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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

#151

Post by [deleted] »

ben_w wrote: post #50
Symbiote wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

[deleted]

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

#152

Post by detaro »

boffinAudio wrote: post #88
jamil7 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a very real barrier, it takes some time to build enough confidence to push through and continue in the target language.

I can attest to this. I've lived in German-speaking countries for twenty years and English is still my daily language. Germans just love speaking English, especially since they speak English better than most English-native speakers can operate in German. I speak German when I'm out and about and nobody knows me, and I don't mind if the frustrated stranger laughs at my weird and obnoxious dialect. Among friends though…

> Among friends though, they don't have the patience and just plow through the conversation in their excellent English.

That's kinda sad. I totally get the impulse to do so, and once I've started speaking English I might not even notice I'm doing it, but if I know someone is learning it is IMHO the decent thing to do to try let them practice if it doesn't matter to get to the point quickly.

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

#153

Post by hnbad »

looperhacks wrote: post #91
ivanche wrote: post #68

Why would anyone use "downloaden" when there already is "herunterladen" is beyond me.

The worst thing is someone trying to put it in past tense: For "herunterladen" it's easy: "herunter-ge-laden". For "download", the obvious choice is "downloaded", but instead some people prefer the weird hodge-podge of "down-ge-loaded"

It gets worse. I don't know who started it (personally I blame Apple talking about its app store) but increasingly I see "laden" being used instead of "herunterladen". When used with "auf", it's usually about installing an app: "lade dir die App auf's Handy". But frequently it's used without any preposition to mean "download": "lade den Gratis-Background".

I'd much prefer "downgeloaded" over this nonsense using "actual" German words incorrectly.

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

#154

Post by Maken »

robin_reala wrote: post #58
skrebbel wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come to Holland! It's basically Belgium with better frontyards and nicer cops.

Belgium wins on the beer and frites front though.

But you can't compete with the rotten herring.

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

#155

Post by G3rn0ti »

flohofwoe wrote: post #118
mgraupner wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/de/worterbuch/englisch/spon... "spontaneously" translates to "spontan".

Yeah weird, the description "in a way that is natural, often sudden, and not planned or forced" is exactly the meaning in German too. Maybe "spontaneous" has different semantics between US and UK English?

You are overthinking this.

Words usually have multiple meanings, common ones and less common ones. "False friend" words usually swapped their common and rare semantics when entering a different language. In this case, the common meaning for "spontaneously" is "without direction" but not "on short notice". But it's the other way around in German. There actually is the German term "spontane Ordnung" ("order from chaos") using the English connotation in this case.

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

#156

Post by skrebbel »

allendoerfer wrote: post #95
skrebbel wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come to Holland! It's basically Belgium with better frontyards and nicer cops.

Dear neighbor, with all due respect to Belgium, you are underselling your country.

And you yours!

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

#157

Post by zeta_ »

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…

The language requirements for a PR are lower if you have a blue card

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

#158

Post by friendlyHornet »

vr46 wrote: post #104
philippgerard wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A permanent residency (PR) in Berlin does not require German language skills anymore. Maybe this is official or just established practice but regardless, there’a no reason not to have your PR if you qualify otherwise.

I was at the local immigration office only a few weeks ago and German language skills are still very much required for PR. One doesn't need it for the family reunion visa and work permit, but does for PR. There is talk of dropping this requirement, but I'll believe it when I see it.

> There is talk of dropping this requirement, but I'll believe it when I see it.

I really hope it doesn't get dropped; it is unreasonable to live permanently in a country without speaking the local language

There are other types of residencies available if someone is an expat and doesn't plan on staying permanently

And it's not like they're asking for a high fluency; with B1, you can barely hold a simple coherent conversation

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

#159

Post by ben_w »

skrebbel wrote: post #53
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…

Come to Holland! It's basically Belgium with better frontyards and nicer cops.

I certainly considered the Netherlands… «maar ik kan een beetje maar Nederlands spreken» and I'm not even sure I'm supposed to use "maar" twice in that sentence or not.

(Sadly I don't even get to use the wonderful «Ik ben groot», because I'm only tall by non-Dutch standards).

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

#160

Post by DemocracyFTW2 »

G3rn0ti wrote: post #39
UweSchmidt wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds like typical German pessimism. Rents are up but compared to some other major cities around the world? And why would the "troublesome" part of our long and rich history prevent people from moving here in 2023? Berlin is safe, cycleable, in the EU, the language not an order of magnitude harder than, say, French and people are speaking English anyway.

> typical German pessimism Yes, it is. What shall I say. :) Typical Berlin phrase BTW: „Kann man nich meckan“. That’s about the highest praise you can expect from an Urberliner.

The highest culinary praise reserved for the finest of treats is famously "Kannste essn", lit. "you can eat that".
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