It's all Deutsch to me! (German)

Member Name: kjl12

Product:	German
Date:	02/06/05 (167 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: social/economic benefits, cognate words, pronunciation

Disadvantages: the grammar

**where is it spoken?**

Well, Germany, of course! And most people know that it's the official language of Austria as well as one of the four languages which are spoken in Switzerland. But it's also spoken in Luxembourg, bits of France and Italy and in random parts of Russia and Eastern Europe. And there are actually groups of German speakers all over the world, including in the US, Australia and South America. Granted, it's not in the league of English or Spanish or French in terms of the numbers of people who use it, but it's still quite a big player in the global market.

**what sort of language is it?**

As most people know, there are different group of languages in the world, and German belongs to the group called Germanic languages. So no great shocks there then. What is more interesting is that English also belongs to this group (so we've got a head start learning it) - along with Scandinavian, Dutch and Flemish. Which explains, I suppose, why I can understand all the menus in Holland without speaking a word of the language!
Germanic languages were around for centuries in spoken form, but the earliest written examples of any Germanic language are the odd word written by Latin authors in the 1st century B.C. About this time the Roman Empire arrived and then when the
Roman Empire converted to Christianity in 312 A.D. Germanic languages really became established as written languages as the Bible was translated. You can still see a lot of influence of Latin words in the language - so if you've got O Level Latin (I'm a mere slip of a thing with GCSE Latin!) you're all set.

**are there regional variations?**

Definitely! There is one very broad line of demarcation to start you off - Low German (“Plattdeutsch”) from the North, where it's flat and High German (“Hochdeutsch”), spoken in the mountainous bits down south. The first real standardisation of the German language happened when Martin Luther translated the Bible in the 1500s, but in reality, German is just as varied as English. When I first arrived to live in the south west, I could barely understand a word when someone spoke with a thick local accent, despite doing a German degree!! I suppose it's like arriving in Newcastle on a Saturday night...And don't get me started on how they speak in Switzerland, or we'll be here all night! But hey, that's half the fun of learning a new language - what's the point if they've got no cultural differences for you to explore?

**why learn German?**

Let's look at the ten reasons for learning German given by the Goethe Institute ( a society for the promotion of German, so a bit biased, but then so am I!)

1. Germany is the world's largest exporter.
Of cars and technology mostly I presume. And cheap supermarkets. Interesting to consider if you're in business, though.

2. German is the most commonly spoken language in the EU.
Yes, I thought that would be French too! Germany is a massive old country though.

3. 18% of the world's books are published in German.
OK, that does leave you with 82% of the world's books, I'll grant you that. Bit like the 90% fat free crisps argument!

4. Germany is home to numerous international corporations.
Can't argue with that.

5. German is no harder to learn to speak and write than other languages.
That is of course presuming you have to pick a language to learn and can't just try lots..a bit odd.

6. German is the second-most commonly used scientific language.
Now lots of scientists have told me that A Level German is really useful for being a scientist, so I'll go for that - anyone like to comment? Don't feel my GCSE Physics qualifies me!

7. German is the language of Goethe, Nietzsche and Kafka. Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Freud and Einstein also spoke German.
Yep, no argument there. If you want to really appreciate a work of art you don't want it translated, do you?

8. Speaking and understanding German will deepen your knowledge of the culture and improve your employment opportunities.
I've certainly had more than my fair share of people telling me how much I could be earning speaking German if I wasn't being a teacher..

9.Learning German provides deeper insights into a region that plays a vital role in central Europe's intellectual and economic life and in its cultural history.
No, I'm not sure I understand either..

10.In many regions, Germans account for the largest percentage of tourists.
Have you been to London recently?

And of course, it will help you to understand those little bits of Dooyoo that crop up in German from time to time - don't tell me you've never noticed!

Seriously, though, it's also just a great language to learn - a real intellectual challenge if that's what you want, but also a fantastic sounding language (and yes, rude sometimes, I know). And you don't have that far to go to practise speaking it either. And boy will your understanding of English grammar improve - I promise you (there you are - back to Eats, Shoots and Leaves again!)

**what's good about the German language?**

The compound nouns for a start. Yes, I know, this is hardly earth-shattering stuff, but I like it. In most languages, you either know a word or you don't, right? Well in German if you don't know a word, you look at the bits that make it up and you work it out. Fantastic! It's not uncommon, therefore, to have really long words in German.

For example:
Rollschuhlaufen = rolling shoe running = roller skating
Luftkissenboot = air cushion boat = hovercraft
Schwarzwalderkirschtorte = black forest cherry cake = black forest gateau
Lebensmittelgeschäft = life means shop = grocers

I could go on all day! Don't worry, I won't - I've made the point!

And then there's the cognates. The words that are the same or very similar in two languages which act as a kind of hook to get you started, to make you feel a little less all at sea. Well the good news is that German has more than its fair share, especially when you get to modern terms, where they've not bothered to create new words and have just adopted the English e.g.

Ich finde das Internet interessant und ich habe E-Mail in meinem Büro.
(I find the internet interesting and I have e-mail in my office)

More good news is the pronunciation. Basically, what you see is what you get. Unlike French where there are lots of silent letters or Russian that has an entirely different alphabet, as long as you obey a few rules (and of course listen to native speakers to work out the accent) you're away. The basic rules are as follows:

w - pronounced like v
v - pronounced like f
ie - pronounced e
ei - pronounced i
d at the end of a word - pronounced like a t
z - pronounced like tz

So, try this:

Mein Hund ist viel zu dick und wir haben eine Katze
(Mine hunt ist feel tzoo dick unt veer haben eye-ne kat-tze)
My dog is much too fat and we have a cat

And yes, dick means fat....there'll be a comment or two about that, I'm sure...

I also think that learning German sets you up really well for any future language learning you might do, as you really have to learn all about nouns, adjectives and verbs if you're going to ever do more than just repeat set phrases. You might also start to realise a few things about English along the way too!

**what's not so great?**

Well, in common with lots of languages round the world German has more than one words for you, which can be not only a bit confusing, but could also cause you to inadvertently cause offence if not used correctly! Basically, you've got two words:

'du' - for people you know really well or children, dogs, cats etc...
'Sie' - for people you don't know or for people in authority i.e. child talking to their teacher.

And if you get the hang of that then, all well and good. But when you meet someone for the first time when do you decide you both know each other well enough to suggest du?

And there is of course the grammar to be considered. It's fine when you get the hang of it, or when you're just basically repeating set phrases (I'm afraid that you can get by with that for GCSE..) but if you want to work out all the grammar it is quite a complicated business. Let me give you another dog based example:

Ich habe einen dicken Hund
(I have a fat dog)

To do that you have to know that dog is a masculine noun (German has 3 genders, masculine, feminine and neuter unlike the 2 in French) and that the masculine accusative of the indefinite article is 'einen' which is accompanied by the adjectival ending 'en' on the end of dick. I need a lie down!

And to add to that, there is the issue of word order. Again, it's OK when you get used to it and there are actually only a few basic rules but it can be a bit bizarre e.g.

Weil er dick ist, ist mein Hund krank
Because he's fat, my dog is ill.

But the word order says ' Because he fat is, is my dog ill' !! And added to that they are probably even more strict about the use commas that Lynne Truss is!

**the bottom line?**

It’s not the easiest language in the world, but it’s by no means the most difficult and if you’re prepared to put in a bit of work, I’ll bet you’ll love it. And the best bit is the German people themselves - despite the stereotypes they are warm, welcoming, interesting people. Yes, they do speak wonderful English, but you’ll never get to know them expecting them to do all the work for you - go on, have a go!

**some starting points**

My advice would be an evening class or tuition, as that’s the best way not only to get and keep motivated but also to make sure that you’re actually getting it right! Most local colleges run evening language courses - Spanish and French are the most common, but lots run German too.

Other than that, try Learndirect or the BBC if you want a course you can do on your own. But always go for a course with a CD or DVD/Video as you need to hear the language being spoken as well as reading it.

As you get better, try the www.deutschewell.de website - it has radio broadcasts and news from Germany, with some bits re-recorded slightly more slowly for non-native speakers.


But above all, ENJOY!

Thanks for reading.

Summary: