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Accents in Germany

Accents in Germany

Old Mar 30th 2008, 7:46 pm
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Default Accents in Germany

For a start, sorry if I have posted this on the wrong forum.There just wasn't a forum for Germany on this site.

What I would like to know is whether it is possible to get by in Germany with the "usual" knowledge of the German language. I'm particularly interested in Southern-Germany but I've heard their accent is quite impenetrable to even the native speakers.
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Old Apr 1st 2008, 1:47 pm
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Default Re: Accents in Germany

Don't know when this was posted -
You don't need to be able to understand any local dialect to get by. People from northern Germany don't understand south German dialect either, and it's not common to speak dialect at work (unlike in Switzerland)
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Old Apr 1st 2008, 9:28 pm
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Default Re: Accents in Germany

Originally Posted by THR
For a start, sorry if I have posted this on the wrong forum.There just wasn't a forum for Germany on this site.

What I would like to know is whether it is possible to get by in Germany with the "usual" knowledge of the German language. I'm particularly interested in Southern-Germany but I've heard their accent is quite impenetrable to even the native speakers.
No it's not that bad. If speak mainstream German you'll be fine even in deepest Bayern.
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Old Jun 29th 2008, 4:47 pm
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Default Re: Accents in Germany

Wow, amazing that people are thinking about whether they will be able to understand regional dialects. I've been here several years and, like so many people I know, just cannot get to grips with the language. Truly, I dream of the day when I have that to worry about...
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Old Jun 29th 2008, 5:33 pm
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Default Re: Accents in Germany

Obviously, there must be a lot of acfcents in Germany and not in Germany alone but in Switzerland and Austria too. Isn't it true that the Bavarians understand Austrians much better than their compatriots to the north?
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Old Jun 30th 2008, 12:23 pm
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Default Re: Accents in Germany

Oh yes, there can be so many varieties of the German language. I have spent a lot of time in Austria (and will be moving there). My experience has shown me that educated people usually also speak standard German and pull themselves together when speaking about serious subjects or with expats.

The most problems arise in the daily dealing with people in retail or with authorities.

On the other hand: in the large cities you have so many people of different origins that you can get by with English (as long as you use standard English yourself!).
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Old Jul 5th 2008, 7:26 pm
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Default Re: Accents in Germany

No, no problem.

When I moved here 13 years ago, I moved to deepest Swabia, and the dialect was absolutely unlike anything I had ever heard, but I coped fine, although my German was only A-level standard. Same applied when I moved to Bavaria. It's amazing how quickly you get used to it, and even start using it yourself without even noticing.
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Old Jul 5th 2008, 7:43 pm
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Default Re: Accents in Germany

Originally Posted by anglogerman
No, no problem.

When I moved here 13 years ago, I moved to deepest Swabia, and the dialect was absolutely unlike anything I had ever heard, but I coped fine, although my German was only A-level standard. Same applied when I moved to Bavaria. It's amazing how quickly you get used to it, and even start using it yourself without even noticing.
When I was younger, I went to work in Zürich for six months, in all innocence, to improve my spoken German. In fact, I also learnt a new language, Züridüütsch. Luckily they all learn Hochdeutsch at school and we could communicate, but I had a lot of teasing when I first tried saying "Chuchichäschtli" and "Chäschuechli". Apparently, decades later, I still speak German with a singing Swiss accent.
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Old Jul 5th 2008, 11:06 pm
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Default Re: Accents in Germany

Originally Posted by dmu
When I was younger, I went to work in Zürich for six months, in all innocence, to improve my spoken German. In fact, I also learnt a new language, Züridüütsch. Luckily they all learn Hochdeutsch at school and we could communicate, but I had a lot of teasing when I first tried saying "Chuchichäschtli" and "Chäschuechli". Apparently, decades later, I still speak German with a singing Swiss accent.
Oh my goodness, Chuchichäschtli was the restaurant tram, wasn't it? I used to spend most weekends with an ex-boyfriend in Zürich, and once utterly disgraced myself in the middle of a meal on it by having to stagger off it to be sick... Since then, I have refused to eat anywhere which doesn't stay put
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Old Jul 6th 2008, 6:37 am
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Default Re: Accents in Germany

Originally Posted by anglogerman
Oh my goodness, Chuchichäschtli was the restaurant tram, wasn't it? I used to spend most weekends with an ex-boyfriend in Zürich, and once utterly disgraced myself in the middle of a meal on it by having to stagger off it to be sick... Since then, I have refused to eat anywhere which doesn't stay put
Sorry, but you've got the wrong word! The Chuchi- word means a small kitchen cabinet and the Chäs- word means a small cheese pastry, and my second most embarrassing moment was to ask for the former in a pastry shop! The worst was when I muddled up schwül and schwul when commenting on the sultry weather!
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Old Jul 6th 2008, 8:49 am
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Default Re: Accents in Germany

Originally Posted by dmu
Sorry, but you've got the wrong word! The Chuchi- word means a small kitchen cabinet and the Chäs- word means a small cheese pastry, and my second most embarrassing moment was to ask for the former in a pastry shop! The worst was when I muddled up schwül and schwul when commenting on the sultry weather!
No I haven't, look here for the Chuchichäschtli tram:

http://www.walaulta.ch/traffic/sonder/chuchi.htm

And I've done the schwül/schwul thing too, as well as muddling up Schnuppen and Schnupfen in a pharmacy (ever heard of a nose spray for dandruff???? )
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Old Jul 6th 2008, 10:32 am
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Default Re: Accents in Germany

The Germans alone can not decide on the language. Whenever they plan some changes how some things are written they also have to consult the Swiss and the Austrians. Am I right in remembering that the Swiss have not accepted some changes so the literary form of the language is nowadays different in those countries? Something to do with the German double-s? Isn't so that if a word ends in a double-s it is written in Germany as ss when as the Swisds still use the old double-s?
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Old Jul 6th 2008, 3:14 pm
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Default Re: Accents in Germany

You're on the right lines, more or less: as far as I know, the Swiss never use or used the ß (scharfes S) (correct me if I'm wrong, somebody). Germany changed the rules to eliminate it as far as possible too, but it still has to be used in some cases, e.g. to distinguish Maß with a long a and Mass with a short one.
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Old Jul 6th 2008, 7:19 pm
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Default Re: Accents in Germany

Originally Posted by anglogerman
No I haven't, look here for the Chuchichäschtli tram:

http://www.walaulta.ch/traffic/sonder/chuchi.htm

And I've done the schwül/schwul thing too, as well as muddling up Schnuppen and Schnupfen in a pharmacy (ever heard of a nose spray for dandruff???? )
Sorry, I didn't see that tram when I was there (probably just as well!)
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Old Oct 26th 2008, 4:05 pm
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Default Re: Accents in Germany

Bavarian is a quaint dialect/language. I learnt German down here so have to revert to formal German when I go north. For me the worst dialect is in the Black Forest area, Schwabian.
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