Quick Tipp - Germans make fun of you when you try to say stuff

June 13th, 2008

English is easy to pronounce. German is not. We don’t put any dots on our letters, or make weird b shapes and call them a pair of s’s. Germans know their language is filled with sounds foreigners can’t make, so they try to get you to say certain words so that they can mock you. Such words include:

Eichhörnchen - This is the classic trap Germans set for us.

Oachkatzlschwoaf - This is the Bavarian cousin of the aforementioned.

Streichholzschächtelchen - This is the ultimate impossible German word to say.

But pretty much any word that starts with an “r”, such as rechts, is physically impossible for us to say. Avoid these words.

If you decide to learn to speak German despite the ample warnings given here previously, you will have to cope with Germans who will either make you say one of these words to mock you directly and openly, or repeat everything you say to them but in correct German, or worse at parties or on TV shows talk to you with a fake American accent.

For the amusement of the German readers, John presents his fake Bavarian accent in the attached audio clip: Fake Bavarian

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Germans disproportionately love some American music

June 12th, 2008

In America when we decide to have some kind of German event involving live music and beer, like a fake Oktoberfest, our first thought is to start up the chicken dance. It is bitterly disappointing to find out that in Germany, only kids at birthday parties or adults at bad weddings are forced to do it. Plus they don’t even call it the chicken dance. Instead what you get in Germany when you mix beer and live music is a disproportionate love of some American music, such as the following:

Country Roads We have pretty well forgotten John Denver in America, but his legacy lives on every night somewhere in Germany, whether it’s someone playing the guitar and singing in the subway station or a band playing at a folks fest. This song will most likely make you homesick.

Sweet Home Alabama  We love this song in America almost as much, but you would think you are in Nashville anytime there is a band in Germany, because this song is a must, every single time.

Anything by the Bloodhound Gang  Most Americans wouldn’t even recognize the name of the band, but they may kind of remember a song about a roof being on fire. This band even admits that they aren’t very musical, but their funny lyrics have somehow kept them popular in Germany over the years. Or maybe it’s because they make the beat really obvious in the songs so that the German kids can abspacken better.

US5  We have had our share of embarrassingly bad boy bands in America, but these kids never made it big over here, no matter how much they would love to portray that image in Germany.  We are responsible for the NKOTB, Backstreet Boys and N’Sync, though, sorry about that.

Bon Jovi  A Bon Jovi concert in America is met widely with indifference, but Germans young and old, male and female, all love Bon Jovi. It’s weird.

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Dangers of repatriation

June 11th, 2008

Earlier we discussed the topic of reverse culture shock upon repatriating to America from Germany. Not only can the psychological effects be devastating, but physical dangers lurk around every corner, as well.

While living in Germany you will likely take up walking through the forest as way to escape the fast paced city life. Germany took care of the one major forest danger by shooting their bear Bruno, so now the worst that can happen to you is that you slip on one of these slimy slugs and break a hip.

Slug

After all these ventures into the peaceful forests, you may get a little too comfortable hiking around and enjoying the fresh air. Don’t forget that America is a dangerous place, as you can see in this sign:

Wild Animals

There are vicious animals such as coyotes, mountain lions, bears, and squirrels. Don’t forget that these are ferocious beasts and always keep a safe distance, no matter how cute and friendly these critters may appear.

Squirrel

Bite

injury

No matter how much these things look like they want to cuddle up with you, keep away, as they are wild killing machines.

And on the subject of squirrels, Germans will always try to make you say their word for squirrel. Don’t do it, they are just going to laugh at you.

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Not yelled at is praise enough

June 10th, 2008

The Germans love to tell you when you do things wrong, and you if you aren’t prepared for it, it’ll start to get you down, because the Germans won’t tell you when you do things right. The Schwabs coined the phrase that not being yelled at is enough praise, but the idea applies nation wide. If you live in Germany, be prepared for strangers to point out all of your faults.

If you ride your bicycle around town and accidently leave your little headlamp on during the day time, 73% of Germans will yell at you for driving with your light on. Maybe it is because Germans are so concerned with the environment and that you are generating an extra 3 Watts of needless heat that are contributing further to global warming (and of course it’s even worse that you do this as an American). Or maybe its just because the Germans can’t resist telling you that you are doing something wrong no matter how trivial.

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False Friends - eventually irritating

June 6th, 2008

Here at Nothing For UnGood, we keep the content filled at exactly 85% truth with the remaining 15% consisting of misrepresentations, generalizations, and flat out lies. Since we are reaching a truth imbalance, we shall explain two more false friends that damage German-American communication because we think we understand each other when we don’t.

So take a deep breath, count to 10, and watch out for these:

In German, eventuell, sounds like a cognate of the English eventually. This isn’t really true, eventually in English refers to the fact that an event will occur in the future, but that the exact timing is unknown. Eventuell in German means roughly “possibly”.

In German irritiert means confused, not irritated, even though it can be really irritating to be irritiert.

And remember, just because you think you understand what someone is saying, because you have heard of all the words before is quite different than really understanding what someone means.

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