Learning German.

adolf hamster said:
the problem i've found with rocking up in germany and trying to learn off the locals is they're all trying to use you to practice their english, which unfortunately they're already well enough versed in that it's the easiest tool to use for communication :p
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Yeah I found that in Austria. The one time I tried to ask a bus driver for a ticket in mangled German, he got well angry at me, and said to just ask him in English as he didn't have time to figure out what I was trying to say :p

In fairness I was probably completely butchering his mother tongue :p

e: Haha I remember something about a ruckfahrkarte, but Google translate suggests that is a "jerk card"... maybe that's why he was angry :p
 
FoxEye said:
e: Haha I remember something about a ruckfahrkarte, but Google translate suggests that is a "jerk card"... maybe that's why he was angry :p
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Einfach oder hin und zuruck? (practising for becoming a German public transport operative)
 
dry said:
Einfach oder hin und zuruck? (practising for becoming a German public transport operative)
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I think I probably said something like, "Ein Rückfahrkarte nach ...., bitte." Which is probably completely wrong.

It stuck in my memory because of his reaction, which was a grimace/scowl and, "Just tell me in English."

I didn't try again after that, lol. Everybody spoke perfect English and there was little opportunity for us to try (attempt) any German, bar reading signs and menus and stuff. But trying to speak it was pointless because everybody just spoke English to us. We were on a walking holiday and in the end just said, "**** it, they don't even want us to try in their language, they always insist on speaking English." :p
 
FoxEye said:
It's a great language for shouting at people. Very scary. Such fierce.
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Can you not just speak/rant in a thick Scottish accent? Same effect, but without needing to learn a foreign language... and if your accent is thick enough it'll sound utterly incomprehensible!
Also, Nigerians usually sound very angry, no matter what they're saying!
 
ttaskmaster said:
Can you not just speak/rant in a thick Scottish accent? Same effect, but without needing to learn a foreign language... and if your accent is thick enough it'll sound utterly incomprehensible!
Also, Nigerians usually sound very angry, no matter what they're saying!
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Are you saying Scots isn't a foreign language? I've never been able to understand a word so just assumed it was :p
 
My Grandad learned German when he was in his 60s.

He used to go to night school. All he had was the recommended course books and audio cassette tapes. He did really well.

There are probably some good youtube courses around these days.
 
Good luck

I once started learning Dutch but didn't finish due to motivation

If you aren't going to be speaking it what's the point

I know a few swear words from different languages though. :p
 
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dry said:
Einfach oder hin und zuruck? (practising for becoming a German public transport operative)
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Einzelfahrt is the word used here. But nobody buys a ticket on board here in Vienna (I'm not even sure you can, you definitely can't on the U-Bahn)

If you are here any longer than a few months you want a Jahreskarte - 365 days of travel on all city transport for 365 Euros, which is pretty damn reasonable.
 
Duolingo is great for adding vocabulary, but Babbel is much better for learning grammar and how to build a sentence.

Viel Glück!

EVH said:
Knock knock
...
Who’s there?
....
Ve vill ask ze questions!! *slap*
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I always remember the news story from Glasgow of the guy who pretended to speak German in court.

"Vot iz your name?"

Not a million miles from 'Wie ist dein Name' :p
 
FoxEye said:
Are you saying Scots isn't a foreign language? I've never been able to understand a word so just assumed it was :p
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Ye'hre inabullitae tae unnerstand tha wurds tha' ar cummin oota ma mooth iz nae confurmation uff Scots azza forrin tung, laddie... It jus means ye shulda steayed in schoowull.
Ah mean, hoo can ye have yur puddin' iff ya dooan't eat yur meat?

Scots Gallic, hooeffer... noo tha IZ a forrin langwage!!

Besides, I know ye're lyin'... I know ye're swoonin' over that Jamie guy in Outlander, and hangin' on his every Scottish-burrin' word, like all the other girls! :p
 
I've been trying to learn / maintain German (I did GCSE German back at school) for years now, did use Duolingo a bit but just got bored with it at some point in the past. Maybe a good time to try it out again to get some structured learning in. My main problem is that I'm not consistent at all - will go months without doing any German and then pick it up again when I feel motivated. Probably need to set myself a target of some kind so i've got a particular goal to work towards.

Personally I prefer trying to learn from 'real' content (and find I stay motivated for longer), eg trying to read news from Deutsche Welle / other German source. Have read some Harry Potter books in German using my kindle in the past (if you install a German to English dictionary you can quickly look up any words you don't know which is really handy and works well most of the time) which I enjoyed and I think improved my German. Currently trying to listen to a German Harry Potter audiobook which is harder, but still fun (I'm not some Harry Potter superfan btw, just happens to be a story that I know well so is easy to follow, the writing isn't too complex, and I can easily get hold of translations for).
 
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