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Schapps??? Ihr Deutshc braucht bestimmt auch sogar ein bisschen Bier, Herr Norbert. Oder vielleicht einen kalten Schnapps. Mit Gefühl!
Nein, Nein, es sind die Amerikaner ["Amis"] die hier wie verrueckt Schnapps saufen. Deutsche trinken nur ein oder zwei Glaeschen - Amis die ganze Flasche...
Here are some tips for first time visitors of Germany:
- ask: "do you speak English" before you ask something in English - for tipping in restaurants just round up. A tip must be earned. Poor service = no tip! - never ever lean on someone elses car! Here it´s more frightening to say "I know where your car is parking" than "I know which school your kids are attending"! - remember: German beer is really strong - don´t feel unwelcome just because Germans seem not so friendly like you might be used to. We ARE friendly, even when we don´t look like that.
The other day I heard a nice story about intercultural communication between Germans and a guy from abroad. He is invited for dinner by the German family for 8:00 pm. He heard that Germans appreciate punctuality, so he comes at 7:30. First mistake because the hosts are still in preparation for the dinner, so he disturbes. They serve his favorite dish and when he is finished they ask if he wants more. Of course he wants, but in his country it´s usual beeing asked if refill is wanted. Then one declines due to courtesy, just to be asked again, followed by a new rejection and so on until one feels courteous enough to say yes. But his hosts get that wrong, offer him refill one time and don´t care about his rejection, so he remains hungry. In his country it´s usual to finish the evening and to charm someone out of the house by offering him a coffee. Not so in Germany. Here you drink a coffee after a good meal in combination with a dessert. So, before the hosts offer the dessert they ask if the guest would like a coffee. He understands (he thinks), takes the coffee and jumps up for leaving
Gregor
piano tech - tuner - dealer Münster, Germany www.weldert.de
Here are some tips for first time visitors of Germany:
- ask: "do you speak English" before you ask something in English - for tipping in restaurants just round up. A tip must be earned. Poor service = no tip! - never ever lean on someone elses car! Here it´s more frightening to say "I know where your car is parking" than "I know which school your kids are attending"! - remember: German beer is really strong - don´t feel unwelcome just because Germans seem not so friendly like you might be used to. We ARE friendly, even when we don´t look like that.
The other day I heard a nice story about intercultural communication between Germans and a guy from abroad. He is invited for dinner by the German family for 8:00 pm. He heard that Germans appreciate punctuality, so he comes at 7:30. First mistake because the hosts are still in preparation for the dinner, so he disturbes. They serve his favorite dish and when he is finished they ask if he wants more. Of course he wants, but in his country it´s usual beeing asked if refill is wanted. Then one declines due to courtesy, just to be asked again, followed by a new rejection and so on until one feels courteous enough to say yes. But his hosts get that wrong, offer him refill one time and don´t care about his rejection, so he remains hungry. In his country it´s usual to finish the evening and to charm someone out of the house by offering him a coffee. Not so in Germany. Here you drink a coffee after a good meal in combination with a dessert. So, before the hosts offer the dessert they ask if the guest would like a coffee. He understands (he thinks), takes the coffee and jumps up for leaving
Gregor
Great tips and stories.
Further proof of the fact that language and culture and inseparable and that for a short trip it would be better to spend one's time studying the culture and local conventions and practices rather than trying to squeeze a 10 year language course into a couple of hours of study.
My Keyboards: Estonia L-190, Roland RD88, Yamaha P-80, Bilhorn Telescope Organ c 1880, Antique Pump Organ, 1850 concertina, 3 other digital pianos ------------------------- My original piece on BandCamp: https://frankbaxtermrpianoworld.bandcamp.com/releases
Me banging out some tunes in the Estonia piano booth at the NAMM show...
Doesn't make sense to learn German, since everyone speaks English in even the most remote corners of the world. I wouldn't recommend something like Rosetta Stone. These commercial courses are just not practical. They have sentence constructions like: "Which one of the three people is holding the plate?", stuff that you would never say in real life. The best way to learn a foreign language is to befriend a native speaker who will teach you the language like you would learn it in the home in that country.
Isn't it just marvellous? Once again this is a post, the content of which had me dumbstruck, but I knew almost immediately there was only one person on this forum most likely to have written that hogwash - the first sentence being absolute nonsense! My eyes then shifted to top left, and low and behold there was that notorious poster's name again! When most babies are born, their bottoms are given a slight smack; in this OP's case, if I had been the midwife, I would have suggested that it should have been other than slight - and administered to the mother!
I can advise anyone who has never set foot outside their own country, that nothing inspires more respect from overseas residents than hearing visitors at least trying to communicate in the local language. The word politeness also comes to mind.
Frank, I admire your willingness to learn the language. To address your query on learning German, I was always told the easiest, most satisfying way to learn any language was from a native speaker of the opposite sex, effectively using the 'pillow dictionary'. However without wishing for a minute to distress your OH, I can suggest that there are numerous basic video lessons on the internet, some bad, some very good, and here are two which IMHO are particularly effective, pleasing, and motivating by virtue of their simple charm. Basic Lesson One
More and more today German schools are teaching students to learn english. Its like that in many foreign countries. In america its there, but not nearly as strict or long. We start learning a foreign language around 7th grade to 12th grade on average. In germany, many schools start teaching kids english at 1st grade. Therefor by highschool they are quite proficient in speaking it.
In france, I spoke with a French teenager who was about 13. We were in the Louvre Museum, and he approached me as I was speaking english. He had a million questions to ask me. He spoke excellent english, and sadly, I knew hardly any French. I talked about how wonderful Paris was, and how the US doesn't have any landmarks like Paris does.
Wish US schools would teach more like they do overseas.
Hailun HU7P 1799 John Broadwood and son square 1800 George Astor London square 1810 Gibson and Davis New York square 1830 John Broadwood and sons square
Aeolian-Hammond BA player organ Conn 652 theater organ 1922 Kotykiewicz two manual harmonium 1880s karn pump organ
Germans are very friendly but get used that they don't beat around the bush. Never 'confusion- city'
Another one is that you're expected to do more yourself.
Park your own car. Walk up the stairs in the hotel if there is no elevator. Simply sit at any table at a restaurant, even if there is somebody sitting there already [ a small wink or hello is in place..] Don't smile at the girls - simply ask them out. Some may simply say "Ja" [more in the North than South] Don't return smiles to the girls - if they're smiling at you they're serious already and may ask YOU out...You can jaywalk anywhere but make sure you're not run over: pedestrians are considered non-existing. In fact some may may think you're a deer to be hunted down.. Never make a complimentary joke about Nazis: the Polizei may show up in short order and let you have it. And yeah, Germans don't always "look" nice - they may even stare at you. [they do this to many strangers including me when entering a strange bar] Stare back and say "Guten Tag, ich bin ein Ami" Expect a free beer next. Also expect a lot of 'Germans' not speaking German. Germany has become a huge immigrant country of its own. Some of them may think you're crazy when you smile at them. Last not least expect to have some intense "memories of Germany" when back. It's the nearest feeling of being homesick. My whole family got it.
White socks and baseball caps are also apparently not the style in Germany so my german teacher says. White socks are strictly for tennis.
Hailun HU7P 1799 John Broadwood and son square 1800 George Astor London square 1810 Gibson and Davis New York square 1830 John Broadwood and sons square
Aeolian-Hammond BA player organ Conn 652 theater organ 1922 Kotykiewicz two manual harmonium 1880s karn pump organ
White socks and baseball caps are also apparently not the style in Germany so my german teacher says. White socks are strictly for tennis.
Yess! One of the most important insights. To this belongs: no short trousers in the Deutsches Museum Munich and inside Cologne Cathedral.. ;-) ..even if it may be the hottest day since emperor Augustus once was born.. Any american group visiting Europe can easily be identified normally by wearing baseball caps and short trousers even if the visitors are 90++ yrs.. ;-)
..and a savvy hint: being in Hamburg on the famous Reeperbahn... even if the officer is wearing a prussian pickel hat he is NOT a high german police officer.. .. but he may try to involve you with some precious bar girls behind the red painted door.. ..smile at him, wish him politely a pleasant evening.. Example why? The advertising outside tells you "One Beer 5 EURO only". Then the girl inside ask you "Do you like a Gedeck?" It's a beer plus a schnaps. Don't think it may cost two times 5 EURO. NO. The price list should be reviewed in advance. This "Gedeck" (setting) may cost 39 EURO. Or was it 59? Sorry.. Forgotten.. ;-)
Or travel with your beloved lady. She will probably know of these circumstances.
Pls excuse any bad english.
Centennial D Sept 1877
Working on Berceuse op.57 Nocturnes op. 9-1,3 15-1,2,3 27-2 32-1,2 Going Home (Mark Knopfler)
One sad fact is that I was wearing shorts when we were at the Louvre. Unacceptable, but oh my it was HOT that day. Of course walking 5 miles on average a day was tiring, so shorts was the most comfortable option. Although at the Louvre entrance, I got a big taste of home. A gentleman in front of us was wearing a Nebraska Cornhuskers sweater. I had to ask him what city he was from of course. Omaha!!!!! yay! Thousands of miles away, and here we are with a fellow Nebraskan. It made me feel a bit more comfortable.
Hailun HU7P 1799 John Broadwood and son square 1800 George Astor London square 1810 Gibson and Davis New York square 1830 John Broadwood and sons square
Aeolian-Hammond BA player organ Conn 652 theater organ 1922 Kotykiewicz two manual harmonium 1880s karn pump organ
Yes. American men tend to never stop dressing like little boys. On the other hand, too many older Dutch and German women tend to dress like cougars with skin tight animal print leggings or tight skirts, too much makeup and snug blouses with decolletes lurching dangerously into major sagging wrinkle territory. Such are the delights of cross-country cultural differences.
Never ask a waiter innocently for a "glass of water" They'll bring you a whole BOTTLE of costly mineral water.Minimum price: Euro 5.00. In a store: 1-2 Euros.
Icecream: delicious and cheap. So are bakery goodies - fabulous & everywhere.
Re baseball hats: they're long out again. They once were in some 10 years ago. Now you see some old men wearing them - in reverse.
Forget the whole eros centre circus.They're for guest workers. Germans have sex in city parks....
I think we're resorting to cultural generalizations though Americans tend to stick out in a crowd. I am amused at seeing people who clearly don't exercise wearing sport clothes in public. (I didn't know clothes could be engineered to withstand that kind of pressure.)
You can specifically ask for a carafe of tap water and your request might be honored. Here in the Netherlands I've asked for a carafe of tap water and was not charged and in another restaurant charged a small service charge which I feel is acceptable.
Over here the coffee is richer than what most Americans are accustomed to and the cups are not refilled.
Driving over here is different than in the US. I've lived in the Netherlands for 16 years and can count on one hand the number of Stop signs I've encountered ... in the entire country. We yield to the right of way but there signs to indicate whether or not your road has priority.
I once received a speeding ticket from Germany after I came home from a vacation there. It seems a camera on a bridge had caught me speeding (slightly, the fine was only €12 I believe) and the ticket was mailed to my Dutch address along with a photo. My wife was the passenger and her face was digitized out for privacy reasons I suspect. They had tracked me down using the license plate, sent me a ticket and a photo as well. I was impressed.
Yamaha AvantGrand N1X | Roland RD 2000 | Sennheiser HD 598 headphones
The European Union commissioners have announced that agreement has been reached to adopt English as the preferred language for European communications, rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five-year phased plan for what will be known as EuroEnglish (Euro for short).
In the first year, "s" will be used instead of the soft "c". Sertainly, sivil servants will resieve this news with joy. Also, the hard "c" will be replaced with "k". Not only will this klear up konfusion, but typewriters kan have one less letter.
There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced by "f". This will make words like "fotograf" 20 per sent shorter.
In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of silent "e"s in the languag is disgrasful, and they would go.
By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" by z" and "w" by " v".
During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou", and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.
After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubls or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech ozer.
Ze drem vil finali kum tru.
Autodidact interested in piano technology. 1970 44" Ibach, daily music maker. 1977 "Ortega" 8' + 8' harpsichord (Rainer Schütze, Heidelberg)
My Keyboards: Estonia L-190, Roland RD88, Yamaha P-80, Bilhorn Telescope Organ c 1880, Antique Pump Organ, 1850 concertina, 3 other digital pianos ------------------------- My original piece on BandCamp: https://frankbaxtermrpianoworld.bandcamp.com/releases
Me banging out some tunes in the Estonia piano booth at the NAMM show...
Rosetta stone doesn't really help, because it focuses more on conversational German, and not restaurant / where's the bathroom stuff that you're going to use. Look for courses that focus heavily on that, since restaurant stuff is where you'll need the most detail.
Here's my observations 1. Pay toilets are usually mandatory in Austria, and it's usually tip toilets in Germany. Always have a few euros on you, because you never know. Don't expect a fast food place to have a toilet, let alone a pay toilet. 2. Drinks are very limited compared to America. A large is often considered "two drinks" and there are no free refills. Expect to lose a lot of water weight. 3. People in Austria are a bit more outgoing and willing to speak English than people in Germany. 4. Beer is cheaper than water. Beer and soda is not warm, just not as cold as in America. 5. Johann Strauss II is the classical master of Vienna. 6. The Mozart residency is way more worthwhile than Mozart's birthplace. Mozart's birthplace is just creepy. 7. Schönbrunn's garden is worth more than the inside. If I had to do it all over again, I would have skipped the inside entirely. 8. If you order water, you get seltzer water. You must specify still water.
Dr. Appleman, former NASA engineer, Empire of Earth and B.S. of Ninjutsu at MIT.
Kathy often asks for water, and will frequently ask for a glass of ice (ice cubes) because we both like our white wine kept cold.
White wine has to come with a right (cellar or refrigerator) temperature of around 8 to10 degrees Celsius (i.e. 46 to 50 Fahrenheit).
If the wine then (...) grows warmer a little bit: that`s not a bug, that's a feature of good wine, shows modification and makes the "nose impression" more interesting. (On top there do exist "chamelelon wines" which may change their arome profile by every minute and one degree plus Fahrenheit.. ;-)
If the wine is coming warm, with room temperature: this is wrong and not acceptable in "not-so-simple" restaurants. Just let it go back and demand a cold bottle.
If you want to keep the bottle cold on the table, let the waiter bring a wine cooler (german-like pronounced "wine kühler"), maybe with icy water around the bottle (..and a piece of cloth, collar to wipe).
To put ice cubes into the glass with white wine, melt them by the wine, so make the wine thinner - that's like wearing a baseball cap in Cologne Cathedral.. ;-) - .. you are allowed to do so.. - but be aware that people will smile about this..
(..you also won't go into the Hofbraeuhaus in Munich and ask for American Pizza.. There of course you would like to have a real bavarian Eisbein.. ) ;-)
(..and please I don't want to show any behaviour like a teacher nor like a "super cultivated" European who seems to think that americans were not cultivated.. - nose up - my english is simply not as good that I always would be able to avoid any wrong impressions.. please excuse, I don't want to make anybody angry..)
Bernd A. B. - piano (& wine.. & .. ) enthusiast
Pls excuse any bad english.
Centennial D Sept 1877
Working on Berceuse op.57 Nocturnes op. 9-1,3 15-1,2,3 27-2 32-1,2 Going Home (Mark Knopfler)
And, don't forget the most important thing: Never ask for a Martini, you will only get a glass of dry Vermouth. Ask for a Martini Cocktail!
As for noisy, rude American tourists, I had a lot of them when I worked in hotels in Norway. Compared to the Germans, the French and the Italians, the Americans were the best behaved of them all.
Some men are music lovers. Others make love without it.
Unacceptable, but oh my it was HOT that day. Of course walking 5 miles on average a day was tiring, so shorts was the most comfortable option.
