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Why does German have a bad reputation? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| zoba Newbie United States Joined 5357 days ago 10 posts - 12 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 1 of 45 26 March 2010 at 4:03pm | IP Logged |
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Maybe I'm completely off on this, but it seems to me that German has kind of a bad
reputation. The general consensus on German seems to be that it's ugly, difficult, and a strange second-language choice. When I was studying French and Latin, people thought that was very academic of me and cool. When I say I'm studying German, people seem to think it's a little odd. What's wrong with German? Obviously, there's no right or wrong answer. But I'm curious if other people have noticed this and, if so, why you think it might be. I live in the United States where Spanish and French are the common language choices. This probably is contributing to the prejudice I've seen towards German. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5585 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 2 of 45 26 March 2010 at 4:29pm | IP Logged |
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I think German is an absolutely beautiful language actually, and for some odd reason, it really makes sense to me. (The cases, genders, everything) It really works for me and I understand WHY it works.
I do not believe it's very difficult (learning any language can be hard of course) but by no means impossible. If you enjoy what you're doing, the language will come to you easily, and it will not be considered "work." People think it's impossible because they don't put in the effort to learn a language. They would rather say "whatever, it's impossible" than actually do it :) If you like German, go for it. I personally love the language and the people. Do what YOU want to do, you don't have to answer to any opinions :) WELCOME TO THE FORUMS :D -Jordan 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| delectric Diglot Senior Member China Joined 7181 days ago 608 posts - 733 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: German | Message 3 of 45 26 March 2010 at 4:35pm | IP Logged |
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German is a nice sounding language but I think there's a bit of a hangover still from the
war. All those old war films where the baddies are speaking English in a German accent isn't a good advert for the country. Edited by delectric on 26 March 2010 at 4:38pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| GauchoBoaCepa Triglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5419 days ago 172 posts - 199 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English, Spanish | Message 4 of 45 26 March 2010 at 4:39pm | IP Logged |
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I'd like to study German some day, but my ears have been so spoiled lately that wouldn't catch any word properly.....
German is like a woman with ugly face but stunning body.... 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| hvorki_ne Groupie Joined 5386 days ago 72 posts - 79 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Icelandic | Message 5 of 45 26 March 2010 at 4:45pm | IP Logged |
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For one thing, in the US, and other parts, the most people know about Germany is Oktoberfest, being overly serious, and liederhosen. Generally when people speak "German" for an american audience- it's a very over the top, angry, harsh version.
In my German class one of the kids commented that, if you knew languages, you'd speak French when you want to insult someone, Italian when you want to woo someone, can't remember Spanish, and German when you want to yell at someone. German is just seen as an angry-sounding language. We also don't see it as useful. Latin has the prestige of being a dead language. People who know Latin are scholars, they're seen as more intelligent. Most of the things Latin aids with are intellectual- it helps with medicine, learning other languages, studying English, spelling bees, etc. French is seen as a romantic and cultured language. When someone wants to put on airs of being in the height of fashion and far more important than you- they say "dahling" and pepper their speech with french sayings and offhandedly talk about what's happening in Paris. We associate French with culture- both the country and the language. Also, it's one of the most popular 2 (Spanish & French) due to Canada. German... There's not as much of a reason to. It aids in linguistics in the same way Latin does, but it doesn't have the same prestige of learning a dead language. It doesn't have the culture of Paris behind it, either. From this site's comment about German usefulness: "If you deal with Germany or Austria, either as a tourist or for business, speaking German is a key asset. The problem is that you need to speak it well, since the Germans like precision and exactness. They will not like talking to you if you constantly make mistakes. Furthermore, many Germans speak good English and like to show it off. Unless your German is flawless, they'll switch to English." Edited by hvorki_ne on 26 March 2010 at 4:48pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| lichtrausch Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5960 days ago 525 posts - 1072 votes Speaks: English*, German, Japanese Studies: Korean, Mandarin | Message 6 of 45 26 March 2010 at 5:05pm | IP Logged |
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Fortunately, German has quite a good reputation in East Asia. Especially in Japan where it was used for a long time as the language of medicine. One of the Japanese classics is a love story between a Japanese man and a German woman in Germany. It's called 舞姫, written by Mori Ogai.
2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| zoba Newbie United States Joined 5357 days ago 10 posts - 12 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 7 of 45 26 March 2010 at 5:29pm | IP Logged |
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I, personally, love German and am going to learn it with no regards to its stereotypes.
But it is frustrating when people believe German is useless and ugly. For one thing, "useless" and "ugly" are highly subjective terms. And two, I don't believe that any language is truly useless. Anyway, I think this opinion comes mostly from people who are not interested in languages. People who study languages themselves seem to better understand my desire to learn German. Also, if I didn't have German speaking grandparents, then my view of German might be skewed too. Personal experience with a language really changes how you view it. For me, German is not the language of war criminals and Oktoberfest. It's the language my grandpa used to teach me when I was little. You can see how I would have very different connotations for German than others. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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