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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

#71

Post by The_Colonel »

kwanbix wrote: post #38
worklaptopacct wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a new Berliner who immigrated here I can answer some of those: - Berlin has a reputation for its artsy party scene and lax enforcement of drug laws. People come here in their 20s to let themselves loose. - German universities are good quality and free for all (excluding the Semesterpauschale, but for my American or British friends this 300€ is basically nothing in comparison - especially when you count in the publ…

I now what you probably mean when you say "free", that you don't have to pay for it, but in reality, the universities are paid by everyone. Same for health care. I pay 400 euros per month. Of course, then I don't pay much else. But the cost is distributed, they are not "free". Maybe I am sensitive to the word, because in my home country, Argentina, populism has made people believe that everything has to be "free".

That's a good point and we should differentiate. The taxes in Europe are very high for a reason.

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

#72

Post by boffinAudio »

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…

Australian here, living in Austria (lived in Germany for a few years too).

You're missing out. Austria is so close to so many wonderful, foreign things. In Germany its very easy to introvert and never leave the village, mentally or physically - in Austria, its the same - but you can drive an hour in pretty much any direction and get the cold culture shock you need to make you appreciate what you've got.

A stint to Italy or Czech Republic or Hungary or Slovakia or Croatia for an afternoon will shake your bones loose of their cultural chains.

>Tech scene in Germany

Don't underestimate the Ruhrpott. Many ex-pats in Germany do, but its a mistake. The tech scene in Essen/Bochum/Duesseldorf is pretty hot, too ..

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

#73

Post by G3rn0ti »

ivanche wrote: post #68

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

„Downloaden“ is still common because of its web context. But it is used interchangeably with „runterladen“, especially if you use it as a separable verb.

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

#74

Post by lasfter »

vanderZwan wrote: post #69

> The other day my friend S., an American Berliner, said that he had noticed his English-language social circle starting to use the word « spontaneously » wrong. When Germans say they’ll organise a social event spontan, they mean they’ll work out the details at short notice. To socialise spontaneously, in English, means something rather different. But S. and I and our Neukölln friends have started using it in the sen…

Without any prior forethought. Immediately, on a whim.

E.g., "We were in Vegas and saw an Elvis chapel, so we spontaneously decided to get married!"

They were in Vegas without any plans of marriage, saw a venue, and decided immediately to marry.

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

#75

Post by DoreenMichele »

vanderZwan wrote: post #69

> The other day my friend S., an American Berliner, said that he had noticed his English-language social circle starting to use the word « spontaneously » wrong. When Germans say they’ll organise a social event spontan, they mean they’ll work out the details at short notice. To socialise spontaneously, in English, means something rather different. But S. and I and our Neukölln friends have started using it in the sen…

Definition: a result of a sudden impulse and without premeditation

Spontaneously would be "Let's go do x right now at y place." not "Let's pencil this half-baked plan into our calendars and finalize some details at that time."

In English, we have the abbreviation TBD (to be determined) if you want to note that some details haven't yet been finalized.

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

#76

Post by mejutoco »

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 moved to Berlin about 10 years ago. In my opinion Berlin was attractive because:

- Friends and people from all over the world

- Culturally and historically interesting: clubs, events.

- Capital of the biggest economy in Europe

- Cheaper (not anymore). Also, clubs because of the particular history.

- Slight barrier to entry. A bit of German is a higher barrier to entry, compared to English speaking options.

Having said that, I find people friendlier in Köln, although this has improved in Berlin. Also the payment with card has improved in the last 10 years.

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

#77

Post by garvield »

iNic wrote: post #8
rzzzt wrote: post #2

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

Spontaneously means for something to happen surprisingly or without an apparent cause.

Swedish "simplified" this problem by having the same word (spontan) mean both 1) Happens without apparent cause 2) Happens at short notice

Context is your only clue to which meaning is intended...

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

#78

Post by tarkin2 »

vanderZwan wrote: post #69

> The other day my friend S., an American Berliner, said that he had noticed his English-language social circle starting to use the word « spontaneously » wrong. When Germans say they’ll organise a social event spontan, they mean they’ll work out the details at short notice. To socialise spontaneously, in English, means something rather different. But S. and I and our Neukölln friends have started using it in the sen…

The Germans even plan being spontaneous ;)

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

#79

Post by BuyMyBitcoins »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #55

I grew up in a bilingual home. I sometimes refer to what I speak and write as Germish. I routinely have to look up "Is that one word or two?" because German runs words together so much more often than English and I capitalize too many things because German capitalizes all nouns and English only capitalizes proper nouns. A friend of mine once described my capitalization choices as "raising my voice," a place between "…

>”I capitalize too many things because German capitalizes all nouns and English only capitalizes proper nouns.”

I’ve gotten into a particularly bad habit of capitalizing nouns haphazardly and I don't speak any German. I think it’s from programming becuase it happens very often in my Code Comments.

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

#80

Post by snassar »

philippgerard wrote: post #63
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…

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.

Where do you have this information from? The State of Berlin says otherwise https://service.berlin.de/dienstleistung/121864/en/ :

------ Sufficient knowledge of German You must have an adequate command of the German language (level B 1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).

If you were in possession of either a residence permit or a residence authorisation on 31/12/2004, you only have to demonstrate basic knowledge of the German language (level A 1) to be granted a permanent settlement permit. ------

In practice the staff giving interviewing you have leeway to assess your German level on the spot, but applying without demonstrated adequate German levels could lead to wasting ones time.

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