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Why do I find German loads harder than French?
Word order seems baffling currently.
It's the capitalisation of all nouns that gets me. Though, I suppose that's just a rule you have to learn. Perhaps it's just a bit harder when you're older ❓
verstehe was meinst Ich du ja,
Or something.
Noun capitalisation helps when trying to pick sentences apart with a dictionary..
Es ist sehr schwer.
Because it doesn't come from the same Latin roots.
Michel Thomas is my favourite language teacher - treat yourself to a set of his cds off Amazon.
But expect Germans (like Spaniards) to puzzle why all these Brits are speaking fairly well - [i]but with a Polish accent[/i]
Du geile sau, from one of my favourite german songs!
German compund nouns are the worse.For example;
[i]Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft[/i]
It's the fact that pronouns decline that always throws me. But then German is a right laugh compared to Ukrainian.
Because it doesn't come from the same Latin roots.
Nor does my native language!
molgrips, your native language smells of petrol and German is beer fueled.
[i]Why do I find German loads harder than French?[/i]
Yep, i did both at school and the word order in a sentence in German is just not what we are used to ie. shoving all the verbs to the end of the sentence.
Not surprisingly failed German o'level and never looked back !
[i]Noun capitalisation helps when trying to pick sentences apart with a dictionary[/i]
It also helped me understand what a noun actually was. When I was university. Studying German. Which has been of zero use since.
Wieso lernst du jetzt Deutsch? Man kann was nuetzliches lernen, order? Sicher.
Ich bin eine Wellensittich.
Jimmy. Ich bin in Deutschland leben jetzt seit sechs Monaten.
"Seit sechs Monaten wohne Ich in Deutschland", no ?
See? That's exactly what I am bloody well talking about!
Leben means live in the sense of being alive whereas wohnen means to live as in live in a house. I think the main problem is that English uses so many words which are spelt the same but mean different things. Also in reverse, trying to translate your sentance back into English is the reason why many Germans would say I have been living in Germany since six months. Hope that helps.
I found it harder than French initially but after a few months found it a lot easier - especially the pronounciation. Be thankful you're in the south where they're a lot less fussy about the grammar/pronounciation than the north where they speak "proper" Hochdeutsch. I've learnt the local Tirolian dialect here and can barely communicate when I'm north of Bavaria.
Of all the courses/books I used, this book helped me the most with understanding the German grammar:
[url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/German-Grammar-Harraps-Study-Aid/dp/024560717X ]Harrap's German grammar[/url]
tbh I've always found that Germans understand me even though I have the words in the wrong order, no different to someone doing the same in English.
Leben means live in the sense of being alive whereas wohnen means to live as in live in a house
Thanks 🙂
I think the main problem is that English uses so many words which are spelt the same but mean different things
That doesn't really bother me actually. It's fairly easy to get your head round. Connaitre and savoire, gwybod and nabod in Welsh I think all mean 'know' in different senses.
It's the word order and the unfamiliarity. I suppose I've been exposed to French much more over my life.
if in doubt, the verb at the end of the sentence stick.
Also capitalise Fifty percent Of the Words.
umlauts to that !
after me,
ich mich mir mein,
du dich ...
Edit: and "auzgezeichnet" - best word ever
I thought German was easier than French, but then I was still a youngster when I was learning both. Maybe it's an age thing?
Danish is still a complete mystery to me, whether this is age or the language I've no idea.
IIRC from O-level German - I got a B but it was 30 years ago - the verb is usually the second word in the sentence UNLESS it's a question OR there's something at the beginning of the sentence that otherwise modifies it, such as "if" or "when" (both "wenn" IIRC - remember, 30 years) in which case at the end it goes.
Ich bin froh, dass ich nur einmal in meinem Leben deutsch lernen muss. Ätzende Sprache.
durch fuer gegen ohne um
aus ausser bei mit seit nach von zu
Tattoo those lines on your eyelids.
Jimmy, I think germans will forgive the wrong use of Dative and Accusitive declensions of prepositions in a non native speaker. I lived in Germany for 2 years and found you could make a sound that (if in doubt) could encompass either den, der, des or dem.
It's when you try puns in German with 2 very similar words that it gets amusing: You'll just get your pronounciation corrected! Although a German did once say to me: "Alle Schotton dicht!" which could either mean "All bulkheads are sealed!" or "All Scots are stupid!". Dude was deff a comic genius (by german standards, of course)..
Die Antibabypille
never forgotten that one
Just don't go around in the winter saying "Ich bin kalt" or the summer saying "Ich bin heiss" (like I did).
You should say "Mir ist heiss/kalt" - "to me it is hot/cold".
If you say "Ich bin..." it means you are frigid or randy.
same in French incidentally, stumpy.. je suis froid, j'ai froid