Do you native English-speakers have difficulty w/other Germa

Benjamin   Tue Aug 01, 2006 3:24 pm GMT
* Ich habe viele anderen Städten besucht (? ich denke)
LAA   Tue Aug 01, 2006 5:39 pm GMT
"Actually, the one big reason for why I love it so much here is that its the first time I've been abroad and haven't felt inferior or inadequate. Whenever I've been to France, Italy, Spain or even Belgium, I've always felt as though I'm not sophisticated enough, not civilised enough, not dressed stylishly enough... but here, I seem to blend in perfectly. The amazing thing is that people here seem to look at me and assume that I'm German until they hear me speak. People have always been able to tell straight away that I'm not French/Italian/etc. in France/Italy/etc. "

No, I notice that too. Americans are associated with northern Europeans in their minds, but even more "uncivilized". America is thought of as this wild, barbaric country where everyone is fat from Hot Dogs and cheeseburgers, overly religious and conservative, and shooting at each other with abandon, because everyone has firearms. I noticed that most northern Europeans are much nicer toward Americans, than the Latins, especially the French, are toward us. Latins seem a great deal less imperious toward me when they learn I speak Spanish. I've played a little trick on some European vacationers here. If I approach them and speak in English, I'm an "Anglo-Saxon". But if I approach the French, Spanish, or Italians, and speak Spanish, I'm a Latin. To many northern Europeans, I'm not an "American" because I look like a Frenchmen, Spaniard, or Italian. Depending on what they categorize you as, you get treated totally different.
Candy   Tue Aug 01, 2006 7:15 pm GMT
<<Yes, I've noticed that, but I suppose by the same token native English speakers have the tendency to overuse the word 'have' when learning German 'Ich habe Spass', 'ich habe eine gute Erfahrung gehabt' etc.>>

What I wrote wasn't intended as a 'criticism' of Germans speaking English. But I spend my entire working life speaking English with Germans, so I could write a thesis on the typical mistakes they make. I don't know enough about the mistakes English speakers make in German to be able to comment. I daresay what you've written is right, but Germans never correct my German, so my errors remain forever unknown to me!
Aquatar   Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:59 pm GMT
<<Yes, I've noticed that, but I suppose by the same token native English speakers have the tendency to overuse the word 'have' when learning German 'Ich habe Spass', 'ich habe eine gute Erfahrung gehabt' etc.>>

<<What I wrote wasn't intended as a 'criticism' of Germans speaking English. But I spend my entire working life speaking English with Germans, so I could write a thesis on the typical mistakes they make. I don't know enough about the mistakes English speakers make in German to be able to comment. I daresay what you've written is right, but Germans never correct my German, so my errors remain forever unknown to me!>>

I wasn't criticising either, I just meant that I guess it's only natural when learning a language to sometimes find yourself translating directly from your language into the other, which of course doesn't always work.

But then learning the whole different way another language might have of expressing something is all part of the fun :-)
Uriel   Wed Aug 02, 2006 10:02 am GMT
<<Is it my immagination, or are slices of cake bigger in Germany than in England?>>

I can't remember ever having any cake in England, but the torten I ate in Germany will be forever etched upon my memory....mmmmmmm!

Luckily, I don't have to keep renewing my passport -- my mom makes a killer Sachertorte... you just look at all that dark, rich chocolate and you're three pounds heavier!
Guest   Wed Aug 02, 2006 7:37 pm GMT
If diet is so important for height, then why are northern europeans taller than southern people? Their diet is unhealthy, and full of red meat, potatoes, bread, butter, overcooked vegetables, dairy, and beer.
Aquatar   Wed Aug 02, 2006 8:00 pm GMT
Benjamin

>>Ja, ich bin im Moment in Heidelberg und es ist so schön! Deutschland ist über fantastisch! Ich habe auch viele anderen Städten und ich finde, daß sie so gemütlich sind<<.

I am really curious as to how long you have actually been learning German. You say you hardly know any and yet, in my humble opinion, you already seem to have a pretty good idea of the structure of German. Even after I had been learning German for a few years my understanding of the grammar and the basic structure was pretty abysmal.

I think I read in one of your other threads that you already speak other foreign languages, and I assume that must be the case and this has helped you with get to grips with German so quickly.

You said you are from the UK as well, so that makes me even more curious about how you seem to have taken to German so easily.
JR   Wed Aug 02, 2006 8:35 pm GMT
<<If diet is so important for height, then why are northern europeans taller than southern people? Their diet is unhealthy, and full of red meat, potatoes, bread, butter, overcooked vegetables, dairy, and beer.>>

I don't think the 'quality' of the food you eat determines your height. protein from escargot will be used the same way by your organism as protein from beef. However I don't necessarily think that eating those things consists of a bad diet. Although too much beer can't be good for you...
Benjamin   Thu Aug 03, 2006 3:35 pm GMT
Aquatar,

>> I am really curious as to how long you have actually been learning German. You say you hardly know any and yet, in my humble opinion, you already seem to have a pretty good idea of the structure of German. Even after I had been learning German for a few years my understanding of the grammar and the basic structure was pretty abysmal. <<

Okay, well I first picked up a book called 'Instant German' last October, because I was going to a conference with a load of German students in Poland that November. I only got about half-way through it then and I wasn't able to use any of it anyway because the Polish students could only speak English and German.

I then put German aside until about two months ago, when I began reading 'Instant German' (with its overly simplified grammar) in preparation for going to Heidelberg -- I finished it on the plane over here. And now, I'm almost at the end of my two-week course here.

>> I think I read in one of your other threads that you already speak other foreign languages, and I assume that must be the case and this has helped you with get to grips with German so quickly. <<

Yes, I already speak French reasonably well, I suppose (much better than I speak German at least). Two weeks ago, I would've said that my Spanish was significantly better than my German as well, but I'm not quite so sure now.

>> You said you are from the UK as well, so that makes me even more curious about how you seem to have taken to German so easily. <<

Yes, I live in Birmingham. I speak RP though. ;)
Benjamin   Thu Aug 03, 2006 4:13 pm GMT
>> I noticed that most northern Europeans are much nicer toward Americans, than the Latins, especially the French, are toward us. Latins seem a great deal less imperious toward me when they learn I speak Spanish. I've played a little trick on some European vacationers here. If I approach them and speak in English, I'm an "Anglo-Saxon". But if I approach the French, Spanish, or Italians, and speak Spanish, I'm a Latin. To many northern Europeans, I'm not an "American" because I look like a Frenchmen, Spaniard, or Italian. Depending on what they categorize you as, you get treated totally different. <<

I think I largely agree with you there. These are obviously going to be huge over-generalisation, but I've noticed that French people, including my French exchange partner/friend, not to mention a lot of people on the internet, tend to treat me as a sort of quasi-American. The way the Germans I've met here treat me, especially my host family, is rather different. They seem to assume that I'm fundamentally very similar to them, and seem all to eager to emphasise how similar life in Germany is to life in England. Equally, if they criticise something about the United States (which they do, as we also do a lot in Britain), they tend to assume that I will have very similar views of the US in general as they do. In other words, I've noticed that they seem to group me, as a British person, more with the Germans than with the Americans.
Aquatar   Thu Aug 03, 2006 4:48 pm GMT
I remember when I was in Germany and someone who I had assumed had realised I was from the UK suddenly asked me about life in America. I was a bit taken aback I have to admit lol
LAA   Thu Aug 03, 2006 6:16 pm GMT
Yes, well at least the krauts can recognize the drastic differences between the U.K. and U.S. While the French view us as all being the same ol, "Anglo-Saxons". I see Britain as an "in-between" Europe and the U.S, in their politics, economics, etc. Britain is somewhat more alienated from Europe as she has chosen to align herself diplomatically with the U.S., ie. - hasn't adopted Euro, joined U.S. invasion of Iraq, etc. Nevertheless, she is still much closer to Europe. She doesn't even come close to sharing the close relationship and similiarity between the U.S. and Canada.
greg   Thu Aug 03, 2006 9:53 pm GMT
LAA : « While the French view us as all being the same ol, "Anglo-Saxons". »

Oh la la ! Encore une avalanche de lieux communs...

Je considère tous les habitants de la Terre comme des Terriens mais je sais faire la différence entre un Tchouktche et un Bantou. J'espère que ça répondra à ton incapacité foncière à comprendre le terme Fr <Anglo-saxon>...
Benjamin   Fri Aug 04, 2006 11:29 am GMT
>> I remember when I was in Germany and someone who I had assumed had realised I was from the UK suddenly asked me about life in America. I was a bit taken aback I have to admit lol <<

At least in Heidelberg, and possibly Germany in general, there are far more American people than there are British people, presumably due to their US army bases here. Perhaps that's why they'd assumed that you were American after realising that you were a native English speaker.

But yes, the Germans I've met here seem to view the British and the Americans separately. My French exchange partner/friend seemed somewhat wary about criticising the US in front of me, presumably because he thought that I might see them as my 'Anglo-Saxon brothers' (no). He seemed genuinely surprised that at least two of the four 'serious' national British newspapers bash the US on a daily basis, and that the other two don't exactly sing out its praises either because they wouldn't sell any papers if they did. The Germans here, on the other hand, seem to make no such assumption.

The other day, I was walking around Speyer with two older (well, not all that old) women; one from Scotland and the other from Portugal. We were talking about Scotland, and this German woman suddenly came to us and asked us were we were from. We told her. She then proceeded to give us a sort of guided tour around, whilst she told us about how she'd spend six months studying at a school in Michigan about 40 years ago... judging by the way she went on about it, especially considering that it wasn't something of any obvious interest to any of us, it had obviously been the time of her life. Lol.
zxczxc   Fri Aug 04, 2006 1:10 pm GMT
The reason why the Germans treat us (the English) as if their own is that we basically are. Despite being separate countries with a century of rather poor relations, the people still look the same (well, I can still spot a German a mile off, but you get the point), and to a large extent, act the same. We're all still rather reserved in comparison with the Latin countries, we all still like a good pint, we still eat the same sorts of food, etc. Plus we have the language - German really isn't too hard... people on here seem to deny English its Germanic roots, but the grammar really isn't that unusual or hard to get your head around after a while.

It made me laugh last year when I was in Aachen on a work experience in a bank and a Turk asked me what time his bus came... I couldn't answer, but he told me that he asked me (which was rather strange as I was the only one in a suit out of about hundred people) because I was the "friendliest looking German".