Söhne Mannheims - Und wenn ein Lied
I have to say, Xavier Naidoo has a hellishly impressive voice.
It was a difficult decision, but Mesut was born in Germany, grew up here and developed here. That’s why it was the correct thing to decide for the German National Team. This is especially true when one looks at other examples…I hear of many players of Turkish decent, who grew up in Germany just like Mesut, and who chose to represent Turkey and that they are unhappy. They are not accepted by the team and are marginalized. Their mentality is different because they grew-up differently. Yildiray Bastürk or Hamit Altintop are such examples.
“
| — | Mustafa Ozil |
Well that’s just rude.
So I’ve mentioned that my first foray into literature translated into German is my first Discworld book, “Guards! Guards!”
There are a few inexcusable changes. Almost everyone’s names are the same. Carrot becomes Karotte which is fine. Vimes becomes Mumm for I-have-no-idea-why.
But most of all Sybil Ramkin becomes Sybil Käsedick.
Now, there is a lot of amusing prose to do with Lady Ramkin’s size. I particularly love the line describing the heavy breathing of her bosom as an education in the rise and fall of empires.
But Käsedick? That literally translates to “thick cheese.” Except that “dick” when describing people means fat. If it’s a fatty food we call it “fettig.”
No one else changes. Nobby is still Nobby. Colon is still Colon. Vetinari is also still Vetinari. Even Lupine Wonse.
The other difference in reading it in German is simply that German sentences are so much longer, so the book is just bigger. Most Discworld books have the undertitle “A Discworld Novel.”
In German that becomes “Ein Roman von der bizarren Scheibenwelt.”
“Guards Guards” might have not been a wise choice…
To start reading in German in, anyway.
In this book more than others, he uses colloquialisms, slurs spelling to suggest the drunkenness of characters. The less intelligent ones say things like “you know, like, thingy” and that too, gets translated into its German equivalents. There’s also Carrot’s hit and miss approach to punctuation and spelling.
I get it, but it’s heavy going.
Also, if I’m not mistaken, they change Captain Vimes’ name to Hauptmann Mumm. Hauptmann of course meaning captain, but still.
And that hurts!
Ich habe vorher gesagt, dass meist meiner Kolleginnen der Klasse Spanisch oder Portuguesisch sind. Eine Italienerin, eine Spanierin, usw. Sie gehen immer zusammen beim Pause um zusammen zu sprechen oder Kaffee zu bestellen.
Das kann ganz normal sein, dass Leute mit die gleiche Sprache oder Kultur zusammenbinden werden. Aber ich finde es immer komisch wenn die alle Deutsch sprechen.
Das ist nicht schlecht, weil man muss die Fremdsprache üben. Aber sie sprechen nie oft mit anders, sowie eine kulturellisches Teillung, aber immer noch in Deutsch.
Oh I bet my grammar still sucks.
I’m not sure if Spanish and Portuguese - and certainly not Italian and Spanish - are mutually intelligible. I don’t think it’s weird that they’d speak German amongst each other.
And your grammar’s pretty good, but you need to check your cases and genders. ;) And remember, sentences starting with weil, da, dass, obwohl etc. (in lack of a precise English term) have reverse word order; the inflected verb goes at the end. “weil mann die Fremdsprache üben muss.”
xD
Well, I’m not sure about the Portuguese, but I do know the Italian and the Spanish both speak Spanish and English, better than they do German. I find it a little weird when even outside, they speak German to each other, despite that they have other languages mutually. I guess that’s the virtue of making friends in your language classes.
I have German friends who I’d never speak German to on a regular basis, because our whole friendship formed in English. It would be weird, otherwise. So I guess I’m just surprised that they also don’t do this.
Und ich danke dir! Ich wusste das schon, dass die Verben am ende steht. ;) Ein Fehler des Moments. :D
Wir Sind Helden made a song named “Soundso” which is originally in German. As it happens, the band is multilingual and can also sing in French.
And I think it’s great.
Rare semble ce que tu es,
Rien de ça n’est vrai
Rien de ça
T’es comme ça
Et de tout ça, il n’en reste rien
Wir sind Helden - Geht auseinander
Nur ein Schritt zurück
Nur einer
Siehst du
Es geht
I still love this band so much.
Liver
In German, there are two words for “to live.” One is wohnen and the other is leben.
Wohnen signifies where you live: I live in a house, I live in this country, I’ve been living here for a few years.
Leben signifies general living: I’ve lived for this long, I’m alive.
English and German have this, among other things, in common, that their words for liver are derived from the same word of living. Some cultures consider the liver to be more important than the heart, which might explain that.
Bahasa shares something in common with English, in that the same word can be used with multiple meanings depending on context.
The bahasa word for liver is hati. If you buy it in a store, this is the word you see.
However, if you say baik hati you’re describing someone as kind hearted.
If you say hati-hati you’re warning someone to be careful.
In German, the word ‘schauen’ is used as ‘to look’ or ‘to watch.’ The Swiss commonly use the word ‘lörgen’ which, to my knowledge, doesn’t exist in High German.
I’ve lived here too long, to the point that I use ‘lörge mal’ more than I use ‘schau mal.’
Oh dear.
Recommendations for best German films or TV series?
I’ve already seen:
- Goodbye Lenin!
- Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others)
- Das Boot (full uncut all in German version)
All of which I recommend, by the way.
Come to think of it, I do have to watch “Lola Rennt” and “Das Parfum.”
But anyway, go on.
Extra 3 - Terror Test
A German political satire show makes a “terrorism test.”
They make two examples of a “potential terrorist.” One as a regular looking German guy, walking around Berlin landmarks with a camera, and even behaving a bit strangely, with no response.
The other dressed as a stereotypical Saudi, which attracts a lot more attention.
Europakarte der Vorurteile
Herrlich ist sie anzusehen,
wie die Schweizer andre sehen,
Vorurteile noch und nöcher,
Yanko hat viel‘ Pfeil im Köcher.
Selbstverständlich ist die Schweiz,
ausgestattet mit viel Reiz,
halt der Nabel dieser Welt
mit viel‘ Hügeln und viel Geld.
Italien ein Drittweltland,
Deutschland ist ein Steuerland,
Österreicher sind die Dummies,
fehlen tun nur noch die Schnörris.
Und es meint der Peter Dörig
zu der Karte ganz gehörig,
nieder mit dem Vorurteil,
das viel‘ Leute halten feil.
