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Ever criticized for learning German? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| LebensForm Senior Member Austria Joined 5051 days ago 212 posts - 264 votes  Studies: German | Message 1 of 68 19 May 2011 at 2:28am | IP Logged | ||
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Honestly, I don't know where to put this. So if it gets moved that's cool. For those of you that are learning German, do people ever give you a bad time about it? Say that it's a rough language, not romantic (I get this a lot from my friends), sounds like you're spitting on people or that it's a waste of time etc? I know it shouldn't bother me, and of course it doesn't for the most part but people are always giving me crap about learning German and it gets annoying after a while, especially from my parents. I guess I'm just wondering if this is the case for any of you- do people give you a hard time about learning German? For what ever the reason.
I guess this could go for any language, what do you say when people in your real lives gives you a bad time about wanting to learn a particular language? Just curious what you're thoughts are on this. Edited by LebensForm on 19 May 2011 at 2:28am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Keilan Senior Member Canada Joined 5087 days ago 125 posts - 241 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 2 of 68 19 May 2011 at 5:01am | IP Logged | ||
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I get it from time to time. I usually ask them if they think German sounds like this, and then proceed to say "nach" with the most exaggerated gross throaty noise I can make.
NaCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCh. Usually people laugh a bit at that and then are pretty receptive to me saying people get a bad view of it because half of the German they hear consists of Nazi's in WWII movies yelling at each other. Usually speaking a few sentences in German convinces them that while it has a few harsh sounds, it's not as bad as they thought. Some don't care to be corrected, they'll usually still laugh at the "nach" bit, and then go on with their lives. They still think German is harsh, but they won't give me anymore trouble. Also, I promise you that speaking German can impress girls just as much as French or Spanish. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6380 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 68 19 May 2011 at 6:01am | IP Logged | ||
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We've recently had a thread on this, but I can't find it. Anyone remember the name?
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| zekecoma Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5345 days ago 561 posts - 655 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish | Message 4 of 68 19 May 2011 at 7:33am | IP Logged | ||
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My mother personally hasn't really said anything about me learning German, though she
did ask why I want to move all the way to Germany. My grandfather who was in WW2, basically never really said anything about it. None of my friends really said anything about me learning German. Or they just never pay attention to care. *shrugs*. Personally, I don't care whether they like it or make fun of the language. Because I can easily make fun of their language if I wanted to. For instance, Spanish, you have to roll your tongue a lot and that sounds like a harsh language to my ears even if they say Spanish is a romance language. Though I'm slowly getting my heart around the language slowly. I still prefer the sound of German and Russian over any other language in the world. Just always look at it this way. German is the language of anger :). What's more beautiful then speaking German fast and be angry at the same time ;P, while at the same time being beautiful to the ears :). 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6704 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 68 19 May 2011 at 9:52am | IP Logged | ||
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Where I live there is every possible reason to learn German - I have for instance access to four German TV stations, while my mother with her Astra disk can watch at least thirty stations, Germany is a major trade partner and a neighbour country and the largest single fraction among our visitors are Germans who come here to visit our coasts (while bringing their own food from back home). So nobody here really questions the choice of learning German.
But there are people who don't like the grammar (der die das and all that) and others who don't find Germany as exciting as a travel destination (maybe because their ideal is a tropical beach and a personal servant to bring them cocktails). And it can't be denied that the German occupation also has kept some Danes from being overtly fond of German - though this attitude probably is going to wane with the people who experienced the the occupation personally. So I would say that German here generally is seen as something sensible to learn, but not very exciting (and certainly not as something exotic). Besides English has long ago conquered the position as the indisputed first foreign language to learn, and the risk is actually that we run into a deficit of people who can speak German well. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| LanguageSponge Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5767 days ago 1197 posts - 1487 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Welsh, Russian, Japanese, Slovenian, Greek, Italian | Message 6 of 68 19 May 2011 at 3:48pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've never been critised for learning German - but I have been questioned on many occasions about why I prioritised German so obviously over French, Spanish or Italian, the last of which being part of my heritage. The simple answer I gave all those people is that I prefer it over all others. After a few years, after I got genuinely good at it and could prove it, people stopped questioning and encouraged me - some of my cousins even chose to take German in school over French or Spanish simply because I had.
I get a hard time from lots of people for learning French - mostly English people, for whatever reason that is, but also from other nationalities. My relatives and friends also give me grief about it but that's because I've always had a problem learning French for whatever reason - I tell them that eventually, I will conquer it, and for me it's about stubbornness, not giving up - I have something to prove to myself there. Personally, I get more of a bad time from my mother's relatives, who are Welsh, about wanting to continue to revive the Welsh I had as a child - particularly those among my relatives who can't speak a word of it, but also some of the ones who actually can, properly. To those I say that I'm proud of being Welsh and annoyed at myself for losing what I had in the first place. Jack 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| LebensForm Senior Member Austria Joined 5051 days ago 212 posts - 264 votes Studies: German | Message 7 of 68 20 May 2011 at 2:45am | IP Logged | ||
In response to your last part, I am a girl, which is why I think a good friend of mine (a guy) gives me crap for speaking German. Apparently, it's a "masculine" language and whatnot... lol. And yes, I find German useful, I have some family living in Germany atm, and I plan to study abroad in Germany and Vienna next year. I also want to live there so bad! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| jazzboy.bebop Senior Member Norway norwegianthroughnove Joined 5419 days ago 439 posts - 800 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Norwegian | Message 8 of 68 20 May 2011 at 3:04am | IP Logged | ||
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There should be no need to have to defend your choice of target language. I'd just
respond with "whatever", roll my eyes with a smile and change the subject if someone gave me any grief. If they are going to have such a silly attitude towards there is little point wasting energy in trying to explain everything. I would think most people just do it to tease you. 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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