Any late night/political talk shows or reality TV on YouTube?
Especially anything with downloadable subtitles in German, this lets you look up unfamiliar words before watching.
I like the UK version of The Apprentice, so anything remotely like that in German could be interesting, i.e. reality TV with an objective, with people talking to each other, rather than just personal drama or musical performances.
Cheers.
... meanwhile in switzerland ...
'I Can English Understand,’ New Official Says. The Swiss Have Their Doubts. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/worl ... glish.html
Switzerland prides itself on being a country with four official languages:
German, French, Italian and Romansch.
Traditionally, federal officials who primarily speak either German or French have been expected to understand,
but not necessarily to speak, both languages.
Mr. Parmelin has also been criticized for his weak German skills.
Re: How do I learn to speak German?
Posted: 23 Dec 2018, 07:15
by Scr1pter
@iseahound :
What is your nationality anyway?
Regards
Re: How do I learn to speak German?
Posted: 23 Dec 2018, 07:40
by jeeswg
- Thanks for the info garry. When I was looking for foreign news channels in English/other languages, one of the few I found was Deutsche Welle. Deutsche Welle means German wave.
- Btw does anyone have sources for interesting phrases/quotations/idioms etc in German? Thanks.
Re: How do I learn to speak German?
Posted: 23 Dec 2018, 10:04
by Scr1pter
And yes, as Helgef said, the "modern generation" in Germany speaks English pretty well.
They even start learning English in primary school, and it's one of the main topics in school.
Main topics are German, English and Mathematics (as far as I remember).
(If you have mark 5 or 6, you'll not reach the next grade.)
Would be still meaningful if iseahound tells us his nationality.
For each language there are typical beginner mistakes when learning another language.
English speakers would make different mistakes when speaking German compared to Turkish guys - for example.
It's like when Germans start learning English, one of the first things they got taught are things like:
- I will become a new PC. - I want to get a new PC.
- It gives a problem. - There is a problem.
- Who? - Where?
- Where? - Who?
- See us tomorrow! - See each other tomorrow!
The red expressions are absolutely typical for beginners, because
- that's how it would be translated 1:1
- or because it sounds very similar, which misleads them
The same would be if you want to learn German.
You would mess expressions with your native language and would make different mistakes
compared to people from other countries.
That's why it's interesting to know the nationality.
If you're lucky, there might be some other user here who speaks both German and your native language.
He will know exactly what/how you think when you want to express something in German.
Regards
Re: How do I learn to speak German?
Posted: 24 Dec 2018, 06:58
by Arkan
Read and watch the video in German, download duolingo and learn!
Re: How do I learn to speak German?
Posted: 24 Dec 2018, 09:11
by garry
If you put in the german version of monty pythons "the Funniest Joke in the World" in to google translate,
>>>> you get FATAL ERROR.
Wenn ist das Nunstück git und Slotermeyer? Ja!
Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput
Thats not german.
Re: How do I learn to speak German?
Posted: 24 Dec 2018, 17:35
by Scr1pter
Looks a bit like Dutch.
Dutch is like a messed up version of German
Regards
Re: How do I learn to speak German?
Posted: 25 Dec 2018, 00:14
by iseahound
@scr1pter American. I speak, think, and write in English. Passing conversational Chinese as well.
I listen to a fair amount of German music, and come across a few German phrases in literature, Kant, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche. Raum und Zeit.
One really interesting fact is that America and Germany are one of the few countries that will be able to supplant their declining birth rate/population with immigration!
Re: How do I learn to speak German?
Posted: 25 Dec 2018, 05:37
by Scr1pter
Well, English is a Germanic language.
Even though there are differences compared to German,
there are also a lot of similarities.
But I believe the most difficult things are:
- articles (der, die, das - instead of the)
- ö, ä, ü, ß
However, my advice is not to focus too much on articles.
Many of them make no sense.
A table is male, a car is neuter, and a bottle is female.
(In Bulgarian it would be: female, female, neuter.)
Even though it sounds funny when people use wrong articles, we would still understand them without problems.
Probably you should start translating some easy sentences.
I (or some other Germans) will just check it.
Regards
Re: How do I learn to speak German?
Posted: 25 Dec 2018, 10:16
by garry
@nnnik
Thats not german.
yes, that's because you get >> [FATAL ERROR]
@Scr1pter
Looks a bit like Dutch.
Dutch is like a messed up version of German
Een Belg, en 2 Engelsen krijgen een botsing. Zegt de Engelse: “I am sorry.” Zegt de 2e Engelse: “I am sorry too.” Zegt de belg: “I am sorry 3.”
A bear went into a bar and ordered a beer. He gave the bartender a twenty and
the bartender went to the other end of the bar to put the money in the
register. The second bartender whispered to the first, "He's a bear, what
does he know, shortchange him." The first bartender brings the bear $10 in
change. A little while later the bartender starts talking to the bear and
mentions, "We don't get many bears in this bar." The bear replies, "I'm not
surprised, at $10 a beer I sure won't be back again....
You will get by quite well with english in Germany, at least if you avoid the elderly .
Cheers .
I work for a German company, I kinda like them. Besides that, I have colleagues from more than 20 countries I like diversity. I usually visit the HQ in Stuttgart, I am always amazed how bright-minded everyone in Germany. It's like another planet. Since I hear a lot of German talks, I started to learn it again. The economy is stable they feed the whole EU.