Brit Reacts to Why German Sounds So Aggressive

[@onnasenshi7739]

Sorry, but German doesn't sound aggressive, people just make it sound aggressive. The best example is the beginning of the video, where all the people who “think” they are speaking German switch from a normal volume to shouting. Every language sounds aggressive when shouted.

[@Enwaiyre]

Thats the point! And everybody taking Rammsteim for an example "why german is aggressive" No wonder if you talking like you marching to Russia 80 years ago🤦‍♂️

[@arnodobler1096]

@Enwaiyre Till, from Rammstein, is a great singer. If he discussed phone books, I'd want to hear it!

[@onnasenshi7739]

@@arnodobler1096 It's not about whether he's a good singer, it's about the harsh pronunciation. No one has ever said that he sings badly.

[@arnodobler1096]

@@onnasenshi7739 YT übesetzt Till besser als viele andere Deutsche! Er hat so eine weiche sonore Stimme, Bariton Seine Aussprache ist so gut.

[@onnasenshi7739]

@@arnodobler1096 Have you ever thought about the fact that it can also be the music that makes a language sound harsh? As I said, he's not a bad singer, but Till Lindemann's vocals combined with the hard rock of Rammstein make the German language sound harsh.

[@MarieErdmann]

I’m from Germany and I like that you say that German is beautiful ❤ thanks love your reactions of German things!

[@krddt12]

Agree, same for me :) very rare reactions to German stuff :D

[@Badbike3124]

Also du kannst deutsch

[@MarieErdmann]

@@Badbike3124 Ja

[@sandralau8584]

Genau das wollte ich auch schreiben 😁

[@MarieErdmann]

@@sandralau8584 wow

[@berlindude75]

Generally speaking, the English "th" (along with the English "w") is to native German speakers what the German "ch" (along with the German "ü") is to native English speakers: A foreign sound that does not exist in their respective mother tongue and which thus requires practice to get your mouth to properly produce and pronounce.

[@TenkoFoxx]

Absolutely. And on top of this, when children pronounce the sharp s/ß/z sounds in a way it sounds like the english "th" (lisping) it's considered a misarticulations, so this sound is often unwanted and trained away in german language developement. (nothing against your th, though) but i think its another reason we germans often say "zis is ze most difficult sound" :)

[@obimitt.]

"Mayday Mayday! We are sinking, we are sinking!" - "Hello, sis is ze german coastguard. What are you zinking about?"

[@NibblerPG]

I love this ad

[@krddt12]

Those ppl are to lazy to use a "th", maybe they're just stupid. Dunno, was ez to handle being six years old...

[@h3llraizer]

Perfect example :D It's hard to get that sound down in conversation, especially when you are speaking a little faster. It's not impossible for us, but it requires more deliberate pronunciation which you often skip to figure out the rest of the sentence you are trying to speak.

[@catsara9114]

🤣

[@deinbarenbruder6570]

wo kommt denn das Zink her? (where does the zinc come from?)

[@zasou571]

German woman here... I actually find it extremely sad when our beautiful language is always put down like this and called aggressive everywhere! EVERY language is beautiful and interesting in itself and deserves to be appreciated or at least not devalued. And yes - I feel personally offended when I hear Americans, for example, shouting and screaming and screeching out the German language in a totally choppy way and with the wildest accent imaginable. Of course EVERY language sounds aggressive when misused in this way! What many people don't understand is that German is a very logical language, which is actually very easy to learn. Even our many compound words are logical and follow a simple principle: take 2 or more existing words, string them together and voilà, you have a fully functional word to describe something - but you don't have to "invent" a new word... So anyone can create new words whose meaning can be understood immediately. Absolutely simple... ^^ Btw: these mega long words that are often given as examples in such videos are not really used in everyday language! There is a separate word for this (of course 😆): "Beamtendeutsch" (words that are only used by civil servants in explanations, legal texts and the like). And as you can see, this is a great example of a compound word that EVERYONE intuitively understands: Beamten (civil servant) + Deutsch (German) = civil-servant-german. WE have ONE SINGLE word for this - in English it takes a whole sentence to describe this official gobbledygook... Which is easier to remember? And what is also annoying and sad about this stereotype: it is often not only said that the German LANGUAGE sounds aggressive, oh no - from an allegedly aggressive sounding language it is then also directly inferred to the general behavior of the normal German! Yes of course, we Germans are all aggressive... Grrr, how I hate that! I find it insulting. It would never occur to me personally to denigrate another language as "dirty" or "aggressive" just because it sounds different from my mother tongue! I have learned various languages (English, Italian, French, Croatian, Spanish, Dutch) and tried others, but unfortunately failed (Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Romanian, Greek). The main reason for my failure was that it was virtually impossible for me to form the sound sequences etc. - simply because they differ so much from my own language. Is that why I call these languages aggressive or hard or something else? No, I am not! They are simply different, nothing more... The bad thing is that most of these self-proclaimed language experts don't have the slightest idea what German REALLY sounds like! The Americans in particular only imitate the creepy pronunciation and intonation of Hitler (whose actual voice sounded completely different when he wasn't giving speeches... Besides, this way of speaking is a very old stage technique, which is still taught and used in theaters etc. today). Besides, Germans don't shout at each other all day long - such nonsense... I'm really tempted to make a video on the subject myself and show how aggressive OTHER languages sound when you "bark" them out in this way...

[@Mike150381]

Ich gebe dir in allen punkten Recht. So etwas zu hören und zu sehen Kotzt mich an. Deutschland wird immer mehr nieder gemacht

[@zasou571]

​@@Mike150381Vielen Dank! Und ja, zum einen ist es dieses "nieder machen", was einen irgendwann wirklich sauer macht... Was ich persönlich aber noch viel schlimmer finde: wenn sich jemand über die Sprache LUSTIG macht! Da könnte ich echt aushaken... Wie hier im Video, wo der "nette" Amerikaner mit der hohen Fistelstimme den rechten Arm ausstreckt und nach und nach immer mehr Finger hinzu nimmt - bis er schön den verbotenen HH-gruß raushaut... Bei solch auf den ersten Blick kaum wahrnehmbaren Gesten (die aber unterbewusst sehr wohl bei den Zuschauern hängenbleiben!) verbunden mit diesem unsäglichen rumgequietsche, könnte ICH dann kotzen...

[@mati74]

Wow, spot on. I'm a German living in Sweden. Swedish has become my first language in the sense that I use it in everyday life. I never talk German nowadays. But of course, almost everyone notices more or less immediately that I'm originally from Germany. That's OK. I don't feel ashamed or something, I'm actually proud of my roots. But it gets disturbing when people try to imitate the German language (or maybe my way of speaking?) the "Hitler-way". That happens from time to time, and it's not funny at all. At least not for me. But even my wife sometimes yells at me and asks me why I always sound so aggressive. But.....I don't. That's just the way I talk. It's hard to sound less aggressive when you don't sound aggressive for your own ears.

[@lenabomm6809]

Ich stimme dir auch zu; ich finde Deutsch ist so wunderbar logisch und anpassungsfähig. Allerdings würde ich nicht sagen, dass es leich zu erlernen ist; zwar ist das Vokabular leichter zu lernen, aber das holt die deutsche Sprache locker wieder auf, wenn man sich die Grammatik anschaut. Ich bin in Deutschland geboren und aufgewachsen, aber ich würde mir nicht zutrauen einem vollkommenen Novizen die Grammtik von Grund auf beizubringen. Ansonsten hats du aber vollkommen recht, wenn du sagst, dass es nervt wenn wieder jemand behauptet Deutsch wäre ein "hässliche" oder "aggressive" Sprache weil das gebrüllte Wort "Schmetterling" sich nicht so elegant anhört wie ein gewispertes "butterfly". Deshalb ist es schön das dieses Video hier einen anderen Eindruck vermittelt und es freut mich immer wenn ich sehe, dass nicht alle da den gleichen Standpunkt haben.

[@hansmolders1066]

That was, yes very German, WAAAY TOO LONG! But the German grammar is still too difficult! German dialects can be gorgeous especially Rheinländisch or Ruhrpott, very melodic and fitting into a stanza! Ever noticed how the 'Spider Murphy Band' did Rock a Billy, BAP did Rock'n Roll and Grönemeyer does, well who knows what he does!? Music tells you all you want to know about a person.

[@Andi_mit_E]

Some not native German speakers told me the the compound words make German easyer. One example: a doctor for teeth is a toothdoctor (=Zahnarzt) instead of a dentist. We also have childrensdoctors, nervedoctors, eyesdoctors, neck-nose-ears-doctors etc.

[@misstina9870]

Naja, wir gehen aber zum Hautarzt und zum Dermatologen. Das Beispiel is bissi ungünstig. Man benutzt bei Ärzten Mittlerweile auch die Fachbegriffe, wie Dermatologe, Gynäkologe usw.... es gibt einfach nur beides.

[@Andi_mit_E]

@@misstina9870 Steht in meinem Beispiel irgendwo, dass es nicht auch andere gebräuchliche Begriffe dafür gibt? Dass es im Deutschen die Möglichkeit gibt schließt die Alternative nicht aus. Das Beispiel ist SEHR passend, da die Nicht-Muttersprachler gesagt haben, dass GENAU DAS (mit exakt diesen Beispielen) ihnen an der deutschen Sprache so gefällt.

[@achimdemus-holzhaeuser1233]

throat-nose-ears-doctors .. to be pedantic :) the thing is the compound names are based on true German words, while the alternate Names fall under the umbrella of technical terms. the overlap between technical terms and common terms in the English is much bigger than in German. Or like I prefer to put it .. the Angels, Saxons and Normans were to lazy to invent there own words and just stole the Latin and Greek ones. Dermatologist for example comes from Greek. Dermis meaning Skin and Logos the Lore of.. so a Person Knowledgable about Skin and is used in many non-english countries. This may be a reason why it is easier for other people to learn the english language. They allready know half of the words. At the moment Germany has this weird fetish with adopting English Business Language. So we are doing the same ..

[@Andi_mit_E]

@@achimdemus-holzhaeuser1233 Throat = Kehle, Hals = neck

[@rozieristhere6651]

​@@Andi_mit_Eneck=Nacken/Genick/Hals (outside), throat=Kehle/Rachen (inside)... and this kind of doctor only treats whats on the inside and not the outer muscles or skeleton or skin so throat is definitely the more accurate translation

[@manitor7782]

The insanely long words stem from the fact, that they are very literal. For example "Glühbirne" (lightbulb) literaly means "light-pear". To describe things we just put the words, that describe it together. Same with the popular choice of "Rindfleischettiketierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz" (Cattle marking and beef labeling supervision duties delegation law) exactly means what it says in English, just all the words put together. And even these words are compond words. "Rindfleisch" (beef) literally means "cow-meat". It makes the German language very difficult for people who try to approach learning it, but makes understanding unknown things very easy when you're able to speak basic German. And yes, the "th" is pretty difficult for Germans. We don't have any sounds, that require a similar movement of the mouth and Tongue. It's the same as our "ch" for others. The "Hitler-Sound" wasn't even anything unusual during the time. When you pronounce German very clearly, with big gaps between words it's just easier to understand when the audio quality is as bad, as it were back then. Plus some screaming because it's a big, very energetic speech. Emergency services here speak pretty much the same over the radio. It makes it easier to understand over radio while in a loud environment. This way of speaking just got popular around the world through Hitler and got ridiculed because of that. Anyway, love your vids man and I love your unbiased view on things. Much love from Germany.

[@Lukachan911]

Yes I found it difficult to pronounce the th. Mostly when I say it it sounds like an s or f

[@Twiety89]

ähhhh shouldnt it sound like a f in most cases? xD but yea its pretty typical for us to say for example sank you instead of fank you. But i thought fank you is the right spelling isnt it??

[@Lukachan911]

@Twiety89 you dont spell it like an f. F is like breathing throug your teeth. Th is shortly putting your tounge between the teeth. I think f sounds definitly better than s, too 😁

[@la-go-xy]

Pronounce it like a 'd' -- that makes more sense

[@stormdivision617]

@@Twiety89 No ‘f’ would be wrong. Best example I can think of would be the word ‘three’. If you were to say it with an ‘f’ you’d get an entirely different word. Most Germans I’ve heard speak english however do indeed say ‘f’ instead of ‘th’ for the obvious reason that it’s much easier for them and it’s basically close enough and the far better alternative to saying an ‘s’.

[@stormdivision617]

​@@la-go-xy I used to do this however I've found that it only works on words that use the voiced ‘th’ (ð), so for example 'that'. On words that use the unvoiced ‘th' (θ) as in 'think' it doesn't really work. In general I think it's still miles better than saying a 's'. Personally I feel like the best course of action is to simply learn to pronounce 'th'. It might never be perfect, but I don't like that some act like it is an impossibility for us Germans, when it's really just practice. It's obviously no must, but I do think it takes the way your proficiency of the English language is perceived to the next level.

[@andre-from-northern-germany]

Hi Dwayne, now that you're approaching 20k and becoming a big KZbinr who will probably have problems hearing individual voices of his subscribers I wanted to tell you a few things again ;-) I (48, father of 4 children) have been watching various KZbinrs for a long time, expressing reactions and opinions. You are completely out of the picture for me, because you are full of empathy, intelligence and also think outside the box. You make each of your videos something special !!! If you ever make it to northern Germany, I would give anything to have a coffee or a beer with you, whichever you prefer ;-) Keep up the good work, you are one of my heroes !!! Hi Dwayne, jetzt wo du dich den 20k näherst, und damit zu einem großen KZbinr wirst, der wahrscheinlich Probleme haben wird einzelne Stimmen seiner Abonnenten zu hören wollte ich dir noch einmal ein paar Sachen sagen ;-) Ich (48, Vater von 4 Kindern) schaue schon lange diverse KZbinr, die Reaktionen und Meinungen äussern. Du fällt für mich vollkommen aus dem Bild, weil du voll Empathie, Intelligenz bist, auch mal über den Tellerrand schaust. Du macht jedes deiner Videos zu etwas besonderem !!! Wenn du es mal nach Norddeutschland schafft, würde ich alles dafür geben mal einen Kaffee oder eine Bier mit dir, je nachdem was du bevorzugst, trinken ;-) Mach weiter so, du bist einer meiner Helden !!!

[@popistjn]

Agree, super Kommentar. Super Typ.

[@corinnaleichert]

Hey Dwayne, Im a german of the next, next generation after the second war, born in 1961, it was so strong to have everytime this feeling of fault about hitler and what was happen. But Germany works every time to remember this fault till today. I think every language sounds hard in a special way to pronounce it. Look at D.Trump, his sound is not really mankind in some words. I thank you also for your way to Talk about germany, it feels that you really like germany and the germans. Ich mag deine Art!

[@Afi907]

Du bist so sympathisch❤

[@sarerusoldone]

oh yes, i think most of struggle at first when we learn english and come across the "th" since we've simply never used this sound before

[@_Yannex]

My first English lessons in 5th grade. There was this unpopular strict 50+ teacher. But she didn't worries about looking absolutely silly (tongue between teeth's) to teach us correctly the th, while we can't stop laughing. Today I'm so grateful to her. Especially at this time '91 it wasn't a matter of course for an ex-GDR Russian teacher. Sometimes I stumble about mirror 13th and Massachusetts which becomes fine again after two beers☺️

[@gm3794]

i realy like you for you saying: German is beautyful

[@Crisslybaer]

10:09 Konsonantenschlacht - consonants battle

[@MisterRedBlueBlur]

The German language does not sound aggressive. It sounds precise, and that is what it is.🙂

[@RB-nt6zx]

When I was on holiday in Scotland (and riding the train through England) I found it fascinating, how many people were very familiar with Germany, either from working there for some years or visiting frequently. And the Scots and English really like to talk :) My experiences were all in all lovely. It is true, there is a great connection between us.

[@Kava.ediz.22]

As a german the th in English is really difficult

[@nordwestbeiwest1899]

Just a reminder: Hitler was Austrian and not a born German!

[@KniKnaKnorke]

Whats the difference? Back then, there where only german Kingdoms, or Germanic people.

[@treasey8655]

@@KniKnaKnorke austrians roll the r

[@nordwestbeiwest1899]

@@KniKnaKnorke : Where did you learn that? Wrong! There were the Habsburgs and the Empire (Kaiserreich Deutschland) was only proclaimed in 1871. Therefore, there were two sovereign empires that had nothing to do with Germanic tribes. Therefore, your assumption is completely wrong. By the way, you should study the history books before you make such false claims. Every German will tell you that this is the case.

[@mercatorjubio3804]

@@KniKnaKnorke let me guess, Murican....? 😆

[@chisaki703]

​@@KniKnaKnorke german kingdoms in 1940s? You're mixing up time periods lulz

[@Mapaed]

And still - there is more to that topic ... As a brit - you know there are quite a few "accents / dialects" in different regions. You know if somebody is from the north east, a "Scouser" or somebody from Scotland (or even from the West End or the east End - for London). Very much the same for Germany. Even if Germans try to speak the "Hochdeutsch" - the formal german - you would hear of which region they are from. And even the "absence" of an accent would mean - they are from the region of Braunschweig, Hannover - middle to northern germany. Because even what is considered the "standard german" is at the end a regional dialect. And - with a little experience - it is quite easy to identify where a german person grew up. Not only the federal state / Bundesland - but even to the region. Up to maybe regions maybe 30 miles apart. Sounds weird? But it was my experience when I studied in the town of "Schwäbisch Gmünd" - a town about 50 km east of Stuttgart. And I was part of the welcoming team for welcoming the freshman students for some years. After the first two years I could tell (I would say with 80% accuracy) where the freshmen grew up. The college of education I was part of - most students came from not further away than 100 km. Most way less. But still - I could identify from what region they originated. Where that person grew up. And therefore - there are so many regional dialects, way more than the 16 "Bundesländer" - the federal states that form germany. Even if you don't speak german at all - you would hear distinctive differences between dialects maybe only 100 to 150 km apart. Another true story - I had some training sessions to give as a trainer in the region of bavaria near the border to the Czech republic. Lower bavaria. I grew up in southern germany, now live in Munich for "ages" and I am very familiar with most of the dialects spoken in the southern part of Germany. Nothing prepared me to the situation a this training - I knew she (a factory worker - 20 to 25ish) was speaking in a strong lower bavarian accent. But she spoke "german" - and I didn't understand what she was telling me. As asked as the part of the training - she wanted to take part and answer my question. As I didn't want to ignore her contribution - I asked "could you repeat that - I didn't "copy" that" (as it is best described in english) - she switched to a version of "Hochdeutsch" - still very much influenced by her dialect - that did the trick in that situation. But showed my how different "German" could be. Plus: I recognized how hard it can get for someone so used to get along on everydays existence with their local dialect - to switch to a more formal/official version of your language. Scots present? ;-)

[@_Schniedl]

You sound so beautiful when you talk. Thank you for your Video.❤ Du hörst dich so schön an, wenn du redest. Danke für dein Video.❤ Much love from Germany.

[@Whats-a-Chidi]

Honestly, you're such a warm, authentic person :) Watching you talk and hearing your takes was so pleasant. Thank you for that! I just came back from my last London trip after I haven't been for a few years. I already miss it. English people are so friendly, I can't explain it. Germans are so rough and moody, at least anyone that's working in service. I had such a great time at Stansted airport, everyone was so nice for a change haha. But the thing that got me: YOU DON'T GET TO CHOOSE YOUR SECONDARY LANGUAGE IN SCHOOL? I didn't know that! That's insane! Definitely not the case here. Of course you gotta learn English, fair enough, but most schools then offer either French, Spanish or Latin. Soemtimes even Russian or other fancy languages. Guess you never stop learning lol. Cheers, mate! Fantastic video! x

[@likliksnek]

German here. Thank you for loving our accent and this lovely video. :) I feel most English speaker only know the German language from movies, where we usually are the bad guys or ridiculously bad at speaking English. Regarding long words: When I was a child we had a game where you had to make a word in a given category, beginning with a certain letter, as long as you could. (tiny bit like scrabble for little kids). I loved that game. One of my go-to words for furniture with an "S" was "Schreibtischschubladenschlüsselschränkchen" (desk drawer key box). I'm still low-key proud of that one. ;)

[@peg_e]

The ß btw is only used after a long vowel, after a short spoken one we use “ss”…

[@Kellerkind.1]

just for you to remember, the britisch royal family has their roots in gemany

[@CavHDeu]

No problem with the th and i can say squirrel too 😂

[@NibblerPG]

Thats what every german says. Ich glaube es erst wenn ich es höre :p

[@CavHDeu]

@NibblerPG gar kein Problem, wenn du zuvor Eichhörnchen korrekt aussprechen kannst 😉

[@andreadee1567]

Same. Easy. To proof that I can, I always say th-quirrel

[@NibblerPG]

@@CavHDeu kzbin.infoWeiL4L6E2x0 😎

[@mati74]

Skwrrrrrlllll 😂 einfach, oder?

[@Ela-tw9if]

Warms my heart that you say german is beautiful. If you speak a bit german and listen to our poetry it is amazing what you can do with our language ❤

[@kiewie3752]

I'm from Germany and it's difficult for every German to pronounce the "th" when you start learning english

[@dreistein]

It's difficult for everybody. Listen to Italians or French, even Cockneys. Brother, bruzza, brudda, bruzzeur, bruvvah...

[@mizapf]

It's easier for Germans who tend to say the "s" with a slight lisp (too long tongue). I never had a problem with "th" right from the start, just pushed my tongue a bit further forward. 🙂

[@unternatuerlich]

That last three words where compound words by the way. That’s what I like about my language. It’s just so easy to use words (and the concept behind them) to create a new word. And the concepts of the words used, „translate“ to another more complex concept. Those long, complicated compound words can be very handy if are used to it.

[@simoneschneider8461]

Yes, I find the pronunciation of th difficult 😂 Greetings from Germany👋

[@Zockerkillers]

It's a great, wonderful, amazing, incredible day, because it's a Dwayne day. Thanks for your videos man. Greetings from Germany.

[@GoldenLightShine]

Yes, th is very hard for me, especially since I lisp sometimes ^^" 08:00 Games like Skrabble hit different in german because of that :D

[@cheleya2721]

I lisp, too, feels like naturally doing the TH 😅 a regular "s" is more challenging I think 😂

[@Findas88]

I saw a Video of I think a british linguist, who made a list of his favorit german words, that the english language should adopt. His number one was Feierabend, which is a compound of Feier (Party) and Abend (evening) which is the end of your workday. So we germans celebrate our end of the work day each day just by using the word Feierabend. Speaking of which I will now make Feierabend. Really appreciated your reaction :D

[@TasiVibes]

It's nice to hear that you find German beautiful, you hardly ever hear that. 💜 No matter what language, when I shout, everything can sound aggressive. th is really a bit difficult for many. best regards from berlin 💜

[@dochollowday8288]

Yes. When learning English in school a lot of people struggled with pronouncing the "th", and the mispronunciation of it is a very common issue for Germans when speaking English.

[@zero.Identity]

though i would not generalize it and say its a thing "germans" struggle with. its rather a 50/50 chance. cuz for me it was never a problem

[@dochollowday8288]

@@zero.Identity Yep. Which is why I said "a lot of people", not "all".

[@zero.Identity]

@dochollowday8288 well yeah that wasnt actually meant against your comment. Rather, what many people say

[@MichaelBurggraf-gm8vl]

There are a few difficulties I have been struggling with learning English: - th - voiced and voiceless consonants are are pronounced more distinctly in English than in German, eg. z and s in English - distinguishing f, v and w in English. In German w is often pronounced like the English v. And v in German is almost always pronounced like f while there's a subtle difference between the two consonants in English pronounciation. - German pronounciation is quite consistent with its spelling. In English the pronounciation of a word is not always obvious when seeing it written. Eg. bow -- bowl, tree -- treat, crow -- crawl, sea --- see, conscious -- conscientious -- consentient BTW, the German ch-sound doesn't exist in English but I think it's quite the same as the Scottish ch as in Loch Lomond. Most other germanic languages know that sound but also celtic languages like Breton (spoken in the western part in France). I think it does exist in Welsh and Gaelic/Irish too. However that sound is unknown to English as well as to French and Italian.

[@eastfrisian_88]

I don't usually find the “th” difficult in English, there are sometimes sentence combinations where I get a knot in my tongue (like 13th street). Our English teacher at school lived in London for a few years and also studied English there, and he annoyed us with the “th” until everyone in the class could say it 😩😂 I personally speak more British English because of the teacher, I have relatives in the Manchester area and was there for several weeks (even if it was a long time ago) and I found Mancunian dialect very interesting from the sound of it and very quickly spoken, my brain always needed some delay until it had translated it 😂I'm surprised that, strangely enough, there are seldom negative reports about Low German in terms of intonation, but rather praise that some words etc. are very similar to English.

[@paulkalle8456]

i‘m german and i never heard something like „Weltschmerz“ so it was nice to know it now but i think german does sound kind a like harsh just becouse of the „ch“ or „ck“. Both are like taking the focus on it selfs while speaking.

[@zero.Identity]

and yet, because of the compound word style, you could guess the meaning without knowing it. thats why its good. yeah it might be hard to understand before you understand basic words but after that it speeds up the process immensly

[@SaskiaLorenschat]

Aw❤ I love german too. Not because it’s my first language. Thanks for making this fun video

[@tomaszsmolen8611]

I can you say from my experience that the past is a long time gone. Some people are still riding on it but it is not an case for me. I am an Polish guy who lives in German since 35 years.😊✌️

[@Tenseiken_]

Many germans who're not quite good in english tend to struggle with the th sound, actually true. Which is why it's often memed on. I've been speaking english for almost 30 years now and while th is not a problem, thr on the other hand is still just a struggle, words like three or throne. English is normally quite easy and pronouncing it kinda just falls into place like a rock naturally rolling down a hill, but when I'm required to say a word with thr in it, it's like someone momentarily created a stop gap for the rock and it stops it in it's tracks for just a second. Took a lot of practice to not mess up my talking speed.

[@zero.Identity]

a quick tip: just quickly pull the tongue backwards away from your teeth. and then say the r. like, pull away and curl it upwards

[@LichtAnker.]

I am from Germany and I love all people unconditionally. I am always sweet and calm. Don't worry, there are more Germans who are like that. ^^ 😘

[@Birkevonketelhodt]

I can pronounce the t h normal but i often forget it when i talk

[@m.h.6470]

Any language can be made to sound angry, if that is your goal. Does German have certain elements, that are harsher than other languages? Yes. Does this mean, that they are commonly used in day-to-day language? Absolutely not. High German - the language analyzed in that video - is a constructed language. A language created, so that everyone in Germany can both speak and understand it, given the MANY dialects of Germany. Without it, Germans from the north could not possibly understand Germans from the south or vice-versa. Same for east and west (even though, due to less distance, those are much more similar).

[@oOBuFuOo]

Compound words are describing and the longer it gets the more spezific it gets. To translate a single word you often need a sentence to describe the situation around it.

[@shirokasute1520]

Something special I really can is not just learning a language, I learn instantly the accents. For example, I never had problems with pronounce th like the, Theatre, etc. Or in japanese the way how you pronounce the r in there language

[@sandrapulinna9103]

Every language sound of your Scream it not only German if you scream English words English things Sounds aggressive

[@hansmolders1066]

There are some very melodic dialects too! Rheinländisch or Cologne especially! But also the Ruhrgebiet are very flowing and bend the German grammar to fit into a melody. I like to compare it to some Irish accents!

[@psychologie4510]

"Th" one of the first things you learn in class and its going through all of school time. Some people never get the "th" right in their lifes. Many old people say "sanks", younger people more like "fanks".

[@Yvonne-fe5qf]

Especially the combination of th , st and s Sounds is something i Need to concentrate with

[@epischewurststullederverda1483]

I'm German, and for me, it's often the subtle aspects of pronunciation that make English challenging. The "th" sound is a prime example; the tongue placement required for this sound doesn't exist in German. The closest equivalent would be what we refer to as "Lispeln" (English: lisping). Another difficulty I encounter is with the "d" at the end of words. In German, it's pronounced more like a "t" than a "d." Ultimately, it comes down to practice. Since I rarely have the opportunity to speak English, it's not a significant issue.

[@simonfionaw.8889]

I am German and I don't struggle saying "th", but i know many people that can not pronounce it, because of different German Accents like "Bayerisch" or "Sächsisch". These Accents make the pronounciation of "th" very hard, so many Germains say not "thanks". They say "Sanks" or "Tanks" without pronounce the "h" in combination with the "t". The Video is explaining it very well I think :)

[@Kris1964]

Th was the first English lessom I had - the English teacher marched us all across to the gym and we stood along the mirrored wall and looked at ourselves while spending one full hour spitting at the mirror with our tongues sticking out saying fffffffffff a million times until it became thhhhhhh

[@GameBreakingCode]

8:18 this is our new longest word (for now ;)

[@deinbarenbruder6570]

6:27 I think we usually use these "dictionary words" because we are used to always use the correct word. most longer, more explicit words are just compound words in german and because we want to use the dictionary words in our language we also try to use them in other languages.

[@la-go-xy]

Remember the song from Max Giesinger? That was more normal (standard German)

[@krddt12]

You have to check out regional German languages. Cologne has a very relaxed style of speaking German btw.

[@Floxxoror]

So cool, that you have German ancestors. That makes us almost like brothers! What was her confession again? :P

[@XXRSurreal]

I come from a German background considering my parents immigrated to America from Germany and we spoke German as our "Home Language" and my parents have a strong German accent when speaking English and when people hear their accent they obviously ask if their German but they also a lot of the time think the Accent sounds Smooth in a way I don't really know how to explain it

[@NØRDICYT-u4m]

Ich bin auch Deutscher, obwohl ich kein gutes Englisch spreche, und ich weiß, was du meinst, wenn du sagst, dass die Leute deinen Akzent für sanft halten, lol

[@XXRSurreal]

Das ist cool zu wissen, besonders von einem Deutschen

[@tizidesch]

the very long word is a word that i never heart and im im from germany

[@kwaobenti]

I liked this guy, and his open-minded reaction.

[@mynanaleo]

Generally speaking, the English "th" as well as "ough" are often repeated and trained in English lessons at school

[@MrPrXs]

greetz from Berlin. Like ur reactions

[@biancat.1873]

Yeah, "th" is the reason I never speak English. I always fail this sound & too many people (although mostly other Germans, who don't have an issue pronouncing the "th") made fun of me, so I stopped.

[@THeDoMeTB]

4:23 the irony that he pronounces it "zat" :D "th" is the top first thing germans struggle with pronounciationwise. in many cases we are so selfaware in that regard, that most have been teased when saying it wrong atleast once and we usually notice a german speaking englisch when it is just the tiniest bit off i remember once, it was like a sciencey vid and there was a professor or something, that lived in the usa for 20 years, working on some crazy advanced projects, teaching at universities and so on... 3 sentences in i thought "that person sounds german", and lo and behold, she was xD its like spidey senses

[@arianeh.1884]

My favorite German word is “Geborgenheit”. There are hardly any equivalents in other languages. It's the feeling you usually have in childhood when you feel safe, secure, loved and cared for. It is a feeling free from stress, fear and worry.

[@catalyticcentaur5835]

Hygge? And yes, that's the only example I can come up with. Geborgenheit ist tatsächlich ("indeed") ein wunderschönes ("wonderbeautiful") Wort.

[@kipchickensout]

100 Prozent, sehr nicer Kanal

[@leonard-hf6ks]

I am an German and at the beginning it was hard for me to speak TH but I got it now.

[@n1cki09]

I don’t have a problem with pronouncing words like “think“ or “thanks“ but th plus r is hard. Like “three“ or “throw“. I think I’m doing it quite well now but it was pretty rough first

[@Silicon_Magic]

It really depends on the speaker. I can talk in english and make it sound really harsh, if I want to, or talk german in a very soft manner. But by its inner logic, the german language forces you to speak more clearly, which probably makes it easier for non native speakers to learn the language. English on the other hand tempts people to smooth out their way of talking, sometimes to a degree where it becomes increasingly hard to understand them. (Looking at the amarican folks here. 😅) As for compound words, it's just a matter of getting used to it. If I would write Weatherforecastservice as one single word, it would look weird at first glance but still remains totally understandable, because even if written down separately, your brain will combine the individual words anyway into a logical unit. As for the super long words, they're usually only to be found in codified law and never meant to be actually spoken out loud. I also hope that both countries become even closer friends in the future, because there is so much history other than WWII and things we have in common. I'm a huge fan of Britain. May it be comedy geniuses like Monty Python, british movies, the music industry, literature and culture.

[@euphurion]

me personally struggle something with the "th" depends on the word, thanks, that, there, think are all easy but weather turns out to be difficult sometimes. when the "th" is in the middle or the end of the word. but it's true german people really struggle with the "th" because we have nothing in our language where we use that, the same as the german "ch".. english speaker struggle the same way with "ch" as we german struggle with "th" because we don't use it anywhere in our native language.

[@thesil3nce976]

Fun Fact: Our english teacher (american) arrived in germany and he asked a random guy for directions. The german said: "Yeah, you have to go to the main street and then you have to take a left turn next to the hospital." He told us that he was stunned. Directly translated "you have to" - ger.: "Du musst" is not the same in english. "You have to" describes an action you must do like it's not a suggestion. The way the americans use this phrase is "you ought to" or "you should" what gives them the opportunity and not a command. You don't learn this in class normally. Imagine you arrive in germany and being commanded by a stranger... would f me up too ngl lol.

[@jasminw4842]

Well i had to read your comment twice to understand. And it made me think. Didn't english use the Same phrase? I once learned that when we give directions in english we use the phrase "you have to Go down the Road..." Which ist exactly the Same we would use in German "du musst die Straße runter laufen.." And it's nothing like an command. And i honestly never thougth as a command before. It is more Like "of course you can walk any way you want, but If you want to reach your Goal in the Most efficient way use this one. "😂

[@zero.Identity]

@@jasminw4842 to me it also doesnt make sense that its seen as a command. cuz, you asked for the specific direction to ___. so, if you want to get there you actualldy do HAVE to go that way. cuz other ways, lead to other places. if i say you Might go that way, well then i just suggested to to you that if you go backwards in the completely false direction, you would also end up there.

[@kat2089]

Please react to „wer sagt denn das“ from Deichkind. It feels like lyric wise this song has become even more relevant and the video is as usual amazing!

[@cacklebarnacle15]

I remember us spending weeks on learning the proper pronounciation of "th" and even then it was still heavily accented for most. Btw. one of the reasons why German has this image of sounding too harsh etc., those impressions are based on the distinct style of speaking German for early recording and broadcasting, like you can hear in WW2 footage used in history classes or documentaries. English had the same thing going on, speaking as clearly and energetic as possible, to come across clearly in early audio technology. Just think of the old timey broadcasters and even TV and movies. No one talks like that anymore, neither in English, nor in German. And no one talked like that unless they had a microphone in their face.

[@Jan-i-tor]

Regarding the english "th": Imo english is spoken where you often has your tongue at your teeth in front. That position is quite uncommon for german tnogues where we often use our backroom of the mouth for the "throat" sounds like "ch" from "Ach" for example. So the difference is the training with your tongue position and where you get your sound from (front or back). Thats why Germans struggle with the english "th". If a german gets used to the tongue-in-front-position our pronunciation gets way better in my experience.

[@VonBrachsenbruegge]

I don't understand why compound words are such a weird concept for many people.. For example: Naval criminal investigative Service.. We would say: Navalcriminalinvestigativeservice.. We just learned to see each word separately, no matter how long the compound word is..

[@uschil228]

Austrian here. I have to concentrate real hard to pronounce "th" correctly. Most of the time it sounds more like "s". Also I just can't do a engllish "r".

[@MrBlaTi]

Also, the compound words thing is really not that bad. It's just a feature of the language. You can create new words by sticking together existing ones to describe something. It's not that hard to grasp imo and german is far from the only language doing that. Just like germans don't go out of their way to "create" long words, inuit don't go out of their way to create dozens of words for snow. Its just that instead of "fresh snow" the inuit say "freshsnow" and the germans say "neuschnee" instead of "neuer schnee"

[@corinna007]

I'm not German, but I have German / Dutch ancestry and I can speak some High German as well as some Mennonite Low German (my heritage language). In my opinion they think that German does sound a bit harsher than English or the Scandinavian languages, but I still think it has its own beauty.

[@LucaFuchs1]

8:30 most of these ultra long words are names of very specific laws.

[@itsmebatman]

Am German and I don't find the th sound difficult anymore. But when I started learning it at age 8 or so I had trouble with it, because we don't have that sound in German. At the beginning you really need to concentrate to not make it sound like an s-sound. Over the years you slowly get used to it, because it is in so many English words. But it doesn't come naturally to us. In old Germanic, when it was still written in runes we used to have this sound too. My guess is that's where you got it from. But we abandoned it a long, long time ago.

[@itsmebatman]

Also it is fascinating to hear the US banned German practically, but some religious communities like the Amish or the Jews were speaking in a German dialect and just kept doing so. Their Jews speak Jiddisch among themselves and it sounds like a rural dialect from South West Germany. I bet I could talk to Jews in New York and they would understand me by at least 80% or so.

[@Samira._.222]

4:30 Well me as a German I don't always have problems pronouncing the "th" it always depends on the word for example by "Thanks, there" its not difficult at all for me but for example by "with, breath, Length and strength" and so I have pronunciation problems so if I would say "with" it would sound like "wis"

[@ElkeSiegburg]

Hi Dwayne🤗 I couldn't care less about people disliking our language😂😂. In my opinion German has many facets ❤. A very good frightening example is the song "Seemann - a Rammstein cover by Apocalyptica feat. Nina Hagen " Nina Hagen is just wow 🎉🎉🎉

[@danyos.3942]

Rember 5th grade, learning "th" and especially the "r". 100 times speaking the word "Brown" - and now all: "Broooooown" 😀

[@marv4869]

I am currently 22 Years old and i have been speaking and Learning English since i am 9 Years old at the beginning it was hard to pronounce certain words but now i am more proficient in English than German especially since i have a psychology decease that hinders me to use the german grammar, So for me it is more comfortable to speak in English than German 👌🏼 So me as a German has to say i finde German harder than English

[@sxcpink4828]

My English teacher used to say „Nuh-sing“ (the word nothing)

[@Attirbful]

ah, the beauty of compounding! Where English speakers string words together while keeping an empty space between them (needing entire sentences to describe something need a sentence while needing additional modal verbs, verbs, prepositions etc. etc. etc.….), we simply put them together without the spacing and are able to say in one word.

[@mizapf]

It seems to me that the affricates "pf" and "z" (sounds like [ts], never like English z!) are particularly difficult for foreign speakers, while they are everyday sounds for native speakers. Hence, I had to learn that my last name "Zapf" is almost unpronounceable for English people without basic German skills, and while I usually help with my first name "Michael" (say it like in English), there is no real help for my last name.

[@misstina9870]

I am from Germany and used the word landlord in a conversation with an English friend. He didn't know the word... but I don't know another word for this, so I explained it like the owner of my house, who I need to pay every month 😂😂😂😅

[@Bulitesse]

Why I have problems with th? Why do you have problems with ch,ä,ö,ü or our love for long (I mean very looooong) words? 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Greetings from Hamburg ❤

[@Attirbful]

Many Germans have a really hard time pronouncing the -th-. I don‘t but many struggle… In my humble opinion, anyone thinking German sounds harsh, should pick up a volume of German poetry (such as Rainer Maria Rilke) and see how beautifully the German language can sound and how precise, elaborate, and poetic is still is…

[@magi987]

Hey, i watched quite a few videos from you now and i really enjoing how youre enjoing german content. And i thought you already reacted to some Peter Fox older muisc can you please check out his newer stuff :)

[@Smiley1967]

yes i find it difficult to pronounce the th :D And we combine actually words to make speaking about stuff more efficent so you dont have to explain stuff first to others they just read the main topic word and they know already whats going on. Also in personal exp. if you are in a quick reaction moment you can describe stuff more precisly in a shorter way and people will react to it more quickly. Also a nice side info german is the langauage with the by far most words in the world constantly adding knew one so have fun to learn it, even germans dont know all the words :D

[@jonahlp134]

4:31 , yes. We really have problems with that. Some people have it a bit more intense, like saying something like he/se instead of the, and some people have better English, and can kinda pronounce it like the. Also, 2:26 Thank you for appreciating our language. I think it’s just the image, when people think of Germany they think of h*tler, while not everyone here actually sounds like that.

[@KasdeyasVids]

I have the theory, that some germans struggle with the english th, because we were taught not to lisp (which in german is basically moving your tongue close to your teeth when trying to do s-sounds/z-sounds). So it's a very hard training to ignore what you were taught before. You know what I mean?

[@sabiner5183]

Thought the same too. But just guessing. 👍

[@katjawege6886]

It is not really hard to pronounce th when it's IN a word. But when it's at the END of a word and the next word starts with s, it's nearly impossible. Like the movie "The sixth sense" - my tongue is not able to say this proberly. 😳Thanks for your reaction and love from Germany ❤

[@BirneGilmore]

Hello There. Thank you for all your great videos about our german culture and music. I personally think that you got a good knowledge and understanding of the german vibes and ways of society. Me as a german and somebody who learned english and some other languages also think that german sounds harsh and somehow blunt, but as you also have recognized it could be used to make great poetry and lyrics, especially to describe more darker themes or deep feelings (like the "Weltschmerz" ;) ). Its not soft, but versatile. As a small "gift" for you is a music suggestion for you: "Feierabend" by "Großstadtgeflüster", ab Band from Berlin. It's good especially after a long working day. I hope you enjoy it But as a small please by me I would like you to read through the lyrics of the songs you cover in your videos. They often matter to get the hook of the video or theme as well ;) Thnaks in advance .... ... a fan of yours ;)

[@achimdemus-holzhaeuser1233]

I hate German Rap with a passion, but I love this one. Have a link kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6TKhGeGadp7mtE

[@FrauHasi77]

at 6:45 it´s the same when foreigner speaks german, they use the unusual words to dicribe something. That´s funny!

[@Holy1974]

I cannot agree with this. The mistake that is often made is the sources where you can hear German words. Old speeches by Hitler, etc. are used. This is also why they are often shown spoken far too loudly. As if every German were giving a speech in front of masses of people. I often noticed this in YT videos from Americans. They usually say something like Jaaaaa and very loudly. Words are also not pronounced so precisely, which makes it sound even harsher. Which of course doesn't correspond to reality at all. This th isn't a big problem for most of us either. In older generations, however, it happens more often because English was not necessarily part of the school curriculum at the time. :) Greatings from Germany

[@meinich5488]

Thank you, that is not speaking German.

[@la-go-xy]

Especially speaches with microphone and speakers. Also, creating a certain athmosphere is wanted

[@nicosteffen364]

German Lyrics are beautiful and sound so nice!

[@lilliwendling7945]

Compound words are kind of like sentences without using words like and or verbs