[mandrake]

I'm debating whether or not to take a language class or not this spring and was curious to see what everyone else was doing. Yea I know, most everyone probably speaks English, but I think it enhances the experience to try to communicate in the local tongue.
I'm not even sure I would take German. With the various side trips planned I may only be in Germany for a short time around the games, so German may not be the most useful one for me to learn, but at any rate vote for what you are doing.

[Palermo10]

I speak Spanish, am heading from Spain to Germany prior to the World Cup, and will be passing that off as my first language (in case I sense hostility towards Americans). If they don't speak that, well, I know a little english too

My buddy is taking German 1 right now, and he is the only one in our group of 8 as far as I know that speaks ANY German .

[Old Man!]

You're probably right in that most everything you'll need to read pertaining to the World Cup will be in English and many Germans already know enough English to help you get by, yet part of me thinks that that is highly presumptuous on our part. Though I likely won't have to know German, I'd feel better knowing enough to get by regardless. At the very least, it shows an initiative by an English speaker to not expect everyone else to speak English.

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

[billreeves]

For Korea, I learned enough Korean to say "hello" "please" "thank you" and "do you speak English" and got by pretty well. (Then again, the Koreans were going out of their way to be helpful to all the foreigners who were visiting.)

I've taken German in the past, and been to Germany two or three times, and gotten by with almost all English. It probably won't be a problem to just know "hallo" "bitte" "dankeschoen" and "mein Deutch is nicht so gut, sprechen Sie Englisch?" -- in general, the locals tend to appreciate it if you make an effort to start in their language before switching to English.

Oh yeah, "ein Mass Bier, bitte" is crucial.

[ThreeApples]

Be sure not to pronounce it "Danke Shane" like Wayne Newton. The correct pronunciation uses a vowel sound not common in English, but it's somewhere between shun and shoon.

[Wizhawk]

I speak enough German to get around. I heard, though, that the locals would rather speak english to you than listen to you fumble around if you aren't fluent.

[nowherenova]

ditto the speak enough to get by, but after a few drinks I get pretty good I'm told. People can never figure out where my Deutsch has gone the next day. Anyway, there will be a lot of English being spoken at the WC.

[jorge805]

I'm enrolled in a class at the U this semester. Probably not the most cost-effective way to do it, but I didn't want to repeat Korea/Japan, where I went pretty clueless about the languages. I'm hoping it'll pay off...

Besides, I'm hoping there's some hot girls in class

[dfb547490]

Originally Posted by nowherenova

ditto the speak enough to get by, but after a few drinks I get pretty good I'm told. People can never figure out where my Deutsch has gone the next day. Anyway, there will be a lot of English being spoken at the WC.

I took German for 4 years in HS and a semester in college...I'm not fluent, but I'm about as close as you can get without living there for a time (or more accurately I was at the end of my last German class 1.5 years ago). I'll definitely be able to get around and expect to be about 90% fluent by the end of the 2 weeks.

[micheal]

I took German in high school and college. Was in Germany for a month about 10 years ago and haven't said or written a word since.

Lately, in the planning for this trip, I have been emailing hotels and reading the news in the Deutsch without too much trouble. Like riding a bike, I guess.