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German: in Heidelberg, Regensburg or...? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Immersion, Schools & Certificates |  | |
| pash Tetraglot Newbie Italy Joined 4660 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, French, Russian | Message 1 of 11 03 March 2012 at 3:10pm | IP Logged |
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Hiya all!
I'm gonna spend 4 to 8 weeks in Germany or Austria for an intensive language course, so as to brush up my German (I had studied it a lot back in my university years, but then many years have passed, I've never used it, so...ich habe fast alles vergessen!). I'd like to go by car (I'm from northern Italy) so I'm not really considering the farthest places up north or east (so, no Hamburg nor Wien). Among the places I've googled so far, the most promising to me are Heidelberg, Regensburg and Salzburg. The main doubt though is that I'm very quick at picking up accents, and I wouldn't want to pick up a bad accent. I know that the "purest" Hochdeutsch is in Hannover, Bremen, etc., but amongst the 3 places I've listed, which one would you guys suggest? Many thanks in advance for your help! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Kyle Corrie Senior Member United States Joined 4839 days ago 175 posts - 464 votes  | Message 2 of 11 03 March 2012 at 3:42pm | IP Logged |
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What constitutes a 'bad' accent? I would imagine any Austrian would argue that the
ability of their German is not in anyway hampered by their 'bad' accent. That's a completely subjective question to be asking. You should select your city based upon which has the greatest appeal to you. And for what it may be worth: I've been to Salzburg on three different occasions and absolutely love that city. There is, however, a large university population in the city from all over representing 'Universität Mozarteum' and the vast majority of them don't speak a word of German and their common line of communication will be in English. Not to mention that the city has quite a large tourist base and again, your common ground will be in English. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Majka Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic kofoholici.wordpress Joined 4667 days ago 307 posts - 755 votes Speaks: Czech*, German, English Studies: French Studies: Russian | Message 3 of 11 03 March 2012 at 3:57pm | IP Logged |
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IMHO, Heidelberg should be safest and Regensburg worst. In both Regensburg and Salzburg you should get Bavarian dialects and I heard that some teachers of German at the Uni Regensburg have a very strong accent.
But in Austria, strong dialects seems to be problem either in rural places or in drunken conversation. In the last 20 years, I had many friends among Austrian people and real dialect was something known and used at home but not in everyday conversation around a non-local (meaning even native speaker). Only a few time they slipped in dialect on purpose, to see if I can follow the conversation. In my experience, there is general "Austrian" variety of German (I speak it myself enough to fool natives), but the differences to Hochdeutsch are in use of some different words and phrases, not so much accent. Edited by Majka on 03 March 2012 at 3:58pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Christine Diglot Groupie Germany Joined 6636 days ago 41 posts - 47 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Japanese, Modern Hebrew | Message 4 of 11 03 March 2012 at 5:31pm | IP Logged |
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From what I have observed, the German you'll be most likely to be exposed to depends on which part of Germany the students at your university of choice come from. For example, I attend a rather small university (10,000 students) in a Franconian town of about 74,000 people. Our university is well-known for its legal and economic faculty as well as its interdisciplinary courses of study, so it attracts students from all over Germany and the percentage of locals attending it is rather low. In fact getting to hear the local dialect on campus is rather unlikely, whereas the locals in town employ it, of course.
So in your case, I'd also recommend Heidelberg. It has one of the most famous universities in Germany and a large percentage of the population is made up of students from all over the country and beyond. It is likely you'll be exposed to a more Standard variety of German rather than the local dialect (which I suppose isn't as heavy as the one you will probably pick up in Regensburg or Salzburg - but I have to admit I have never really been to Heidelberg and can only guess the variety of German spoken there). Edited by Christine on 03 March 2012 at 5:33pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| pash Tetraglot Newbie Italy Joined 4660 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, French, Russian | Message 5 of 11 03 March 2012 at 9:46pm | IP Logged |
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First of all, my apologies to Austria, Bavaria and Baden-Württenberg for not having put "bad" in quotes indicating it wasn't to be meant as a universal statement,but just as personal opinion (or better again, I should have written "pick up a heavy regional accent" instead of a "bad" one); I really didn't mean no offense, sorry if my bad choice of words hurted anybody's feelings. Entschuldigung!
(besides, though I don't know southern Germany, I must say that in my teen years I've been many times in Austria and totally loved the place, the people, the cuisine,...) And now, big thanks for all the replies, much appreciated! I think I just need to add that I'm not gonna study in a university, but in a language school, so I'm not gonna spend time in a campus...does that mean that there would be less difference between the 3 options? Or would you still suggest Heidelberg? Thanks again! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Majka Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic kofoholici.wordpress Joined 4667 days ago 307 posts - 755 votes Speaks: Czech*, German, English Studies: French Studies: Russian | Message 6 of 11 03 March 2012 at 10:59pm | IP Logged |
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I would suggest Heidelberg. I don't know Heidelberg personally, but I would expect pretty neutral accent there .
As mentioned, Austria is very safe bet in any bigger town, Salzburg isn't an exeption. You would have to travel out of the town in certain regions to have problems. Regensburg is where one will hear Bavarian dialect quite often. I would avoid it, if bothered by non-standard German. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| zenmonkey Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6562 days ago 803 posts - 1119 votes 1 sounds Speaks: EnglishC2*, Spanish*, French, German Studies: Italian, Modern Hebrew | Message 7 of 11 04 March 2012 at 12:56am | IP Logged |
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Munich.
Many of the teachers at the Goethe Inst. are from elsewhere in Germany and all teach Hoch. Munich has Germans from all over Germany and you'll hear everything but Bavarian. The second you step out of Munich into the countryside, well, that is another story. You'll love the city. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| druckfehler Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4878 days ago 1181 posts - 1912 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Korean Studies: Persian | Message 8 of 11 04 March 2012 at 4:26am | IP Logged |
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People in Heidelberg usually speak Hochdeutsch. In any of the cities in Hessen/Rhineland-Palatinate/Northrheinwestphalia you'll mostly hear Hochdeutsch, maybe with slight local colouring. In Regensburg Bavarian dialect is the standard, in Salzburg they speak Austrian German (and it is different from Hochdeutsch not only in word choice, but also in pronunciation).
2 persons have voted this message useful |
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