 How to speak german |
AfricaAntarcticaAsiaCentral America CaribbeanEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaOceaniaSouth AmericaOceans and Seas
How to speak german
Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Basel
August 16th 2009 by Av1, The Grand Tour
Thought it was time I gave a simple lesson to all those US bound.
How to speak german:
1. Add -en to the end of every word. (dimitris was right fish!)
e.g. to walk = laufen
food = essen
downstairs = unten
every other word = blank-en
2. do not attempt to pick up words from 4 and 6 year old children, they are not confirming words for you when you point and they nod, they are just excited and cant stop moving their heads.
3. practice your ich sound. it is not ish and it is not the throaty sound you might expect, but something in between, made with the roof of your mouth and the back of your tongue.
4. when conjugating verbs...
realize you cant speak german. because there are no common endings, all the verbs are different.
5. give up and stick to english, french, or rough sign language.
Have been staying with cousin anya, husband ingo, daughter rachel, and midgets sam and emma (4 and 6), where i am constantly dragged downstairs and chased around the house and forced to play auto (cars) but not allowed to actually touch any of the toys and desperately attempt to figure out why sammy is crying but cant because he speaks crazy child german. in other news, tomorrow leaving switzerland and my charming tiny second half cousins to check out budapest, where i have been advised not even to attempt hungarian, then heading back to england by way of germany, visiting a new friend in jena (elisabeth, met her on a ferry to greece), then through holland, then hopping on a ferry at calais before my train pass runs out.
swiss chocolate> beligium chocolate and every other chocolate ever.
swiss mountains > other mountains.
advice to all of those for whom it is not too late: dont have children.
love to all,
av
Part of trip: The Grand Tour
6 Comments - Add Public Comment or Send Private Message
August 16th 2009 - John Fishburn: The Awful German Language
Don't forget, in German the verb goes at the end of the sentence:
Whenever the literary German dives into a sentence, that is the last you are going to see of him until he emerges on the other side of his Atlantic with his verb in his mouth.
-- Mark Twain
Except when the verb has a prefix, which goes at the beginning:
A verb has a hard time enough of it in this world when it's all together. It's downright inhuman to split it up. But that's just what those Germans do. They take part of a verb and put it down here, like a stake, and they take the other part of it and put it away over yonder like another stake, and between these two limits they just shovel in German.
--Mark Twain
August 16th 2009 - Patricia:
your advice has changed my life. loove you!
August 16th 2009 - Laura:
yes fabrizio was definitely right about the language stuff, it even works in Italian! just chop of the end of the word and put an -en on.
as for the syntax stuff dad, its unfortunate you never know the verb until the end of the sentence, but i think they're used to it by now.
August 16th 2009 - Lynne Fishburn: Howdy
I can't wait to see all the pictures you've been taking. Laura is moved into her apartment in Boston. She now owns furniture. Take care of yourself. Love, Laura's Mommy
August 17th 2009 - Mummy: so multilingual
The duckies survived two weeks without us. But Tamarind was here the day before we got home, so she received the clamorous welcome and gave them food, so they were a bit blasé by the time we arrived. Yes, Swiss mountains are the very best, and probably the cleanest. Everything in Switzerland is clean, as I remember it. And dotted with little white flowers and cows wearing bells.
August 21st 2009 - Susan Salveson: experiences
Av, your description so parallels ours while in German I couldn't help but laugh. We had friends on the "economy" as we in the Army term it, who blessedly spoke both English and German, though the kids did not. Bennie had that same kind of energy and was constantly tearing about the house. At the end of our stay I was finally beginning to think in German, just in time to fly away! Three and a half years wasn't enough as we lived on the American installation in the midst of "klien Ami-land". BTW, Ami is a derogatory name for Americans. And of all the places we visited, Salzberg was right up there at the top of favorites; so incredible under a big fat full moon. Susan
All Comments
Switzerland's Flag
Map of SwitzerlandCopyright notice.
The text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (Avalon & Laura). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (Avalon & Laura). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Avalon & Laura.