Topic: German (Read 6750 times)

Phife · « **on:** June 21, 2006, 03:08:39 AM »

I am taking German for Graduate Students.

Today was my first class.

Anyone here speak and/or read German well?

Any hints as to learning it in a timely fashion?

And what do you think of the "learn a language by immersion" theory? That is what my professor is going to try and do with us.

jeee · « **Reply #1 on:** June 21, 2006, 03:58:58 AM »

Quote from: Phife on June 21, 2006, 03:08:39 AM

I am taking German for Graduate Students.

Today was my first class.

Anyone here speak and/or read German well?

Any hints as to learning it in a timely fashion?

And what do you think of the "learn a language by immersion" theory? That is what my professor is going to try and do with us.

I speak and read German fairly well, for me it was failry easy to learn the basics as it is a germanic language (Dutch, which is germanic as well, is my native) but If you want to be really good at it you have to learn a lot of spelling rules and that was pretty hard.

For an American the basics are easier then like French or Italian. You will regornize words allthough the spelling is completely different.

TheJudge · « **Reply #2 on:** June 21, 2006, 07:01:17 AM »

Quote from: Phife on June 21, 2006, 03:08:39 AM

Any hints as to learning it in a timely fashion?

Always carry around a bottle of water as there is a lot of spitting involved.

cHtHuBing · « **Reply #3 on:** June 21, 2006, 07:32:46 AM »

And a big napkin, as you will have to eat lots of frankfurters to be a true German, with mayonase smuthered all over it

And you will need to keep up with all of the news from David Hasselhoff...

pbsaurus · « **Reply #4 on:** June 21, 2006, 11:24:36 AM »

Immersion works the best for most people. Some people though (i.e. my wife) have trouble picking up languages regardless of technique. The cool thing about German is the compound words. You can take any 67 words and just link them together into a long ass single word. Sort of like thecoolthingaboutgermanisthecompoundwordsyoucantakeany67orsowordsandjustlinkthemtogetherintoalongasssingleword

Wouldn't it be cool if we could do that in English?

ivan · « **Reply #5 on:** June 21, 2006, 11:26:21 AM »

Quote

Surely there is not another language that is so slipshod and systemless, and so slippery and elusive to the grasp. One is washed about in it, hither and thither, in the most helpless way; and when at last he thinks he has captured a rule which offers firm ground to take a rest on amid the general rage and turmoil of the ten parts of speech, he turns over the page and reads, "Let the pupil make careful note of the following exceptions." He runs his eye down and finds that there are more exceptions to the rule than instances of it. So overboard he goes again, to hunt for another Ararat and find another quicksand. Such has been, and continues to be, my experience.

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ivan · « **Reply #6 on:** June 21, 2006, 11:33:09 AM »

Quote

Every time I think I have got one of these four confusing "cases" where I am master of it, a seemingly insignificant preposition intrudes itself into my sentence, clothed with an awful and unsuspected power, and crumbles the ground from under me. For instance, my book inquires after a certain bird -- (it is always inquiring after things which are of no sort of consequence to anybody): "Where is the bird?" Now the answer to this question -- according to the book -- is that the bird is waiting in the blacksmith shop on account of the rain. Of course no bird would do that, but then you must stick to the book. Very well, I begin to cipher out the German for that answer. I begin at the wrong end, necessarily, for that is the German idea. I say to myself, "Regen (rain) is masculine -- or maybe it is feminine -- or possibly neuter -- it is too much trouble to look now. Therefore, it is either der (the) Regen, or die (the) Regen, or das (the) Regen, according to which gender it may turn out to be when I look. In the interest of science, I will cipher it out on the hypothesis that it is masculine. Very well -- then the rain is der Regen, if it is simply in the quiescent state of being mentioned, without enlargement or discussion -- Nominative case; but if this rain is lying around, in a kind of a general way on the ground, it is then definitely located, it is doing something -- that is, resting (which is one of the German grammar's ideas of doing something), and this throws the rain into the Dative case, and makes it dem Regen. However, this rain is not resting, but is doing something actively, -- it is falling -- to interfere with the bird, likely -- and this indicates movement, which has the effect of sliding it into the Accusative case and changing dem Regen into den Regen." Having completed the grammatical horoscope of this matter, I answer up confidently and state in German that the bird is staying in the blacksmith shop "wegen (on account of) den Regen." Then the teacher lets me softly down with the remark that whenever the word "wegen" drops into a sentence, it always throws that subject into the Genitive case, regardless of consequences -- and that therefore this bird stayed in the blacksmith shop "wegen des Regens."

N. B. -- I was informed, later, by a higher authority, that there was an "exception" which permits one to say "wegen den Regen" in certain peculiar and complex circumstances, but that this exception is not extended to anything but rain.

This is from one of my favourite of Mark Twain's essays, The Awful German Language. My other favorites include all the rest.

jeee · « **Reply #7 on:** June 21, 2006, 05:59:03 PM »

Quote from: ivan on June 21, 2006, 11:33:09 AM

Quote
Every time I think I have got one of these four confusing "cases" where I am master of it, a seemingly insignificant preposition intrudes itself into my sentence, clothed with an awful and unsuspected power, and crumbles the ground from under me. For instance, my book inquires after a certain bird -- (it is always inquiring after things which are of no sort of consequence to anybody): "Where is the bird?" Now the answer to this question -- according to the book -- is that the bird is waiting in the blacksmith shop on account of the rain. Of course no bird would do that, but then you must stick to the book. Very well, I begin to cipher out the German for that answer. I begin at the wrong end, necessarily, for that is the German idea. I say to myself, "Regen (rain) is masculine -- or maybe it is feminine -- or possibly neuter -- it is too much trouble to look now. Therefore, it is either der (the) Regen, or die (the) Regen, or das (the) Regen, according to which gender it may turn out to be when I look. In the interest of science, I will cipher it out on the hypothesis that it is masculine. Very well -- then the rain is der Regen, if it is simply in the quiescent state of being mentioned, without enlargement or discussion -- Nominative case; but if this rain is lying around, in a kind of a general way on the ground, it is then definitely located, it is doing something -- that is, resting (which is one of the German grammar's ideas of doing something), and this throws the rain into the Dative case, and makes it dem Regen. However, this rain is not resting, but is doing something actively, -- it is falling -- to interfere with the bird, likely -- and this indicates movement, which has the effect of sliding it into the Accusative case and changing dem Regen into den Regen." Having completed the grammatical horoscope of this matter, I answer up confidently and state in German that the bird is staying in the blacksmith shop "wegen (on account of) den Regen." Then the teacher lets me softly down with the remark th

at whenever the word "wegen" drops into a sentence, it always throws that subject into the Genitive case, regardless of consequences -- and that therefore this bird stayed in the blacksmith shop "wegen des Regens."

N. B. -- I was informed, later, by a higher authority, that there was an "exception" which permits one to say "wegen den Regen" in certain peculiar and complex circumstances, but that this exception is not extended to anything but rain.

This is from one of my favourite of Mark Twain's essays, The Awful German Language. My other favorites include all the rest.

You and me need a "wiedergutmachungsschnitzel"

TeraHammer · « **Reply #8 on:** June 27, 2006, 05:22:02 PM »

I want to learn Russian. Allthough I have absolutely no clue why. I guess I just find it sounding nifty.

ewomack · « **Reply #9 on:** June 30, 2006, 07:41:12 AM »

Guten Tag! Ich bin ein grosse kartofellsalat. Guten Aben!

Ha! Now we know who is the real master of Deutsche around here!!

TeraHammer · « **Reply #10 on:** June 30, 2006, 01:22:40 PM »

Quote from: ewomack on June 30, 2006, 07:41:12 AM

Guten Tag! Ich bin ein grosse kartofellsalat. Guten Aben!

Ha! Now we know who is the real master of Deutsche around here!!

It's "große", "Kartoffelsalat", "Deutsch" and "Abend".

6 spelling errors in 8 words... Nice going, o master

jeee · « **Reply #11 on:** June 30, 2006, 02:48:02 PM »

And two in yours mate

TeraHammer · « **Reply #12 on:** June 30, 2006, 03:07:36 PM »

really?

Ui, in what am I wrong then?

TeraHammer · « **Reply #13 on:** July 01, 2006, 02:38:05 AM »

Really jeee, I've looked up all the words I corrected, and checked their spelling. All of them are correctly written.

Phife · « **Reply #14 on:** July 01, 2006, 02:56:24 AM »

Did you take into account the spelling changes recently enacted?

TeraHammer · « **Reply #15 on:** July 01, 2006, 06:10:31 AM »

If you call the spelling change in 1996 recent, yes.

Phife · « **Reply #16 on:** July 02, 2006, 02:33:28 AM »

That's the one.

Okay...

Does anyone have dictionary recommendations?

I have my eye on the new Landenscheit and/or the new Collins. Pros? Cons?

I already own a New Webster's German-English Dictionary and its pretty good.

jeee · « **Reply #17 on:** July 02, 2006, 03:39:15 AM »

Quote from: TeraHammer on July 01, 2006, 02:38:05 AM

Really jeee, I've looked up all the words I corrected, and checked their spelling. All of them are correctly written.

Well it's a minor thing but while Deutsch should be capitalized, kartoffelsalat and abend should not.

TeraHammer · « **Reply #18 on:** July 02, 2006, 05:32:22 AM »

They are nouns, aren't they? All nouns are capitilized in German. I'm sorry jeee, but that is basic elementary German!

Vespertine · « **Reply #19 on:** July 02, 2006, 11:51:34 AM »

iregret · « **Reply #20 on:** July 02, 2006, 02:57:55 PM »

Ich komme aus Deutschland! Ich bin ein echter Deutschlaender
HAHA What now?

jeee · « **Reply #21 on:** July 02, 2006, 04:11:33 PM »

Quote from: TeraHammer on July 02, 2006, 05:32:22 AM

They are nouns, aren't they? All nouns are capitilized in German. I'm sorry jeee, but that is basic elementary German!

You're right sir. I just hope one thing considering germans these days....

TeraHammer · « **Reply #22 on:** July 03, 2006, 02:49:41 AM »

What's that? The Netherlands is out, so we can't beat them at the World Cup finale anymore

jeee · « **Reply #23 on:** July 03, 2006, 06:11:11 AM »

I hope they don't win, else it will be horrible on our beaches.

hackess · « **Reply #24 on:** July 03, 2006, 05:37:11 PM »

Quote from: iregret on July 02, 2006, 02:57:55 PM

Ich komme aus Deutschland! Ich bin ein echter Deutschlaender
HAHA What now?

uregret posting without introducing yourself. Go do so, pleaseandthanks.

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Author Topic: German (Read 6750 times)