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Cross_ posted:Skip Frankfurt if you can. Stuttgart, Nuernberg, and Muenchen are worth spending a few days in. We will try to only spend a few hours in Frankfurt on the day when we fligh in, so we aren't spending too much time there. Thanks everyone for great suggestions and feedback.
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Dec 18, 2009 06:19
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unixbeard posted:i find this the case when having conversations with Germans (currently living in Germany). Often I think they have to focus quite a lot just to understand my English, so much so that the jokes sneaks by them. Also, at least around here in Europe we have the joke about "shortest books in history", one of them lists Swedish war heroes, one is "100 years of German humor", and there's couple more  (many Germans are actually very funny people, but maybe they aren't the greatest in understanding various kinds of humor)
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Dec 18, 2009 06:55
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I saw this joke and it made me laugh:quote:A young English couple who are unable to have a child end up adopting a German infant.
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Dec 19, 2009 02:34
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What is the attitude towards tourists who can only pronounce a couple of phrases? Will people try to speak English, or just ignore the dumb tourists? What kind of cultural food is there besides sausage and sauerkraut? I cannot say that I am a fan of either, but all the bakeries mentioned have my mouth watering. Are there any societal dos and don’t? Such as flicking someone the middle finger as an insult, or any other taboos? How much does a train ticket usually run? Say, from Munich to Berlin, or into another country? My friends and I are planning a group trip to Europe, and it seems that my boyfriend and I will be along for the German portion of it (the other couple will be doing family stuff while we entertain ourselves). Neither of us speak any German, and know nothing about the country. I plan on doing research as much as I can, but I know I won’t remember it all. Whenever I find out what region we are going to, it will become so much easier to plan. Honestly, dumb everything down as much as you can for me – I thought Bavaria was a country before I read this thread.
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Dec 23, 2009 08:21
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satiat posted:What is the attitude towards tourists who can only pronounce a couple of phrases? Will people try to speak English, or just ignore the dumb tourists? Well, Germany is not France, so as far as I know people will make an effort to speak English with you if they can. Most people do. Obviously the young people more than the 60+ quote:Are there any societal dos and don’t? Such as flicking someone the middle finger as an insult, or any other taboos? I assume you're from US or some other Western country. The cultural differences are very small, you can just be yourself without having to worry about such things. One of the only things is speaking about Nazis or the holocaust in the wrong place, but that's kind of obvious. quote:How much does a train ticket usually run? Say, from Munich to Berlin, or into another country? Can't remember, check http://www.bahn.de/i/view/USA/en/index.shtml quote:Neither of us speak any German, and know nothing about the country. I plan on doing research as much as I can, but I know I won’t remember it all. Whenever I find out what region we are going to, it will become so much easier to plan. You don't have to worry about not speaking any German. I've been in countries like Korea where 99,9% of the people basically speak no English whatsoever, or any other language that I would understand, but things are still pretty easy...and most Germans speak decent English.
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Dec 23, 2009 10:01
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satiat posted:What is the attitude towards tourists who can only pronounce a couple of phrases? Will people try to speak English, or just ignore the dumb tourists? quote:What kind of cultural food is there besides sausage and sauerkraut? I cannot say that I am a fan of either, but all the bakeries mentioned have my mouth watering. quote:Are there any societal dos and don’t? Such as flicking someone the middle finger as an insult, or any other taboos? quote:How much does a train ticket usually run? Say, from Munich to Berlin, or into another country? You'll have a great time in Germany! It's a beautiful country with lots to see and do, so don't worry too much about it. If you have any further questions just shoot!
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Dec 23, 2009 12:52
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satiat posted:Honestly, dumb everything down as much as you can for me – I thought Bavaria was a country before I read this thread. Well, tbh it kinda is... 
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Dec 23, 2009 13:57
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Some friends and I are planning a year-long trip to Germany. To live there and work. If I were to get a job in the service industry (like a waiter), would residents be ordering in English, or should I learn some German?
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Dec 26, 2009 01:11
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palmy posted:Some friends and I are planning a year-long trip to Germany. To live there and work. How would you like going to a restaurant and having a guy coming to your table and asking to take your order in Dutch? Unless it's a Dutch restaurant in the Netherlands- well, you see my point.
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Dec 26, 2009 08:37
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palmy posted:Some friends and I are planning a year-long trip to Germany. To live there and work. If you really think you can just get a job waiting tables to cover your living expenses as you go, you have a lot more planning to do. In any city in Germany that has enough internationals to create a significant demand for English-language bars/pubs/restaurants/etc. there will be more than enough students competing for those jobs and unlike you they speak German, English and maybe a third language.
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Dec 26, 2009 12:45
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satiat posted:What kind of cultural food is there besides sausage and sauerkraut? I cannot say that I am a fan of either, but all the bakeries mentioned have my mouth watering. Just go into any restuarant and order Schnitzel (Pork, Chicken etc). Then have a German beer with it. I've gone to painful effort to try and cook Schnitzel at home and I think I have it cracked. Nicest meal you can eat.
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Dec 26, 2009 13:48
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Why do germans giggle every time I and other americans say "schnitzel?" 
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Dec 26, 2009 18:57
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Pronunciation and the surprise that a US-American would know a rather strange word like "schnitzel"?
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Dec 26, 2009 19:19
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if you're traveling about germany or europe in general look into flying too, when I flew from munich to berlin it was cheaper than my train ticket back to munich. Schnitzel is pretty amazing. If you visit Bavaria be sure to try some Leberkaes 
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Dec 28, 2009 00:19
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dooshy posted:Why do germans giggle every time I and other americans say "schnitzel?" Hope you're not pronouncing it "Schniedel".
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Dec 28, 2009 19:27
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dxt posted:if you're traveling about germany or europe in general look into flying too, when I flew from munich to berlin it was cheaper than my train ticket back to munich. Now I'm getting hungry. http://www.food-from-bavaria.de/en/reg_spez/einzelprodukt.php?an=19&display_lang=en
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Dec 29, 2009 14:28
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You can also try some (since the 70s) quintessential Berlin food and get yourself some Döner Kebap 
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Dec 29, 2009 23:51
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palmy posted:Some friends and I are planning a year-long trip to Germany. To live there and work. Sheik Yerbouti posted:You can also try some (since the 70s) quintessential Berlin food and get yourself some Döner Kebap Soy Division fucked around with this message at 05:40 on Jan 4, 2010 |
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Jan 4, 2010 05:32
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One more German goon reporting in. I was born, raised and still live in Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt. So if anyone has questions about, well, East Germany/Ex-GDR stuff, I can answer those. We're not all xenophobic neonazis, honest!
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Jan 4, 2010 19:16
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Gatac posted:We're not all xenophobic neonazis, honest!
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Jan 4, 2010 19:46
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schoenfelder posted:Pronunciation and the surprise that a US-American would know a rather strange word like "schnitzel"? So what about the non-US Americans?
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Jan 18, 2010 03:47
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Cjones posted:So what about the non-US Americans? Honestly, any visitor who knows some German and/or tries to speak some German is something totally unexpected, especially if they use rather strange words like "schnitzel". We probably think it's very flattering and the pronunciation is cute. Combine this with the fact that we know our language is very difficult and do not have any national pride or self-esteem and the result will be giggling. It's really like the fat, ugly girl in school who for the first time gets a compliment and doesn't know how to react. Or maybe I'm just talking out of my arse, I don't know...
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Jan 18, 2010 09:23
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schoenfelder posted:[we] do not have any national pride or self-esteem drat, how did that happen 
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Jan 18, 2010 11:29
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vanDeet posted:drat, how did that happen  ... (please, I'm not an anti-Semite, don't judge me :germany:)
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Jan 18, 2010 12:39
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Yeah, feeling guilty over the actions of the people in the Third Reich is still a huge deal in Germany. Some of the fallout is that prominently displaying a German flag or talking about national pride will get you lumped in with "that crowd" quite quickly. This isn't helped by the fact that since we banned most of the symbols and slogans of the actual Nazis, the neonazis and their sympathizers have been hiding behind this kind of ultra-nationalism. As for foreigners speaking German, you might as well accept that you will never be mistaken for a local no matter how hard you work at it. German depends a lot on being a native speaker so you pick up an intuitive understanding of grammar rather than trying to somehow make sense of the massive amount of rules you need to learn. Apparently, a couple years ago someone interviewed German people on the street and asked them what grammatical grammar made-up German-sounding words were. The results were incredibly consistent, so you might say that as a native speaker you internalize the complex underlying ruleset so well that you can even make dead-on guesses about features of words that do not actually exist. And even if you somehow manage to duplicate that as a foreign speaker, your accent will be off. All that said, though, learning to speak German well enough to make yourself understood isn't very hard, and most Germans I've met are delighted when someone tries, and even failing that most speak enough English that you can make do that way.
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Jan 18, 2010 19:33
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Learning any language is hard, but I wouldn't say German is harder than most. I've been learning German for 10+ years and have taken stabs at a few other languages along the way. The thing with German is that it is very regular (unlike the Romance languages) so once you learn and internalize the rules - which are indeed complicated, but aren't terrible - you are pretty much set. Pronunciation is trivially easy compared to something like French, let alone any tonal languages. (It seems to be harder for some people than others, though. My girlfriend has been studying German for some time, lived in Sachsen-Anhalt and still can't pronounce Köstritzer correctly.) I can guess the correct genders of nouns more often than not. There are actually some workable rules that are very helpful and the rest you really do internalize after a while. I have much more trouble with adjective endings and the subjunctive which is mainly due to lack of practice. (Sadly it doesn't look like living in Germany is in my immediate future.) German is definitely tougher than Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian but I'd argue it's easier than French.
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Jan 21, 2010 22:40
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hccht hccht hccht hccht greetings from switzerland
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Jan 22, 2010 00:03
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Ah, the Swiss! I remember a few months ago I watched a documentary on German TV about some Swiss kids in one of those "send troublemakers on an adventure trip so they learn how to follow rules and behave in a social setting" programmes. All the conversations were subtitled  .Anyway, grüezi!
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Jan 22, 2010 09:04
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Yestermoment fucked around with this message at 23:38 on Mar 13, 2012 |
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Jan 22, 2010 09:27
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Others will probably be more knowledge-able but over the past few years there's been a wave of German indie bands. Have a look at "Kettcar" (video) , "Tomte" (video) and "Tocotronic" (video). Also check out "Peter Fox" (video). For electro-rap-punk (don't know how to describe it), check out "Deichkind" (video). "Anett Louisan" for chansons (video).
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Jan 22, 2010 09:55
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On the topic of German music, there are of course the obvious answers (Rammstein!), but I think you'll also find sizeable populations of punk and hip hip music. I caution against the latter because a) they lyrics can be extremely hard to penetrate for non-native speakers (hell, I can sometimes hardly keep pace) and b) the currently popular wave of rap seems to be entirely gangsta posing. I'd recommend Die Ärzte (Video NSFW), Die Toten Hosen, Die Beginner and Fettes Brot. You can also find texts of some popular German music with translations / translation cues here.
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Jan 22, 2010 10:43
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Although not "German", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZua7YcxdoU is frikken hilarious...
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Jan 22, 2010 20:00
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Yestermoment posted:Is there any German-based music that is popular in Germany? Be it a certain group/artist or a certain genre? A friend of mine recently introduced me to a group by the name Wir Sind Helden. And as a german student, I especially admire them. I'm curious if there are any other hidden musical gems in Germany. Well "German-based" music from most genres is popular in Germany, Indie, Rock, some Hip Hop has been mentioned by the other guys. Then there's of course electronic stuff e.g. Digitalism as well lots of techno and trance stuff (this was big in the 90s). Another Hip Hop group I'd recommend are K.I.Z., a bit strange humour, but great punchlines+music. Schlager is really popular radio & party music, e.g. Roland Kaiser. Most of the classics of this are from the 70s and 80s and 3 in 4 people can sing along. It is kind of uncool though, so outside of the focus of MTV & co or the general media and I have no idea if good new stuff comes out any more. In metal, hardcore, jazz, r'n'b, pop, blues the most popular bands are probably from other countries, but there's good local stuff also, just ask for specifics. Folk music is popular with old people, but I guess sort of blending together with Schlager atm.
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Jan 22, 2010 20:22
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My german teacher at university told me that if you whistle to yourself, like a tune or something, people in Germany will think you're a crazy person. Is this true? Ich moechte zu pfeiffen!
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Jan 22, 2010 20:23
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Depends on how crazy you look while whistling. It's not common for people to whistle out on the street, but people won't really think anything of it.
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Jan 22, 2010 20:45
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Bong Goblin posted:My german teacher at university told me that if you whistle to yourself, like a tune or something, people in Germany will think you're a crazy person. Is this true? B) "Ich möchte pfeiffen!" is correct. C) On the topic of good German bands, I'd recommend Blumfeld. The singer's pronunciation is a model of clarity and I'd think their songs would lend themselves well to learning the language. Also they're top notch musically (in my opinion). (They split up in 2007 and now Jochen Distelmeyer, the singer, has a solo career.)
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Jan 23, 2010 05:37
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Sheik Yerbouti posted:I'm studying at the Berlin University of Technology, which is one of the universities with the largest group of foreign students in Germany, if someone has questions about stuff like that. How many of them are non-EU citizens? Of the ones who are not part of the EU, do they have a snowball's chance in hell at getting a job in Germany after they graduate?
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Mar 1, 2010 10:40
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At my university Chinese are the biggest group of foreign students, but many of them are either not willing to or not able to find a job in Germany. At universities or other research institutes there is a rather large number of foreign staff, so this is probably your best bet. If you are actually decent at your profession and have made at least some connections, I think it should be possible to find a job at lots of other companies, too (talking mostly about engineering/IT here). Speaking German is a big plus.
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Mar 2, 2010 00:15
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Disclaimer: Applies to Magdeburg, smack in the middle of what used to be the GDR. My city has a lot of Asian students in general. I think we have a lot of Vietnamese and Korean exchange students, but I know there's Chinese students and it wouldn't surprise me to find out there's Thai students here, too. I'd say the next biggest group is Eastern European, I hear Russian being spoken by student-age people on the streets on occasion. Recently, I'm also running into more black people, but I'm not familiar enough with African languages to tell you exactly where they're from. They're probably not African-American or Brits, since I haven't met one who spoke English as primary language. Actually, native English speakers in general seem to be vanishingly rare here.
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Mar 2, 2010 00:36
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elbkaida posted:At my university Chinese are the biggest group of foreign students, but many of them are either not willing to or not able to find a job in Germany. Thanks for the answer! I only sort of technically have a profession and I'm okay at it and could probably find work in Germany but everything I've heard says ESL in Germany is a miserable, thankless, low-paying and heavily-taxed dead end job. I want to live there, but that's not living. I study German in the evening and, like most of the people in my class, dream of someday getting good enough at it to take advantage of the low tuition rates to study in Germany.
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Mar 2, 2010 13:11
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