Ugh, I think I lost my entire reply due to a google sign-out issue. So apologies if this is a repeat.
At one time I played World of Warcraft on a German server, because my Swiss friend played there (she was fluent in German, English, and I think French, I forget). She wrote me a macro that I could use to auto-reply to players who sent me a private message in German. The tone of the message was apologetic, as she told me Germans are picky about this kind of thing, and essentially said that I didn't speak German and if they wished to continue to talk to me, they needed to use English.
This worked fine for the most part, as I rarely got messages from strangers on that server and the majority of the ones who did message me just replied something like "ok sorry :)" or nothing at all. I even had one mildly-lengthy conversation with someone who said they could use the English practice.
Then one day I got a reply to my trusty macro that I could understand just enough of to see that they were laughing at me and asking, "Then why are you playing on a German server?" I didn't even bother with a response and just added them to my ignore list immediately... but that kind of thing does happen.
My friend said it's a very German mindset to think their country is better than everyone else's, including their language, and that it's beneath them to learn any other language. Reminds me of another country...the one I live in, but here, too many people can't even speak English properly anyways. 'Murica. Ugh. ^^;;
I feel like the point here is more that Germans, Austrians, and Swiss are all supposedly speaking the same language, but the reality is that Austrian German can often be incomprehensible to native Germans, so the German was assuming since they're both speaking "German" the Austrian would speak the more Hoch Deutsch that is common, and gets annoyed that they insist on either Austrian German or just English. That's my sense anyway.
That was the joke? I thought (and considering the tittle) it was: Austrian- Do you speak Austrian? German- Don't you mean German? Austrian- Do you speak Austrian?(slowly) German- You mean German! Visible confusion Austrian- Do you speak Austrian?(In English) German- German!!!
>>My friend said it's a very German mindset to think their country is better than everyone else's, including their language, and that it's beneath them to learn any other language.
Completely disagree. 9 of 10 Germans I met in person in Germany or in my home contry, Russia, spoke at least conversational English which was enough to explain how to get from A to B, let alone the fact the majority of them were really fluent in English. And absolutely all of them (who spoke English) switched to English straight away if they noticed I was not very comfortable with my level of German in our conversation. And they were all very friendly and really tried to help. I was charmed (and I am still) with Germans.
No we aren't. We tend to be very bad with foreign languages, because the way they're taught here makes no sense at all, but we certainly don't think that learning a foreign language is superfluous.
I actually don't understand the comic, some of the older comics are about germans loving to speak in english and now they are against it? (-_-;) I don't understand anything.
Don't stress! Mal is here to the rescue with a joke explanation: Austrians speak German, and so do Germans. But sometimes Austrians don't realize Germans are speaking German, because of the accent, so they switch to English.
I also find it often to be the other way round: Germans not understanding Austrians :D. Best example: a friend and I were traveling on a bus in Greece, two girls from Berlin sitting in front of us, then one turned around and said 'I know you are Austrians but I right know did not understand anything at all'
When I enter a Swiss shop, they will greet me in Swiss-German. I then tend to reply in German, since I don't speak Swiss-German, but they will switch straight away to English. I can never get German practice in that way…
Those Germans are quite the fussy speakers, aren't they? Do they treat other people from other countries like that?
ReplyDeleteUgh, I think I lost my entire reply due to a google sign-out issue. So apologies if this is a repeat.
DeleteAt one time I played World of Warcraft on a German server, because my Swiss friend played there (she was fluent in German, English, and I think French, I forget). She wrote me a macro that I could use to auto-reply to players who sent me a private message in German. The tone of the message was apologetic, as she told me Germans are picky about this kind of thing, and essentially said that I didn't speak German and if they wished to continue to talk to me, they needed to use English.
This worked fine for the most part, as I rarely got messages from strangers on that server and the majority of the ones who did message me just replied something like "ok sorry :)" or nothing at all. I even had one mildly-lengthy conversation with someone who said they could use the English practice.
Then one day I got a reply to my trusty macro that I could understand just enough of to see that they were laughing at me and asking, "Then why are you playing on a German server?" I didn't even bother with a response and just added them to my ignore list immediately... but that kind of thing does happen.
My friend said it's a very German mindset to think their country is better than everyone else's, including their language, and that it's beneath them to learn any other language. Reminds me of another country...the one I live in, but here, too many people can't even speak English properly anyways. 'Murica. Ugh. ^^;;
I feel like the point here is more that Germans, Austrians, and Swiss are all supposedly speaking the same language, but the reality is that Austrian German can often be incomprehensible to native Germans, so the German was assuming since they're both speaking "German" the Austrian would speak the more Hoch Deutsch that is common, and gets annoyed that they insist on either Austrian German or just English. That's my sense anyway.
DeleteThat was the joke? I thought (and considering the tittle) it was:
DeleteAustrian- Do you speak Austrian?
German- Don't you mean German?
Austrian- Do you speak Austrian?(slowly)
German- You mean German!
Visible confusion
Austrian- Do you speak Austrian?(In English)
German- German!!!
>>My friend said it's a very German mindset to think their country is better than everyone else's, including their language, and that it's beneath them to learn any other language.
DeleteCompletely disagree. 9 of 10 Germans I met in person in Germany or in my home contry, Russia, spoke at least conversational English which was enough to explain how to get from A to B, let alone the fact the majority of them were really fluent in English. And absolutely all of them (who spoke English) switched to English straight away if they noticed I was not very comfortable with my level of German in our conversation. And they were all very friendly and really tried to help. I was charmed (and I am still) with Germans.
French tend be similar
ReplyDeleteNo we aren't. We tend to be very bad with foreign languages, because the way they're taught here makes no sense at all, but we certainly don't think that learning a foreign language is superfluous.
DeleteI actually don't understand the comic, some of the older comics are about germans loving to speak in english and now they are against it? (-_-;) I don't understand anything.
ReplyDeleteDon't stress! Mal is here to the rescue with a joke explanation: Austrians speak German, and so do Germans. But sometimes Austrians don't realize Germans are speaking German, because of the accent, so they switch to English.
DeleteI also find it often to be the other way round: Germans not understanding Austrians :D. Best example: a friend and I were traveling on a bus in Greece, two girls from Berlin sitting in front of us, then one turned around and said 'I know you are Austrians but I right know did not understand anything at all'
DeleteI've literally had a coffee shop employee at Frankfurt airport switch to English when she spotted my supposedly foreign accent.
ReplyDeleteI'm Austrian.
When I enter a Swiss shop, they will greet me in Swiss-German. I then tend to reply in German, since I don't speak Swiss-German, but they will switch straight away to English. I can never get German practice in that way…
ReplyDelete