Other typical German grammar mistakes include not getting conditional ("If I WERE you, I WOULD.") and subjunctive clauses ("It's crucial that you BE here.") right, dropping essential auxiliary verbs ("I WILL go there tomorrow."), mixing up the English subject-verb-object (SVO) word order, inserting temporal expressions at the wrong position in a sentence or clause, and overusing the perfect tense which is more common in German ("I have given her the keys yesterday.") over the simple past (preterite) tense which is more common in English ("I gave her the keys yesterday.").
@@annettg1202 Klar doch. ;) Overusing commas and applying German punctuation rules is by the way another typical mistake by native German speakers. Use of commas is significantly rarer in English, especially when it comes to subordinate clauses which do or could begin with "that" ("dass" in German) where -- unlike in German -- the comma isn't used. Hence, "I hope (that) you will nevertheless understand us." would be clearer and not possibly be misunderstood as "Ich hoffe; trotz alledem wirst/werdet du/ihr uns verstehen." :)
@@limzhanfeng115 I was about to say this too. A lot of native English speakers don't understand or adhere well to subjunctive and conditional constructions. It doesn't help that some constructions that are errors when intended to be present subjunctive (if he was coming) are actually correct when used for the past subjunctive.
@@ZethisVA Wait, you learned how to pronounce english correctly at school? Most teacher I knew did the same mistakes. I never heared about the dark "L" before.
@@TheIhplodur In Austria and it was a "Gymnasium", so there might be a difference. I had more than one teacher but they all tried to teach us correct british english and in later years add some american english and explain the finer nuances and differences between those.
I'll never get my German accent out of my English. In California, I once just said "hello" to someone and the response was, "oh, are you from Germany?". Useless to continue at this point :-D
IMHO people in California never say "Hello". ;-) It usually, "Hi there", "Oh hi!", "Hey", or "Howdy" if you want to sound 'from out of town'. They may say hello, but not as a general greeting, unless it's a very dry business situation, where everyone is just acknowledging everyone else. They may also say "Hellooooooo???" when someone is acting dumb, or if you're on the phone and are call waiting... and then they suddenly they surprise you, and you might reply, "Oh! Oh... hello...".
@@timo7968 uh actually we do say 'hello' often here and in a casual setting, whether at work or at the store. Happens alot, at least in the I.E. where I'm from.
My American girlfriend is of German-Scottish descent and has taken German since high school. For the longest time I refused to learn it because I thought it was impossible, but thanks to your awesome tips and some hard work of my own I’m able to speak a little German with her which makes her happy. Thank you Feli!
Yes, and to think that we Germans "imported" it from France, some centuries ago...! It took some time to establish itself but, as of now, I think that it is only for singing German operas and lieder that you do not use it. By the way, nothing against the other R that is spoken in in many languages including Slavic languages like Russian, but, when it comes to differenciate between, say, «рыс» and «рис»... 😏😉, this is a phonetic challenge on yet another level 😆.
Actually the "standard version" of the German "r" can be difficult for German native speakers too. There are many different ways to pronounce the "r" in different regions of Germany and most of them don't sound like the "standard version" at all. Everything between alveolar trill, uvular approximant and elision occurs somewhere. Also the articulation might change depending on the preceding phoneme.
Feli, I am an American who moved to Germany at age 26 and stayed for most of 27 years. Your language skills and accents are spot on. Your series is great!
girl, as a native speaker always cracking up about my elderly mother's super strong german accent while attempting to speak english, I have to say, you were spot on with all your observations. well done!!!!
When in the US, I got a phone call from someone who wanted to sell a newspaper. He was unstoppable and after 3 minutes, when he kind of had to take a breath for the first time, I said in the most possible German accent: "Sorry, I could not understand that very well. I am from Görmany. Can you repeat that?" what immediately ended the phone call.
THATS extremely relatable like when i talk with my non German speaking friends they immediately say I should take a break cus I talk so fast and much at the same time so that’s very funny when seeing that it’s normal to talk strangely
As an actor, I totally appreciate these tips Felicia! If I ever have to play a German character in a production, I will totally have to put these tips to good use!
I have been writing a German character who originally came from Germany, and I wanted to do it right, he’s only been speaking English more often as of now, so I took these tips into consideration while writing with him, thank you!
When I travelled in Germany (& spoke my school girl German), I was twice asked what part of Austria I came from! Up until then I hadn't given it much thought that my High School German teacher came from Austria! Must have nailed the accent lol!! x
@@Jpeg13759 I think it's the same everywhere. In the UK, every major city pretty much has its own accent. Most British people can easily identify those accents because we hear them all the time. It's just down to familiarity. To me it's easy to tell the difference between a Birmingham accent and a Leeds accent. But I would have no clue whether a German was from Munich or Berlin, even though to you it's probably really obvious!
I once met a man that I thought was from London, until I learned that he was from the Netherlands. He just spoke absolutely flawless English with a London accent.
My English-speaking parents lived in Italy for a year (before I was born) -- my father was an engineer and he was working on a telecom project -- and as he eventually picked up the language, his Italian colleagues chuckled a bit because apparently he had picked up the lower-class accent from the neighborhood where he was living! 😁
Your awareness of the differences in the two languages is extraordinary, and your ability to move between those accents, including variations is impressive.
Agreed, north is becoming quite a mix. You must be some form of educator, you seem to have the ability many lack, to see and hear variations in pronouncement of vowels, thanks for the tutorials.
@@Siggy4844 Agreed. I spent two years in Bavaria near where Fili is from. I can understand her German a bit better even after 30 years. The Nord Deutsch I struggle to understand. Which is closer to Hoch Deutsch?
As an actor who is asked to do a German accent on occasion, this is excellent, probably the best TH-cam video on speaking with a German accent ! Your video would also be useful for writers who are writing a German character into a story or script,
I thought the same, but i don't think any american is able to say "Deutschland" without beeing identified as an american by any german listener on the spot.
Well it's funny, because when she does her example sentences, she sounds totally American... ....but when she speaks normally she still got a light German accent
On occasion accents can be picked up easily, sometimes without the speaker knowing it. In the 80's I spent a couple of years at a boarding school in Pennsylvania, under an hour outside of Philly, before coming home to Toronto to finish. First day of one class, the teacher had us do a quick talk about ourselves, and I mentioned how I had been attending school in the US. As I was heading back to my seat, my teacher mentioned "Yes, I can hear your American accent."...to which I was thinking "WHAT American accent?" At that same school in the US, there was a girl who came from another school she had been at in South Carolina for four years. Even though she was from Indiana, she had a distinct 'Southern' accent under her Midwestern one.
she definitely has a bit of a german accent but its so subtle, sometimes she says a word so perfectly it sounds like it's coming straight from an american
One of my friends from many years ago was studying in the U.K. and had seen a job advertised for the role of a German soldier in a short film. As both an amateur actor and a German, he was certain he’d walk into the job. He was rejected because “you don’t sound very German” 😂
Jetzt wissen wir warum die sich immer so komisch anhören, die denken Deutsche hören sich wie die Schauspieler an, die sie dann einstellen, aber gar nicht Deutsche sind und auch kein Deutsch sprechen können 😂
I'm learning this for my D&D campaigns. It's handy to have a variety of accents to pull out in a pinch. And you've taught me a great deal. Also, you earned a subscriber. Thanks!
I could be wrong, but her word choices in some of her explanations make it fairly clear to me that she is either a linguist, or has aspirations in that direction. The was she talked about "time modes," the progressive mode, and the "present perfect progressive tense," not to mention talking about "devoicing" certain consonants, makes me think she is either a linguist, or is just very, very interested in linguistics, like me. It's a crazy fascinating field.
@@chogiblob816 German grammar is of about the same complexity as English (since English grammar is largely based on German grammar), except hat German has pronoun declension where English lost it centuries ago. Now, we can debate on whether or not English overtakes German in other areas, but whichever one is more complicated, it's not by much. That aside, we learn all the tenses in elementary/middle school, as well, but most people don't actually remember them unless they're actually interested in language/linguistics. As far as the "devoicing," if you actually go into pronunciation that specifically in primary school in Germany, well, I have to give you that. I'm sure the German education system is better than that of the US, but that, at least, has nothing to do with the relative complexity of our respective languages.
This is really useful! I've been writing a character lately who has a German-like accent sometimes, so this is really useful for imaging how his voice will sound. It really fleshes out some of his scenes and also gives his speech style a distinct difference from the rest of the crew. :D I've also been wanting to learn German regardless and I'm going into voice acting, so it's a great video to give me accurate pointers for when i need them.
Young lady, you have an amazing language capability to be able to discern all of those linguistic differences. You took what I thought to be a silly subject and turned it into a "real" educational experience.
Like most educated non-native English speakers, her understanding of language and grammar outstrips your standard common or garden Brit or American. It is disgraceful that first language speakers can know or understand so little about the language they garble.
@@macnachten8822 That is simple, the German word for 'and' is 'und' and sounds like you described. And because they are so similar, we mix it from time to time.
@@simonsaunders8147 there is truth to this. but, some people get stuck in their own world(region) where they talk a certain way and that becomes the normal way they talk. "I'm finna go to Walmart and get some soda." You underdig?😂 Verstehen Sie? is there a odd slang way of asking if someone understands in german?
As a German English teacher that travelled a lot to the US, I have to let you know how impressed I am by your content. Not only did you explain it in different ways that reach up to a much bigger audience (simple terms and linguistic terms), but also emphasised the most common grammatical issues Germans are stuffing with while learning English as a foreign language. much love from and liebe Grüße from your home country
I'm a native speaker whose mother was German. Her accent was so strong -- I can still hear it in my mind -- that certain word distinctions were nonexistent. For example, drugs and trucks; dog and dock. So a humorous sentence might've sounded like zis: Ze dock on ze dock fownd a truck wis trucks.
Hahaaaa!!! Your comment should have 10K thumbs up!!! But then again, maybe funnier to me... because my first language WAS German. We kids dropped speaking it when we went to school... but still understood. Now as an older adult, speaking it again, but very broken ;) Haha My accent is great tho!!
@@emarekic7658 Up until now I never met someone who's actually fine with it. Like, there are so many accents that go quite well with english (french for example) and then there's us, just butchering every word >~
@@jm9920 noo everyone thinks its cute cuz its so calming when you guys say it I live in Germany but im3not native speaker and I pove when they talk on englishh
I lived in North Germany for a while but only taught myself German (sadly) so I make a few mistakes. But most people can understand me. Anyway coming originally from Scotland, and talking German with my Scottish accent, a lot of Germans actually thought I come from Holland. I loved Germany and do miss it a lot.
Scotland and Dutch ? haha i live right next to the netherland border and last year i was in Norway on holiday and there i ask myself always "Is that dutch when they speak in their native language" but Scottish ? haha very funny
Many of the words are similar between English, German and Dutch like a mixture. Same as Platt Deutsch, (found that out around Keil) I worked in Norway many years ago before I went to Germany, and found that totally confusing.
Oops Kiel and not Keil lol. When I worked in Vlissingen, because of my knowledge in German I was surprised how much Dutch I understood, especially when it was English expats speaking fluent Dutch. A bit different when hearing native Dutch speakers with the accent.
@@rudigertholken827 No sorry, I was never in the army or any forces. I was working in the shipyards, mainly in Bremerhaven and Bremen, also in Kiel for a few years. But a few different places.
Wow, your German accent at the very beginning intro was perfect. ;) Americans just tend to think of old WWII movies when they think of a German accent and you know how wrong those are.
Hi! German is my 5th language, I'm from Ukraine (now live in Germany). And it's sooo interesting to realize the difference between Eng and Germ! This video in passive way helps me to learn German 😂 Thank you
@@sylvira3212 I am from Ukraine too and know 5 languages as the commenter above. For me they are Ukrainian and Russian (both native), English (full fluency - C1/C2), French B1 and German B1/B2
@@benduncan4027 yes thats very impressive. I am trying to learn sign language as a third. But 5 languages would probably cause a lot of chaos in my head.
@@sylvira3212 The 5 languages are prob russian (every ukrainian knows) ukrainian, english,polish,and 5 th ofc is german which is very popular for ukrainians which knows 5 language
I’m sure the classes held by the US government for embassy/consulate workers and spies dwell on these same points. After all, a Korean-American spy’s LIFE can depend on speaking Korean properly, in the NORTHERN dialect!
Loved this video! Now I understand my German friends so much better! I just heard “I made an application” (where I would say, “I applied for a job”) from a friend a couple weeks ago. This was also very helpful! Trying to sing in a correct German accent!
My Oma did every single extreme accent and grammar mistakes you mentioned regularly (except the V and W switch--she just did V for everything, W was not in her vocabulary)...and to think she learned Hebrew late in life and went to Jerusalem and taught English to Jews. If they only learned from her, they learned English with a German accent! =D She wrote her life biography in a book and passed it down to her children, and now my mom wants me to edit it to be understandable for all us English speakers. SO overwhelming, fixing all this German grammar! God will give me strength, I can DO this! :)
I come from 10 generations of Pennsylvania Germans, and some of these pronunciation and sentence construction quirks still creep into my speech, even though I didn't grow up speaking the language. My grandparent's generation all referred to hair as "hairs." They also used a construction similar to the one you described where German speakers put "or" at the end of a question, except they used "not" instead ("She's rather tall for her age, not"?) Pennsylvania Germans also invert their sentence structure, so that we say things like "Throw me the car keys" instead of "Throw the car keys to me."
“Throw me the car keys” sounds normal to me, though. (American English is my native language.) I wonder if that phrasing got used so much it became a normal thing here or if it depends on where in America you live. Curious.
That „not“ at the end of a question is very interesting. Probably your ancestors come from a northern part of Germany. They often put a „nich“ at the end of a sentence to form it into a question. „nich“ is an abbreviation from „nicht“ (not) which is probably again an abbreviation from „nicht wahr?“ (not true?). So actually they do a statement and ask if it's true or not.
@@FogFighterHD Most (but not all) Pennsylvania Germans are from the southwestern part of Germany, particularly the Rheinland-Pfaltz, and the Alsace-Lorraine part of France. Many migrated to Germany from Switzerland after the 30 Years War.
I originate from your part of Pennsylvania( South central PA) and I am descended from Gingrichs. I was told our people came from an area know as the Palatinate in Germany( although it wasnt a unified Germany in those days. Pennsylvania german is definitely a low German variant, as i struggled mightily trying to use a German dictionary to read documents. Many grave yards have head stones entirely in German, especially in Lebanon county where i did the most of my searching.
When I was mastering my hebrew guttural (same as ch in Bach), I was pronouncing all my english Ks with a raspy sound, a bit like Kaf Sofit in hebrew. I randomly roll my english Rs, because I know a bit of spanish (and have a native Spanish speaking friend). Trying to master german r...I can only do it during the alphabet, but not when saying a word or sentence!
I apparently kind of sound french when I try to pronounce Russian. I'm German and never learned French in my life other than all the loan words we use in German, how did this even happen.
Certainly! Here's the combined and managed message: My name is Saurav, and I currently reside in Albania. I enjoy acquiring new language skills. Albanian is my native language, and I speak English at a native level (C2 proficiency). Additionally, but I've never been to these countries however. The list of all languages that I speak are: - Aussie, British, and American English - German (including Swiss and German dialects) - Spanish (Spain) - Italian - Hindi - Tamil - Urdu - Portuguese (both Brazilian and Portuguese) - Korean (South) - Hawaiian - Bengali - Indonesian - Arabic (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Yemen) - Japanese - Javanese - Swahili - Thai - Pe rsian - Greek - Norwegian - Swedish - Finnish - French - Danish - AASL (Ancient Albanian Sign Language) - Nepali - Russian - Mongolian - Turkish I am currently learning Kazakh, Uzbek, Afrikaans, Tibetan, other Arabic dialect and other languages simultaneously. At the end, I mentioned that I learn these languages online, and I want to share a tip with you: always believe that you can achieve anything you set your mind to, regardless of your current circumstances. In this context, you can learn a languages online. Thank you for your attention.
Amazing how fast you can switch between correct pronunciation and German accent! As a German I can confirm, what you said is absolutely true. Doing it all day long in office, haha! Really funny video!
Many years ago, I acted in a show called Hello Dolly! My character's name was Rudolph Reisenweber. I purposely used all the hard sounds you spoke of, during my scenes. I met a fellow a few years later, who thought my accent was so authentic, he thought I was a native German. Anyway, keep up the fantastic content. Tschüss!
In the hit TV series "The Crown", it's a pity that they got Queen Mary (the present Queen's grandmother) to speak with a posh English accent. Queen Mary actually spoke with a strong German accent (she was born Princess Mary of Teck; her father was Francis, Duke of Teck, a German nobleman, and her mother was three-quarters German).
After WWI and to some degree WWII anything German fell out of fashion to the point where German immigrants changed their names or spelling, and stopped speaking German principally. I lived near German Town, Maryland as a kid and many elderly people had heavy German accents and still used or inserted German words into their speech.
I’ve experienced the “I make” instead of “I do” thing firsthand when listening to Germans speak English. I hosted a German exchange student in High School who, when asked about his hobbies, said “I make discos.” I’m thinking “wait, you build the building where the club is housed? That can’t be right.” What he meant was that works as a DJ at parties and clubs, etc. on the weekends. The differences between the way speakers of different languages put information together is super interesting.
I'm 3rd generation German descent Floridian. I grew up with my elders speaking German, I studied German in college. It's amazing how much German in the English language. On accents, in the South there's the twang accents and drawl accents. I'm enjoying your talks. Zehr Dank.
"Zehr Dank"? Entweder "Vielen Dank" oder "(ich) danke sehr". Es gibt aber noch viele Varianten wie "herzlichen Dank", "danke schön" ... Man muss auch wissen, ob man das Substantiv "Dank" oder die Tätigkeit "danken" meint.
Unglaublich wie ich lachen musste und ich hoffe ich habe in Zukunft weniger Angst meine gewohnten deutschen Laute abzulegen. Und selten versteh ich Englisch so gut wie deins. Danke ✌
FWIW, my native-German instructor said that Arnold still sounded odd to her when he was speaking German. Apparently he has a heavy regional accent, not just a standard Austrian accent.
@@kendradinsmore8003 As a German: He sounds a bit odd. I can't say which exact Austrian accent* it is he is speaking but he sounds exaggeratedly Austrian. Almost like how a German person would try to make fun of an Austrian person. *I don't even know how many, if any, different Austrian accents are there.
Two things people in the US tend to not be aware of: Germans start learning English in school when they are around 7 years old. Nowadays often even earlier. English is a rather simple language to master.
@@maggnet4829 Learning English well enough to be understood seems easy. And a large part of that is the vast tolerance it's being accorded due to the variety of speakers. But that's precisely why it's so hard to 'master': too broad a fief for anyone to till but a small lot.
This is really helpful! I’m trying to learn a subtle German accent to portray a woman whose family emigrated from Pfälz in the 1720s, and while it’s impossible to know just how she would have sounded, a very subtle German accent will at least help convey her unique identity. As a language/accent nerd this is really cool to learn about!
How can you emulate the accent of people, that came from German Pfalz in 1720 ? Pretty Easy: You CAN´T Try to adapt, and maybe 20 years later, you get the hang of it....;-) Hi there, waving from Germany ;-)
The Pfalz accent would be a whole different thing again. Back in 1720 that woman would probably have spoken a very thick Pfalz dialect with has its own sound patterns different from standard German. Maybe watch some videos of Pennsylvania Dutch, because that language evolved from the Pfalz dialect when people from that area emigrated to America in the 18th/19th century. I think Feli even made 1 or 2 videos on that topic.
Your command of the two languages astounds me. Right from the start I said you had one of the slightest German accents I have heard. But to speak English so well that you can toy with German accents is amazing. Very impressive. It is not easy to pick out accent issues when speaking a second language.
That’s pretty much my approach too. I see all these videos for “Learn German Fast!” & I’m like why? Slow & steady wins the race. I’ll build up experience speaking & writing it instead of trying to cram like my final exam is tomorrow
Yeah, but if you are an actor and play a role with a German accent for example, you might not have 10 years to master the language before rehearsals start ;)
im german but i was raised in America, so i definitely really want to get my accent, wasnt sure how. But i tried this, thanks you so much!! It was helpful, even though its not perfect. 😅
I haven't heard anyone add 'or' to the end of their sentence but I remember all the old, German speaking quilting ladies that my grandma was friends with in Illinois would always end their statement/questions with 'No?' or, more commonly, "ain't so?" as in, seeing me walk into the room with wet hair on a hot summer afternoon, "You been swimming today, ain't so?" Now that they're all gone, I never hear anyone speak like that anymore.
In German there are many variation to that word. Instead of "oder" many people say "nicht" or "nicht wahr" (literally "not" or "isn't that true") which probably is why they said that. Other words are "nich", "ne", "no" (pronounced like "nau"), "gell", "gä", "woll", "wa" ...
I'm pretty much near native in English nowadays, but when I'm very drunk or tired I will do the "or" thing for sure. Because adding "oder" is incredibly common in German. "No" is also a good one, but I guess that depends on where you specifically come from in Germany. But I don't really struggle with any pronunciation at all, but when it comes to grammar it does deteriorate after a long day for sure. Then again, sometimes I refuse, because the German way does make way more sense to me and I know the other person will understand me regardless. So, adding "or" is in my mind a hallmark of German grammer mistakes in English for sure. At least for me.
When I was growing up in Germany “Oder” was used a lot. As in “Du gehst doch, oder?” (You’re going, aren’t you?) I took that as being “short speak” for “Du gehst doch, oder nicht? “ as “Du gehst doch, oder?” isn’t a fully formed sentence.
@@aquilon8100 And don't forget that for the most part german students are taught british english... so the typical brit. "...isn't it?" is very close to these forms used in german as well.
Ich bin grade dabei mein Englisch aufzubessern und hab sehr damit gestruggelt rauszufinden, wo ich mich genau verbessern muss. Das Video hat mir unfassbar dabei geholfen meine sprachlichen Problemzonen einzukreisen. Abgefahren hahaha
Mal abgesehen davon, dass die Grammatik teilweise sehr unterschiedlich sein kann, sind mir am meisten die Dinge schwergefallen, die einem nicht mal im Deutschen auffallen. Stichwort 'Auslautverhärtung': Es hat gedauert, bis ich die verschiedenen Formen der Mehrzahl verstanden habe (stimmloses/stimmhaftes s). Und die Position benachbarter Vokale hat im Englischen doch einen größeren Einfluss als im Deutschen, z.B kettle vs. cattle. Inzwischen kenne ich mich damit ganz gut aus, zwei Semester Linguistik haben auch geholfen, aber mich faszinieren solche Dinge immer wieder :)
Zwischen "US-Englisch" und dem "Oxford-Englisch" gibt es teilweise gravierende Unterschiede, nicht nur in der Betonung. Frage mal in den US nach einem "Rubber" für die Korrektur eines Schreibfehlers und frage dann in GB nach einem "Erasure" für den gleichen Zweck. 🤪 Für das Oxford-Englisch empfehle ich "English with Lucy". Ein Test ergab allerdings, dass ich zu 70% eher US-English spreche. Tja ...
I’m currently deployed and had a deep conversation today with a member of the German army. I absolutely loved the German accent while he spoke English. Truly my favorite accent.
That was amazing. You were able to switch effortlessly between your very good American-English accent and your German-English accent. That's quite a feat.
Being a native German, I don't think that it such a feat. All she needs to do is "let her guard down" for a split second and the carefully restraint German accent that is audible for me all the time comes through full throttle. The fact that she knows all these tricks just proves how consciously she is trying to sound American. I know that this is a nasty statement to make but that is just how it is. If she was a true language genius she would just pull off this American thing and not be aware of what exactly she is doing. To make matters worse, I hear lots of Germans, particularly those whose English is not that great at all, play this trick of applying a super thick American accent (and all the antics that come with it) in an attempt at hiding fundamental lack of proficiency in the language. I have become so tired of hearing that I personally try to keep that tempting option in check and actively strive not to overdo that move. The weird thing about the American accent is that you hardly can overdo it - unless you do a bad job and let fluctuations between acting and inevitable glitches become too harsh. But as a general rule, there is no such thing that cannot be overdone. And let’s face it: the American accent is not particularly beautiful (at least to my ears). For those whose native tongue that is, so be it, but not all the world needs to imitate it. Granted, it is quite easy to mimic and nicely comprehensible for most people who happen to know any sort of English, I guess. But as far a comprehensibility goes, a British English such as spoken for example by the late Joan Hickson (of Miss Marple fame) would be just as great (after some adaption). She has some heavy drawl in her speech as well, but why can’t we get used to that sort of drawl? Not everybody has to speak in such a way that even the biggest chewing gum in your mouth can’t ruin comprehensibility and shouting half of the time, as Americans tend to do… I would love to some day live in GB for a longer time and get rid of this fixation to AE.
i think thats what gets people wrong though, is when they think of a german accent they think of arnold schwartzenegger. I know that different areas in germany the dialects vary. My cousin who native to Bonn Germany has a slightly different dialect than Felicia who's from munich does.
It would be cool if some American actors would be able to improve their German accent skills by watching this video, and if we could enjoy the results in future movies. 😃👍
It would be even cooler, if American and British film producers decided to let Germans and Russians and Japanese characters speak their own language (with subtitles), when they only speak among themselves instead of having them speak English with ridiculous accents. The worst example of this strange phenomenon was a British documentary (!) I saw a while ago. A French woman was interviewed in French and overdubbed by somebody speaking English with a thick French accent.
I stumbled across this video/your channel for the first time today; I'm a 3rd Generation American whose family came from the Sinsheim/Niederwinden areas in Germany. I grew up mostly in Cincinnati - wasn't expecting to hear you say you live there!
"We don't have a progressive form in German" Actually, we do. Just not everywhere and not in High German. The German Verlaufsform is built and used nearly exactly the same way as in English. I am reading (right now) = Ich bin (gerade) am Lesen.
I'm currently learning German and this helped me out so much! I think the most daunting thing about learning another language is their "sayings". Understanding how people communicate with things that might not make sense to me even with the words meaning specific things. German has so many words for the same word (Eg. Male, malst, malt) but it's a lot more simplified in a way... English is a stupidly complex language so I am glad I am a native speaker of it, but German is very different. I do love it though! Thank you for all the tips! The R sound in German has definitely been my most difficult hurdle... Rechts however... I still struggle to pronounce that word LOL...
Having lived in Germany 2.5 years, these really resonate with me. The most common one I've found is a total confusion with "by" and "until" for "bis" as in "Please submit your application until the end of the month." I see this one everywhere all the time.
Im German. So maybe my guess is wrong. But with your example "until" would mean the End of the Month is the latest Date to Submit it, and "by" is refering to submiting it at an specific timeframe but not before or after
@@dr.beardface2548 submit by Friday: Friday is the latest admission date. Submit until Friday: being constantly in the process of admitting every day from now until friday, when you can finally stop atmittting it (whatever "it" is 😄)
Thanks! I've been reading a story to my kids with French, German and Italian characters and really struggling with the German. Your explanation really clarifies things. We had a priest from Köln, who had a different accent, and my father in law was from Estonia but went to German schools so had a different accent again. Accents are fun. Especially with little kids who have no idea and are very accepting :)
Growing up in Northern Wisconsin it's amazing how you can trace a lot of the Wisconsin accent to such a large number of immigrants learning English at the same time. I'm 27 and people my age still do the d/t thing you mentioned as well as German words just finding their way into our vocabulary.
25 yrs ago my family had a German foreign exchange student from Germany. She used the “w” sound for her R and the V quite a bit. She is still in the country and I see her every once in a while. Her accent has diminished but when you used the “w” sound it took me right back to high school. Funny how someone can remember that. Thx
I was in Canada once, at age 16, for about 4 weeks. They forbid us to talk German. After a few Weeks, i even dreamt in English ;-) Some of the best time of my Life... Sitting on a Hill, knowing, there is NOTHING in that direction, for the next 200 miles... Only delicious BlueBerrys...🙂 You don´t get that Feeling in Europe, it´s very crowded...And once you had it, you don´t forget. On the Plane back, i wished it would Crash... Over Canada.
A book from 1909 referenced a native German speaker having an issue with "th" sounds, so I came here to learn about it, and you presented that as the first topic. Thanks!
There are a lot of sounds in English that do not exist in German (and vice versa). For a really strong "German accent", they can all be replaced by the most similar German counterpart. . . Consonants: 1) dark "l" (as in "all"): always use light L *2) English "r": replaced by the "throat R" (the same sound is also used in French) **3) English "w" or "wh" (as in "witch, which"): replaced by "v" (hence "wine, whine, vine" sound the same) *4) English "j" (as in "journal", "bridge"): can be replaced by "ch" (hence "jaw" and "chaw" sound the same) 5) English "th" (as in "three, there"): replaced by "s" or "z" resp. (hence "sink" and "think" sound the same) *6) English "nger" (as in "finger"): replaced by "nger" as in "singer" *7) voiced "sh" (as in "pleasure, camouflage") -> This sound occurs in some foreign words from French, so it somehow exists in German. *8) English "st, sp" at the beginning of a word (German has "sht, shp" instead) **9) "s" at the beginning of a word in front of a vowel (as in "see"): replaced by "z" (hence, "seal" and "zeal" sound the same) . . Vowels: 1) English short "a" (as in "bad, can"): replaced by German short "e" ("bad" and "bed" sound the same) -> In words like "path, last, ask...", the British pronounciation with "ah" is applied. **2) English "er/ir/ur" (as in "her, occur"): replaced by German "öa" -> "ö" is the same sound as in the French word "jeu" 3) English short "u" (as in "cut"): replaced by German "a" -> This is the same sound as in the French word "Jacques" 4) The long "oo" sound is pronounced with rounded lips and further in the front of the mouth, -> German "uh" is the same sound as in the French word "jour" 5) ... the same applies to short "o" (as in "hot"). -> German "o" is the same sound as in the French word "Yvonne" *6) English "aw" (as in "saw, caught") -> This sound occurs in some foreign words from English, so it somehow exists in German. 7) In German, the schwa sound can't occur in a word like "of"; hence "of" and "off" are pronounced the same. . . Diphthongs ("i" as in "my", and "ow" as in "how" do exist in German): *1) the English diphthong "a(y)" (as in "day, made, break"): replaced by German long "eh" -> "eh" is the same sound as in the French word "café" *2) the English diphthong "o" (as in "go, slow, hope"): replaced by German long "oh" -> "oh" is the same sound as in the French word "eau" . As in British English, the "r"-sound does not occur at the ending of a syllable. For example: - "car" -> "cah" - "better" -> "betta" - "here" -> "hee-ah" (i.e. as a diphthong!) - "where" -> "whe-ah" (i.e. as a diphthong!) - "for" --> "fo-ah" (i.e. as a diphthong!) etc. As for "er/ir/ur", see above. . . . . . Consonants at the ending of a syllable must be VOICELESS (except for "m, n, ng, L"): 1a) "z" (as in "these, nose, size") --> "ss" (hence "prize" and "price" sound the same) 1b) "th" (as in "breathe") --> voiceless "th" (as in "math") --> "ss" (hence "with" and "wiss" sound the same) 2) "v" (as in "Steve, of") --> "ff" (hence "of" and "off" sound the same) 3) "b, d, g" (as in "grab, bad, dog") --> "p, t, k" (hence "bad" and "bat" sound the same) 4) "j" (as in "bridge, plunge") --> "ch" (hence "ridge" and "rich" sound the same") 5) voiced "sh" (as in "camouflage") -> voiceless "sh" ("camouflage" --> "kemmeflaash") . This applies to consonant clusters, too. For example: - "ves" (as in "leaves") --> "fss" (hence "leaves" and "leafs" sound the same) - "gs" (as in "bags") --> "ks" (hence "bags" and "backs" sound the same) . . . . For a proper accent, it should be noted that foreigners tend to pronounce function words always in the same way: - "the" is always pronounced as in "the tree", even before a vowel: "the - apple" (not 'thee apple') - "a" is never pronounced "ay" - "us" (never unstressed), "but", "him/them", "and", "can" etc. are always pronounced as if stressed. . . --------------- Examples: ---------------- - "the three general working areas" ----> "ze sree cheneRaL vöaking eReass" - "I bet he stays in bed with his bat when the weather is bad." --> "I bett he stayss in bett viss hiss bett ven ze vezza iss bett" . . . ------------------------- /// LEGEND: \\\ ------------------------ (*) means: Most Germans would pronounce this English sound correctly, even if does not occur in the German language. Therefore, it would be somehow exaggerated to not pronounce this sound as in English. . (**) means: Most Germans who have studied English for a some time would pronounce this sound correctly, even if it does not occur in the German language. . As for "th": for German ears it sounds so similar to "s" that both sounds may be confused: "the price" --> "the prithe" or "ze price". As for "L": many Germans would not notice that there are two different L-sounds in English. As for "W": many Germans would not notice that English "w" is pronounced different from English "v"
There are actually diphtongues in German, like for the word "nur". I noticed that one day while I was watching a video of foreigners speaking German and there was an actress (I don't remember if it was Kirsten Dunst, Sandra Bullock or Diane Kruger) who made a "nur" that sounded extremely German to me (I'm not a native speaker but I've learned German, so I'm quite familiar with its pronunciation).
There are two th sounds too. "This" is the voiced th while "thistle" is the non-voiced version. If you try saying only the first syllable of "thistle", you'll notice it is not the pronunciation of "this".
the way you pronounce the vowels in german is the same in spanish, and the only difference would be the E that sometimes is pronounced as ee as in demon .
@@gunkulator1 OMG, you should finally remove that crazy TH from English, just put D there and stop torturing people who are trying to learn English. :-D
WELL I, who really feast on the joys an pleasures of German grammar - and authors like Mann or Kafka, which really have bean great verbal acrobats - DON'T, please not to be taken offensive, I do respect your independence and freedom of opinion, THINK, or at least sense, SO. 🤣🤣🤣
I was really amazed how well my brother and his friend could converse in German even after their first year of high school German. Way better than I could when I started taking German. It wasn't until later that I figured out that they were mostly speaking English with bad German accents and invented German-sounding words.
That was funny. I lived in Germany for 3 years and picked up enough of it to get by. Years later when our children were young, I would speak my "fake" German with them, using real German words, plus some English-German combinations that were not real words, and I invented some German SOUNDING words. I spoke to them this way for so many years, and now they are grown up with children of their own and I can talk to them again in my invented German and they totally understand me and can answer me back in that same fake language! In truth, I don't know WHAT we are speaking, but it works! :)
Hey, ich habe nicht einen einzigen deutschen Kommentar gesehen 😅 In den USA ist mir in einem Bundesland aufgefallen, dass ‘stamp’ wie in deutsch ausgesprochen wurde. Ich habe nach eine ‘stämp’ gefragt, und er fragte ob ich stamp (mit deutschen A) meine. Ich Schottland sagt man auch ‘I kenn you’ anstatt I know you. Das kenn stammt von dem deutschen ‘kennen’.
It is "spookily" incredible that the German and French languages have similar "problems", as confusing "since" and "for" for instance, or not having the present progressive tense and being overused by non-English speakers... of course, the german "r" is easy for French people to pronounce, or the "ö" sound as in "oeufs" or "eux", or the "ü" sound as in "rue" or "bu"...
Yes! The similarities are indeed spooky! I do not speak a lick of French but apparently It's one of few if not the only "major" language that uses double negatives? I do not know for certain so please pardon me if I am wrong but for instance in Afrikaans, you'd say "Ek sal dit nie doen nie" but in Deutsch you'd say (or rather can say) Ich werde es nicht tun (right?) only one "negator" is present, which is an honest trip because I feel like I am ending my sentence abruptly, lol.
It's not that weird actually. French has been considered the language of the upper class for centuries in German states. Additionally France conquered German teritorry a couple of times, hence French influence on morale, culture, cuisine, language and law.
@@tumelo4526 " I do not speak a lick of French but apparently It's one of few if not the only "major" language that uses double negatives?" Just wait, till you know about horrors of Slavic languages. For example, "NObody went anywhere" in English will be "НИкто НИкуда НЕ пошел" in Russian.
Just had this pop up in recommended, a couple of things I loved: 1) Your second German-style "okay" was done in a perfect southern English accent, and 2) Leaving a trailing or/oder on the end of a sentence. We do that in British English too and I've often wondered if people learning English would find that strange, I guess Germans probably wouldn't! We also leave a lot of "but" and "so" without any resolution, not sure if German has that too, or...
As a German I think it's save to say yes, we use "but" and "so" very often. Thanks for reminding me to reduce it.😅 Speaking english differs in Germany from what school and teacher you learned it. E. g. my teacher was married to an english husband and lived many years in Scotland before coming back to Germany. She learned us the "th" very different from the teacher my neighbor had, who totally refused to even think about pronouncing it in any other way than "s". Really hurts to hear some Germans speak english, but often people have only few experience in speaking. Our understanding and even writing is often better because we've not always the opportunity to speak english to native speakers. And some may be able to speak perfectly well but won't speak a word at all because they are unsecure about it or too shy. For myself I'm sure my written and spoken english could be way better, but I'm happy to remember most of the words I need. We also have a "Keine Wörter Buch", a book without any words but many pictures to point on for travelling. 😉
I love trying to listen and learn how Americans and Brits use have/do/take in different contexts! :-) Don't Brits "take" tea, while Americans "have" it? (the other example that comes to mind is a bathroom reference.. brits have and americans take, although really!! lol.. one goes to the WC to leave not 'take!' /sigh @ my culture!
I’m not a German native speaker, but I do have family that live in Germany that I was around a lot in my childhood that shaped how I pronounce certain words. They came to visit rather frequently, but now I haven’t seen them in several years, as they are much older and can’t travel much. I’ve been interested in relearning German, as I was almost fluent in my teens. My favorite phrase right now is “ Ich möchte eine zimtschnecke”. I just think the literal “cinnamon snail” is cute 😂
It‘s incredible how you are able to control your way of speaking that good, that you can turn all of these factors of an German accent on and off all by themselves. I can only switch between my normal English (which probably still has a slight German accent to it, but nothing you would normally note as a German) and a REALLY heavy German accent😂
Other typical German grammar mistakes include not getting conditional ("If I WERE you, I WOULD.") and subjunctive clauses ("It's crucial that you BE here.") right, dropping essential auxiliary verbs ("I WILL go there tomorrow."), mixing up the English subject-verb-object (SVO) word order, inserting temporal expressions at the wrong position in a sentence or clause, and overusing the perfect tense which is more common in German ("I have given her the keys yesterday.") over the simple past (preterite) tense which is more common in English ("I gave her the keys yesterday.").
Ertappt.
I hope, nevertheless you will understand us.
How about the most obvious of them all? Questions. "Have you time for me tomorrow?"
To be fair, I think many native English speakers don't subjunct 'correctly' either, they just say "If I was you"
@@annettg1202 Klar doch. ;)
Overusing commas and applying German punctuation rules is by the way another typical mistake by native German speakers. Use of commas is significantly rarer in English, especially when it comes to subordinate clauses which do or could begin with "that" ("dass" in German) where -- unlike in German -- the comma isn't used. Hence, "I hope (that) you will nevertheless understand us." would be clearer and not possibly be misunderstood as "Ich hoffe; trotz alledem wirst/werdet du/ihr uns verstehen." :)
@@limzhanfeng115 I was about to say this too. A lot of native English speakers don't understand or adhere well to subjunctive and conditional constructions. It doesn't help that some constructions that are errors when intended to be present subjunctive (if he was coming) are actually correct when used for the past subjunctive.
Captain: "S.O.S. - S.O.S.! We are sinking!"
German coastguard: "Vot are you sinking about?"
a classic XD
Oh, that's such a good commercial: th-cam.com/video/0MUsVcYhERY/w-d-xo.html
Was hängt an der Wand und singt? Spucke...
@@DruSolis awesome :D
@@DruSolis
Hell’o! Ziss is ze djörmen cocetgart. ^^
😂🤣😂🤣
Watching this video as a German is confusing.
It's like school but backwards....
Hard agree :D
I feel like I unlearned all the correct ways to speak english without an accent.
@@ZethisVA Wait, you learned how to pronounce english correctly at school? Most teacher I knew did the same mistakes. I never heared about the dark "L" before.
@@TheIhplodur In Austria and it was a "Gymnasium", so there might be a difference. I had more than one teacher but they all tried to teach us correct british english and in later years add some american english and explain the finer nuances and differences between those.
Ja, aber echt. 😂😂😂
I'll never get my German accent out of my English. In California, I once just said "hello" to someone and the response was, "oh, are you from Germany?". Useless to continue at this point :-D
Did you say it in that sing-song way, like a typical "hallo"? I could recognize that "hallo!" anywhere, haha
That sing-song "hallo!" is what I imagined immediately, as well. S'cute, imo.
IMHO people in California never say "Hello". ;-) It usually, "Hi there", "Oh hi!", "Hey", or "Howdy" if you want to sound 'from out of town'. They may say hello, but not as a general greeting, unless it's a very dry business situation, where everyone is just acknowledging everyone else. They may also say "Hellooooooo???" when someone is acting dumb, or if you're on the phone and are call waiting... and then they suddenly they surprise you, and you might reply, "Oh! Oh... hello...".
@@timo7968 uh actually we do say 'hello' often here and in a casual setting, whether at work or at the store. Happens alot, at least in the I.E. where I'm from.
Feel you
My American girlfriend is of German-Scottish descent and has taken German since high school. For the longest time I refused to learn it because I thought it was impossible, but thanks to your awesome tips and some hard work of my own I’m able to speak a little German with her which makes her happy. Thank you Feli!
The best way to learn it is to speak it (or at least to try it) and get corrected.
Sanks, zis vas great!
"Greht" - so viel Zeit muss sein :)
xD
Wunderbar!
@@trhsummers Now i am sinking...
@@mweskamppp vot ar u sinking about?
"There you can become money." - A German trying to communicate with a group of refugees in 80s
Made me laugh
I "broke together" laughing when I read this.
I think I spider.
@@Mick2K I can see that your Englisch is not the Yellow from the Egg
Or when ordering in the restaurant. "I become a steak."
> German "r" is tricky for anyone who learns German as a second language
*laughs in Slavic*
Yes, and to think that we Germans "imported" it from France, some centuries ago...! It took some time to establish itself but, as of now, I think that it is only for singing German operas and lieder that you do not use it. By the way, nothing against the other R that is spoken in in many languages including Slavic languages like Russian, but, when it comes to differenciate between, say, «рыс» and «рис»... 😏😉, this is a phonetic challenge on yet another level 😆.
@@cleliac.2470 Probably less difficult than dealing with Japanese "r", though.
Actually the "standard version" of the German "r" can be difficult for German native speakers too. There are many different ways to pronounce the "r" in different regions of Germany and most of them don't sound like the "standard version" at all. Everything between alveolar trill, uvular approximant and elision occurs somewhere. Also the articulation might change depending on the preceding phoneme.
It's like in English the difference between eat and it
@@Dizerfullpower almost as difficult as the Japanese "L", like LOL. As in "Raff Out Roud"?
Feli, I am an American who moved to Germany at age 26 and stayed for most of 27 years. Your language skills and accents are spot on. Your series is great!
girl, as a native speaker always cracking up about my elderly mother's super strong german accent while attempting to speak english, I have to say, you were spot on with all your observations. well done!!!!
When in the US, I got a phone call from someone who wanted to sell a newspaper. He was unstoppable and after 3 minutes, when he kind of had to take a breath for the first time, I said in the most possible German accent: "Sorry, I could not understand that very well. I am from Görmany. Can you repeat that?" what immediately ended the phone call.
No way xD
THATS extremely relatable like when i talk with my non German speaking friends they immediately say I should take a break cus I talk so fast and much at the same time so that’s very funny when seeing that it’s normal to talk strangely
Why didnt you simply say "Wie bitte?". That would end it as well immediately...
@@rhalleballe stimmt
Mag deinen Benutzernamen xD
@@fantasietraume >Mag deinen Benutzernamen xD
Und ich erst!
As an actor, I totally appreciate these tips Felicia!
If I ever have to play a German character in a production, I will totally have to put these tips to good use!
My first thought was this this video should be able to land her a speech consultant job.
@@eeddingt you assume Hollywood gives a damn :(
Woah that's cool! Where do you act in?
Here is another less well know feature of that accent, and it can be heard in this video: th-cam.com/video/T42l6-ZHoPg/w-d-xo.html
I have been writing a German character who originally came from Germany, and I wanted to do it right, he’s only been speaking English more often as of now, so I took these tips into consideration while writing with him, thank you!
German ordering in a Restaurant: can I become a steak please?
American waiter/waitress: well I’m not sure, you can certainly give it a try 😂🤣😂
American in Germany: "Ich bin ein Berliner"
But this false friend is confusing English native speakers, too: Und so bekam ich ein Ingenieur :-)
@@Henning_Rech Lasst uns einen Hamburger essen. 😉
@@Henning_Rech "Ich möchte - diesen Teppich - nicht kaufen!"
Or the German ordering in Britain: I want a bloody steak.
Waiter: Would you care for some fucking potatoes as well?
When I travelled in Germany (& spoke my school girl German), I was twice asked what part of Austria I came from! Up until then I hadn't given it much thought that my High School German teacher came from Austria! Must have nailed the accent lol!! x
I don´t know about America, but here in Germany, you pretty fast know, what Part of Germany She/He is from...
The Sound of Language is different....
@@Jpeg13759 I think it's the same everywhere. In the UK, every major city pretty much has its own accent.
Most British people can easily identify those accents because we hear them all the time. It's just down to familiarity.
To me it's easy to tell the difference between a Birmingham accent and a Leeds accent. But I would have no clue whether a German was from Munich or Berlin, even though to you it's probably really obvious!
Ja!! Gut auftrag
I once met a man that I thought was from London, until I learned that he was from the Netherlands. He just spoke absolutely flawless English with a London accent.
My English-speaking parents lived in Italy for a year (before I was born) -- my father was an engineer and he was working on a telecom project -- and as he eventually picked up the language, his Italian colleagues chuckled a bit because apparently he had picked up the lower-class accent from the neighborhood where he was living! 😁
Your awareness of the differences in the two languages is extraordinary, and your ability to move between those accents, including variations is impressive.
you would do just fine in Northern Germany. Their dialects sound very similar to a mix of English and Dutch.
Agreed, north is becoming quite a mix. You must be some form of educator, you seem to have the ability many lack, to see and hear variations in pronouncement of vowels, thanks for the tutorials.
And the fact she doesn’t used to make people feel bad is a relief
@@Siggy4844 Agreed. I spent two years in Bavaria near where Fili is from. I can understand her German a bit better even after 30 years. The Nord Deutsch I struggle to understand. Which is closer to Hoch Deutsch?
Oh please this is pure basics, let me guess you are an English speaker that knows no other language.
As an actor who is asked to do a German accent on occasion, this is excellent, probably the best TH-cam video on speaking with a German accent ! Your video would also be useful for writers who are writing a German character into a story or script,
I actually thought she was going to say, "We pronounce Germany as Deutschland." 😂
or teutschlant
I thought the same, but i don't think any american is able to say "Deutschland" without beeing identified as an american by any german listener on the spot.
i see that you are new tie wearing.
@@l.a.3680 yeah theyd prob say dutchland lmao
Daitschland
For a native German living in the US for only a few years, your American accent is amazing.
Well it's funny, because when she does her example sentences, she sounds totally American...
....but when she speaks normally she still got a light German accent
Native German speaking people usually have a pretty solid American accent I find.
She just has to make a few vowel changes and she’ll be perfect
On occasion accents can be picked up easily, sometimes without the speaker knowing it. In the 80's I spent a couple of years at a boarding school in Pennsylvania, under an hour outside of Philly, before coming home to Toronto to finish. First day of one class, the teacher had us do a quick talk about ourselves, and I mentioned how I had been attending school in the US. As I was heading back to my seat, my teacher mentioned "Yes, I can hear your American accent."...to which I was thinking "WHAT American accent?"
At that same school in the US, there was a girl who came from another school she had been at in South Carolina for four years. Even though she was from Indiana, she had a distinct 'Southern' accent under her Midwestern one.
she definitely has a bit of a german accent but its so subtle, sometimes she says a word so perfectly it sounds like it's coming straight from an american
One of my friends from many years ago was studying in the U.K. and had seen a job advertised for the role of a German soldier in a short film. As both an amateur actor and a German, he was certain he’d walk into the job.
He was rejected because “you don’t sound very German” 😂
😂😂😂
Nahhh 😂
Jetzt wissen wir warum die sich immer so komisch anhören, die denken Deutsche hören sich wie die Schauspieler an, die sie dann einstellen, aber gar nicht Deutsche sind und auch kein Deutsch sprechen können 😂
A German woman pretending to be a native English speaker pretending to do a German accent.
That's talent. It's a good day to be alive.
I know its late, but did you miss her beauty? It sure is a good day to be alive, perhaps its a good day to... no ^^
It seems to me she knows more technically correct English than most native English speakers no matter where they come from.
She's not pretending to speak English, she's speaking it perfectly.
@@claudiasolomon1123 thanks for poiting that out. her english is really good!
@@claudiasolomon1123 missed my point.
I'm learning this for my D&D campaigns. It's handy to have a variety of accents to pull out in a pinch. And you've taught me a great deal. Also, you earned a subscriber. Thanks!
Me too!
Same, but for the Castle Falkenstein RPG.
Absolutely the reason I'm here. XD
Same here! Learning it in a couple hours because our session time got moved up 😅
Same
I'm really impressed with your knowledge of pronunciations in both languages
I could be wrong, but her word choices in some of her explanations make it fairly clear to me that she is either a linguist, or has aspirations in that direction. The was she talked about "time modes," the progressive mode, and the "present perfect progressive tense," not to mention talking about "devoicing" certain consonants, makes me think she is either a linguist, or is just very, very interested in linguistics, like me. It's a crazy fascinating field.
@@chogiblob816 German grammar is of about the same complexity as English (since English grammar is largely based on German grammar), except hat German has pronoun declension where English lost it centuries ago. Now, we can debate on whether or not English overtakes German in other areas, but whichever one is more complicated, it's not by much.
That aside, we learn all the tenses in elementary/middle school, as well, but most people don't actually remember them unless they're actually interested in language/linguistics. As far as the "devoicing," if you actually go into pronunciation that specifically in primary school in Germany, well, I have to give you that. I'm sure the German education system is better than that of the US, but that, at least, has nothing to do with the relative complexity of our respective languages.
This is really useful! I've been writing a character lately who has a German-like accent sometimes, so this is really useful for imaging how his voice will sound. It really fleshes out some of his scenes and also gives his speech style a distinct difference from the rest of the crew. :D I've also been wanting to learn German regardless and I'm going into voice acting, so it's a great video to give me accurate pointers for when i need them.
Your German and English are great, but to be a German pretending to be an American trying to talk German is beyond impressive.
Well, being able to pretend something, is an art by itself. Trying to speak English with German accent is as hard as speaking British as an American.
@@samanthabishop6251 only that there is no "the british accent".
but sad it war
@@MrVirgilVox Same with accents from the US. But there are common features in both.
@@MrVirgilVox Yeah it is! I saw it on television! :)
Young lady, you have an amazing language capability to be able to discern all of those linguistic differences. You took what I thought to be a silly subject and turned it into a "real" educational experience.
This echos my sentiment...how ever, I would have liked to hear you explain "and" v "oondt"...well done Felicia, we'll done!
Like most educated non-native English speakers, her understanding of language and grammar outstrips your standard common or garden Brit or American.
It is disgraceful that first language speakers can know or understand so little about the language they garble.
@@macnachten8822 That is simple, the German word for 'and' is 'und' and sounds like you described. And because they are so similar, we mix it from time to time.
@@simonsaunders8147 there is truth to this. but, some people get stuck in their own world(region) where they talk a certain way and that becomes the normal way they talk. "I'm finna go to Walmart and get some soda." You underdig?😂 Verstehen Sie? is there a odd slang way of asking if someone understands in german?
@@senorpepper3405 why underdig? :D
As a German English teacher that travelled a lot to the US, I have to let you know how impressed I am by your content. Not only did you explain it in different ways that reach up to a much bigger audience (simple terms and linguistic terms), but also emphasised the most common grammatical issues Germans are stuffing with while learning English as a foreign language.
much love from and liebe Grüße from your home country
I'm a native speaker whose mother was German. Her accent was so strong -- I can still hear it in my mind -- that certain word distinctions were nonexistent. For example, drugs and trucks; dog and dock. So a humorous sentence might've sounded like zis: Ze dock on ze dock fownd a truck wis trucks.
Hahaaaa!!! Your comment should have 10K thumbs up!!! But then again, maybe funnier to me... because my first language WAS German. We kids dropped speaking it when we went to school... but still understood. Now as an older adult, speaking it again, but very broken ;) Haha My accent is great tho!!
This actually helps a lot to sound LESS German!
Don't hide your accent! It's so cool.
@@Scriblyn A lot of Germans think its like dumb when they use their accent but its actually really nice and cute and calming
@@emarekic7658 Up until now I never met someone who's actually fine with it. Like, there are so many accents that go quite well with english (french for example) and then there's us, just butchering every word >~
@@jm9920 noo everyone thinks its cute cuz its so calming when you guys say it I live in Germany but im3not native speaker and I pove when they talk on englishh
@@jm9920 i love the German accent, something about it makes me happy :D
I lived in North Germany for a while but only taught myself German (sadly) so I make a few mistakes. But most people can understand me. Anyway coming originally from Scotland, and talking German with my Scottish accent, a lot of Germans actually thought I come from Holland. I loved Germany and do miss it a lot.
Scotland and Dutch ? haha i live right next to the netherland border and last year i was in Norway on holiday and there i ask myself always "Is that dutch when they speak in their native language" but Scottish ? haha very funny
Many of the words are similar between English, German and Dutch like a mixture. Same as Platt Deutsch, (found that out around Keil) I worked in Norway many years ago before I went to Germany, and found that totally confusing.
Oops Kiel and not Keil lol. When I worked in Vlissingen, because of my knowledge in German I was surprised how much Dutch I understood, especially when it was English expats speaking fluent Dutch. A bit different when hearing native Dutch speakers with the accent.
Have you been a british soldier in Bad Fallingbostel?
@@rudigertholken827 No sorry, I was never in the army or any forces. I was working in the shipyards, mainly in Bremerhaven and Bremen, also in Kiel for a few years. But a few different places.
Wow, your German accent at the very beginning intro was perfect. ;) Americans just tend to think of old WWII movies when they think of a German accent and you know how wrong those are.
DACH!!! HANS VAT ZE FUCK DIT YOU DO VIS ZE PANZER
I keep coming back to this video for D&D reasons, it's really helpful. Amazing job!
Love this. That's why I'm here too.
Hi! German is my 5th language, I'm from Ukraine (now live in Germany). And it's sooo interesting to realize the difference between Eng and Germ! This video in passive way helps me to learn German 😂 Thank you
Your 5th language? I am glad that I speak one and a half languages. Native german and half english
@@sylvira3212 I am from Ukraine too and know 5 languages as the commenter above. For me they are Ukrainian and Russian (both native), English (full fluency - C1/C2), French B1 and German B1/B2
@@benduncan4027 yes thats very impressive. I am trying to learn sign language as a third. But 5 languages would probably cause a lot of chaos in my head.
@@sylvira3212 The 5 languages are prob russian (every ukrainian knows) ukrainian, english,polish,and 5 th ofc is german which is very popular for ukrainians which knows 5 language
@@benduncan4027Holy smokes dude, that is impressive!
Brilliant presentation. This should be mandatory for German students of English, and English students of German. Very well done.
I’m sure the classes held by the US government for embassy/consulate workers and spies dwell on these same points. After all, a Korean-American spy’s LIFE can depend on speaking Korean properly, in the NORTHERN dialect!
Ouuhh, Ei cännott vait tu vatsch anoser gräit viedeo!
Dit yu giv it a thumbs upp?
@@isabellam362 you mean a sump?
@@alle_namen_schon_vergeben708 eksaktly
* feetjo
wideo
Loved this video! Now I understand my German friends so much better! I just heard “I made an application” (where I would say, “I applied for a job”) from a friend a couple weeks ago.
This was also very helpful! Trying to sing in a correct German accent!
Time to unpimp zee auto.
My Oma did every single extreme accent and grammar mistakes you mentioned regularly (except the V and W switch--she just did V for everything, W was not in her vocabulary)...and to think she learned Hebrew late in life and went to Jerusalem and taught English to Jews. If they only learned from her, they learned English with a German accent! =D She wrote her life biography in a book and passed it down to her children, and now my mom wants me to edit it to be understandable for all us English speakers. SO overwhelming, fixing all this German grammar! God will give me strength, I can DO this! :)
Love that word "Oma"
My Oma was a big part of my Life
That's so cool. How did it go with fixing the grammar mistakes?
I come from 10 generations of Pennsylvania Germans, and some of these pronunciation and sentence construction quirks still creep into my speech, even though I didn't grow up speaking the language. My grandparent's generation all referred to hair as "hairs." They also used a construction similar to the one you described where German speakers put "or" at the end of a question, except they used "not" instead ("She's rather tall for her age, not"?) Pennsylvania Germans also invert their sentence structure, so that we say things like "Throw me the car keys" instead of "Throw the car keys to me."
“Throw me the car keys” sounds normal to me, though. (American English is my native language.) I wonder if that phrasing got used so much it became a normal thing here or if it depends on where in America you live. Curious.
That „not“ at the end of a question is very interesting. Probably your ancestors come from a northern part of Germany. They often put a „nich“ at the end of a sentence to form it into a question. „nich“ is an abbreviation from „nicht“ (not) which is probably again an abbreviation from „nicht wahr?“ (not true?). So actually they do a statement and ask if it's true or not.
@@FogFighterHD Most (but not all) Pennsylvania Germans are from the southwestern part of Germany, particularly the Rheinland-Pfaltz, and the Alsace-Lorraine part of France. Many migrated to Germany from Switzerland after the 30 Years War.
We do the same thing in French also by using "non" or "pas" at the end of a question.
I originate from your part of Pennsylvania( South central PA) and I am descended from Gingrichs. I was told our people came from an area know as the Palatinate in Germany( although it wasnt a unified Germany in those days. Pennsylvania german is definitely a low German variant, as i struggled mightily trying to use a German dictionary to read documents. Many grave yards have head stones entirely in German, especially in Lebanon county where i did the most of my searching.
I studied German and Japanese at the same time college. My teacher said I spoke Japanese with a German accent. ;)
What accent did you have when you spoke German? Japanese?
When I was mastering my hebrew guttural (same as ch in Bach), I was pronouncing all my english Ks with a raspy sound, a bit like Kaf Sofit in hebrew. I randomly roll my english Rs, because I know a bit of spanish (and have a native Spanish speaking friend). Trying to master german r...I can only do it during the alphabet, but not when saying a word or sentence!
I did the same! German and Japanese! But I dropped Japanese after a while.
I'm an arabic native speaker living Turkey and learning German and japanses while using English
I apparently kind of sound french when I try to pronounce Russian. I'm German and never learned French in my life other than all the loan words we use in German, how did this even happen.
Certainly! Here's the combined and managed message:
My name is Saurav, and I currently reside in Albania. I enjoy acquiring new language skills. Albanian is my native language, and I speak English at a native level (C2 proficiency). Additionally, but I've never been to these countries however.
The list of all languages that I speak are:
- Aussie, British, and American English
- German (including Swiss and German dialects)
- Spanish (Spain)
- Italian
- Hindi
- Tamil
- Urdu
- Portuguese (both Brazilian and Portuguese)
- Korean (South)
- Hawaiian
- Bengali
- Indonesian
- Arabic (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Yemen)
- Japanese
- Javanese
- Swahili
- Thai
- Pe rsian
- Greek
- Norwegian
- Swedish
- Finnish
- French
- Danish
- AASL (Ancient Albanian Sign Language)
- Nepali
- Russian
- Mongolian
- Turkish
I am currently learning Kazakh, Uzbek, Afrikaans, Tibetan, other Arabic dialect and other languages simultaneously.
At the end, I mentioned that I learn these languages online, and I want to share a tip with you: always believe that you can achieve anything you set your mind to, regardless of your current circumstances. In this context, you can learn a languages online.
Thank you for your attention.
Amazing how fast you can switch between correct pronunciation and German accent! As a German I can confirm, what you said is absolutely true. Doing it all day long in office, haha! Really funny video!
Many years ago, I acted in a show called Hello Dolly! My character's name was Rudolph Reisenweber. I purposely used all the hard sounds you spoke of, during my scenes. I met a fellow a few years later, who thought my accent was so authentic, he thought I was a native German. Anyway, keep up the fantastic content. Tschüss!
Make a video in which you pronounce your name with a German accent ;-)
In the hit TV series "The Crown", it's a pity that they got Queen Mary (the present Queen's grandmother) to speak with a posh English accent. Queen Mary actually spoke with a strong German accent (she was born Princess Mary of Teck; her father was Francis, Duke of Teck, a German nobleman, and her mother was three-quarters German).
After WWI and to some degree WWII anything German fell out of fashion to the point where German immigrants changed their names or spelling, and stopped speaking German principally. I lived near German Town, Maryland as a kid and many elderly people had heavy German accents and still used or inserted German words into their speech.
All that matters is replacing historically White characters with Black actors. You know, because that makes so much sense.
@@InevitableTruthTeller
Sorry, aber was klingt denn hier durch?
Auch im leisesten Fall von Diskriminierung haben wir null Toleranz.
Kein Gruß, M.
@@madamecoeurdemontespan1712 So, we're talking about hypocrisy, a double standard.
@@InevitableTruthTeller
Sorry, but who talks of hypocrisy?
OMG Feli du bist echt eine Maschine!! Lustiges Video 👏
I dont really know why im watching this as i am german...
Well, you know why not
Same xD
Same
Well, if nothing else you got a laugh out of me.
Same
I'm just thoroughly impressed you can go in and out of an accent as well as you do.
I’ve experienced the “I make” instead of “I do” thing firsthand when listening to Germans speak English. I hosted a German exchange student in High School who, when asked about his hobbies, said “I make discos.” I’m thinking “wait, you build the building where the club is housed? That can’t be right.” What he meant was that works as a DJ at parties and clubs, etc. on the weekends. The differences between the way speakers of different languages put information together is super interesting.
that's why i'm interested in studying languages
@@thereal_m_t It's so cool
@@peterstedman6140 ikr
I love that story! Can "I make discos!" become the new "I like turtles!" please?
@@nightmaster5593 LOL! Why not?
I'm 3rd generation German descent Floridian. I grew up with my elders speaking German, I studied German in college. It's amazing how much German in the English language. On accents, in the South there's the twang accents and drawl accents. I'm enjoying your talks. Zehr Dank.
"Zehr Dank"?
Entweder "Vielen Dank" oder "(ich) danke sehr".
Es gibt aber noch viele Varianten wie "herzlichen Dank", "danke schön" ...
Man muss auch wissen, ob man das Substantiv "Dank" oder die Tätigkeit "danken" meint.
Unglaublich wie ich lachen musste und ich hoffe ich habe in Zukunft weniger Angst meine gewohnten deutschen Laute abzulegen. Und selten versteh ich Englisch so gut wie deins. Danke ✌
I think a lot of people fall into a Schwarzenegger accent (even though he's Austrian, rather than German).
His native tongue is still German... but with an Austrian accent.
“IZ NAHT A TOOMA!”
FWIW, my native-German instructor said that Arnold still sounded odd to her when he was speaking German. Apparently he has a heavy regional accent, not just a standard Austrian accent.
@@kendradinsmore8003 Yes
@@kendradinsmore8003 As a German: He sounds a bit odd. I can't say which exact Austrian accent* it is he is speaking but he sounds exaggeratedly Austrian. Almost like how a German person would try to make fun of an Austrian person.
*I don't even know how many, if any, different Austrian accents are there.
It's really impressive how little German accent comes through when you speak English, especially for only having lived here for a few years! 👍
Two things people in the US tend to not be aware of:
Germans start learning English in school when they are around 7 years old. Nowadays often even earlier.
English is a rather simple language to master.
@@maggnet4829 Learning English well enough to be understood seems easy. And a large part of that is the vast tolerance it's being accorded due to the variety of speakers. But that's precisely why it's so hard to 'master': too broad a fief for anyone to till but a small lot.
@@maggnet4829 English is easy to master but to get rid of the accent can be incredibly difficult. Your tongue just can’t do certain sounds correctly
@@maggnet4829 the German-based syntax in English probably helps.
Imagine making fun of someone's accent when you only speak one language...
My brother did the same thing😂
Imagine your language not being the lingua Franca of the entire world
[RULE BRITANNIA INTENSIFIES]
Me: is learning french
TH-cam: may I interest you in some german? 🕵♀
This is really helpful! I’m trying to learn a subtle German accent to portray a woman whose family emigrated from Pfälz in the 1720s, and while it’s impossible to know just how she would have sounded, a very subtle German accent will at least help convey her unique identity. As a language/accent nerd this is really cool to learn about!
Pfalz, not Pfälz.
How can you emulate the accent of people, that came from German Pfalz in 1720 ?
Pretty Easy: You CAN´T
Try to adapt, and maybe 20 years later, you get the hang of it....;-)
Hi there, waving from Germany ;-)
The Pfalz accent would be a whole different thing again. Back in 1720 that woman would probably have spoken a very thick Pfalz dialect with has its own sound patterns different from standard German. Maybe watch some videos of Pennsylvania Dutch, because that language evolved from the Pfalz dialect when people from that area emigrated to America in the 18th/19th century. I think Feli even made 1 or 2 videos on that topic.
A very enjoyable video. My father taught English so he constantly corrected mine , which makes me hyper-aware of everyone's accents.
Your command of the two languages astounds me. Right from the start I said you had one of the slightest German accents I have heard. But to speak English so well that you can toy with German accents is amazing. Very impressive. It is not easy to pick out accent issues when speaking a second language.
This is one of the most interesting videos you have ever made on this channel! Well done, Feli!
She is so right on with this my german friends say “do you want to go to the bar or” and it cracks me up. Great job!
or what? perfectly cromulent english sentence...after the or...indicates tell me yes or what you'd rather do.
How I do a German accent:
Take German for 10+ years, the accent comes with the territory over time XD
That’s pretty much my approach too. I see all these videos for “Learn German Fast!” & I’m like why? Slow & steady wins the race. I’ll build up experience speaking & writing it instead of trying to cram like my final exam is tomorrow
@@calico9046 Yeah you can't really learn a language fast. It takes years upon years for offspring to figure out just one language.
Yeah, but if you are an actor and play a role with a German accent for example, you might not have 10 years to master the language before rehearsals start ;)
I dunno, the Russians took German territory for forty years and they still sound Russian. ;)
I have one
im german but i was raised in America, so i definitely really want to get my accent, wasnt sure how. But i tried this, thanks you so much!! It was helpful, even though its not perfect. 😅
Als Linguist kann ich sagen: sehr gut dargestellt und erklärt🥳 und wie immer ein wirklich unterhaltsames Video. Danke🙌
yup yup
You'd be an asset in Hollywood working with actors.
Thank you. I was looking forward for this video🙏
Your good-natured teasing of your compatriots made me smile.
I haven't heard anyone add 'or' to the end of their sentence but I remember all the old, German speaking quilting ladies that my grandma was friends with in Illinois would always end their statement/questions with 'No?' or, more commonly, "ain't so?" as in, seeing me walk into the room with wet hair on a hot summer afternoon, "You been swimming today, ain't so?" Now that they're all gone, I never hear anyone speak like that anymore.
Having learned German for a few years now, this is one of the ways it started affecting my (likewise non-native) English
In German there are many variation to that word. Instead of "oder" many people say "nicht" or "nicht wahr" (literally "not" or "isn't that true") which probably is why they said that. Other words are "nich", "ne", "no" (pronounced like "nau"), "gell", "gä", "woll", "wa" ...
I'm pretty much near native in English nowadays, but when I'm very drunk or tired I will do the "or" thing for sure. Because adding "oder" is incredibly common in German. "No" is also a good one, but I guess that depends on where you specifically come from in Germany. But I don't really struggle with any pronunciation at all, but when it comes to grammar it does deteriorate after a long day for sure. Then again, sometimes I refuse, because the German way does make way more sense to me and I know the other person will understand me regardless.
So, adding "or" is in my mind a hallmark of German grammer mistakes in English for sure. At least for me.
When I was growing up in Germany “Oder” was used a lot. As in “Du gehst doch, oder?” (You’re going, aren’t you?) I took that as being “short speak” for “Du gehst doch, oder nicht? “ as “Du gehst doch, oder?” isn’t a fully formed sentence.
@@aquilon8100 And don't forget that for the most part german students are taught british english... so the typical brit. "...isn't it?" is very close to these forms used in german as well.
Ich bin grade dabei mein Englisch aufzubessern und hab sehr damit gestruggelt rauszufinden, wo ich mich genau verbessern muss. Das Video hat mir unfassbar dabei geholfen meine sprachlichen Problemzonen einzukreisen. Abgefahren hahaha
Mal abgesehen davon, dass die Grammatik teilweise sehr unterschiedlich sein kann, sind mir am meisten die Dinge schwergefallen, die einem nicht mal im Deutschen auffallen. Stichwort 'Auslautverhärtung': Es hat gedauert, bis ich die verschiedenen Formen der Mehrzahl verstanden habe (stimmloses/stimmhaftes s). Und die Position benachbarter Vokale hat im Englischen doch einen größeren Einfluss als im Deutschen, z.B kettle vs. cattle. Inzwischen kenne ich mich damit ganz gut aus, zwei Semester Linguistik haben auch geholfen, aber mich faszinieren solche Dinge immer wieder :)
Zwischen "US-Englisch" und dem "Oxford-Englisch" gibt es teilweise gravierende Unterschiede, nicht nur in der Betonung. Frage mal in den US nach einem "Rubber" für die Korrektur eines Schreibfehlers und frage dann in GB nach einem "Erasure" für den gleichen Zweck. 🤪 Für das Oxford-Englisch empfehle ich "English with Lucy". Ein Test ergab allerdings, dass ich zu 70% eher US-English spreche. Tja ...
Und dabei jetzt bitte "gestruggelt" mit Felis Aussprachetipps einmal laut sagen... :-) Großartig!
Höre auf Denglisch zu schreiben und zu reden. Klingt einfach, ist aber ziemlich schwer. Den Fehler machen nämlich fast alle. 😉
@@andlem der rubber ist im BE aber auch der Eraser... 😂
I’m currently deployed and had a deep conversation today with a member of the German army. I absolutely loved the German accent while he spoke English. Truly my favorite accent.
That was amazing. You were able to switch effortlessly between your very good American-English accent and your German-English accent. That's quite a feat.
Being a native German, I don't think that it such a feat. All she needs to do is "let her guard down" for a split second and the carefully restraint German accent that is audible for me all the time comes through full throttle. The fact that she knows all these tricks just proves how consciously she is trying to sound American. I know that this is a nasty statement to make but that is just how it is. If she was a true language genius she would just pull off this American thing and not be aware of what exactly she is doing.
To make matters worse, I hear lots of Germans, particularly those whose English is not that great at all, play this trick of applying a super thick American accent (and all the antics that come with it) in an attempt at hiding fundamental lack of proficiency in the language. I have become so tired of hearing that I personally try to keep that tempting option in check and actively strive not to overdo that move.
The weird thing about the American accent is that you hardly can overdo it - unless you do a bad job and let fluctuations between acting and inevitable glitches become too harsh. But as a general rule, there is no such thing that cannot be overdone. And let’s face it: the American accent is not particularly beautiful (at least to my ears). For those whose native tongue that is, so be it, but not all the world needs to imitate it. Granted, it is quite easy to mimic and nicely comprehensible for most people who happen to know any sort of English, I guess.
But as far a comprehensibility goes, a British English such as spoken for example by the late Joan Hickson (of Miss Marple fame) would be just as great (after some adaption). She has some heavy drawl in her speech as well, but why can’t we get used to that sort of drawl? Not everybody has to speak in such a way that even the biggest chewing gum in your mouth can’t ruin comprehensibility and shouting half of the time, as Americans tend to do…
I would love to some day live in GB for a longer time and get rid of this fixation to AE.
8:56 Dad joke time: Kid: "Did you get a haircut?" Me: "Yes, I got all of them cut."
Incorrect, Grampa.
It's " no, I got them all cut ".
Don't quit your day job.
@@alansheedy3956 it’s grandpa
I usually specify that I got all of them cut; but only on one end. :)
I reply with "Yes, and I got the other ones cut, too."
@@alansheedy3956 it's "grandpa"
Just do it like Arnold Schwarzenegger. His accent is literally perfect
“Get to za choppa” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣not quite 🤪🤪🤪
His accent is actually Austrian.
Even when he speaks German, he has an accent! EVEN in his native Austria! The poor guy can't win! 😂
i think thats what gets people wrong though, is when they think of a german accent they think of arnold schwartzenegger. I know that different areas in germany the dialects vary. My cousin who native to Bonn Germany has a slightly different dialect than Felicia who's from munich does.
Most Americans don't know the difference between Austrian and German accents "Awl be bock!"
It would be cool if some American actors would be able to improve their German accent skills by watching this video, and if we could enjoy the results in future movies. 😃👍
It would be even cooler, if American and British film producers decided to let Germans and Russians and Japanese characters speak their own language (with subtitles), when they only speak among themselves instead of having them speak English with ridiculous accents. The worst example of this strange phenomenon was a British documentary (!) I saw a while ago. A French woman was interviewed in French and overdubbed by somebody speaking English with a thick French accent.
@@alestev24
You are so right!
We all know were all waiting for Feli’s Hollywood career anyway. ^^
I stumbled across this video/your channel for the first time today; I'm a 3rd Generation American whose family came from the Sinsheim/Niederwinden areas in Germany. I grew up mostly in Cincinnati - wasn't expecting to hear you say you live there!
Wow! Bester Kanal, den ich seit langem gefunden habe. Auch für mich als Deutsch- und Englischlehrer durch die Bank hochinteressanter Content!
I am amazed at your ability to be able to converse as you do between languages! Truly talented, I take a bow in respect!! 👏👊
"We don't have a progressive form in German" Actually, we do. Just not everywhere and not in High German. The German Verlaufsform is built and used nearly exactly the same way as in English. I am reading (right now) = Ich bin (gerade) am Lesen.
Well, I would say "isch", but in general, you`re right.
Yeah we do that a lot where I live
Thats the so called "Rheinische Verlaufsform" (Google!).
Technically you could use the participle for a progressive form in German.
"I am reading" would become "Ich bin lesend".
"Ist in der Mache, Chef!"
I'm currently learning German and this helped me out so much! I think the most daunting thing about learning another language is their "sayings". Understanding how people communicate with things that might not make sense to me even with the words meaning specific things. German has so many words for the same word (Eg. Male, malst, malt) but it's a lot more simplified in a way... English is a stupidly complex language so I am glad I am a native speaker of it, but German is very different. I do love it though!
Thank you for all the tips! The R sound in German has definitely been my most difficult hurdle... Rechts however... I still struggle to pronounce that word LOL...
As a german myself I can 100% back this video.
Having lived in Germany 2.5 years, these really resonate with me. The most common one I've found is a total confusion with "by" and "until" for "bis" as in "Please submit your application until the end of the month." I see this one everywhere all the time.
as a native english speaker i am ashamed to say that took me a mintue to firgure out that "until" implied that you need to keep doing it
This would drive me nuts. Very few English speakers would even understand that at all.
Took me a couple of seconds as well
Im German. So maybe my guess is wrong. But with your example "until" would mean the End of the Month is the latest Date to Submit it, and "by" is refering to submiting it at an specific timeframe but not before or after
@@dr.beardface2548 submit by Friday: Friday is the latest admission date.
Submit until Friday: being constantly in the process of admitting every day from now until friday, when you can finally stop atmittting it (whatever "it" is 😄)
Thanks! I've been reading a story to my kids with French, German and Italian characters and really struggling with the German. Your explanation really clarifies things. We had a priest from Köln, who had a different accent, and my father in law was from Estonia but went to German schools so had a different accent again. Accents are fun. Especially with little kids who have no idea and are very accepting :)
You are AMAZING! What a brilliant explanation of all things you described! Very, very impressive the way you effortlessly flowed between accents!
Growing up in Northern Wisconsin it's amazing how you can trace a lot of the Wisconsin accent to such a large number of immigrants learning English at the same time. I'm 27 and people my age still do the d/t thing you mentioned as well as German words just finding their way into our vocabulary.
25 yrs ago my family had a German foreign exchange student from Germany. She used the “w” sound for her R and the V quite a bit. She is still in the country and I see her every once in a while. Her accent has diminished but when you used the “w” sound it took me right back to high school. Funny how someone can remember that. Thx
I was in Canada once, at age 16, for about 4 weeks. They forbid us to talk German.
After a few Weeks, i even dreamt in English ;-)
Some of the best time of my Life...
Sitting on a Hill, knowing, there is NOTHING in that direction, for the next 200 miles...
Only delicious BlueBerrys...🙂
You don´t get that Feeling in Europe, it´s very crowded...And once you had it, you don´t forget.
On the Plane back, i wished it would Crash...
Over Canada.
Wow! So impressive. You need to have a great understanding of both languages to pull off a lesson like this. Bravo! Absolutely outstanding!
just used this for my audition and it gave me a lot of confidence. thanks!
A book from 1909 referenced a native German speaker having an issue with "th" sounds, so I came here to learn about it, and you presented that as the first topic. Thanks!
The French and Irish also have trouble with the 'th' sound.
There are a lot of sounds in English that do not exist in German (and vice versa).
For a really strong "German accent", they can all be replaced by the most similar German counterpart.
.
.
Consonants:
1) dark "l" (as in "all"): always use light L
*2) English "r": replaced by the "throat R" (the same sound is also used in French)
**3) English "w" or "wh" (as in "witch, which"): replaced by "v" (hence "wine, whine, vine" sound the same)
*4) English "j" (as in "journal", "bridge"): can be replaced by "ch" (hence "jaw" and "chaw" sound the same)
5) English "th" (as in "three, there"): replaced by "s" or "z" resp. (hence "sink" and "think" sound the same)
*6) English "nger" (as in "finger"): replaced by "nger" as in "singer"
*7) voiced "sh" (as in "pleasure, camouflage")
-> This sound occurs in some foreign words from French, so it somehow exists in German.
*8) English "st, sp" at the beginning of a word (German has "sht, shp" instead)
**9) "s" at the beginning of a word in front of a vowel (as in "see"): replaced by "z" (hence, "seal" and "zeal" sound the same)
.
.
Vowels:
1) English short "a" (as in "bad, can"): replaced by German short "e" ("bad" and "bed" sound the same)
-> In words like "path, last, ask...", the British pronounciation with "ah" is applied.
**2) English "er/ir/ur" (as in "her, occur"): replaced by German "öa"
-> "ö" is the same sound as in the French word "jeu"
3) English short "u" (as in "cut"): replaced by German "a"
-> This is the same sound as in the French word "Jacques"
4) The long "oo" sound is pronounced with rounded lips and further in the front of the mouth,
-> German "uh" is the same sound as in the French word "jour"
5) ... the same applies to short "o" (as in "hot").
-> German "o" is the same sound as in the French word "Yvonne"
*6) English "aw" (as in "saw, caught")
-> This sound occurs in some foreign words from English, so it somehow exists in German.
7) In German, the schwa sound can't occur in a word like "of"; hence "of" and "off" are pronounced the same.
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Diphthongs ("i" as in "my", and "ow" as in "how" do exist in German):
*1) the English diphthong "a(y)" (as in "day, made, break"): replaced by German long "eh"
-> "eh" is the same sound as in the French word "café"
*2) the English diphthong "o" (as in "go, slow, hope"): replaced by German long "oh"
-> "oh" is the same sound as in the French word "eau"
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As in British English, the "r"-sound does not occur at the ending of a syllable. For example:
- "car" -> "cah"
- "better" -> "betta"
- "here" -> "hee-ah" (i.e. as a diphthong!)
- "where" -> "whe-ah" (i.e. as a diphthong!)
- "for" --> "fo-ah" (i.e. as a diphthong!)
etc. As for "er/ir/ur", see above.
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Consonants at the ending of a syllable must be VOICELESS (except for "m, n, ng, L"):
1a) "z" (as in "these, nose, size") --> "ss" (hence "prize" and "price" sound the same)
1b) "th" (as in "breathe") --> voiceless "th" (as in "math") --> "ss" (hence "with" and "wiss" sound the same)
2) "v" (as in "Steve, of") --> "ff" (hence "of" and "off" sound the same)
3) "b, d, g" (as in "grab, bad, dog") --> "p, t, k" (hence "bad" and "bat" sound the same)
4) "j" (as in "bridge, plunge") --> "ch" (hence "ridge" and "rich" sound the same")
5) voiced "sh" (as in "camouflage") -> voiceless "sh" ("camouflage" --> "kemmeflaash")
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This applies to consonant clusters, too. For example:
- "ves" (as in "leaves") --> "fss" (hence "leaves" and "leafs" sound the same)
- "gs" (as in "bags") --> "ks" (hence "bags" and "backs" sound the same)
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For a proper accent, it should be noted that foreigners tend to pronounce function words always in the same way:
- "the" is always pronounced as in "the tree", even before a vowel: "the - apple" (not 'thee apple')
- "a" is never pronounced "ay"
- "us" (never unstressed), "but", "him/them", "and", "can" etc. are always pronounced as if stressed.
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Examples:
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- "the three general working areas" ----> "ze sree cheneRaL vöaking eReass"
- "I bet he stays in bed with his bat when the weather is bad." --> "I bett he stayss in bett viss hiss bett ven ze vezza iss bett"
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/// LEGEND: \\\
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(*) means: Most Germans would pronounce this English sound correctly, even if does not occur in the German language. Therefore, it would be somehow exaggerated to not pronounce this sound as in English.
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(**) means: Most Germans who have studied English for a some time would pronounce this sound correctly, even if it does not occur in the German language.
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As for "th": for German ears it sounds so similar to "s" that both sounds may be confused: "the price" --> "the prithe" or "ze price".
As for "L": many Germans would not notice that there are two different L-sounds in English.
As for "W": many Germans would not notice that English "w" is pronounced different from English "v"
There are actually diphtongues in German, like for the word "nur". I noticed that one day while I was watching a video of foreigners speaking German and there was an actress (I don't remember if it was Kirsten Dunst, Sandra Bullock or Diane Kruger) who made a "nur" that sounded extremely German to me (I'm not a native speaker but I've learned German, so I'm quite familiar with its pronunciation).
As a native English speaker I did not realize we have two L sounds. Neat.
There are two th sounds too. "This" is the voiced th while "thistle" is the non-voiced version. If you try saying only the first syllable of "thistle", you'll notice it is not the pronunciation of "this".
the way you pronounce the vowels in german is the same in spanish, and the only difference would be the E that sometimes is pronounced as ee as in demon .
@@gunkulator1 OMG, you should finally remove that crazy TH from English, just put D there and stop torturing people who are trying to learn English. :-D
@@Pidalin And the German language should finally apply a one-size-fits-all article. No more "Der/Die/Das", just "De"
@@SharkfightersSH Just do it. At least it is the least stupid solution. You change a language by speaking it in a new way. Just somebody has to start.
Thankyou sooooo much for this video, I am working with a student in a play who has to speak with a German accent, this has been so helpful.
Girl, you are soooo good!. You speak better English than most American native English speakers that I know.
we know... You speak English better than...
Wut, sue yew tink yer bedder'n me na? I talk Inglesh good 'nuf.
The thing I like about German is that everything must exactly so be.
WELL I, who really feast on the joys an pleasures of German grammar - and authors like Mann or Kafka, which really have bean great verbal acrobats - DON'T, please not to be taken offensive, I do respect your independence and freedom of opinion, THINK, or at least sense, SO. 🤣🤣🤣
Ah. These must be examples of that famous German humor.
@@DrCruel Yours ain't better
@@janalmwert2372 Are you kidding? How can you possibly top "OW MY BALLS?"
The thing, that I about German like, is that everything exactly so be must.
I was really amazed how well my brother and his friend could converse in German even after their first year of high school German. Way better than I could when I started taking German. It wasn't until later that I figured out that they were mostly speaking English with bad German accents and invented German-sounding words.
Die Schlingel!
In Germany we say to something like this: OMEGALUL
That was funny. I lived in Germany for 3 years and picked up enough of it to get by. Years later when our children were young, I would speak my "fake" German with them, using real German words, plus some English-German combinations that were not real words, and I invented some German SOUNDING words. I spoke to them this way for so many years, and now they are grown up with children of their own and I can talk to them again in my invented German and they totally understand me and can answer me back in that same fake language! In truth, I don't know WHAT we are speaking, but it works! :)
Hey, ich habe nicht einen einzigen deutschen Kommentar gesehen 😅 In den USA ist mir in einem Bundesland aufgefallen, dass ‘stamp’ wie in deutsch ausgesprochen wurde. Ich habe nach eine ‘stämp’ gefragt, und er fragte ob ich stamp (mit deutschen A) meine.
Ich Schottland sagt man auch ‘I kenn you’ anstatt I know you. Das kenn stammt von dem deutschen ‘kennen’.
It is "spookily" incredible that the German and French languages have similar "problems", as confusing "since" and "for" for instance, or not having the present progressive tense and being overused by non-English speakers... of course, the german "r" is easy for French people to pronounce, or the "ö" sound as in "oeufs" or "eux", or the "ü" sound as in "rue" or "bu"...
Yes! The similarities are indeed spooky! I do not speak a lick of French but apparently It's one of few if not the only "major" language that uses double negatives? I do not know for certain so please pardon me if I am wrong but for instance in Afrikaans, you'd say "Ek sal dit nie doen nie" but in Deutsch you'd say (or rather can say) Ich werde es nicht tun (right?) only one "negator" is present, which is an honest trip because I feel like I am ending my sentence abruptly, lol.
It's even funnier that polish have the same problems, whilst haveing different porblems while learning german/french xD
French is basically Latin spoken by a German anyway.
It's not that weird actually. French has been considered the language of the upper class for centuries in German states. Additionally France conquered German teritorry a couple of times, hence French influence on morale, culture, cuisine, language and law.
@@tumelo4526 " I do not speak a lick of French but apparently It's one of few if not the only "major" language that uses double negatives?"
Just wait, till you know about horrors of Slavic languages. For example, "NObody went anywhere" in English will be "НИкто НИкуда НЕ пошел" in Russian.
Just had this pop up in recommended, a couple of things I loved: 1) Your second German-style "okay" was done in a perfect southern English accent, and 2) Leaving a trailing or/oder on the end of a sentence. We do that in British English too and I've often wondered if people learning English would find that strange, I guess Germans probably wouldn't! We also leave a lot of "but" and "so" without any resolution, not sure if German has that too, or...
As a German I think it's save to say yes, we use "but" and "so" very often. Thanks for reminding me to reduce it.😅
Speaking english differs in Germany from what school and teacher you learned it. E. g. my teacher was married to an english husband and lived many years in Scotland before coming back to Germany. She learned us the "th" very different from the teacher my neighbor had, who totally refused to even think about pronouncing it in any other way than "s".
Really hurts to hear some Germans speak english, but often people have only few experience in speaking. Our understanding and even writing is often better because we've not always the opportunity to speak english to native speakers. And some may be able to speak perfectly well but won't speak a word at all because they are unsecure about it or too shy.
For myself I'm sure my written and spoken english could be way better, but I'm happy to remember most of the words I need.
We also have a "Keine Wörter Buch", a book without any words but many pictures to point on for travelling. 😉
I love trying to listen and learn how Americans and Brits use have/do/take in different contexts! :-) Don't Brits "take" tea, while Americans "have" it? (the other example that comes to mind is a bathroom reference.. brits have and americans take, although really!! lol.. one goes to the WC to leave not 'take!' /sigh @ my culture!
I’m not a German native speaker, but I do have family that live in Germany that I was around a lot in my childhood that shaped how I pronounce certain words. They came to visit rather frequently, but now I haven’t seen them in several years, as they are much older and can’t travel much. I’ve been interested in relearning German, as I was almost fluent in my teens. My favorite phrase right now is “ Ich möchte eine zimtschnecke”. I just think the literal “cinnamon snail” is cute 😂
Funny, how that don´t impress me much...
Is cinnamon snail, a type of pastry?
@@MsGbergh yes it is. I think you call it "cinnamon roll"?..
It's a Hefegebäck würde ich sayen
Girl you are delightful! Love this video
Your language ability is amazing. I’m sure you are an awesome German teacher.
This was super interesting and illuminating. Thank you!
It‘s incredible how you are able to control your way of speaking that good, that you can turn all of these factors of an German accent on and off all by themselves. I can only switch between my normal English (which probably still has a slight German accent to it, but nothing you would normally note as a German) and a REALLY heavy German accent😂
Macht richtig spass. Super! liebe Grüße aus Österreich, da wirds noch komplizierter😂