German properly is that they will then expect you to understand their replies as well.

Doubles the workload. Much easier to just default back to English having at least made the effort, for form's sake.

[NotAllThere]

Mark Twain's take on it "The Awful German Language".

"Personal pronouns and adjectives are a fruitful nuisance in this language, and should have been left out. For instance, the same sound, sie, means you, and it means she, and it means her, and it means it, and it means they, and it means them. Think of the ragged poverty of a language which has to make one word do the work of six -- and a poor little weak thing of only three letters at that. But mainly, think of the exasperation of never knowing which of these meanings the speaker is trying to convey. This explains why, whenever a person says sie to me, I generally try to kill him, if a stranger."

[Paddy]

You do know that English is a Germanic language? The easiest way to spek German is to take an English sentence and then basically say it backwards and ennunciate every letter

On Wednesday with my wife and children I travel to the airport not.

[PhiltheGreek]

You jokers must sound as convincing as an 'Elllo 'Ello production in Cleethorpes.

A German joke is no laughing matter

True enough, Flick.

[vetran]

Why would the Germans want 2nd rate British people?

Ask Scooters boss...

[VectraMan]

You do know that English is a Germanic language?

With the exception of Icelandic, all the other Germanic languages did simplify themselves over the centuries. I read somewhere that Dutch still had cases up until a hundred or so years ago when people realised that nobody was bothering anymore.

The easiest way to spek German is to take an English sentence and then basically say it backwards and ennunciate every letter

Sometimes try I English in German word order to speak. I find that, it me with my German Speaking helps.

[_V_]

You do know that English is a Germanic language? The easiest way to spek German is to take an English sentence and then basically say it backwards and ennunciate every letter

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5- year phase-in plan that would become known as “Euro-English”.

In the first year, “s” will replace the soft “c”. Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard “c” will be dropped in favour of “k”. This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome “ph” will be replaced with “f”. This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling.

Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent “e” in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing “th” with “z” and “w” with “v”.

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary “o” kan be dropd from vords kontaining “ou” and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensi bl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi TU understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.