Why do the Germans talk like Yoda?
 

Seriously, their sentence structure is all **** about face. :roll:

I started with a few basic lessons on CD last year prior to going to the Nurburgring. So this year I decided to dust them off and get the rest of the series too - gives me something to do with my time and makes shuffling all the tracks on my iPod somewhat 'interesting'. :wink:

I'm about half way through: the words are easy enough, and with a Welsh mother I'm Ok with the guttural pronunciation too - it's just stringing them together that makes me sound like Yoda with a bad case of laryngitis! :roll:

I wonder what it;ll be like when i start on Arabic?! :shock:
(I got a DVD with all the introductory lessons for a load of different languages free so i figure I may give some of the more obscure ones like Swahili a go for a laugh.)

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Where'd you get it? I'd love a go. :D

F.U.N.E.X?

Re: Why do the Germans talk like Yoda?
 

Try Cantonese. There's 6 different tones of pronouncation, Get it wrong and you could end up calling your mum a horse. :oops:

Where else - eBay! :wink:

German is a very "literal" language. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the naming of some common vehicle parts:

Exhaust pipe = spitzenpoppenbangenhangentube
Windscreen wipers = flippenflappenmuckenspreaders
Estate car = bagzervroomfurshagginginafter

HTH

:lol: :wink:

Ah ha!! some submarine ones...

Torpedo tube - das schwimminloudenboomerspittentube

Conning tower - Das fighten und sinkenwerke

Sonar - das pingen und findenwerke
:lol:

What actually got me started was going through some old board games from my parents loft and finding a little book that had been used as a scorecard for something on the back.

The book itself was a genuine, 194something publication from the American version of the Home Office. It has some wonderful little cartoon in it and phrases that can only be useful in certain situations - such as, "Where are the American Soldiers?" & "We are here to help you, please don't shoot!" :roll:

The worst thing about learning German is that there are no rules to help you along. Trouble is there is always three possible ways of saying something. Depending on if the person is someone you know, a stranger or someone of importance.

Believe me, speaking to a Policeman that has pulled you over for a traffic offense and saying du (you) instead of sie (you) makes a difference between a possible ticket or not.

There are also three ways to say The. Der Die Das. I mean how bloody stupid is that. Only one will be the right one and you only know which one is the right one if you all ready know that the adjective is feminine, masculine or neutral. And there are no rules to let you know which one it is.

I did O level German whilst in the Army. (Oh and the ex was German).

Quite, but Portuguese will throw a fourth way just for good measure: "O", masculine singular, "A", feminine singular, "Os", masculine plural, "As" feminine plural. :lol:

A bit like French and the "le, la, les, las" then :lol:

9, V.F.M.

Had to read it twice...got it in the end tho'! Very good. :lol:

Tsk, don't you remember Benny Hill?

Always Sie unless you are quite familiar with them , or told otherwise.

Only 3? From memory ..
Der, Die, Das, Die
Den, Die, Das, Die
Des, Der, Des, Der,
Dem, Der, Dem, Den

My policy was 'can I possibly recast this sentence as plural' . Just use Die. :)

The verb at the end of the sentence isn't that annoying on its own. But it can be quite confusing, when in a sentence such as this, with many subordinate clauses, which lead you to forget what you are doing, it is used. :D

My Cornish mother in law talks funny all the time too :wink:

Hey, tell me about it. Never done German in my life and now find myself working for a German company and having to speak on a regular basis to the a software designer who can't speak English. So far my basic French has come in useful, as he understands that :roll:


A few years ago we were on holiday in Cyprus and took a trip on "Georges Fun Bus". This guy went round about 5 hotels before taking us all down to the beach for the day. Just before we reached the last hotel he pulled the bus over and said:

"I'm going to pretend to speak to you in German, all you need to to is say "Yar, yar" nod your heads & laugh, so we confuse the last batch of people that get on."

All of his words either ended with "stien" of "hoff", and the poor family that got on actually thought they'd book a day out with a bunch of Germans. Maybe you had to be there, but it was very funny...

.

OK, now I'm confused in English too. :oops: :wink:


Though amusingly, the last lesson seemed to be teaching you to either:

a) Stalk some poor woman and pressurise her into having a drink with you at your place or a meal at the resturant over the road, or...

b) Constantly refuse or deflect the advances of some bloke who just wants to get you ****ed at his place, or possibly slip you some Rohypnol whilst buying you a meal at some scummy resturant over the road. :shock:

Der = The

Den = Then

Des = There

Dem = Those / Them