"The Awful German Language" by Mark Twain | |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 998738 Netherlands 10/08/2012 09:39 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 300884 Sweden 10/08/2012 10:05 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | I took both English and German in school, so I can attest to the fact German is harder to grasp. My English may not be flawless, but at least it compares favorably to what most native speakers can manage... So, what about my German then? Well, this is the sum total of my knowledge in this backwards language: 1. Durch, fur, gegen, ohne, um. (That's a list of words that make some other word take some special grammatical form. The details are as lost to me now as they were when I memorized the list.) 2. Es ist ein kuhlshrank. "It is a refrigerator". This everyday phrase could prove useful some time, you never know! 3. Ein hubschrauber fliegt davon. "A helicopter flies over there." One day I will probably see a black helicopter over my house if I keep writing shit on the internet, and then this phrase may come in handy! |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 23968180 United States 10/08/2012 10:13 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | I took both English and German in school, so I can attest to the fact German is harder to grasp. My English may not be flawless, but at least it compares favorably to what most native speakers can manage... Quoting: Anonymous Coward 300884 So, what about my German then? Well, this is the sum total of my knowledge in this backwards language: 1. Durch, fur, gegen, ohne, um. (That's a list of words that make some other word take some special grammatical form. The details are as lost to me now as they were when I memorized the list.) 2. Es ist ein kuhlshrank. "It is a refrigerator". This everyday phrase could prove useful some time, you never know! 3. Ein hubschrauber fliegt davon. "A helicopter flies over there." One day I will probably see a black helicopter over my house if I keep writing shit on the internet, and then this phrase may come in handy! You forgot 'bis' in list #1. I studied German in HS and college and I remember my HS German teacher had us memorize the dative and accusative prepositions by setting them to music - your list #1 is accusative(I forgot the name of the tune) and 'aus, ausser, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu'(sung to 'The Blue Danube') are dative. I will probably remember these lists until the day I die even if I forget everything else in German. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 300884 Sweden 10/08/2012 10:34 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | I took both English and German in school, so I can attest to the fact German is harder to grasp. My English may not be flawless, but at least it compares favorably to what most native speakers can manage... Quoting: Anonymous Coward 300884 So, what about my German then? Well, this is the sum total of my knowledge in this backwards language: 1. Durch, fur, gegen, ohne, um. (That's a list of words that make some other word take some special grammatical form. The details are as lost to me now as they were when I memorized the list.) 2. Es ist ein kuhlshrank. "It is a refrigerator". This everyday phrase could prove useful some time, you never know! 3. Ein hubschrauber fliegt davon. "A helicopter flies over there." One day I will probably see a black helicopter over my house if I keep writing shit on the internet, and then this phrase may come in handy! You forgot 'bis' in list #1. I studied German in HS and college and I remember my HS German teacher had us memorize the dative and accusative prepositions by setting them to music - your list #1 is accusative(I forgot the name of the tune) and 'aus, ausser, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu'(sung to 'The Blue Danube') are dative. I will probably remember these lists until the day I die even if I forget everything else in German. My list didn't have a 'bis' on it, I swear it! The Germans must have made things even more complicated on purpose since I learned this shit! But then, you remind me of list number 2, and that one was "aus, ausser, bei, gegenuber, mit, nach, seit, von, zu"! Perhaps the German grammar changes with geographic location as well, different in the US and Sweden? Wouldn't surprise me with this illogical language... Anyway, you're absolutely right, German grammar isn't easily forgotten once your brain has been infected with it! I'll probably be mumbling "Durch, fur, gegen, ohne, um" on my death bed! |
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Anonymous Coward (OP) User ID: 25123144 Germany 10/08/2012 10:49 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
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Water Flower User ID: 14071917 United States 10/08/2012 11:29 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | you can't learn german with your tiny human brain Quoting: Anonymous Coward 25123144 you need God's holy spirit and intuition : lmfao i had hoped to make some sense of the language, but just can't. i think i'll stick to spanish. trying to learn it hurts my brain. Last Edited by Lotus Bloom on 10/08/2012 11:30 AM |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 23022509 United States 10/08/2012 11:39 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | you can't learn german with your tiny human brain Quoting: Anonymous Coward 25123144 you need God's holy spirit and intuition : LOL. I learned German early on thankfully... :) I am also lucky that my G/F is 50% German (dad) and 50% Spanish (From Spain - her mom)..... She speaks fluent Spanish but no German... go figure.. LOL She helped me finish off my Spanish. One word for you OP: Feuerzangenbowle |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 25039940 United States 10/08/2012 11:41 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | you can't learn german with your tiny human brain Quoting: Anonymous Coward 25123144 you need God's holy spirit and intuition : lmfao i had hoped to make some sense of the language, but just can't. i think i'll stick to spanish. trying to learn it hurts my brain. The ME 109 had twice as many moving parts as the Spitfire, enough said. |
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Anonymous Coward User ID: 23022509 United States 10/08/2012 11:51 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | you can't learn german with your tiny human brain Quoting: Anonymous Coward 25123144 you need God's holy spirit and intuition : lmfao i had hoped to make some sense of the language, but just can't. i think i'll stick to spanish. trying to learn it hurts my brain. I learned German over 5 years in school... but that is another story... onto Spanish... It took me two years to go from zero Spanish to fluent. I did the following: Michele Thomas CD Set (Basic and Advanced) About 5 different spanish software packages including Rosetta Went to Costa Rica, studied 5 days a week at a school for two months while staying with a family there. They were really nice people and living in a 100% Spanish speaking environment helped Watched 1-2 hours of Spanish soaps/talk shows on Univision each day. This helps a LOT. My GF is 100% fluent (Spanish mom from Spain and grew up until are 16 in Venezuela) and can speak with a latin american tilt or that of Spain. This has helped a LOT. It is a lot of work but totally worth it. I live the look I get from Mexicans when I just start wrapping with them in Spanish and throw in the Mexican slag and accent... I am as white as they come (German/Swede is my bloodline) and when I start speaking their jaws drop and the look on their face is like: "Holy shit, what the hell... this Gringo is speaking Spanish and well at that... how can this be!?!?!?!" LOL... I always get a kick out of that Keep at it... takes a while but if you learn it right and develop the sound correct (don't sound like a gringo with awful pronunciation) it will be totally worth the journey. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1273864 United States 10/08/2012 12:29 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | German his given us some beautiful words: Weltschmerz Weltanschauung Daseinsberechtigung Feindberuhrung Fingerspitzengefühl Das Ding an Sich Klangfarbe Materialschlacht Kampfbereit Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän Schadefreude Frühlingserwachen Hottentottenpotentatentantenattentat Frontkameradschaft Backpfeifengesicht Sauerkraut Ampelmännchen Fahrvergnügen Aha-Erlebnis Vergangenheitsbewältigung Vernichtungsgedanke |
Anonymous Coward (OP) User ID: 25123144 Germany 10/08/2012 01:50 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward (OP) User ID: 25123144 Germany 10/08/2012 01:51 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward (OP) User ID: 25123144 Germany 10/08/2012 01:52 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward (OP) User ID: 25123144 Germany 10/08/2012 01:56 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | you can't learn german with your tiny human brain Quoting: Anonymous Coward 25123144 you need God's holy spirit and intuition : LOL. I learned German early on thankfully... :) I am also lucky that my G/F is 50% German (dad) and 50% Spanish (From Spain - her mom)..... She speaks fluent Spanish but no German... go figure.. LOL She helped me finish off my Spanish. One word for you OP: Feuerzangenbowle Feuerzangenbowle is a nice german film from the 1940s starring Heinz Rühmann. [link to www.imdb.com] |
Anonymous Coward (OP) User ID: 25123144 Germany 10/08/2012 01:56 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward (OP) User ID: 25123144 Germany 10/08/2012 01:57 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | you can't learn german with your tiny human brain Quoting: Anonymous Coward 25123144 you need God's holy spirit and intuition : lmfao i had hoped to make some sense of the language, but just can't. i think i'll stick to spanish. trying to learn it hurts my brain. The ME 109 had twice as many moving parts as the Spitfire, enough said. don't know much about engineering unfortunately. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 22820077 United Kingdom 10/08/2012 02:08 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | ugly looking and sounding language its a brilliant irony that it will eventually die out faster than many languages, considering germany wished (and still wishes) to impose itself on the rest of europe, and yet it is only spoken in germany and only somewhat in austria plus, its difficult to master when it isnt your own tongue. kind of linguistic darwinism germany keeps trying to have its own empire. hitler envied the british and wished for a german empire to rival the british why they continue to teach it in english schools is beyond me. chinese would be far more useful |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 300884 Sweden 10/08/2012 04:59 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | ugly looking and sounding language Quoting: Anonymous Coward 22820077 its a brilliant irony that it will eventually die out faster than many languages, considering germany wished (and still wishes) to impose itself on the rest of europe, and yet it is only spoken in germany and only somewhat in austria plus, its difficult to master when it isnt your own tongue. kind of linguistic darwinism germany keeps trying to have its own empire. hitler envied the british and wished for a german empire to rival the british why they continue to teach it in english schools is beyond me. chinese would be far more useful Germany is the technological and economical center of Western civilization. China is the center of getting simple crap manufactured on the cheap. Take your pick. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 25194764 Germany 10/08/2012 05:27 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1953737 United States 10/08/2012 05:36 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | i may translate ? if i understood you right you said: get your shit together or in german "Reiß dich zusammen!" That definitely was not in the Berlitz New Basic German cd's. Have to break that out next time a friend of mine gets too drunk, then tell him it means he needs another beer. |
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