NationStates Jolt Archive

Judging from the recent language threads lately, seems like a lot of people are learning (or learned) German in school. I myself am currently taking an elementary German course in university, its been about 2 months now and I'm having a blast. We're currently learning how to tell time... right now its about 'zwanzig vor dreiundzwanzig' (EST).

My reasons for wanting to learn German...

1. I'm a design student and I think German design is quite notorious (you know... the Weimar Republic, the Bauhaus, etc.), very interesting history too... I'm most definitely going to visit the country some time in the near future.

2. Simply, I think German is a very beautiful language. It just rolls off your tongue. Favourite phrases: "Das ist gut!" and "Das Bus ist nicht hier!!11!!eins!!!111" :eek:

So! I'm curious to know... Why are you learning German? :D

1.)Wanted to learn a useful language, germany is a major world economic center

2.) I am around 75% german descent

3.) I like to learn root languages, I want to learn more, like latin or Russian. Germanic is a whole branch of different languages, including english.

1.)Wanted to learn a useful language, germany is a major world economic center

2.) I am around 75% german descent

3.) I like to learn root languages, I want to learn more, like latin or Russian. Germanic is a whole branch of different languages, including english.

Seconded. Another reason is that German has similarities to English that can enrich my understanding of both languages and cultures; also, financial services companies are headquartered primarily in London and Frankfurt, so German is kind of the second business language of Europe.

Ich lerne nicht Deutsch. Als ich ein Kind war, habe ich dort (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) gewessen, aber ich studiere Spanisch heutzutage. Es ist jetzt zehn Minuten vor neun am abend in Colorado. Viel Glück in Ihren Studien!

I am not learning German. When I was a kid, I lived there (West Germany), but I am strudying Spanish instead. And it is now ten minutes before nine. Good luck in your studies!

So I can understand angry German Kid.

So I can understand angry German Kid.

:p

I am not learning German. When I was a kid, I lived there (West Germany), but I am strudying Spanish instead. And it is now ten minutes before nine. Good luck in your studies!

Wenn man in der deutschsprachigen Welt wöhnte, könnte man Deutsch einfächer lernen.

I was learning German, but then I stopped.

My goal is to learn all of the major languages in the world.

I already know English.
I already know French.
I already know Arabic (favorite one of 'em all).
And after I become fluent in Arabic and French (I'm intermediate in both), then I'll probably start learning some Spanish or Chinese. THEN, I'll learn German.

But, I still know how to introduce myself and meet peopel in German, even though I stopped learning since early this year.

A good place to learn German is BBC languages.

So I can understand angry German Kid.

You mean the kid that went apeshit on his desktop? He mostly just screams "WHAT HAPPENED!?" and curses at his comp.

I WOULD learn German, since it's the root language of my native language, English, and my ancestral language, Finnish. Unfortunately, IB is a bitch, and they say "Only Spanish or French!". So here I am learning French.

I couldn't really help it all that much after all... ;):p:D

I couldn't really help it all that much after all... ;):p:D

Really?! :eek: :rolleyes:

WYTYG.... :eek:

WYTYG.... :eek:

Was?! :eek:

Why learn German? When germany conquers us all (again), we will have to learn German anyway. Best get a head start.

I took both French and Spanish in High School, and in both cases my teachers were all emotionally unstable, not-quite-there people, so I wanted to see if teaching German drove people as crazy as teaching other European languages.
Yes, yes it does.

I took German because it was cooler than French and too many people were taking spanish.

German...ick....Ill stick with my Romance languages, and my Hebrew :)

German, Russian and Latin are the top languages I want to learn. Why? Hell I don't know.. I just like them. Many more I like as well. But those trump to mind.

Why learn German? When germany conquers us all (again), we will have to learn German anyway. Best get a head start.
Zer are no plans for vorld domination zat I have approved of. :p

(But since that doesn't really mean anything, better learn your German. Schnell! Schnell!!! ;))

1.)Wanted to learn a useful language, germany is a major world economic center
I would dispute that. Europe has been stagnating both economically and population-wise for decades now [Germany has the lowest birth rates on the planet and they've been steadily declining since 1945]. They're doing reasonably well under the circumstances, but in fifteen years Spanish, Indian, and Chinese will all be more useful to know than German. My parents wanted me to learn Spanish like everyone else in my grade was doing, but German was just too fun to speak.

2.) I am around 75% german descent

3.) I like to learn root languages, I want to learn more, like latin or Russian. Germanic is a whole branch of different languages, including english.
I agree with #3; in fact I took three years of German in High School and I plan to revisit it [and learn Russian] in college to suppliment my studies. In my opinion, the major languages of the 20th century were German, Russian and English and I think it would be cool to be able to speak all three :D

WYTYG.... :eek:

That would be a compelling reason, but heck-she already knows english so meh...why retread...hehe...not scoring any points...

I am not learning German, I live in California so I should be learning Spanish but in high school I learned French...well, learned is a bit euphemistic...

But reasons I could have or should have...

1) To get a Masters in Music, as was my original plan, you need to know either French, Italian, or German. My instrument was invented by a German speaker, but the French are the only ones who cared about it until it was adopted as a signature Jazz instrument. Wait, do Austrians speak German? Maybe that's not even a reason. Look how much research I did...care to lay out guesses why I never got that masters?

2) I could have translated for my buddy when he bribed the Porsche pit mechanic to get that giant piece of the factory 911 GT-1 race car that broke off at the FIA-GT Monterey Grand Prix. so he wouldn't have had to given up the headlight cover.

3) I could work a German production so I could have an excuse to be in Germany and drive over 100mph legally on a public road.

4) Watch German movies without subtitles or with the original title cards.

I don't have anything else...

I agree with #3; in fact I took three years of German in High School and I plan to revisit it [and learn Russian] in college to suppliment my studies. In my opinion, the major languages of the 20th century were German, Russian and English and I think it would be cool to be able to speak all three :D

One of my German teachers spoke those three languages. She grew up in East Germany, so Russian was her second language and English her third.

[Germany has the lowest birth rates on the planet and they've been steadily declining since 1945].
It's even worse than that. The birthrates have been steadily declining since the 1870s, maybe even earlier, with industrialization and changes in social structure, increasing number of children reaching their 1st birthday, and more women working full time.

WYTYG.... :eek:

LOL :D

One of my German teachers spoke those three languages. She grew up in East Germany, so Russian was her second language and English her third.
I once tried to read a translation of Clausewitz's Vom Kreig (On War) that was translated from German to English by a native Russian speaker. I couldn't understand a goddamn word he wrote, and the edition I had was laden with redundant phrases like "then therefore" and the like. Honestly, I have no idea how it even got published.

EDIT:
It's even worse than that. The birthrates have been steadily declining since the 1870s, maybe even earlier, with industrialization and changes in social structure, increasing number of children reaching their 1st birthday, and more women working full time.
Actually, from what I've read of 20th century German history, birth rates rose during the Third Reich.

Actually, from what I've read of 20th century German history, birth rates rose during the Third Reich.
That's because you got paid to have a large family.

I once tried to read a translation of Clausewitz's Vom Kreig (On War) that was translated from German to English by a native Russian speaker. I couldn't understand a goddamn word he wrote, and the edition I had was laden with redundant phrases like "then therefore" and the like. Honestly, I have no idea how it even got published.

I think some of it has to do with linguistic and stylistic differences between languages; some concepts present in one language might spill over to your other languages, which complicates the translation because of those different forms. If a language uses a lot of filler words it's likely that these will be reflected in translations of other languages.

Case in point: The more I've studied German, the longer and more complex my sentence structure has become because German can use extremely long run-on sentences and complex word order linked by conjunctions and commas. Now, I also use the semicolon more often because it makes English sentences somewhat similar in flow to German ones, so it creates a more harmonious structural balance between the two writing styles, albeit with the drawback of sometimes violating English grammatical rules.

Now, they might not be the same idea, but they are a similar concept.

I think some of it has to do with linguistic and stylistic differences between languages; some concepts present in one language might spill over to your other languages, which complicates the translation because of those different forms. If a language uses a lot of filler words it's likely that these will be reflected in translations of other languages.

Case in point: The more I've studied German, the longer and more complex my sentence structure has become because German can use extremely long run-on sentences and complex word order linked by conjunctions and commas. Now, I also use the semicolon more often because it makes English sentences somewhat similar in flow to German ones, so it creates a more harmonious structural balance between the two writing styles, albeit with the drawback of sometimes violating English grammatical rules.

Now, they might not be the same idea, but they are a similar concept.

Run-on.:p

I am learning German because my fiancé is German. I don't know I would have learnt German otherwise. Maybe it would be useful other than that. I study French politics so I could branch or to more countries rather only the Francophone and Anglophone ones.

So! I'm curious to know... Why are you learning German? :D

Because Luxembourg is trilingual, and a knowledge of German, French (my favourite - it sounds much nicer than Luxembourgish or German) and Luxembourgish is essential - but, I'm not exactly learning German, I finished years ago, back when I was at school.

Why is it that i always make the last post?:(

Why is it that i always make the last post?:(
Because it's a forum lull, you only let 6 minutes pass. Look at the time differences between other posts. And this thread doesn't have anyone to hate in it or about it, so it's not going to be the most active.

I WOULD learn German, since it's the root language of my native language, English, and my ancestral language, Finnish. Unfortunately, IB is a bitch, and they say "Only Spanish or French!". So here I am learning French.

Sorry to disappoint you, but it's not the root language of Finnish. Finnish isn't a Germanic language, it's part of the Finno-Ugric (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finno-Ugric_languages) language group. It's not even an Indo-European language, so learning German will not bring you any closer to it at all.

Me, I learned German by growing up in Germany and Austria. :)

Sorry to disappoint you, but it's not the root language of Finnish. Finnish isn't a Germanic language, it's part of the Finno-Ugric (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finno-Ugric_languages) language group. It's not even an Indo-European language, so learning German will not bring you any closer to it at all.

Me, I learned German by growing up in Germany and Austria. :)
Which dialect of German do you speak, then?

German or Austrian?

I'm learning German because a lot of the Prussian immigrants that come to Bavaria speak it and they refuse to learn our native language.

Well, there is no "German" dialect.

Germany itself has total different dialects. Bavarian sounds almost like Austrian, but it's totally different from north German or Cologne dialect. The dialect in North Germany called "Plattdeutsch" (flat German) is much more similar to dutch than to high German.

In Germany, there is a rock band called BAP. They sing in "Kölsch" (Dialect from colonge) Well, I hardly understand it, and I'm German myself. ;)

I'm learning German because a lot of the Prussian immigrants that come to Bavaria speak it and they refuse to learn our native language.

Yeah, they should never crossed the Weisswurstäquator! :p

1. In eighth grade, I exercised my usual style of quiet, subtle rebelliousness and took the language that no one else was taking. French, Spanish? Pshah, why bother. I'm takin' German.

..."Kölsch"...

*Blocks out everything else and focuses on the type of beer...*

You know, me and my friends are brewing a Kölsch for our third batch of homebrew...

I'm learning German because a lot of the Prussian immigrants that come to Bavaria speak it and they refuse to learn our native language.

Native language? What, Bavarian?

I'm learning it because my mom and her family speak it, so I probably should. And I'm also a German nationalist.

Which dialect of German do you speak, then?

German or Austrian?

I normally speak German, with my mother's half of the family I would speak Franconian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franconia), as especially the older generations have a hard time understanding Hochdeutsch. With my father's side, I would speak Lower Austrian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_Austria), or to be more precise, Waldviertlerisch.
I also understand Bavarian and Saxonian, although I can speak neither.

I normally speak German, with my mother's half of the family I would speak Franconian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franconia), as especially the older generations have a hard time understanding Hochdeutsch. With my father's side, I would speak Lower Austrian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_Austria), or to be more precise, Waldviertlerisch.
I also understand Bavarian and Saxonian, although I can speak neither.
Ah OK. I was taught, for some reason, that there were only three 'main' German dialects (German, Austrian, Swiss). That being said, that was my GCSEs and all, and I've just started my AS and will follow onto my A2, which will doubtless explore this a lot more.

Ah OK. I was taught, for some reason, that there were only three 'main' German dialects (German, Austrian, Swiss). That being said, that was my GCSEs and all, and I've just started my AS and will follow onto my A2, which will doubtless explore this a lot more.

Those aren't the dialects, more the overall dialect groups. And they're normally grouped in two, Upper German (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_German) and Lower German (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_German).
My dialects both belong to the Upper German group.

Those aren't the dialects, more the overall dialect groups. And they're normally grouped in two, Upper German (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_German) and Lower German (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_German).
My dialects both belong to the Upper German group.
Hmm fair enough. It seems more and more like I probably will learn about them, then.

Hmm fair enough. It seems more and more like I probably will learn about them, then.

Why?

Why?
Because we do a more indepth look at Germany itself, as well as its dialects and customs, and it's worth a fair bit of the exam, plus it's quite interesting too.

WYTYG.... :eek:
Aww. :p

That would be a compelling reason, but heck-she already knows english so meh...why retread...hehe...not scoring any points...
Indeed...

LOL :D
Excuse me?!

With about 90 million speakers German is Europe's biggest language. IT is also a beautiful language despite its reputation.

I once tried to read a translation of Clausewitz's Vom Kreig (On War) that was translated from German to English by a native Russian speaker. I couldn't understand a goddamn word he wrote, and the edition I had was laden with redundant phrases like "then therefore" and the like. Honestly, I have no idea how it even got published.
;)

Actually, from what I've read of 20th century German history, birth rates rose during the Third Reich.
Yes, but that had more to do with an improving economic situation. WWI didn't help, and neither did the great depression in the 20ies. The impact on the populace was minimal, though, because of the consequences of war.

1.)Wanted to learn a useful language, germany is a major world economic center

what he said


So! I'm curious to know... Why are you learning German? :D

i studied german for 5 years and have been told on this forum that i sound like a dutch person speaking bad german :p
i studied it largely because my mum is german, but also for the reason above. i also love the sound of the language - it sounds like a 'proper'/strong language.... ie. not as soft and flouncy as french tends to be hehehe ;)

I'm not learning languages any more (although I'd like to learn Latin at some point), but at school I learnt some French and some German. I ended up preferring German for various reasons. Mostly though, it sounds much nicer. Also, I found the "listening" exercises difficult in languages (I don't know why) so it was nice of the germans to actually pronounce the consonants rather than just having them for decoration.

I'm not learning languages any more (although I'd like to learn Latin at some point), but at school I learnt some French and some German. I ended up preferring German for various reasons. Mostly though, it sounds much nicer. Also, I found the "listening" exercises difficult in languages (I don't know why) so it was nice of the germans to actually pronounce the consonants rather than just having them for decoration.

lol, you know there's a rule in french in that you're only supposed to pronounce the first 1/9th of the word? so if you have a word that goes mehuflouerlouvcer you tecnichally should only pronounce "meh" ;) :D


german also rocks because its pretty much spelt phoenetically (sp?)

lol, you know there's a rule in french in that you're only supposed to pronounce the last 1/9th of the word? so if you have a word that goes mehuflouerlouvcer you tecnichally should only pronounce "meh" ;) :D
That would be the first ninth. But I agree with saying "meh" to French.

german also rocks because its pretty much spelt phoenetically (sp?)
"Phonetically". I've never really had a problem with spelling personally, in fact, I tend to find it easy to remember the spelling of a word than the meaning...

That would be the first ninth. But I agree with saying "meh" to French.
oops well you get the funny anyway :)

"Phonetically". I've never really had a problem will spelling personally, in fact, I tend to find it easy to remember the spelling of a word than the meaning...



well for most people phonetically makes spelling easier.
i'm dyslexic and learned phonics to spell properly - as such phonetic langauages are a real help ;)

oops well you get the funny anyway :)

well for most people phonetically makes spelling easier.
i'm dyslexic and learned phonics to spell properly - as such phonetic langauages are a real help ;)

I agree that phonetic languages are a good thing. Well, almost-phonetic - making them completely phonetic would mean a very large alphabet.
But personally, rules of spelling came easily to me, like whether a "c" is pronounce "s" or "k" and whether something has a single or double consonant.

For some reason, they didn't teach these rules in school (apparently Shakespeare and other shit is better material for an English lesson), but I managed to subconsciously learn them anyway.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d3/Habsburgotto.jpg
Kaiser Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius von Habsburg!

Native language? What, Bavarian?
Anything south of the Elbe is Bavaria to me.

It's a little bit as if Aboriginal people here in Oz would be complaining if Anglos come to live in their communities and didn't learn the language.

You know it's silly, but you don't want to offend theim either. Bless their hearts...:p

-snip-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Georg_Friedrich_of_Prussia

W00t!

I've never really had a problem will spelling personally, in fact, I tend to find it easy to remember the spelling of a word than the meaning...
Yes, yes you do. :p;):D

Yes, yes you do. :p;):D

Oh, I never said I don't make typos. Hard as it is to believe, I am not perfect. But that doesn't mean that I don't know how to spell the words, just that I didn't type what I meant.

Because Luxembourg is trilingual, and a knowledge of German, French (my favourite - it sounds much nicer than Luxembourgish or German) and Luxembourgish is essential - but, I'm not exactly learning German, I finished years ago, back when I was at school.

Luxembourgish? A real language?

I take German because I don't want to take Mexican (read: a language which has progrssed from Spanish into, that) and Mercedes-Benz is a good company, along with British Motor Works*.




*Got you! Bavarian Motor Works.

Luxembourgish? A real language?

The real question is whether he is merely in the nation of Luxembourg, the district of Luxembourg within the nation, the canton of Luxembourg within that district, or the city of Luxembourg within the canton. :D

1. German teacher was WAY cooler than the spanish teacher & no homework.
2. I wanted to go to Germany more than I wanted to go to Spain.
3. I'm about 1/2 German
4. German sounds really cool.

After being in Germany I can say that there is no language that sounds cuter when spoken by girls and there is also no language that sounds gayer when spoken by boys with high-pitched voices.

Oh and I believe it's Bayerische Motoren Werke

Dr.Susbak Forever!!!111!!!

EFE-IT

The real question is whether he is merely in the nation of Luxembourg, the district of Luxembourg within the nation, the canton of Luxembourg within that district, or the city of Luxembourg within the canton. :D

Last one.

gut ist deutsch

I WOULD learn German, since it's the root language of my native language, English, and my ancestral language, Finnish. Unfortunately, IB is a bitch, and they say "Only Spanish or French!". So here I am learning French.

IB? cool. i want to do it but in the London suburbs the only way you can get on that course is moving, boarding or selling your teeth to pay for it.

I take German because I don't want to take Mexican (read: a language which has progrssed from Spanish into, that) and Mercedes-Benz is a good company, along with British Motor Works*.

Plus now you can negatively stereotype germans in their own language! rockin'!

gut ist deutsch

Jaaa!!!!!11111 :eek:

To the main question: I'm taking German because I like the language, like German, my background is pretty German, and want to learn more languages all around. If truth be told, I like Dutch better than German, but German is easier to find classes for.

Also, my mom speaks something close to Plattdeutsch, I think, as do my grandparents.

I'm learning standard high German....but I speak it a bit harsh because of my familys background in (harsh) German, and also all the "ch" sounds come out really harsh for me, probably from taking Hebrew for my bar mitzvah.

I find that people in Southern Germany tend to pronounce and roll their R's much more, which I really really find attractive, but they dont pronounce the language as harshly, which is really lame in my opinion.

TO KP: You are an Australian German Nationalist???? What exactly are your goals?

TO THE GUY FROM LUXEMBOURG: Wow! You are awesome, you're from Luxembourg. How do you like it there? I really really want to visit!

TO KP: You are an Australian German Nationalist???? What exactly are your goals?


To find a single German who agrees with him, I would say :p ;)

The immanent reason for me to begin studying German is that my boyfriend's ancestry is 100% German. His grandfather has 1st cousins that live in Germany. His grandmother grew up speaking German and Spanish (to the Mexican tenants on their land), and did not learn English until she had to go to school (which she reached on horseback). Thus German is a family language and I consider it important for me to learn it as I am a part of their family now.

Other reasons for me to learn German are that my ancestry includes German descent, my grandfather spoke German, and my mother studied German. I also have a friend who lives in Germany, and though she is fluent in English, it is fun for me to converse/email with her in German as well.

Also I began my real study of German (read: took a class at the university) the semester before my summer European sojourn that would take me through Germany for about half my trek.

Last one.

I visited the City of Luxembourg (extremely briefly) in August 2005. It was quite nice despite the rain.

With about 90 million speakers German is Europe's biggest language. IT is also a beautiful language despite its reputation.

Any English-speaker who doesn't like German is insulting their own language; German is just angry English. Or rather, English is upbeat German.

TO KP: You are an Australian German Nationalist???? What exactly are your goals?

I don't have any. I just really like Germany.

To find a single German who agrees with him, I would say :p ;)

When people agree with me, I cease to be a nationalist.

Any English-speaker who doesn't like German is insulting their own language; German is just angry English. Or rather, English is upbeat German.
Nope.

German just sounds beautiful. Tell me which sounds better:

"Je t'aime" or "Ich liebe dich" Quite obviously the second.

"Ich liebe dich"

Du liebt mich? Wirklich? :eek:

Du liebt mich? Wirklich? :eek:

Nein. Ich liebe Leesa. Du bist nicht Leesa. Es tut mir leid.

Ich leibe dich, aber nicht in einer romatischen Weise.

Mein Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut.

Nein. Ich liebe Leesa. Du bist nicht Leesa. Es tut mir leid.

Ich leibe dich, aber nicht in einer romatischen Weise.

Mein Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut.

Aber dein Deutsch ist gut dennoch, ja? Das ist gut! :)

Aber dein Deutsch ist gut dennoch, ja? Das ist gut! :)

Ich verstehe mehr, als ich sprechen kann.

Ich verstehe mehr, als ich sprechen kann.

Deutsch lernen macht mir Spaß. Haha!

Bist du verruct? Sie liebt mich, sie liebt mich nicht. :)

Bist du verruct? Sie liebt mich, sie liebt mich nicht. :)

Vielleicht...!

http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/wbusch/brille/brille.htm

Here is one for you all to enjoy.

http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/wbusch/brille/brille.htm

Here is one for you all to enjoy.

Eww! :p

Eww! :p
Don't forget to click "weiter" at the bottom.

Don't forget to click "weiter" at the bottom.

I know that. ;)

Interesting story! :p

Ich habe Deutsch in der Schule gelernt. Drei Jahren Mittelschule, fünf Jahren Lyceum. Leider kenne ich keine deutsch-sprächigen Leute hier, wo ich arbeite. Deshalb mein Deutsch ist ein Bißchen geröstet. Aber letzes Jahr war ich in Norddeutschland (Berlin, Hamburg und Lübeck), und ich hatte kein Problem.



Deutsch ist offizielle Sprache auch in Italien! (Südtirol).

Deshalb mein Deutsch ist ein Bißchen geröstet.
Tasty!

Nope.

Dude, I've read German newspapers and articles. German and English can be very similar at times.

Tasty!
:p

:p

Ach... "gerostet", nicht "geröstet"! :( Oder "verrostet", vielleicht das ist besser.

Ach... "gerostet", nicht "geröstet"! :(
Aber geröstet ist viel lustiger! ;) :p

Dude, I've read German newspapers and articles. German and English can be very similar at times.
That's true, but it doesn't mean that German is just a harsher version of English.
I don't think German sounds that harsh anyways, although it depends on the dialect.

Aber geröstet ist viel lustiger! ;) :p

Ja, und es schmeckt viel besser!:)

So! I'm curious to know... Why are you learning German? :D
'Cause I've just started dating an extremely beautiful German girl. And I can't think of a better reason than that, tbh.


By 'dating' I meaning we're screwing at a frequency that'd make rabbits blush.

Deutsche beste Sprache englische gute zwei aber nicht so gut wie Deutscher.

Deutscher ist eine schöne Sprache. Ich wünsche, daß ich mehr von ihr sprechen könnte!

It was this or French.

One should learn German because, if 20th century European history has taught us anything, it has taught us that if you wait long enough, Germany will come to you, and it's best to be prepared. :D This was actually funnier in its original context, a remark by Jay Leno that Germany seemed to be a vacation spot of choice for Europeans: "If 20th century history has taught us anything, it's that there's no need to go to Germany, Germany will come to you."

One should learn German because, if 20th century European history has taught us anything, it has taught us that if you wait long enough, Germany will come to you, and it's best to be prepared. :D This was actually funnier in its original context, a remark by Jay Leno that Germany seemed to be a vacation spot of choice for Europeans: "If 20th century history has taught us anything, it's that there's no need to go to Germany, Germany will come to you."
Don't most people already know how to react to a "Schnell, schnell!"? :p

Don't most people already know how to react to a "Schnell, schnell!"? :p

Exactly. I learned "Raus!" from watching Hogan's Heroes in my childhood.

Exactly. I learned "Raus!" from watching Hogan's Heroes in my childhood.
The headhoncho is a Saxon, while the guard is a Bavarian? That show?

I never watched that in English. Must've been hilarious!

Luxembourgish? A real language?

*Got you! Bavarian Motor Works.

Thanks. Yes it is - here you are:
Lëtzebuergesch - Luxembourgish
Jo. Yes.
Neen. No.
Eech - I
The real question is whether he is merely in the nation of Luxembourg, the district of Luxembourg within the nation, the canton of Luxembourg within that district, or the city of Luxembourg within the canton. :D

She is in Luxembourg City

TO THE GUY FROM LUXEMBOURG: Wow! You are awesome, you're from Luxembourg. How do you like it there? I really really want to visit!

The guy is a she. And yes, I love it here - though there must be something wrong as my mother moved to Malta, with my great-granny, my sister moved to Monaco, my cousin moved to Taiwan, loads of my family moved to France, etc - I'm the only Gerlach left - and I was in Uganda for a few years for charity as well.
But anyway, for an idea, read this:
"We are the greatest people, sitting on our old street, the best wine in the world, much better than that of the French. We are rich and cultural, and we are better than the other nations, richest in the world, high-class beyond other countries, better than England or Germany, we know we will be praised, as Luxies, of Luxembourg." From The Luxembourg Show By Jean-Henri-Claude Charlotte II
You'll find a great combination of city modernity and old rurality - take your pick - and no long transfers from the airport either! Also close to belgium, for nice chocolate. And we have great festivals - we carnival for a month before Lent - great! And you have a choice of three languages - If you speak it, I advise Luxembourgish, but if don't speak it, don't try to learn it. It is very difficult, and despite some arrogant foreigners calling it a french-german patois, and despite to the non-german speaker it sounding like German, it is indecipherable - people in the street will always speak to you in English - just remeber that these all mean the same:
Grand-Duché de Luxembourg
Großherzogtum Luxemburg
Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
For food, try Quetschentaart - A plum tart; it, along with peach, cherry, and pear tarts are a typical dessert and can be found in any pastry shop. And for wine look for the 'National Mark', which idetifies local wines


Sorry for taking the thread off course.

Thanks. Yes it is - here you are:
Lëtzebuergesch - Luxembourgish
Jo. Yes.
Neen. No.
Eech - I


She is in Luxembourg City

How old are you? *eyes the girl from Luxembourg*;)

The guy is a she. And yes, I love it here - though there must be something wrong as my mother moved to Malta, with my great-granny, my sister moved to Monaco, my cousin moved to Taiwan, loads of my family moved to France, etc - I'm the only Gerlach left - and I was in Uganda for a few years for charity as well.
But anyway, for an idea, read this:
"We are the greatest people, sitting on our old street, the best wine in the world, much better than that of the French. We are rich and cultural, and we are better than the other nations, richest in the world, high-class beyond other countries, better than England or Germany, we know we will be praised, as Luxies, of Luxembourg." From The Luxembourg Show By Jean-Henri-Claude Charlotte II
You'll find a great combination of city modernity and old rurality - take your pick - and no long transfers from the airport either! Also close to belgium, for nice chocolate. And we have great festivals - we carnival for a month before Lent - great! And you have a choice of three languages - If you speak it, I advise Luxembourgish, but if don't speak it, don't try to learn it. It is very difficult, and despite some arrogant foreigners calling it a french-german patois, and despite to the non-german speaker it sounding like German, it is indecipherable - people in the street will always speak to you in English - just remeber that these all mean the same:
Grand-Duché de Luxembourg
Großherzogtum Luxemburg
Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
For food, try Quetschentaart - A plum tart; it, along with peach, cherry, and pear tarts are a typical dessert and can be found in any pastry shop. And for wine look for the 'National Mark', which idetifies local wines


Sorry for taking the thread off course.

Großherzogtum Luxemburg - I like the German version best. I love the "ß"

Anyway, its official, I'm visiting your country, I just looked it up on Wiki, it looks AMAZING!

How old are you? *eyes the girl from Luxembourg*;)
29.
Großherzogtum Luxemburg - I like the German version best. I love the "ß"

Anyway, its official, I'm visiting your country, I just looked it up on Wiki, it looks AMAZING!

Wow - so far I've been called awesome, a bloke, and my country amazing. 2/3 good - no jokes about the bloke bit being good. So, what did you think was the amazing bits - maybe one of our other festivals, which includes decorated sheep (its soooo exciting - not)? I also think there's some english man/lady 9not sure which) on here from Luxembourg - Merl, which in in the City.

So, Luxembourg is richer than the United States, eh?

So, Luxembourg is richer than the United States, eh?

Yup - and that money has less people to be shared a round, so we get a real return on our tax Euros - though I prefered the Luxembourg Franc, looked nicer.

And one other thing about Luxembourg - we have radio Luxembourg, the first private radio service in the world, for a while the only radio service recieved in the UK allowed to advertise tampons, and generally a great music and news provider, cheaply - forget the bit about tampons, they ddon't do that anymore.

29.


Wow - so far I've been called awesome, a bloke, and my country amazing. 2/3 good - no jokes about the bloke bit being good. So, what did you think was the amazing bits - maybe one of our other festivals, which includes decorated sheep (its soooo exciting - not)? I also think there's some english man/lady 9not sure which) on here from Luxembourg - Merl, which in in the City.

Ehh...too old for me. Its too bad. ;)

Anway, Luxembourg just seems awesome. It seems so elite and rich, plus its a banking paradise (so I've heard) and a very important Admin center for all of Europe.

Plus..it just looks beautiful. I WILL visit it.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Luxemburg.jpg/796px-Luxemburg.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Luxembourg_station_winter.jpg/800px-Luxembourg_station_winter.jpg
Just a question..does it snow much there?

Yup - and that money has less people to be shared a round, so we get a real return on our tax Euros - though I prefered the Luxembourg Franc, looked nicer.

Nice people, lovely architecture, good beer, horrible VATs.

i had to at primary school. at age 11 the kids in the top 50% in french classes did latin, the rest of us did german. then i dropped german after i moved schools and managed an A at GCSE french - shows how much teachers know eh?

i need to start learning german again though for one of my courses. most of the sources we use are in french and german.

Dude, I've read German newspapers and articles. German and English can be very similar at times.

As part of ISO-9002 compliance, we must adhere to the following directive...

The European Union commissioners have announced that agreement has been reached to adopt English as the preferred language for European communications, rather than German, which was the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five-year phased plan for what will be known as EuroEnglish (Euro for short).

In the first year, "s" will be used instead of the soft "c".
Sertainly, sivil servants will resieve this news with joy. Also, the hard "c" will be replaced with "k". Not only will this klear up konfusion, but typewriters kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced by "f". This will make words like"fotograf" 20 per sent shorter!

In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of silent "e"s in the languag is disgrasful, and they would go.

By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" by "z" and "w" by "v". Duringze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining"ou", and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.

After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubls or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech ozer.

Ze drem vil finali kum tru!!

;)

I know what u mean, German is such a useful language!
So many words are rooted in German, as it is a Germanic language.

Think about this:
1) Germany has one of the most stable and recoverable economies in the world;
2) German is the third most commonly used language on the internet
(after HTML and English :rolleyes: )
So why not learn German?!?!!?!!!!!!1!!eins!!!1!!!!

I know what u mean, German is such a useful language!
So many words are rooted in German, as it is a Germanic language.

Think about this:
1) Germany has one of the most stable and recoverable economies in the world;
2) German is the third most commonly used language on the internet
(after HTML and English :rolleyes: )
So why not learn German?!?!!?!!!!!!1!!eins!!!1!!!!

It's also great for clearing your throat.

[snip]...horrible VATs.

VATs? :confused:

VATs? :confused:

Value Added Tax maybe? (a sales tax)

Value Added Tax maybe? (a sales tax)

Most likely. Us Canadians call it a GST (Goods and Services Tax)... I assume its really high in Luxembourg considering how the country is pretty damn rich.

It's also great for clearing your throat.
:rolleyes:

I assume its really high in Luxembourg considering how the country is pretty damn rich.
It's a rather complicated tax system there anyways.

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=3860731
In Luxembourg tax collectors work with no fewer than 17 different tax brackets, to ensure rich Luxemburghers pay a greater proportion of their income than their slightly less rich countrymen.

http://www.uscib.org/index.asp?documentID=1676
VAT in Luxembourg is 15%, which is fairly standard internationally.

I am learning German because its fun. That and German is still a major political language of Europe which might be quite useful in my future line of work (international law or diplomacy)

After I learn German, I may try and learn chinese, probably because that will be the most important language in the world soon.

I may try and learn chinese

Oh good lord. Good luck with that! :p
I'm a native speaker of both Mandarin and Cantonese, I tell you... learning to speak it isn't difficult, but the writing... oh man... :rolleyes:

:rolleyes:

Oh, get a sense of humor. Prove me that it's not a true statement. :D

Most likely. Us Canadians call it a GST (Goods and Services Tax)... I assume its really high in Luxembourg considering how the country is pretty damn rich.

Yep, it's GST in Aus too. It's VAT in the UK, I'm pretty sure.

That's true, but it doesn't mean that German is just a harsher version of English.
I don't think German sounds that harsh anyways, although it depends on the dialect.

You should see the Alemannisch my mother and her family speak; sounds like Arabic sometimes.

German is a beautiful lyrical language, at school it was German or History, i chose History.http://209.85.12.227/html/emoticons/sleep.gif

So! I'm curious to know... Why are you learning German? :D

I had to learn it at secondary school. Nowadays it's hard for me to speak or write it, but I can easily read it and if someone speaks slow then I'm also able to understand it.

And David Hasselhoff sings in it, that's always a good reason :D

Oh good lord. Good luck with that! :p
I'm a native speaker of both Mandarin and Cantonese, I tell you... learning to speak it isn't difficult, but the writing... oh man... :rolleyes:

I agree - as a non-native speaker of Mandarin, I can say that the grammar is easy - (Please excuse the pinyin, I can't do tones on my keyboard)
Wo shi - I am
Ni shi - You are
Ta/Ta/Ta shi - He/She/It is
Women shi - We are
Nimen shi - You are (you like 'vous')
Tamen- They are

If you can be bothered to learn the radicals, you will find writing easier - I didn't have time so I couldn't. It was hard, until you come to realise that characters are comprised of others - the word for man is field+labour.

Just a question..does it snow much there?

In Winter it does - in Summer it doesn't. But we never get snow like in Canada and parts never get snow thanks to the heat radiated from a lot of heaters in Luxembourg City unfortunately. But we're not an Alps country - it gets relatively warm here in summer.

Well, there is no "German" dialect.

Germany itself has total different dialects. Bavarian sounds almost like Austrian, but it's totally different from north German or Cologne dialect. The dialect in North Germany called "Plattdeutsch" (flat German) is much more similar to dutch than to high German.

In Germany, there is a rock band called BAP. They sing in "Kölsch" (Dialect from colonge) Well, I hardly understand it, and I'm German myself. ;)

If you're interested or willing to look outside of Germany itself, there's also the "Pennsylvania Dutch" dialect (that I have recently heard touted as a dialect of German), and also the "Texas German" dialect.

..., and also the "Texas German" dialect.Yeah, I was told Texans don't speak English... :eek:
.

Yeah, I was told Texans don't speak English... :eek:
.

I'm not really sure what you're referring to here, but in Central/South Central Texas there was a huge influx of Germans (whom my boyfriend is descended from) who settled as farmers and ranchers. They continued speaking German and it sort of evolved its own dialectal qualities. My boyfriend's grandmother grew up speaking German and didn't learn English until she went to school. The same is true for my mom's best friend (who I believe is Wendish) who grew up speaking German on the farm and only learned English once she went to school.

This is why we have towns such as Schulenberg, Bulverde, Fredericksburg, Barbarossa, New Braunfels, etc.

I was also raised in a small farming community settled by the Pflueger family (from Germany).

Yeah, I was told Texans don't speak English... :eek:
.

Of course not, they speak Texan! :rolleyes:

Sorry to disappoint you, but it's not the root language of Finnish. Finnish isn't a Germanic language, it's part of the Finno-Ugric (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finno-Ugric_languages) language group. It's not even an Indo-European language, so learning German will not bring you any closer to it at all.

Me, I learned German by growing up in Germany and Austria. :)
As linguistics students have assured me, German isn't even a very typical germanic language. At some point in the early middle ages, German had a major change in pronunciation that no other germanic language had; thus, English, Dutch and the Scandinavian languages are closer to each other than to German.


Also, my mom speaks something close to Plattdeutsch, I think, as do my grandparents.

I'm learning standard high German....but I speak it a bit harsh because of my familys background in (harsh) German, and also all the "ch" sounds come out really harsh for me, probably from taking Hebrew for my bar mitzvah.

I find that people in Southern Germany tend to pronounce and roll their R's much more, which I really really find attractive, but they dont pronounce the language as harshly, which is really lame in my opinion.
Heh, if you want German with a harsh "ch" you really have to come here, to the Dutch border :) My grandpa speaks Platt, too. Sadly I didn't learn any, nor did my parents.

Prove me that it's not a true statement. :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6ESD2ckbjM

I don't think that's particularly harsh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6ESD2ckbjM

I don't think that's particularly harsh.

Nice tune. I'd even say it balances out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxTGw8SjgXY

Nice tune. I'd even say it balances out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxTGw8SjgXY
Well, Rammstein is about as good an example of the German language as Slayer is for English.

Yeah, I was told Texans don't speak English... :eek:
.
We don't .

But central Texas is heavily German. Fredricksburg, New Braunsfel, Brenham.
I opted to take German in High School because of my German heritage.

For those of you who already understand German, this is something that you might enjoy. Adolf stand-up comedy: Der Leasingvertrag (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk_DE25KlM4) http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/GermanNightmare/Standup-Tusch.gif

I took German because Gaelic wasn't offered and Russian didn't fit into my schedule. Und so jetzt kann ich als einen Kind spreche... ausgezeichnett. ;)

So! I'm curious to know... Why are you learning German? :DIt helps me buy food and services in my usual country of residence :p

Well, Rammstein is about as good an example of the German language as Slayer is for English.Don't be silly. They use a lot of clever wordplay (Especially Los and Links Zwo. I use them to practice spontaneous interpreting). And one of my friends only knows the German word for hermaphrodite because of one of their songs.

It helps me buy food and services in my usual country of residence :p

United States of Germany? :eek:

United States of Germany? :eek:When I said usual, that meant usual, not current :p

When I said usual, that meant usual, not current :p

Woher kommst du?

[QUOTE=Dongania;11890054Heh, if you want German with a harsh "ch" you really have to come here, to the Dutch border :) My grandpa speaks Platt, too. Sadly I didn't learn any, nor did my parents.[/QUOTE]
Yes, thats the best part of Germany, linguisticly. Dutch is my favorite language, but they dont offer it here, so I'm taking German....but I really love the harshness of Dutch, and I wish that more German sounded like North-West German.

Yes, thats the best part of Germany, linguisticly. Dutch is my favorite language, but they dont offer it here, so I'm taking German....but I really love the harshness of Dutch, and I wish that more German sounded like North-West German.
I would have loved to learn Dutch, too, especially because I grew up only 30 km from the border.

I would have loved to learn Dutch, too, especially because I grew up only 30 km from the border.
I'm in the middle of learning German, and I'm going to be studying at the Uni of Regensburg this summer. I'm afraid that, since I'm at this growing stage in learning German, I'll devolp a Bayerisch accent. :eek: :p

I like German because it is from the same family of languages as English, and because of this, it is more intelligible to a non-German-speaking English-speaker than it otherwise would be, and also you can make out some of it without very much studying of the language. For example:

kommen Sie hier = come here

sie gab der Katze Milch = she gave the cat (some) milk

meine Freunde sind hier = my friends are here

komm gib mir deine Hand = [literally] come give me your/thine hand
Also the name of the German version of the Beatles song "I Want To Hold Your Hand"

Guten Tag = Good day/hello

I like German because it is from the same family of languages as English, and because of this, it is more intelligible to a non-German-speaking English-speaker than it otherwise would be, and also you can make out some of it without very much studying of the language. For example:

kommen Sie hier = come here

sie gab der Katze Milch = she gave the cat (some) milk
meine Freunde sind hier = my friends are here

komm gib mir deine Hand = [literally] come give me your/thine hand
Also the name of the German version of the Beatles song "I Want To Hold Your Hand"

Guten Tag = Good day/hello
;)
Actually, its die Katze.

I would have loved to learn Dutch, too, especially because I grew up only 30 km from the border.

I would like to learn Dutch too. I've never heard it spoken, at least not that i KNOW of, so I don't know what it sounds like, but - PLEASE DON'T TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY - it LOOKS like English that whoever wrote it was really bad drunk at the time :

Approximately 20 percent is words intelligible to an English-speaker
Another 20 percent is English words misspelled (i.e., they APPEAR misspelled to an English-speaker, but in Dutch are spelled correctly), but close enough to its English counterpart that an educated guess may be made as to what the Dutch word means in English, for example:
Heb je milk? = Do you have milk?
About 60 percent unintelligible gibberish to an English-speaker

Also they double anywhere from one-third to one-half of their vowels.

That's just the way Dutch APPEARS to me; I'm not accusing it of being a nonsensical language; in fact I wouldn't mind at all learning Dutch.

;)
Actually, its die Katze.

I do have a German phrasebook, and it says "sie gab DER Katze Milch"

I am thinking it has something to do with cases, and "Katze" being an indirect object in the above sentence, and indirect objects using a different case than subjects and direct objects.

Here is a sample of Dutch.

Its called Het Land Van, which basically means the land of...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp7_RWPPjXE

Its awesome, and by far my favorite langauge.

If you want to know what they are talking about, just ask.

I do have a German phrasebook, and it says "sie gab DER Katze Milch"

I am thinking it has something to do with cases, and "Katze" being an indirect object in the above sentence, and indirect objects using a different case than subjects and direct objects.

Perhaps its wrong, because Katze is always die, whether its plural of feminen.
Katze can never be anything but die.

Perhaps its wrong, because Katze is always die, whether its plural of feminen.
Katze can never be anything but die.
Nope, he's right. In this case the cat is not being referred to as the object, it's just the subject something is being done to.

Maybe someone with a bit of knowledge of grammar can explain it, but in this case it is indeed "der".

So then what does the "der" refer to?

So then what does the "der" refer to?
The cat. Just in the form of "to the cat" rather than "the cat".

It may be a female noun, so to speak, but that doesn't mean that the rules of grammar don't apply anymore.

Woher kommst du?(West) Berlin

(West) Berlin

Ausgezeichnet! Ich wohne jetzt in einen Vorort nördlich von Toronto. :D

;)
Actually, its die Katze.
No, actually der Katze is correct, because the grammatical case 'Dativ' has t be used ;)

No, actually der Katze is correct, because the grammatical case 'Dativ' has t be used ;)
Inderdaad. Droevig.

.....Natuurlijk ben ik een domme Amerikaan. :p

Achtung! Das ist mein Kartoffel!!!!!111 :eek: