The same actually applies to some other languages: the French use words like weekend, pull (pullover), sweat (sweater), basket (basketball shoes), jogging (sweat pants) etc. and also Indian hindi speakers, they dot their speech with English words because they lack their own (like a word for 'meeting')
It's the same with Dutch/Flemish and German: gosh, I don't know that word... I'll just say the Dutch equivalent and hope they'll understand me...most of these words are shared anyway... *Cue "I am completely confused"-face of the German listener* (and if you are really unlucky, you pick a falls friend, like "slim/schlimm" (Dutch: clever; German: bad, nasty, etc.) and end up with a complete misunderstanding)
It also goes the other way, for example with my Dutch As Foreign Language students: I told one of my class she sounded a bit German (altough she is Lithuanian) and she explained she generally fills the gaps in her Dutch with German...and gets away with it :)
The hardest thing when reading non-English languages is when they use English words and you don't realize it due to the weird spelling/vocalization. It took me way too long to realize that "panter" just meant panther...
Erm... I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteIt is a reference to he huge amount of english words that have creeped into today's German.
DeleteWe Germans (that is our ad companies) even invent "English" words.
Like Handy for mobile phone and "coffee to go".
And we pay "Cash oder mit Karte?" when we go "shopping" with our "kids".
The same actually applies to some other languages: the French use words like weekend, pull (pullover), sweat (sweater), basket (basketball shoes), jogging (sweat pants) etc. and also Indian hindi speakers, they dot their speech with English words because they lack their own (like a word for 'meeting')
Deletealt text on the image is from a previous comic -sparr
ReplyDeleteGood catch!
DeleteIt's the same with Dutch/Flemish and German: gosh, I don't know that word... I'll just say the Dutch equivalent and hope they'll understand me...most of these words are shared anyway... *Cue "I am completely confused"-face of the German listener*
ReplyDelete(and if you are really unlucky, you pick a falls friend, like "slim/schlimm" (Dutch: clever; German: bad, nasty, etc.) and end up with a complete misunderstanding)
It also goes the other way, for example with my Dutch As Foreign Language students: I told one of my class she sounded a bit German (altough she is Lithuanian) and she explained she generally fills the gaps in her Dutch with German...and gets away with it :)
Yeah sometimes the closer the languages are, the less you can understand each other...
DeleteI thought that you could speak fluent Englitalianeutsch, Malachi....
ReplyDeleteOf course I can. But Denglish is another language you know
DeleteBe cool,
ReplyDeleteSpeak Deutsch mit mir,
Maybe dann vielleicht verstehe ich Sie!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-w0-lZldWA
The hardest thing when reading non-English languages is when they use English words and you don't realize it due to the weird spelling/vocalization. It took me way too long to realize that "panter" just meant panther...
ReplyDeleteOne reason German is on my short list of languages to never learn
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is when my Austrian friend throws "fucking awkward" in her German sentences constantly
ReplyDeleteYou mean, "weil your support the Beste IST!"
ReplyDelete.......richtig. :-8
Delete