NationStates Jolt Archive

Woohoo! Sunday evening, I'm flying out to Europe. I spend one hour in London, transfer to Amsterdam, spend a few days there, take a train to Germany, Spend some time there, drop into Switzerland to see the Alps, pop into Austria for a night, and head back to Germany! I've never been outside of N. America, and I'm excited! Anyone been to Germany/live in Germany? Know any useful German phrases?

Woohoo! Sunday evening, I'm flying out to Europe. I spend one hour in London, transfer to Amsterdam, spend a few days there, take a train to Germany, Spend some time there, drop into Switzerland to see the Alps, pop into Austria for a night, and head back to Germany! I've never been outside of N. America, and I'm excited! Anyone been to Germany/live in Germany? Know any useful German phrases?

How useful are they going to be if you don't understand the answers anyway? :confused:

But hey, have I nice trip. I hope you'll like it :)

How useful are they going to be if you don't understand the answers anyway? :confused:

Eg: German words for hello, thank you ( Danku?), etc.

Sunday evening, I'm flying out to Europe.
I'm sorry.

Eg: German words for hello, thank you ( Danku?), etc.

Hello would be spelled Hallo and pronounced Hullo. Or, if you'd want to be polite, Guten Tag (Gootin Taag). Thank you is Danke (pronouced like you spelled it ;) ), please is Bitte (pronounced like bitter without the r)... anything else?

Woohoo! Sunday evening, I'm flying out to Europe. I spend one hour in London, transfer to Amsterdam, spend a few days there, take a train to Germany, Spend some time there, drop into Switzerland to see the Alps, pop into Austria for a night, and head back to Germany! I've never been outside of N. America, and I'm excited! Anyone been to Germany/live in Germany? Know any useful German phrases?
What? Ya want a medal?




Hmmm...my hand are green all of a sudden...

What Cabra said. You shouldn't have any trouble speaking English most of the time, but try to use some German when you can. Polite phrases, greetings, questions. Oh, and don't use 'du' (meaning 'you') as a replacement for 'Sie', especially around older folk - it's seen as extremely rude, as 'du' signifies familiarity and no need for politeness.

I'm sorry.

Interestingly enough, I'm not.

What Cabra said. You shouldn't have any trouble speaking English most of the time, but try to use some German when you can. Polite phrases, greetings, questions. Oh, and don't use 'du' (meaning 'you') as a replacement for 'Sie', especially around older folk - it's seen as extremely rude, as 'du' signifies familiarity and no need for politeness.

Yes, but don't address younger people as "Sie". That's just weird... then again, the rules for this are almost impossible to understand, even to us Germans.

you could google for german phrases you know :p

danke is thanks (pronounced danker without the "r")
bitte is a polite "its ok" (in response to danke... or its also please like 'i'd like one of those bitte' - and its pronounced bitter)
(es tut) mir leid is i'm sorry.
ich verstehe nicht is i don't understand
ich weiss night is i don't know

my spelling may be badly off cos i haven't studied german in a number of years. but everyone will speak english anyway so don't worry

try to explore amsterdam while you're there - its beautiful! and germany rocks, of course :)
travelling is always exciting - so have fun! :D

I have heard it is wise to be more respectful of European police. I don't know if it is true, but it couldn't hurt.

"Ich bin Kanadier!"


Could come in handy. :D

I have heard it is wise to be more respectful of European police. I don't know if it is true, but it couldn't hurt.

Huh? Why's that???

"Ich bin Kanadier!"


Could come in handy. :D
Mr Harper ruined that one for everyone.:p

"Ich bin Kanadier!"


Could come in handy. :D

"Ich bin ein Berliner!" works best. :D

"Ich bin ein Berliner!" works best. :D
If you can fake the accent.

If you can fake the accent.
Or you want a donut.

Or you want a donut.
WTF, eh?

WTF, eh?

Read this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ich_bin_ein_Berliner).

Yes, but don't address younger people as "Sie". That's just weird... then again, the rules for this are almost impossible to understand, even to us Germans.

Pah. I could recite the damned rules to you, you lazy native! I've been tested on them. :-p

You should be fine with the basic phrases given here. Just use them first, or say "English, bitte?".

Have a great time, i'd love to get over to Europe one day.

My brother loved Germany, it was his favorite country of all the ones he visited. He said it's very clean, the people are friendly and the beer is cheap. Amsterdam was his favorite city for the same reasons.

Have a great time, i'd love to get over to Europe one day.

My brother loved Germany, it was his favorite country of all the ones he visited. He said it's very clean, the people are friendly and the beer is cheap. Amsterdam was his favorite city for the same reasons.

Thank you. Are you sure there wasn't another reason why he liked Amsterdam? (raises eyebrow inquisitively).

Thank you. Are you sure there wasn't another reason why he liked Amsterdam? (raises eyebrow inquisitively).

Coffeehouses. Red-light district. :cool:

Visit Hamburg, by the way.

http://www.germanizer.com/www/index.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1659825,00.html - Also try Flensburger Pilsener. Plop!

"Ich nehme ein Bier" would be a good phrase to know. :P Also:

Guten Tag: Good Day
Auf Wiedersehen: Formal Good Bye
Entshudigung(sp?): Excuse me
Ich nehme Wasser: I need water
Ich spreche Englisch: I speak English

Can't think of any others at the moment...

Have fun! Don't sleep, do everything you can possibly do while you're there.

Woohoo! Sunday evening, I'm flying out to Europe. I spend one hour in London, transfer to Amsterdam, spend a few days there, take a train to Germany, Spend some time there, drop into Switzerland to see the Alps, pop into Austria for a night, and head back to Germany! I've never been outside of N. America, and I'm excited! Anyone been to Germany/live in Germany? Know any useful German phrases?

Say "Fick dich" for "Thank you"

To wave to someone, take your right arm and stick it at a 45 degree angle and yell "Seig Heil!" for "Hello"

Make sure to draw lots of swastika's with chalk on the ground. It's the symbol for Peace

But really, have fun. I was born in Frankfurt am Main and moved here.

Say "Fick dich" for "Thank you"

To wave to someone, take your right arm and stick it at a 45 degree angle and yell "Seig Heil!" for "Hello"

Make sure to draw lots of swastika's with chalk on the ground. It's the symbol for Peace

But really, have fun. I was born in Frankfurt am Main and moved here.
Please disregard this post if you want to avoid being punched in the face.:p

Please disregard this post if you want to avoid being punched in the face.:p
Says the Dutchman (http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-03-10T161634Z_01_L10500877_RTRIDST_0_OUKOE-UK-DUTCH-HELMET.XML).

Say "Fick dich" for "Thank you"

To wave to someone, take your right arm and stick it at a 45 degree angle and yell "Seig Heil!" for "Hello"

Make sure to draw lots of swastika's with chalk on the ground. It's the symbol for Peace

But really, have fun. I was born in Frankfurt am Main and moved here.

Gee, that sounds like a good idea. Especially the part about those swastika sign thingy. Gosh, it's too bad I haven't classes on WWII, and therefore have no knowledge of the Nazi regime or any of it's symbols. :D

lol...he has a girlfriend, who he took to Europe with him, and he doesn't do drugs.

My German is rather pitiful, not to mention Germany is pretty diverse. As there are so many ways to say hello and goodbye in different parts. Moin moin, hallo, Guten Taag, etc.
*becomes frustrated and starts speaking bad latin*

Dominus hoc patriam sum. Lupas estis!

Says the Dutchman (http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-03-10T161634Z_01_L10500877_RTRIDST_0_OUKOE-UK-DUTCH-HELMET.XML).
Heh, I still love how the ones they made with a German slogan had a honking grammatical error (something like "Jetzt geht los", IIRC). Serves them right. :D

Oh, and TC:
Have fun! :)
Just learn a few basic words/phrases & you'll be fine (you're not going to manage anything more anyway before Sunday):

Thank you = Danke (dun-kuh)

Please = Bitte (bitt-uh)

Excuse me / Sorry = Entschuldigung (ant-shool-dee-goong)

Hello = Hallo (hullo) or, more formal, Guten Tag (Goo-tan Tahg ("a" like in "father")

Yes = Ja (yah)

No = Nein (nine)

Do you speak English? = Sprechen Sie Englisch? (Shpracken See Anglish?) (the "ch" wouldn't actually be pronounced like "ck" but like the "h" in "huge", but most English speakers do the "ck", so don't worry if you don't get it right)

One = Eins (eyns) ("ey" like "eye")

Two = Zwei (tsvy) ("y" like "eye")

Three = Drei (dry)


Oh, and beer is just Bier, pronounced the same, so you're all set.

Says the Dutchman (http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-03-10T161634Z_01_L10500877_RTRIDST_0_OUKOE-UK-DUTCH-HELMET.XML).
They made em in German colors too. :p
And I don't know what the fuss is about the helms, the Dutch have been referring to the war for decades.