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On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

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Re: On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

#41

Post by jamil7 »

MandieD wrote: post #11

Observation of Berlin from the weekend I spent there last month: literally the only place I was better off speaking German rather than English was a Turkish cafe. Everywhere else? Too many people understood English far better than they did German, especially anywhere to do with tech. Some of the tech people I talked to were running into being otherwise eligible for a permanent residence permit, but not being able to…

It depends on where you are and what you're doing in the city. After a long enough time here, that lack of German starts to stunt or limit you to a degree. You'll end up in the same types of places with the same groups of people. Getting colleagues and friends to call places or answer letters or emails for you, or just stumbling along in broken German.

Re: On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

#42

Post by [deleted] »

Symbiote wrote: post #36
ben_w wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm British by birth, I chose Berlin after Brexit because: 1. Friends here 2. Alternative countries were Luxembourg/Switzerland (more expensive); Canada (worse weather); Ireland (fear I might get blamed personally for the stupid done by British politicians, and the UK Gov was being loudly stupid about Ireland at the time); USA (weird culture, guns); Australia/New Zealand (too far from the old country to visit regular…

> Belgium (saw a police officer with a long barrelled gun at the train station and noped out of even visiting it during an Interrail exploration trip) You know St Pancras has the same? Although maybe you'd also exclude London on the same basis.

[deleted]

Re: On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

#43

Post by dsego »

ben_w wrote: post #24
G3rn0ti wrote: post #9

As a native Urberliner I am both flattered and confused by the fact so many young Americans choose to live in my home town. I always wondered what makes it so attractive to you. I mean, winters are miserable, the city is ugly compared to many others in Germany, the people are rather not friendly to each other, the German language is difficult to learn, our history is troublesome, German immigration laws still difficu…

I'm British by birth, I chose Berlin after Brexit because: 1. Friends here 2. Alternative countries were Luxembourg/Switzerland (more expensive); Canada (worse weather); Ireland (fear I might get blamed personally for the stupid done by British politicians, and the UK Gov was being loudly stupid about Ireland at the time); USA (weird culture, guns); Australia/New Zealand (too far from the old country to visit regular…

Was it possibly the Antwerp train station?

Re: On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

#44

Post by mgraupner »

G3rn0ti wrote: post #3
rzzzt wrote: post #2

What was the issue with "spontaneously"? (Maybe I'm secretly a Berliner.)

It’s a false friend for a German. The German adverb „spontan“ does not mean „spontaneously“. The former means „at short notice“ while the latter „without direction“.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/de/worterbuch/englisch/spon...

"spontaneously" translates to "spontan".

Re: On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

#45

Post by tobiasbischoff »

G3rn0ti wrote: post #9

As a native Urberliner I am both flattered and confused by the fact so many young Americans choose to live in my home town. I always wondered what makes it so attractive to you. I mean, winters are miserable, the city is ugly compared to many others in Germany, the people are rather not friendly to each other, the German language is difficult to learn, our history is troublesome, German immigration laws still difficu…

keep asking myself the same but web / tech employers are attracting all the talent there.

Re: On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

#49

Post by tragomaskhalos »

The part about feeling a certain tristesse that your native language is a shared commodity rather than a cosy secret was very resonant. And a native English speaker who tries to speak the local language in, I would say, most any sizable European city will typically find that their attempt is politely shut down by their interlocutor in favour of English, because they will speak it vastly better than you speak their language.

Re: On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

#50

Post by ben_w »

Symbiote wrote: post #36
ben_w wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm British by birth, I chose Berlin after Brexit because: 1. Friends here 2. Alternative countries were Luxembourg/Switzerland (more expensive); Canada (worse weather); Ireland (fear I might get blamed personally for the stupid done by British politicians, and the UK Gov was being loudly stupid about Ireland at the time); USA (weird culture, guns); Australia/New Zealand (too far from the old country to visit regular…

> Belgium (saw a police officer with a long barrelled gun at the train station and noped out of even visiting it during an Interrail exploration trip) You know St Pancras has the same? Although maybe you'd also exclude London on the same basis.

It was bigger and scarier-looking than the ones I've seen anywhere in the UK, and if I'm now actually remembering those of St. Pancras rather than just imagining some, those were small compared to the ones in the airports.
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