What are you doing about languages? (German language primer)

[JBigjake]

Bigjakeall the Berliners/Germans are said to have understood Pres Kennedy and appreciated the sentiment.
Of course, but it's still funny. I heard the story from Bavarians, who appear to get the joke better that actual Berliners!
P.S. I understand that JFK supposedly worked this out with an interpreter, but there are regional variations. Weren't Pres. Carter's words to the Polish people garbled from "I have great affection for you" to "I lust for you"?

[Shibb]

Weren't Pres. Carter's words to the Polish people garbled from "I have great affection for you" to "I lust for you"?

Ach, dass ganz lustig ist!

:D

[IASocFan]

After taking college German and visiting Germany in college and 30+ years later, I frequently would talk to Germans auf Deutsch and they would answer me in English. It seemed to work pretty well. I practiced my German and they practiced their English. This was particularly true with younger Germans in retail settings.

[nowherenova]

After taking college German and visiting Germany in college and 30+ years later, I frequently would talk to Germans auf Deutsch and they would answer me in English. It seemed to work pretty well. I practiced my German and they practiced their English. This was particularly true with younger Germans in retail settings.


I have had similar experiences.

[jorge805]

So, for those who have experience traveling in Germany....

Is it worth taking German 101 this semester, or am I wasting my money?

I don't want to go over there totally clueless like I was in 2002 and be that American, but I did get some "Learn German" and "Idiot's Guide to German"- type books and dvds for x-mas, so that's $350 I'm investing in the class that I could put to use in Germany, too....

any suggestions? I have to drop the class by today to get a full refund...

[dosacero]

So, for those who have experience traveling in Germany....

Is it worth taking German 101 this semester, or am I wasting my money?

I don't want to go over there totally clueless like I was in 2002 and be that American, but I did get some "Learn German" and "Idiot's Guide to German"- type books and dvds for x-mas, so that's $350 I'm investing in the class that I could put to use in Germany, too....

any suggestions? I have to drop the class by today to get a full refund...

Learning another language is never a bad idea. Also, there could be some good looking chicas in your class as well.

[AGF Aarhus]

First lesson:

Du hast schoene braune Augen. Ich bin geil.

[Alex_K]

Of course, but it's still funny. I heard the story from Bavarians, who appear to get the joke better that actual Berliners!
P.S. I understand that JFK supposedly worked this out with an interpreter, but there are regional variations. Weren't Pres. Carter's words to the Polish people garbled from "I have great affection for you" to "I lust for you"?

"Ich bin ein Berliner" is the correct way to say what Kennedy wanted to say in high German. I would have said it exactly the same way.

And Bavarians suck at German anyway... ;)

[J-Justice]

First lesson:

Du hast schoene braune Augen. Ich bin geil.


LOL!!!!!!!!


Anyway, to contribute something useful to the thread, everyone has been right so far. I've spent two months in Germany, and they really do appreciate it if you try speaking German with them. You can tell they know you're foreign, but some will speak German back to you, in retail places they usually switch to English.

I did notice some people are afraid to speak English with you, but I think more often than not Germans want to practice their English (younger Germans that is.) Taking the 101 class is a great idea, and you'll find that your German gets better after a few drinks :D

I'll be in Salzburg for 3 months leading up to the WC, I just hope I get tickets - but that venting is for another thread!

[JacksonJazz#9]

I bought a beginners German 6 cd set by Pimsleur. I heard this is one of the better ones. $25 at Borders.

bought the same one.... got 6 mos to get good at it

[nowherenova]

Remember that this is the World Cup. It might be helpful to know ANY language other than English.

German will be quite useful I imagine. Some of you German students might also appreciate the difference in dialect between the host cities. Cologne and Munich, for instance.

[Wizhawk]

Remember that this is the World Cup. It might be helpful to know ANY language other than English.

German will be quite useful I imagine. Some of you German students might also appreciate the difference in dialect between the host cities. Cologne and Munich, for instance.

Haha, I don't appreciate it at all.

My German Teacher: "The problem is, the only people who actually speak what you are learning is professors and students who are learning German."

[IASocFan]

So, for those who have experience traveling in Germany....

Is it worth taking German 101 this semester, or am I wasting my money?

I don't want to go over there totally clueless like I was in 2002 and be that American, but I did get some "Learn German" and "Idiot's Guide to German"- type books and dvds for x-mas, so that's $350 I'm investing in the class that I could put to use in Germany, too....

any suggestions? I have to drop the class by today to get a full refund...

It sounds like it good idea, but really depends on your educational goals.

If you can apply it as a credit and it will help motivate you to study and have a great time in Germany, it's all good. If you already have a full schedule (class and the rest of your life), it may be hard to dedicate the needed time to do it well.

Anything learned in class will be a plus. Also most German classes discuss German culture and customs. In one semester you won't be able to understand much, but it may help looking at a menu or train schedules a lot easier. It should help in pronouncing and looking up words in a Worterbuch(dictionary).

[billreeves]

Maybe we should have a basic German language thread here for people who don't want to take a class.

Some basic pronunciation: the vowel combination ie sounds like long e in English, ei sounds like long i (prounced like the word eye). so Bier sounds like beer, and Stein sounds like stine. (We can try to use appropriate vocabulary for this informal class, like "Bier" and "Stein". :D)

If you see a big funky B in the middle of a word, it's called an ess-zet and is pronounced like a double S. So you may see something that looks like "MaB" which is pronounced "mass" -- which, by the way, means the big honking mug of beer you get at the beer gardens.

Someone wanna cover umlauts?

[mandrake]

Maybe we should have a basic German language thread here for people who don't want to take a class.

I'd second that motion. It would be cool to have a thread of a few essential phrases (yes, yes, I know, insert beer joke here), like Wwhich way to the train station?" type stuff.

I guess it's just as easy to look it up in a phrasebook, but how often am I going to want to say "Gebrauchen Sie Insektenvertilgungsmittel!" ("Use insecticide") which is actually phrase #656 in my little book here. I'm sure we could come up with a better list.

[jorge805]

It sounds like it good idea, but really depends on your educational goals.

If you can apply it as a credit and it will help motivate you to study and have a great time in Germany, it's all good. If you already have a full schedule (class and the rest of your life), it may be hard to dedicate the needed time to do it well.

I can't do anything with this class except learn...I already have my degree, so...I suppose it'll be nice to go back and learn something. Hoping for hot girls...cute ones at the very least :)

[Shibb]

I'd second that motion. It would be cool to have a thread of a few essential phrases (yes, yes, I know, insert beer joke here), like Wwhich way to the train station?" type stuff.


In reality, just say "Bahnhof bitte?" with the same question inflection you would in English... it might help to look lost. Technically, it's something like "Entschuldigen Sie bitte, in welche richtung liegt den Bahnhof?" which you're not going to remember, and probably won't understand the answer in German if they gave it to you. "Vorher, ungefahr zweihundert Meter mussen Sie nach links biegen..."

If you want to start a thread and ask the easiest way to convey something in German I'm sure that you'll get a multitude of answers.

[Wizhawk]

There's nothing too complicated with "Wo ist der Bahnhof?"

Wo - Where
Wer- Who
Was - What
Wann - When
Warum- Why

Where is - Wo ist
How many - Wie Viele

I am - Ich Bin
You are - Du bist
He is - Er ist
They are - Sie sind

Stadium - Stadion
Bathroom - Badezimmer
Train - Bahn

And there's this evening's quick lesson...correct me if i'm wrong on any of those...i've had one semester and it was a bad one at that :-)

[babytiger2001]

Maybe we should have a basic German language thread here for people who don't want to take a class.
Great idea, Bill.

If someone wants to start such a thread, I'll sticky it -- no questions asked.

Also, I'll see if mrsbabytiger2001 would like to contribute on that thread -- her understanding of the language is probably more fluent than most other non-Germans here. In fact, if we were headed to Germany for the World Cup (which we're not, unfortunately), I'd have no problems using her as the interpreter.

[roadkit]

I travel overseas alot. I make it my personal policy to always get a travel guide or language book to learn at least a few phrases.

While it's true you will probably be able to get by with just English for the World Cup, it shows respect to at least try to speak some of the language. In many places around the world that's all that's needed to convince the person you're speaking to that you're not just another arrogant American that has no desire to learn another language.

Here's a top 10 phrases I always try to learn:

1. Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening
2. My name is ...
3. I'd like a beer, please.
4. One more beer, please.
5. What's your name?
6. Can I buy you a beer?
7. I think destiny brought us together.
8. I want you to bear my children.
9. No, I don't want to meet your husband/brother/father.
10. American? No. I'm from Canada!

;) :D