Comments on: Germans think they speak better English than they do

By: lurker

lurker — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:03:53 +0000

i work everyday with germans. and they always say that, i construct my sentences differently, because i’m used to american english and they learned british english. i think it’s purely bs! hehe. they think that their english is equivalent to brit eng. which is definitely NOT TRUE. the only similarity that they have is that they do not pronounce the Rs at the end of a word, and that’s it.

the problem with germans, is that, they think too highly of themselves and everyone is inferior to them.

By: andy

andy — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 14:11:30 +0000

Funny thing I lived in Germany two years and I was told by several Germans how much of a strong foreign accent I had when I spoke English as if their English was excellent.

Then I would speak with Americans and they would tell me my English is rather very fluent and completely understandable…..

I am Colombian and I would find the whole obsession some of them have with the US bizarre, they’d be obsessed with crap like dreaming of going to Tallahassee Florida (what’s in Tallahassee Florida?) I know one who actually went on vacation to Des Moines Iowa (For God’s sake!)……
Some of them try to speak English like an American by making weird nasal intonations in order to come across as if they had an American accent even though their strong German accent filters thru.

The word Handy is also irritating and noticed all Americans around me found it annoying too.

They live under the impression that they are GREAT at speaking English but they really aren’t.

By: josephdietrich

josephdietrich — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 01:01:59 +0000

My favorite from the world of web development: I often used to see job ads seeking “Flashers (m/w)” on the trade websites. These are, selbstverstandlich, people who can create animations with Adobe (Macromedia) Flash.

I don’t see it nearly as much nowadays, but still occasionally …

By: MST

MST — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 18:48:50 +0000

Your writing is offiensive. Only a racist would insult African Amercans by defining “shooting” as that which “happens on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard once a day;” You are very cozy with the stereotype that all African Americans are violence prone.

I agree, Marjorie. I am African American and I am not involved in any sort of violent activities at all, nor are my family or friends. Why say something like this?

Anyway, I have a German friend and he makes some mistakes (like saying “funny” instead of “happy”) but it doesn’t bother me. I think it’s kind of cute.

By: Terminologia etc. » » Germanismi in inglese e anglicismi in tedesco

Terminologia etc. » » Germanismi in inglese e anglicismi in tedesco — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 15:32:46 +0000

[…] Una risorsa correlata è Invented English Words, esempi di pseudo-inglese in tedesco, ovvero falsi anglicismi come handy (il telefonino), a cui aggiungerei public viewing e altri esempi descritti in Germans think they speak better English than they do. […]

By: Florian Blaschke

Florian Blaschke — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 18:21:11 +0000

Especially Germans, of course, because they see the obvious similarity to their own language and therefore are much more prone to the fallacy of believing that in English, when in doubt, things work exactly like in their native language.

By: Florian Blaschke

Florian Blaschke — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 18:18:47 +0000

Kristine, of course John is overgeneralising! He’s taking the mickey out of everyone here, be it Germans or Americans. Just to give you a hint: This blog is irreverent and just “for the lulz”, as the young people would now say.

Your English is very good indeed as far as I can judge, and the same has been said about mine, even though I’m German too, so you can lighten up! We all know here that there are Germans whose English is excellent, but John has a point: A lot of people overrate their English skills, believing English to be an easy language.

By: Anja

Anja — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 18:49:27 +0000

This is so typically German (the comment above). I love ALL postings although I’m German. My English isn’t perfect by any means, but I neither have an British accent nor make any of those mistakes listed above. But still… It’s soooo funny to read! Why are you (above) sooo German about it? This is ridiculous!!! I know too many Germans who’ve been living in the States for years and are still making those stupid mistakes! And the best thing: No American would ever laugh at you for it!!

Love the book, the page and the humour…and it always is great to send a link to one of those great postings to my American friends!! Keep up the good work!

By: Kristine

Kristine — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 01:57:04 +0000

Okay, I’m a native German speaker (although I live in the Netherlands now) and I don’t make any of those mistakes you listed here. EVER. Further, I honestly do believe my English is good and I am certain this is not just me deceiving myself. Here’s a thought, how about you stop to overgeneralise?

Or, if we’re just bashing other nation’s language skills, here’s some pointers to America. What’s so difficult about keeping they’re and their apart, or then and than? Also, go with British spelling, ‘American’ is not a language.

By: michel

michel — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 18:33:16 +0000

the germans have their language”abgef[rea]kt”

deutschermichel should know!

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