Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

The Awful German Language

cslewis

cslewis

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 23, 2004
812
0
40º27.8''N, 75º42.8''W
I'm learning German myself, and was reading this great article by Mark Twain about his experiences with the language. I'm working really hard on becoming better at German, which begs the question: what, if any, foreign languages (including English) do MR members speak/are learning? What are your problems with learning them? Any good stories to share? :D

http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html
 
mac_head101 said:
I'm learning German myself, and was reading this great article by Mark Twain about his experiences with the German language. What, if any, foreign languages, including English, do MR members speak?

http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html
Click to expand...

I'm picking up Japanese. I'm going to my first class on Saturday (I know a tiny bit by myself.) So, I'll know English, American English, Improper English, Ebonics (yay for living in a ghetto with people who can't talk right! woot!), Pig Latin, and Japanese.
 
I speak German at a tourist's level.. lived there for 2 years. I also speak a fair bit of French, and smidgens (literally, just a few words and phrases) of Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. I have a good ability to identify a language just by looking at its text (akin to Cypher in X-Factor).
 
I can make up nonsense insults in spanish REALLY WELL.


/¡su ombligo esta verde!
//tus sobacos... muy mal haliento!
///:mad:
 
In my opinion German is an ugly language. For example it is quite hard to whisper it... But I still know enough to get around.

I would love to learn a few languages but I just don't have the time. I know bits of 3 or so... German, Japanese and American.
 
I'm currently taking Italian at my university, and have less than one and a half semesters left of the grammar part. Then next spring, that is, in 2007, I'll be studying abroad in Florence, taking classes completely in Italian, so that should prove interesting.

My girlfriend is also teaching me Norwegian, and I'm alright at that. I can say a few things and understand most of the grammar, but my vocabulary is very limited and I have a hard time understanding spoken Norwegian since the sounds are very different from English.

I took three years of Spanish in high school, but that has pretty much all left my mind now. I remember some of it, but if I start speaking Spanish, it will turn into Italian after about two words.
 
iGary said:
I kan neur ein bischen deutsch sprechen.

Probably spelled all effed up and in the wrong tense. :)

Took four years in high school.
Click to expand...

Well, besides the "Ich and the kann and the nur and the the bisschen and the Deutsch, i'd say you're doing pretty well. :D

Actually, though, that's great, considering you learned it in High School. Many people totally forget the languages they learned in HS within only a few years. :)
 
mac_head101 said:
I'm learning German myself, and was reading this great article by Mark Twain about his experiences with the language. I'm working really hard on becoming better at German, which begs the question: what, if any, foreign languages (including English) do MR members speak/are learning? What are your problems with learning them? Any good stories to share? :D

http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html
Click to expand...


German is the only foreign language I know.
 
To be honest, I'm quite jealous of people across the world knowing multiple launguages, and I only know one. Some people here can barely speak English properly. But hey, that's the great American Education System.
 
1. English
2. French
3. Latin
4. Scottish Gaelic (work in progress)

Gaelic is by far the hardest. It's not as obscure as Cornish (I read somewhere there are only 100 or so Cornish speakers left), but with no one around with whom I can learn or practice (I have to use cassettes), it's slow going indeed. Add to that the fact that the written language often does not look like it sounds, so it'll be a while before I can go up into northern Scotland and properly converse.
 
new braunfels (smallish city north of san antonio) is having their annual wurstfest about now and my high school's german students took a trip there today. when they got back we kept making fun of them for going to a sausage-fest :p
the only thing i can say in german is "Freichen ze Deutsch" which is probably spelled very wrong (learned from a friend who's taking german right now)
well, that and scheisse (on a windows box, dont know how to that fancy double s) and "ich ben ein berliner" or however you spell it.
 
i'm a junior in high school and i'm taking spanish, french, and german. french is ny favorite because it sounds the best imo. german is interesting too with the exception of all the rules they have (so your telling me EVERY noun has to be capitalized :D ), spanish doesn't interest me too much but i think it is the most useful. i also speak spanish the best, go figure. i love when people make interesting mistakes when learning new languages, just yesterday in german class someone invented a new number --> nullzig, i dont know what number they were trying to say though :confused:
 
Z6128 said:
i'm a junior in high school and i'm taking spanish, french, and german. french is ny favorite because it sounds the best imo. german is interesting too with the exception of all the rules they have (so your telling me EVERY noun has to be capitalized :D ), spanish doesn't interest me too much but i think it is the most useful. i also speak spanish the best, go figure. i love when people make interesting mistakes when learning new languages, just yesterday in german class someone invented a new number --> nullzig, i dont know what number they were trying to say though :confused:
Click to expand...

Wow, that's a lot. Three languages at once... :eek:. It's a shame, though; our HS of 550 has only spanish and german departments. If only french was an option... :(
 
mac_head101 said:
Wow, that's a lot. Three languages at once... . It's a shame, though; our HS of 550 has only spanish and german departments. If only french was an option...
Click to expand...

If only English were an option!


j/k :p


1. French (bilingual)
2. English (bilingual)
3. Italian (fluent)
4. German (7 years high school - very rusty)
5. Spanish (about 10 words but I understand most of it if spoken slowly)
 
whocares said:
If only English were an option!


j/k :p

1. French (bilingual)
2. English (bilingual)
3. Italian (fluent)
4. German (7 years high school - very rusty)
5. Spanish (about 10 words but I understand most of it if spoken slowly)
Click to expand...

Oh stop. :D I just remembered that were was proper grammar, oops :eek:. It just sounds so awkward.
 
English and Pitjandjara although it's not brilliant (local Aboriginal language, can be spelt a multitude of ways). The great thing about Pitjandjara is that there aren't any strict rules and different tribes spoke quite different dialects so when I screw stuff up I just blame it on that. :p

I was in a play a few months ago for the French Club at uni which was interesting. It's damn hard trying to learn lines when you can't speak the language. Still, it was fun. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back