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Hochdeutsch in Germany | ||
Tags: Germany | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3907 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 1 of 6 30 May 2015 at 4:31am | IP Logged |
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I know that the German dialects vary from region to region, but how would someone who speaks Hochdeutsch (non-native) fare when traveling in Germany? Do natives see this as "too proper" (snotty)? Would there be any problems for a traveler that knows only Hochdeutsch/Standard German?
EDIT: forgot to add - I could've sworn this was brought up before but I couldn't find the post, so I apologize if this has already been discussed. Edited by soclydeza85 on 30 May 2015 at 4:32am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4707 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 2 of 6 30 May 2015 at 5:08am | IP Logged |
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It's not a problem at all. Most Germans use Hochdeutsch (or whatever passes for their
variant of it) when they speak to someone from another town that doesn't speak their dialect at all. Otherwise, Bavarians and Kohlenpotters can't communicate. The younger generation's dialects are not that strong and you should be able to deal with them if you speak Standard German, although you may need some time to tune in to the stronger variations, such as in Bayern. No, it's not snotty. Is it snotty to use Standard English or Standard French when you are travelling to the UK or to Quebec? No, and neither is it that way in Germany. My German has always been perfectly adequate wherever I went, and I clearly speak standard German influenced by my native Dutch (so people will recognize the weak accent and switch to more standard German to accomodate me, unless they can't). I've spoken Hochdeutsch in Bavaria and managed just fine. And I should mention I don't speak perfect German either, but my level is more than good enough for anything I'll ever need to do in Germany. Edited by tarvos on 30 May 2015 at 5:14am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Bakunin Diglot Senior Member Switzerland outerkhmer.blogspot. Joined 5130 days ago 531 posts - 1126 votes Speaks: German*, Thai Studies: Khmer | Message 3 of 6 30 May 2015 at 5:18am | IP Logged |
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Not at all. You'll be fine with good Hochdeutsch - especially when you've got a slight foreign accent - everywhere in the German speaking world from Austria to Belgium, and of course all over Germany. Unfortunately, it's rather the other way round in many (but not all) parts of Germany: dialects are often looked down upon and are under pressure from the standard dialect.
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| daegga Tetraglot Senior Member Austria lang-8.com/553301 Joined 4521 days ago 1076 posts - 1792 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Swedish, Norwegian Studies: Danish, French, Finnish, Icelandic | Message 4 of 6 30 May 2015 at 10:35am | IP Logged |
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Speaking "too proper" is not a matter of Hochdeutsch vs. dialects but a matter of style. The language used in books is a bit different from the language used colloquially. I wouldn't speak English like I write academic papers either. But even if you do sound bookish, it's not gonna be a problem, especially as a foreigner. Better sound bookish than like you are from the ghetto.
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| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3907 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 5 of 6 03 June 2015 at 3:49am | IP Logged |
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Thanks guys!
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| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4622 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 6 of 6 12 June 2015 at 4:33pm | IP Logged |
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I've spoken Hochdeutsch in deepest rural Brandenburg and it works just fine. I think the locals are simply glad that a visitor can actually speak German. Understanding the replies can be a different matter though, especially among older generations.
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