The German Language: Its Fascinating History, Diverse Dialects & More!

[@7h3M3553ng3r]

After studying "school book" German in highschool and at university, my first immersion experience was a summer spent working at a supermarket in Switzerland. After 3 months I came back home speaking fluent German, but amusingly to my college professors, with a Swiss accent.

[@extraudoknight]

Amazing!!!

[@DramaQueenMalena]

Das isch doch tiptop eso, oder nid?

[@parkjimin-standkb-62]

What was his reaction?😂

[@SillyhAsH]

@@parkjimin-standkb-62 Grüezi

[@alexschaeller8881]

Lol!! What a shock for them

[@tomj1676]

There's a German joke about dialects: What's the difference between a Saxon (native of Saxony) and a foreigner? You'll understand the foreigner if he speaks German

[@jaxd5052]

Another one is - My friend here speaks a different language, he speak hessian

[@spaceowl9246]

*bavarian

[@prunabluepepper]

I don't get it, where's the joke? 😉😚

[@Cykler770]

@@prunabluepepper to exolain to you (I am a german btw, from central west Germany) many here joke here about saxon dialect because its sounds for us sometimes a bit silly and far even so you can still understand it pretty okay. Another example would be the "Gänsefleisch" joke.

[@prunabluepepper]

@@Cykler770 ich wohn in Bochum ;) das war ein Witz.

[@languagelearning7726]

Die deutsche Sprache ist eine der faszinierendsten Sprachen der Welt und die Deutschen Kultur, Kunst und Wissenschaft ist hervorragend, darum lerne ich Deutsch. Ich bin Argentinischer Amerikaner.

[@12061988]

Gracias.

[@leawilken9814]

Your German is pretty good 👍🏻

[@bavariaflorian1842]

Ich komme aus Munich ( München) und es freud mich, dass Sie so positiv über meine Heimat Deutschland sprechen. Nochmals vielen Dank.

[@andreasrademacher5715]

I war niemals stolz auf mein Land, aber ich glaube, da Sprache und Denken nicht zu trennen sind, viele deutsche Errungenschaften eben wirklich "deutsch" waren, weil deutsch gedacht wurde. Das hat nichts mit Patriotismus oder Nationalismus zu tun.

[@thomasm.2293]

Mein Vater ist Portugiese und hat Deutsch gelernt bevor er nach Deutschland einwanderte. Er war Techniker und er lernte es, weil es die Sprache der Technik ist wie er sagte.

[@marcowen1506]

"learn German" is on my list of things to do before I die. Interesting fact: if you worked in chemistry before about 2005, you really needed German. The best textbooks and journals were still published in it, and it was a sort of lingua franca. For the middle of the 20th century the same was true of physics. I still can't get myself to use the "English equivalent" terminology. An ansatz is an ansatz and that is that.

[@okipullup2769]

nice

[@Tortuosit]

Still alive 😁?

[@SuperXD44]

wow i didnt know that but its not suprising considering how much chemical industry and science we have here

[@marcowen1506]

@@SuperXD44 it's not just that Germany has a lot of industry, German speakers drove the "chemical science phase" of the Industrial Revolution, professionalised science & engineering, and brought a mathematical and analytical rigour to engineering. Contrast with the British - the first nation to industrialise - they missed the importance of chemicals and were obsessed with the idea of the "talented amateur" . They ended up a decade behind the Germans.

[@GeoStreber]

I'm a german chemist who works in Denmark, and every now and then some colleague asks me to translate an old article to english or explain some synthesis protocol to them.

[@j.g.d.s3142]

It is really impressive how German spread all around the world. We also even have our own German dialect in Venezuela, that is why I started to learn it. German is such an important language as well as it has been for me one of the most beautiful and interesting languages I've ever begun to learn.

[@MsPataca]

But in fact German didn't really "spread" around the world. Outside the DACH countries, people that speak German on a daily basis are pretty rare nowadays.

[@justynjonn]

Wow. Really?

[@slogi33]

You really have your own german dialekt in Venezuela? I would like to know what it sounds like!? Ich bin selbst Deutscher, spreche aber den schwäbischen Dialekt. Auf schwäbisch= I ben sälbr a Deitschr, schwätz abr schwäbisch ;-)

[@lumino8435]

I'm so glad that German is getting more and more love on the internet, it's such a beautiful, diverse and fascinating language!

[@ghostwolf2011]

Me, born in Germany, still not liking my own language xD

[@staticseal]

@@ghostwolf2011 Ich bin da ganz bei dir... nur als Österreicher =P

[@ghostwolf2011]

@@staticseal ich meine wenn deine Sprache schon von einem Russen als aggressiv bezeichnet wird hast du definitiv etwas falsch gemacht xd

[@kamo808]

Stimmt!!!

[@joko2882]

@@ghostwolf2011 Das liegt daran, das wir deutsche sehr deutlich sprechen, etwas abgehackt und nicht in einem Fluss, das lässt Deutsch Miltärischaggresiv wirken

[@Sgt__Hawk]

A pretty important idea transported with the word "Geborgenheit" is the feeling of being protected. So it's the idea of feeling comfortable because of being safely protected. A baby might feel "geborgen" in the arms of a parent. If you just want to convey a feeling of comfort and cosiness "Gemütlichkeit" is probably the word you are looking for.

[@wbaumschlager]

Geborgenheit is very close to Sicherheit which means Security. Germans developed a variety of words for that like the Inuit did for snow.

[@hurri7720]

Easy to understand when you spot the Germanic word "borg" in there, feeling borged not that hard to understand.

[@manfredneilmann4305]

Very good explanation!

[@D0MiN0ChAn]

@@wbaumschlager Except the rumor about the Inuit people having more than 30+ words for snow is completely made up ;) It's a fun allegory, though.

[@anthill1510]

@@hurri7720 You mean "Burg" (Castle)? That would be interesting. Never saw that connection.

[@bxy3900]

About this whole "der, die, das /einer, eine, eines"-thing: Don't think about it too much. Yes, it exists and you should just learn it with the vocabulary when you hear it the first time to keep things easy. But it's absolutely no problem if you're messing it up completely in the end. Because it's really really rarely given, that one word means two different things just seperated by different articles. And even than it's easy to understand it by context. Think of it more like the differnece between "a" and "an": Although "an apple" might be correct, everyone will know what you mean, if you say "a apple".

[@fanofboard3333]

Yepp, language is about being understood and understanding. A native speaker will have no trouble understanding what you mean by "Deine Auto steht in die Schuppen."

[@bxy3900]

@@fanofboard3333 True. One of the few examples where it might be mistaken would be "das Schild" (the sign) and "der Schild" (the shield) for example. But as I said: Easy to understand by context.

[@GoleoGohlix]

Yes! Or in the morning it’s “der Weizen“ and “das Korn“ at evenings it’s “das Weizen” and “der Korn“ 😂😂 It means the grain (=Korn) and wheat (=Weizen), and the wheat beer 🍺 and rye liquor.

[@rabiteer]

@@bxy3900 Der Schild sounds wierd. I personally use for both 'das'. Some dialect difference again I think.

[@icerepublic]

Yes and no. Yes, we will understand you if you mess up the articles. If you are just a new learner trying to ask for directions, it won't matter. On the other hand, though, not knowing the correct article means you will make mistake after mistake scattered throughout the sentence. All adjectives, cases etc depend on the right article. If you are wrong you will spoil your whole sentence. This is much worse than a single flipped a/an. When you need to listen to this for an extended period of time, it gets really stressful and tiring because your brain is continuously on auto-correct. Don't worry if you are making mistakes as a novice, yes. But if you are more advanced this is THE most important thing to do right if you want to improve your German.

[@mikeohandley6765]

Thirty-eight years ago, the Army sent me to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey to learn German. I struggled mightily with German grammar and was put on probation after only a month. The head of the German department told me that if I didn't get my grades up I would be dropped from the course. My primary instructor, a wonderful Frau Hirt, helped me get beyond my grammar difficulties. She told me to go to a local bookstore and purchase a copy of a book (Now out-of-print) called English Grammar For Students of German. Using that book, going in an hour early every morning to get extra tutoring by Frau Hirt, and by hiding from the head of the German department (A whole different, and comical story), I managed to remain in the course; and, by the end, was voted by the instructors to receive the faculty book award - not for being the best German language student in my course, as was normal, but for being the most determined and showing the most improvement by the end of the course. It rankled the head of the German department to have to award me that book at graduation at the end of the thirty-sixth week, but the instructors had voted unanimously for me to get that award, so she had to do it. Many English speakers don't even understand our own grammar. Once we do, and see how it relates to German grammar, learning German becomes far simpler. For anyone trying to learn the German language, I strongly recommend scrounging old book stores for a copy of that book. It will make your journey into learning German much easier.

[@lisagd22]

I learned more about English grammar in German class--and to a lesser degree, Spanish class--than I did in English class.

[@DieAlteistwiederda]

@@lisagd22 similar experience for me a native German speaker when I began helping others to learn my language and improving my English and Spanish. I started to actually pick apart how German works compared to those other languages.

[@theartfuldodger5326]

I have that book!❤

[@doncorleole2356]

I (German) absolutely get what you're saying. I'm working at a Colombian university as a volunteer rn with an American co-worker and when it comes to explaining english grammar, I am the the one who gets to do the explaining because I actually learned to understand it while the American lass simply uses it if without knowing what exactly she's doing (which I actually found quite astounding bc in my German classes we'd make sure to understand grammar but in english native speakers english classes you don't really seem to bother to understand your own language)

[@mikeohandley1922]

@@doncorleole2356 - Well, to be clear, English grammar is (at least was when I was in school) in English class during most of my high school years. We'd even have to test on it and break down and label test sentences into their various parts, such as subject, object, etc. Being the typical high school male, who was more interested in fooling around and trying to impress the girls around me, I didn't absorb a lot of it except for the writing part. I seem to have come away from English composition a little better than some. But, yes, I did notice that native Germans seem to have a better grasp of grammar than most.

[@helensearle1896]

I love that the German for 'when the cat's away the mice will play' is 'when the cat is out of the house the mice dance on the table.' I picture them in little lederhosen doing Bavarian folk dances to the accompaniment of a tiny accordion.

[@blankderechte5382]

this lederhosen thing is only in Bayern not in the rest of germany :P

[@Tombrunzel91]

@@blankderechte5382 yeah, I am german and its sad that everyone thinks we all wear them....

[@JustJoe10]

@@Tombrunzel91 it’s pretty funny tho

[@hitokage904]

I like those small things too. We compare apples with pears not with oranges. Or rather we don't, because you can't compare them.

[@mistahcow]

actually i know no one who wears lederhosen and im a native speaker

[@derfailer3434]

At work a turkish guy telled me his story. He immigrated at the age of 14 and moved to Stuttgard (swabian) and he had to learn the dialect because everyone spoke it. After 12 years he moved to Munich and had to learn a new dialect and now he is speaking Turkish, English, German and two german dialects. This guy is a savage in my eyes :)

[@whyparkjiminnotridejimin]

That's impressive!

[@yesimkerem3520]

You meant "warrior" by "savage" ?

[@trueblueclue]

​@@yesimkerem3520he meant he's a "bad ass" or someone who's very talented/competent. It's a complement. It can also mean warrior in the right context.

[@fistofren3483]

One correction: the brothers Grimm did not write the fairytales, they only collected and publicated/publicized/published them.

[@shiroamakusa8075]

Well, they also fudged them a bit around the edges, like turning all the evil mothers in stepmothers.

[@nirfz]

Well, if we want to be that precise, They collected the different versions of the fairytales and "averaged" them into one version per fairytale that got printed.

[@grace-yz2sr]

You mean published?

[@marioweber1024]

@@grace-yz2sr I thought it was the same? Can't you use one word or the other? I am German and my language is German - sorry that's why I ask!

[@grace-yz2sr]

@@marioweber1024 Hallo! Deutsch ist auch meine Muttersprache. Habe gerade erst herausgefunden, dass dieses Verb tatsächlich existiert. Ich hatte es damals bei Leo eingegeben; dieses doch recht umfangreiche Onlinewörterbuch hat es immer noch nicht gelistet, es wird also nur selten gebraucht. Mir war es bis dato nicht bekannt und ich habe seit 38 Jahren fast täglich mit Englisch zu tun. Man lernt nie aus...

[@chrisrudolf9839]

When talking about German dialects being so different that the speakers of different dialects have trouble understanding each other, one should clarify that every German learns standard German in school and almost every German (not counting a select few very uneducated hillbillies) is able to speak standard German. Many may still have a recognizable regional accent when speaking standard German and may occasionally make mistakes deriving from their regional dialect, but they generally can tune down the regional influence in their spoken language well enough that they can be understood by a German from a different region or by a foreigner who only learned standard German in school. So yeah, a Bavarian speaking Bavarian and a Northern German speaking Plattdeutsch won't understand each other, but they can easily communicate by switching to just slightly off standard German and most Germans are polite enough to do so when they notice that a foreigner is part of the conversation and has trouble to follow.

[@lucroe6283]

select few very uneducated hillbillies I love it

[@anettep6678]

You clearly never went to school in rural Bavaria 😂 Even at university, many of my friends from the North routinely had trouble understanding locals.

[@unknownflavor8112]

Bro, mostly old people speak with regional accents. Ok, I do that too, but it's just for fun or I want to trigger people who can't understand me that way 😂 Un das mer uns do verstehe, I kann ahh hoch deitsch 😂

[@chrisrudolf9839]

@@unknownflavor8112 Exactly that was my point. I'm not saying that people don't speak their regional accents (and ther is nothing wrong with doing so if your are amon local people), I'm saying they can tone it down to an understandable almost Hochdeutsch if they want to. The generation in which it was still more or less normal at least for rural regions to only speak dialect (and spend your whole life in the same backwards village and never get out) has almost died out. What remains are only some select few uneducated school dropout Hillbillys who actually can't speak Hochdeutsch and some jerks who could speak Hochdeutsch but won't do it because they like to annoy people who are not from their region (that species of lovable a*holes seem to be particularly common in Bavaria)

[@unknownflavor8112]

@@chrisrudolf9839 I know, I was joking, it was a nice video and I learned a lot of my country, thanks a lot for sharing the informations with us 👍🏼

[@marciocardozo9039]

No mention of the German community in Brazil : ( I mean, I know that there are just too many pockets of German speaking regions in the world, but I think the Brazilian-German community is probably one of the most important. German is second most spoken first language in the country and a variety of dialects have survived only due to immigration, like Pomeranian.

[@concentrateddarkmatter7991]

second most spoken? thats so cool!

[@Wazkaty]

I'd looove hear Brazilian-German! Brasil is extraordinary for languages ! I heard a bit about Brazilian-Japanese people, and culture, food, I love the way Brasilian people mix things and live peacefully with it 👋

[@sandrojunioraraujo3706]

@@Wazkaty search on youtube "Liane Henzel falando em alemão Hunsrickisch"

[@jdmoncada8205]

I love German. I'd encountered it through art songs and classical music, but then I lived in Germany for two brief periods in the 90s (six weeks in summer and the following winter for 3 months). It was enough that even now with little practice I can test out as intermediate in most standardized tests. The language to me is lovely and warm. So even listening to the dialect samples here filled me with happiness.

[@jce1392]

Did not expect us to be named , not to many people know we exist 😂 kind regards from a German Namibian

[@schwarzer0se463]

We Germans know you exist 🌞

[@rotcivstudio]

@@schwarzer0se463 i think only the older people or those who learned about this because since this video i know about german Namibian. And i am a German

[@GordonBender]

No one will forget Deutsch-Südwest :D

[@Frogn_]

Sehr spannend von euch zu hören! Wie ist das Leben dort unten? :)

[@jce1392]

@@Frogn_ Geht so 😂

[@derWeltraumaffe]

I am very glad that you made this video. German is not considered the most pretty sounding language by many people, but in my opinion it is a language that can be very expressive and very beautiful. There is so much history, literature and art, that you can dive into when learning german and I would highly encourage anyone to do so.

[@michelaushamburg6766]

German is the language of rocket science. "... where they come down - That's not my department ..."

[@niclasklinger4900]

sadly i already speak german

[@mikelastname1220]

@@retikulum That was perhaps a rare example of the beauty of the German language and spoken in high art form. As an American who lived in Germany, long, long ago, I have to agree with the other poster that German is a harsh sounding language. It does not flow off the tongue with the soft music sound of Italian, French, Spanish, or even English. BUT . . . I LOVED learning the language and once you get to know it, it has its own beauty. I grew up in an era where we saw Hitler speaking on films. Yes, I'M OLD! Or, old war movies, and the Germans were always nearly spitting out their words. They never seemed calm. (I learned differently when I lived in Germany.) I recall most young kids my age saying "that is a very mean sounding language, like everyone is angry all the time". We saw soldiers yelling "Achtung!", and even you Germans know how many sounds come out of that word! We heard it so much, this word is perhaps the first German an American ever learned, plus the word "Halt!" I hope I haven't offended anyone . . . I love all the Germans and all things German. Just giving perspective from the other side of the world.

[@shigarumo121]

​@@mikelastname1220 "It does not flow off the tongue with the soft music sound of Italian, French, Spanish,"... Guess I'm not your typicall human, because I don't like these languages because of these "softness". I just don't see any appeal to them, even though the countries with their landscapes etc. are beautifull. In the other hand, I love russian, scandinavian languages etc. They sound more beautifull to me than french, italian etc. I don't know why, but I just feel more connected to languages which are considered harsh to most people.

[@lumina9995]

@@mikelastname1220 Maybe it doesn't roll off your tongue ;-)

[@RicardoSilvaTripcall]

Great video Olly, congrats !!! Here in Brazil we also have a huge German community, and one in special speaks a dialect of German that is practically extinct in German, they speak Pomeranian, you can learn it at school in these communities, and they are doing a nice work keeping Pomeranian alive ...

[@nebucamv5524]

Is Pomeranian a dialect of Low German or something different? Greetz from Pomerania (Grüße aus Vorpommern)! 😁

[@nebucamv5524]

I just looked it up. Amazing! I understood soooo much and got tears in my eyes. It reminds me of my Pomeranian Low German speaking grandparents. Pomerano is definitely a dialect of Low German!!! 😃

[@rabiteer]

@@nebucamv5524 It should be an East Germanic dialect, aka the ones that died. But that doesn't awnser your question directly.

[@Siegbert85]

@@rabiteer East Germanic would be something like Gothic. All German dialects are of the West Germanic branch.

[@anthemsofeurope2408]

@@nebucamv5524 Moin von Rügen. Pomerano/Pommersch ist ein Plattdeutscher DIalekt, also hat nichts mit Deutsch zu tun, sondern mit der Altsächsischen Sprache. Ausserdem stammen 10% der Wörter aus dem Slawischen und 5% aus dem Skandinavischen

[@juliane__]

It is a joy to listen (and watch) your videos. So much positiv feeling for communication. It will help understanding each other better.

[@codingvio7383]

I am fluent in German, and it can be difficult to understand german dialects, but as you listen to the dialect longer, you begin to sort of tune in, and then you can understand it better.

[@johaquila]

Yes, that's exactly how it works for us native speakers, too. I learned to understand Austro-Bavarian and Swiss German this way. In fact, even Dutch (which was part of the same German dialect continuum just a few hundred years ago) is so similar that as a native German speaker I just needed to kickstart the learning process by learning it like a foreign language (but faster). After a few weeks, I just continued by reading Dutch books and watching Dutch videos. With some restrictions this also works for Afrikaans and Yiddish, and of course native speakers of these other West Germanic languages can easily learn German that way. English is essentially the only West Germanic language that is different enough so that this method hardly works at all.

[@Jeff-vi2of]

It is astounding how much I learned about my mother tongue in this video. I didn't know 90% of it xD By the way: As he said in the video: do not be intimidated by long words in german. It really isn't that difficult once you know all the components of the word. So even Nahrungsmittelunverträglichkeit is really easy to understand/read especially since you normally do not read every single letter in words. German grammar is WAAAY more of a headache than long words and the cases Olly also mentioned are even troublesome to some natives sometimes (including me). But it is definitely not impossible with the right amount of immersion :D Viel Erfolg an alle, die Deutsch lernen!

[@braincytox7314]

Man könnte mittlerweile auch von nur noch 3 Fällen sprechen wegen der Vernachlässigung des genitives

[@SoulAcid1]

@@braincytox7314 Auch viele Demonstrativpronomen werden vernachlässigt. Dieser, jener, derjenige - kaum noch gebraucht. Dabei wirkt sich das Wissen um jene vereinfachend auf Übersetzungen aus. これ=dieser;それ=jener um mal Japanisch zu bemühen.

[@David-eg6sd]

@@braincytox7314 Meintest du die Vernachlässigung von dem Genitiv?

[@benanjerris6744]

Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz War das Wort nicht Gewinner eines Contest in '99? xD

[@irinaspalve8356]

I studied German for a year in school. Grammar and need to speak dialogues in front of the class killed my motivation. With stories I speak and understand Spanish, which I started just a little bit more than half a year ago, better than I did it with German after a year. Now I'm really thinking to give German another chance, but using another method - reading. Since it is my hobby - reading gives much more than just learning words and grammar by heart. I realized that I don't even worry about remembering the words. When you read a lot - the words just fill your head naturally. From the first time maybe you won't remember the word, but reading it again and again... suddenly you realize that you know, what it means!

[@azzurro4205]

Viel Glück Kollege

[@hero3693]

Bro you are a Nerd in a different Level in germany we say: geh in das Gym

[@michelaushamburg6766]

I suggest mouthing the words, while reading. Making knots into your tongue will improve the memory of the words with knots. ;-)

[@GrauerWolf1]

Und ich würde gern mein Englisch verbessern xD

[@cleancoder3838]

As a German I strongly recommend to not focus on the grammar when learning the language. Managing the grammar is next level after you've managed to speak German first at a basic level. First things first. Less frustration then, more joy. There is a reason in the first place why you wanted to learn German. Do not let its grammar stand in that way.

[@saezero1221]

Fun fact: A big misconception in Pennsylvania German populations (ie. Pennsylvania Amish) is that the language spoken in Plattdeutsch. It is actually a version of old Hochdeutsch that branched off during Martin Luther’s standard was written. Most PA Germans originate from North Switzerland, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Bas-Rhin in France.

[@12tanuha21]

Middle High German and early new High German.

[@foxtrot0417]

Ah dat gute alle Plattdeutsch

[@blllllllllllllllllllrlrlrl7059]

Not only amish, but others here in PA.

[@ankiebmann]

"Platt" is a colloquial term for "dialect" not only in Plattdeutsch but also e.g. Moselle-Franconian, Rhine-Franconian. If you know to speak "Palatine", an Rhine-Franconian dialect, you will understand PA Dutch. It's so similar

[@tobitaktlos3241]

I'm speaking the hamburg version of Plattdeutsch. I'm wondering if i could understand the Amish. Recently went down a pretty scary rabbit hole looking for some facts about them and oh boy. They are living after "Die Ordnung" which means "The Order" and that has such a weird ring to it.

[@birchbarks550]

German is a beautiful lyrical language. It's so detailed and can convey specific things that are hard to otherwise spell out.

[@MyUsualNameDoesntFitInThisShit]

Ehre Digga!

[@lastshadow7330]

Wow a very impressiv video. I am a nativ german speaker from bavaria and you nailed it with the dialect.

[@afonsomendes6907]

THANK YOU OLLY!! I ve learned german myself, and ive struggled to convince people to go into immersion and out of grammar books, and to assure them the declination and the complicated grammar will become second nature through exposure alone. Thank you for keeping it real and telling the people how it is

[@storylearning]

Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@lukaschnikow9310]

Im a german from Hessen and I can say you, that in every little village here in my area, the dialect changes a little bit. Its really interesting....

[@Ironmikeblood]

The Offenbacher "Diale'k'ts" are many in number, 😂

[@lumina9995]

In Bavaria too. In the country they know someone is a "stranger" from the neighbor village bc they use different words.

[@weisthor0815]

same in rheinland-pfalz

[@jennac.3173]

This video was so nice and comforting! I am native german speaker and I'm starting to get sick of all these people saying German is an ugly and aggressive language. Because I don't think it is. I think our language is beautiful. So your take on our language was very refreshing

[@fizzjerry2739]

i really want to learn german as a native hindi speaker, of course, i don't mean to pressure you, but if there's any tips you could give me that'd be greatly appreciated :)

[@jennac.3173]

@@fizzjerry2739 Oh, hey! Always nice to see someone learning my mothertongue! I would like to but I am not sure if I'd be that helpful xd What kind of tips do you need?

[@fizzjerry2739]

@@jennac.3173 just pronunciation tips, honestly. and i am really passionate about germany and german culture, its such a rich and beautiful place

[@lydiagalantmotherf]

@@fizzjerry2739 Hm... I think first you just need to hear it often enough to have a rough idea, and then find words you can use them to learn the pronunciation. I'd recommend creating a channel to watch German KZbin channels too, that's a big part of how I learned English. I just let KZbin auto translate it if there was something I didn't understand. I can recommend some KZbinrs I like if you want! By the way, it's actually really cool that you're trying to learn German. Don't get disgruntled if you stumble upon some problems. Or as we say here "Nicht verzagen!"

[@michelaushamburg6766]

@@fizzjerry2739 Most German words (98% ?) are spoken, as they are written. That is because only 121 years ago the rules were fixed, how to write. (Main rule: write the word, as it is spoken!) If you know, how to pronounce ä, ö, ü, r, the different ch and sch, you should be able to read a german text and be easily understood by a native speaker. The emphasis is usually on the fist syllable of the "main" part. (néhmen, éinnéhmen, vóreingenómmen, únvoreingenómmen, Lébensmíttelúnvertráeglichkéit) The only problems would be foreign words like "Portemonnaie", "Regisseur", "Garage", "Computer", "Management" etc. which are spoken as in the original langage (with a german accent, if desired).

[@kimberlyfrank7422]

I've been learning german for 5yrs and i'm still looking for some reasons to be more fascinated by this language. Thank you so mucj for this!

[@ccityplanner1217]

You do see written Swiss German on social media. Each city has its own orthography: Zurich uses a double vowel to mark long vowels, like Estonian or Finnish, so /i:/ is written ii (like the Roman numeral 2), while in Bern, the vowel /i:/ is represented with a y.

[@sunu84]

Very interesting video. I felt in love with Germany when I was a kid and visited Köln. All so organized. Their culture is amazingly beautiful. I'm learning all about Germany, the language, I want to know all!

[@radioaktiveranusihrnutten8734]

Viel Glück.

[@hmvollbanane1259]

Alaaf from Kölle! ;)

[@hmvollbanane1259]

(though we are kinda reknown for being the least organized and most workshy of all Germans, often even jokingly referred to as "northern most italians")

[@blankderechte5382]

@@hmvollbanane1259 ihr seid bekannt dafür die Bierfässer aus Deutschland zu leeren mehr aber auch nicht xd

[@hmvollbanane1259]

@@blankderechte5382 sach ich ja ;)

[@KitsuneHB]

Ich bin deutsch, habe entsprechend Hochdeutsch von Anfang an gelernt, aber da mein Opa nur Plattdeutsch beherrschte, kann ich das auch sehr gut verstehen und teils auch gut sprechen. Bisweilen verstehe ich Niederländer deswegen leichter als z. B. Österreicher. :D Bei den Schweizern geht es so halbwegs, wenn sie nicht zu schnell reden. Auch Schwaben verstehe ich relativ gut, weil ich eine Weile unten in Baden-Würrtemberg gelebt habe. Spannend ist es auch, wenn man sich z. B. mal Old English anhört und manches problemlos versteht, weil es noch etwas näher an der deutschen Sprache ist. Eine kleine Korrektur allerdings: wir sagen "Umlaute" nicht "umlauts". ;) Aber mag sein, dass man das so im englischen Sprachraum sagt.

[@henner7371]

Na dann frage mal nen Bayern oder ne Schwäbin. Du verstehst deshalb Old English relativ gut, weil Du es Dir aus dem Plattdeutschen herleiten kannst - Old English und Niederdeutsch haben den gleichen Ursprung. Die "Südländer" können dies nicht so einfach. Das gleiche gilt für das Niederländische, welches Du allerdings nicht mit Gronings verwechseln solltest, was im Grunde nur ein Niederdeutscher (Plattdeutscher) Dialekt ist.

[@vHindenburg]

War für mich auch interessant , für mich als ich in den Niederlanden studiert habe, wie schwer es meine deutschen Mitstudierenden es mit dem Niederländischen hat hatten , die nur wenige dutzend Kilometer weiter von Süden anreisen mussten.

[@brittakriep2938]

Schwäbisch, Schweizerdeutsch und die Zwischenform Alemannisch waren einst praktisch dasselbe, das Herzogtum Schwaben ( bis 1268) umfasste den gesamten alemannischen Sprachraum im heutigen Deutschland, Österreich ( Vorarlberg), Liechtenstein und der Schweiz. Lediglich beim Elsass bin ich mir nicht sicher, da dieses Gebiet beim Vertrag von Verdun ( 843) an das Mittelfränkische Reich gefallen sein kann. Als Jugendlicher, bin Brittas Freund, konnte ich bei einem Urlaub in Vorarlberg die Einheimischen einigermaßen verstehen, ebenso einheimische Bauern im Schwarzwald, in deren Fremdenzimmer ich übernachtete, das sind lediglich Varianten des Schwäbischen, die mir als Schwaben nicht schwerfallen. Bei kurzen Aufenthalten in der Schweiz und Liechtenstein war es etwas schwieriger. Im Vereinsleben treffe ich ab und zu auf ,Tieflandsschweizer', die verstehen mich ohne Probleme, da diese meist ein recht abgemildertes Schweizerdeutsch verwenden, ist die Verständigung kein Problem ( ich rede mehr Dialekt , nur wenig Hochdeutsch). Für Leute, die nicht zum alemannischen Sprachraum gehören, dürfte die Sache schwieriger sein, da such ich nicht überall verstanden werde.

[@mikelastname1220]

Nice story! An American here. I lived in Heilbronn in Baden-Wurtemburg for three years in the 1960's, so the German I learned was SOMEWHAT Schwabian.

[@hightidemidafternoon]

Meine Urgroßmutter, geboren 1896 sprach ebenfalls nur Platt, oder vielleicht wollte sie auch nur platt sprechen^^Auf jeden Fall ist das schon meine Muttersprache. Auf beiden Seiten der Familie wurde meist nur Platt geschnackt wenn wir zusammenkamen. Und in meiner kleinen Dorfschule in den 90er Jahren in Schleswig-Holstein wurde es uns dann auch noch ganz offiziell beigebracht. Ich habe auch das Gefühl man hat es als Plattsprecher mit dem Niederländischen aber auch mit den skandinavischen Sprachen wesentlich leichter. Zumindest Dänisch und Norwegisch und Schwedisch in geschriebener Form. Wenn ich mit Hochdeutschen dort Unterwegs bin, kann ich immer gar nicht glauben, wie wenig sie verstehen. Da haben wir doch Glück gehabt mit unseren Großeltern =)

[@santaclaus0815]

The way I learned English "in the end" was by watching hollywood movies with english subtitles. It is so easy to learn when you combine learning with entertainment.

[@Trollportphosphat]

yea, i definitely learned more english by playing videogames and watching movies than i learned in school.

[@kgkomrin]

Theres so many German dubs that when you're learning German. Entertainment and learning shouldn't be a problem.

[@sneezebiscuits7239]

Yup, learned most of it through KZbin

[@hernerweisenberg7052]

Yeah I sucked in english class in school, but playing online with people from all over the world, speaking it every day and refreshing/increasing my vocabular by watching movies and series in english plus reading novels in english did the trick.

[@heinrich3925]

I love the way you talk about my country. You speak so appreciatively. Thank you 😊😃 And you have a great knowledge.

[@juliettpapa]

Very interesting, Im german.... while not listening to my german teacher when she explained that all 50 years ago I needed that time, had to learn other languages and needed an Englishman to explain it to me..... :-) ... such is life. I liked it very much!!

[@Lynn-pw9nw]

I’m at a B1 level in German at the moment but I’m super excited to learn this language! I can do basic greeting exchanges but that’s about it. This video was really helpful!

[@joshina4497]

good luck learning the language, don't give up! ^^

[@gabriellawrence6598]

Olly, did you know that here in Brazil there are around 2 million people whose native language is some form of German? There is even a German-Brazilian language called Hunsrik. I myself was put-off by the language's sounding and the grammar exceptions, but after some weeks of forced study I've came to feel really emotionally attached to the language. IMHO the Swiss and Bavarian varieties are the most melodious sounding. Guys, check EasyGerman out, it's really helpful.

[@stevensiegert]

My hometown is sandwiched between the Hunsrück und Pfalz.

[@hero3693]

@@alicepopovski6303 you cant even Spell the word right 💀

[@luschmiedt1071]

I love that there are german communities in South America, I first found out about them when I saw a instagram picture of a Chilean fire truck, that looked like a german one and hat writen Feuerwehr on it. Crazy what the internet teaches us :D

[@19ghost73]

@@alicepopovski6303 Ah, so the many Germans who emmigrated to Southern America between 1800-1920 were all "Natzis" (sic)? BS! You probably confused this with Argentina after 1945...

[@gennaroliguori376]

I learned that form a brazilian guy who I met in Dublin during my time living and working there. He is from Blumenau in Brazil and spoke fluent German with me.. I was mind blown! :D Kind regards from Offenbach, Hessen to our brazilian friends! 💚💛

[@storylearning]

Is German hard to learn? 👉🏼 kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqTOiH-vpr9mpJI

[@cleanthe3276]

Hello Olly; if this free short story is Siegfried : it is great ! Not too short , not too long, divided in the right amount of chapters and the audio is perfect. Well, a little bit challenging at first but after a few listening I understand quite a lot. So thank you :) I started to listen to your German Short Stories Intermediate and I don't understand why the audio is so slow ! I was already used to the speed of this free download but now I'm wondering why the audio si not at the same speed. For an intermediate level it should be a natural voice at an ordinary speed, so I listen to it at 1.25 .. Is there a reason for that ? Anyway thank you for your books, I might have found the right method for me , finally :)

[@wayvsdogfood1475]

Hey olly, i absolutely need to learn Spanish by December. Im already intermediate in the sense that I understand what people are saying to me but I cant speak. Im a really bad and slow reader which makes language study frustrating and boring. I was wondering if watching doccumentaries would have a similar effect as your story method. Please respond if you see this

[@wallacem41atgmail]

Olly: At 02:32, as I'm certain you are aware, English experienced its own "Great Vowel Shift" between 1400 and 1700. In my opinion, it's the one thing which makes learning a foreign language so difficult for native speakers of English, in particular the Americans.

[@benjackson7872]

Thanks Olly!

[@sonjakrohn4303]

I guess I need to blame my age. So I went to the link and did the download for the Free short story but none of the files that came in to my gmail account will open. 🤷‍♀️. Probably doing something silly, but can’t open any of them. Must say I have no experience with zipped files so maybe I am not ‘unzipping’ them correctly. No actual prompts on my PC are telling me what steps to go through.

[@TheBepo1986]

As a foreigner living in switzerland I really had to get used to the fact, that my swiss colleagues often write e-mails and text messages in swiss-german, best described as a kind of phonetic spelling. And a lot of words are spelled completly differnt from person to person. But it is so much fun to figure out the meaning😅.

[@beckydouglas2681]

Even as someone who's grown up here, I still sometimes have trouble deciphering something written in a different dialect. Mostly my reaction is just "oh god, they actually write it like that?" Tho when I'm talking to the same person I don't even notice really that they are actually speaking a different dialect since I'm so used to it. While text messages definitely are written in dialect, depending on the context emails are often written in standard German unless it's between colleagues.

[@henrychinaski8686]

Since 2015 we have many immigrants here in germany who mainly speak arabic. I once listend to an older south german couple and for a few seconds (before I could see them) I thought someone was speaking arabic.

[@Oly876]

What a coincidence! I was studying German right about now, when the video came out.

[@storylearning]

Great timing!

[@liamanderson6424]

same

[@undeadwerewolves9463]

Same here! 🇩🇪

[@andrelanger8396]

Was ist das komischste an Deutsch?

[@MrMaxBoivin]

It's not a coincidence. Google knows everything you're doing.

[@bambisita6857]

South tyrolian here. I'm stoked you mentioned us in your video, we rarely get acknowledged when speaking about german speaking regions even though it is the official language of our region. Amazing video all over! Thank you for making it 🥰

[@guzziwheeler]

Hallo Südtiroler, ich liebe Südtirol, (unter anderem) weil alles zweisprachig ist. Dort würde ich in einem Jahr italienisch lernen.

[@bambisita6857]

@@guzziwheeler hallo Südtirol-fan 😊 ich freu mich, dass es Dir bei uns gefällt

[@gregoryferraro7379]

German is a beautiful language, not by how it sounds, but by what it says. I took the accumulated effect of 7 years of German in high school and University, and went in two exchange programs. I hesitate to truly call myself fluent, because I still have much to learn, but I can function well in the language.

[@tridder]

Well then I'll leave you sentence here to dwell on: Eifersucht ist eine Leidenschaft, die mit Eifer sucht, was Leiden schafft. (Franz Grillparzer an Austrian poet)

[@hero3693]

@@tridder a quote that is not creative… and almost grammaticly is wrong

[@EinzigartigesLeben]

@@hero3693 I can't see any fault in his quote... also *grammatically

[@bastianfuchs]

@@hero3693 Looks and sounds correct to me.

[@tridder]

@@hero3693 You do know that I am German, hence capable of distinguishing if the grammar were wrong? Besides I find the quote to be quiet the interesting word play.

[@lillylilium497]

As a German native speaker, this video was really interesting :) The only variant I had trouble understanding was the Low German. I grew up in an area with an extreme dialect, and due to the geography, the dialect can change drastically just a few towns over. However, I'm extremely bad at speaking high-standard German (as in the written form). No problem writing, reading, or understanding the "proper" form. It's just super unnatural for me to speak it. I was once asked to switch to English because the person on the other end thought I don't speak German because of my dialect and a laggy Skype connection. Yeah, good times x) Oh, and our super long words? They are pretty uncommon in everyday, spoken German.

[@terre5d]

Tiny Correction: It is Geburtstag + Geschenk = Geburtstagsgeschenk. The 's' is added intuitivly as a bridge between the words. Happens quite a lot with such compound words

[@TDG361]

The first time I can say I really learned something about english, was when I was 14 years old or something. The professor certainly taught us grammar, but his main focus was on telling stories, on telling us the cultural and historical context, and I loved it. I currently speak spanish (native), english, und german. And yes, learning through stories is my favorit way of learning languages. 😄

[@DramaQueenMalena]

From Switzerland: Please do not use the word Swiss for Swiss German. In Switzerland there are 4 official languages and all of them are "Swiss".

[@wingedhussar1117]

What I find really fascinating about German is the complexity of the grammar. All other Germanic languages Icelandic and Faroese got rid of cases, at least one noun gender, most verb conjugations, complex rules concerning where to place the verb and so on, but German has basically the same grammar as Old English

[@sickbasterd123]

icelandic still has a case system

[@AlexanderVlasov]

Learn Slavic or Baltic languages for the full-flavored PIE experience. 7 cases, 4 genders (Masc. animated, Masc. inanimated, Fem, Neut) etc.

[@cleliac.2470]

Yes, and speaking of Old English, when I read something like "Hast thou not seen...?" or "When thou sittest in thy state" it sounds quite familiar to my German ears ;-) P.S.: Since I have posted this comment, two viewers have rightly criticized my use of the term "Old English" (with a capital "O") given that the examples quoted by me do not belong to the period which is called "Old English" by linguists.

[@dan74695]

Icelandic, Faroese, and Elfdalian still have four cases, and some Norwegian dialects still have the dative case.

[@splm958]

@@cleliac.2470 That's modern English, not Old English (Anglo-Saxon).

[@Fnaffan_-tc2so]

Funfact: The widely used ,OK, for everything’s fine comes from a time where most written Stuff in America got corrected by German Writers who would put ,OK, (meaning ,Ohne Korrektur,/,Without Correction,) on the Paper and Signale with that, that the Articel is acceptable for publishing. Later that came back to Germany with pretty much the same Meaning it still has today

[@dielegendelebt1900]

Do you have sources for that?

[@Looser_23]

As far as I'm aware it was in the same context of American uni students. But they just used to rip off contemporary language devices. Like you hear things like boi or snek today back in the day they abbreviated the overused all clear into Ol kleer. Which later, as it was almost out of fashion got adopted into the modern O.K.

[@embreis2257]

there are quite a few very different attempts to explain the etymology of _ok_ . how about this: a borrowing of the Greek phrase όλα καλά (óla kalá), meaning "all good" or: a corruption from the speech of the large number of descendants of Scottish and Ulster Scots (Scots-Irish) immigrants to North America, of the common Scots phrase och aye ("oh yes")

[@NikkyElso]

That's not quite correct. The origin of OK is generally accepted to come from the presidential campaign of Martin Van Buren. And is an abbreviated form of the phrase "All correct" but phonetisized to "Oll Korrect" and shortened to OK.

[@menthodik]

Just I'm only here to learn more about my own language than I ever learnt at school or university. Incredible, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us.

[@chewinggun9382]

What an informative and charming way to motivate people to learn German. Well done, sir

[@InvertedGigachad]

As for the Grammar: Most people wouldn't even notice minor Grammar mistakes (like confusing dem/den). The ones who do will kindly correct you, but really, that's not that big of a deal. Most foreigners tend to speak more grammatically correct German than Germans themselves.

[@PETAAAGAMING]

Dem stimme ich zu.

[@2yt4u.14.]

Nein

[@SchimmelAufDemBrot4m]

Das stimmt aufjedenfall nicht

[@wernerhiemer406]

Doch oder ich bin halt nicht most people. Oder halt so Konstrukte wie "Hat die (statt der) Karin Butter geliehen." Evtl. auch nur Dialekt, obschon ich da nur gramatische Verzerrungen höre und ständige Dimunitivii. Ob Letzteres schon immer vorhanden war oder aus Notzeiten erwachsen sein mag? Man also nicht wirklich die "normale" Version eines Gutes habhaft werden konnte. Genauso wie "die gute Butter" für die Butter, statt nach der Margarine zu verlangen bzw. sie nicht wirklich substituierbar ist (die Butter für manches Rezept).

[@InvertedGigachad]

@@wernerhiemer406 Ihr Vokabular verrät, dass Sie eher zu den obersten 2% gehören, was sprachliche Fertigkeiten angeht. Also ganz und gar nicht "most people" 😁

[@junkylarsy]

Hello! I am German. I think this video is very well researched. No false information or exaggerated statements. And the most important: it is entertaining. Most of the time we Germans are seen very negatively. Because of many prejudices we are only beer-drinkers, known for pretzels and are directly associated with Adolf Hidtler (even if he was actually Austrian). It's nice to see a video that also shows the positive sides of us. I enjoyed it very much to get something different than only prejudices. Thank you :D Greetings from Germany!

[@storylearning]

Lovely comment, thank you!

[@junkylarsy]

@@storylearning you're welcome

[@VigelanteVictim]

I used to hate German lessons in school, it was a two year hell for me and I only remember maybe a handful of words from it. But lately I find myself more and more interested in German and want to learn it. I love how it sound, I think it's unfair how people (even some German speakers) would say it's rough and aggressive and to illustrate it they start to just shout words and make them sound overly harsh. Any language would sound aggressive if you scream in someone's face -_-

[@zaeroses1096]

I love how it sounds. I am not totally confident on this, but I heard that German was a lot more clipped at the time of the nazis and Hitler, though I think public speeches also were even more clipped than relaxed speech. You can definitely say there are a lot of 'harsh' sounds in German, but I don't think that that comes across as sounding aggressive, I only mean harsh as in 'hard' sounds.

[@trueblueclue]

​@zaeroses1096 Feli from Germany did a very good video on the aggressive reputation of German. Hitler hired a voice actor to train in public speaking. All the rolling Rs and rough sounds was for dramatic purposes. There's one video online of Hitler speaking normally about some North African operations and he sounded very normal.

[@GMRaphi]

As a Swiss language nerd you really did your homework on this one, 10/10.

[@yonarumo9051]

I'm from NRW and went to a writing camp in Austria a couple years back and they actually teach their children to write in their specific dialect since some things can just not be translated into high German. Found it very interesting, even though I couldn't understand a word.

[@hitokage904]

Bin vor ein paar Jahren aus Hannover nach Kreis Borken gezogen. Das erste Mal, als ich im Supermarkt an der Kasse gefragt wurde: "Bong dabei?", war ich einfach nur verwirrt. Heute möchte ich jedes Mal klugscheißen: "Nein, ich habe keinen dabei, ich hätte gerne einen dazu." Das macht mich so fertig ^^

[@Majk369]

Zipser deutsch is named after the historical region of Spiš (Zips in german) in Slovakia. This region is located in the eastern part of the country, which has a rich metalurgy history. Germans, known for being very good at working with metal, were invited to Slovakia in the middle ages by the hungarian king Belo IV. Nowadays there is a sausage named after this region.

[@casemodder89]

everywhere you find germans there will be sausages 😄

[@Majk369]

@@casemodder89 i can only agree

[@hughjones6286]

Very interesting as I’m learning German at the moment ❤️👍🏼

[@leawilken9814]

Amazing keep going 👍🏻💪🏻 Greatings from Germany 🇩🇪👋🏻

[@durschfalltv7505]

Geil, mach weiter so! Bald kannst du dem Kriegsaparat helfen in dem du unter Videos wo das Wort Deutsch oder German nur erwähnt wird ;,, | Ein Land, Ein Reich, Ein Kommentarbereich '' , kommentierts. Representing Deutschland jaaa

[@unknownflavor8112]

Viel Erfolg dabei 😂

[@joko2882]

@@durschfalltv7505 Psst, zu früh, zu früh. Wir haben Elsas Lothringen noch nicht eingenommen

[@holstenedel1957]

Here I am as a German, born in Hamburg, living in Cologne, watching an English video about my native language and dialects :D Love it!

[@jensschroder8214]

Even in Papua New Guinea, a German Creole is still occasionally spoken. I heard from a village where German was still spoken. There was an orphanage there where the children went to a German school. They then passed this on to their children.

[@jrgptr935]

Es heißt dort Unserdeutsch

[@karliikaiser3800]

2:32 I would consider Dutch at this point still as low german. The Dutch language is still very understandable, especially in its written form, if you can speak standard german, moreso than many german dialects. 6:04 This sounds like swiss standard german to me with a little spreading of dialectal words here and there this is understandable. But I´ve met swiss people and couldn´t understand a word. What? The viennese dialect is the probably most understandable amongst the austrian dialects. Vorarlberg is the federal state with the odd dialect out because there is allemanic dialect spoken whereas in the rest of austria the dialects belong to the bavarian dialect family.

[@luisgroedl]

Agreed, just another German standard language like standard-(high)german, luxembourgish or some low saxon written varieties.

[@Leo-uu8du]

The real Viennese is very difficult to understand, but it is nearly extinct within Vienna. It still is alive in parts of Lower Austria though. In my personal experience Tyrolean dialects are more difficult to understand than most Vorarlberg dialects. In General the least mutually intelligible dialects are those of southern Austria, i.e. those of Southern Bavarian, High and Highest Alemannic origin. Also the dialect of the very North on the Bohemian Forest give nightmares. Interestingly, Carinthian, Tyrolean, Vorarlbergian and Upper Austrian dialects also get voted to be the most beautiful Austrian dialects every year. What a funny coincidence.

[@Cykler770]

I life at the direct border to the netherlandd (I am a German) and for me its easier to understand dutch then Swiss German. And btw the closest langueg to German is Yiddish as little site note ;)

[@karliikaiser3800]

@@Leo-uu8du I am from the wine quater (Weinviertel) I never had problems understanding any kind of Viennese. Never had issues understanding Corinthian people. I was exposed to many Tyrolean dialects. Very seldom it is hard to follow for me. In Vorarlberg its kinda weird many can be perfectly understood by me, most is hard to follow and some I do not get a word.

[@Leo-uu8du]

@@karliikaiser3800 I am myself from the Tyrol and not even I can fully understand many of my countrymen. I guess the difference is that when Tyroleans hear your Lower Austrian dialect they automatically speak slower and use more universally understandable words. Same reason Germans don't have any understanding problems while in Austria during holiday. Most Vorarlbergian dialects are actually rather similar to how I speak, just minor differences in vocabulary and vowels here and there, like e.g. in my dialect it is "innkoufa", "bissle", "Stua - Stuanr" and "Manti", while in Vrlb you can hear things like "iikoofä", "bizle", "Stoa/Stoi - Stöa/Stöi" and "Mäntig" (einkaufen, bisschen, Stein - Steine, Montag). But there are also some bigger differences like "au" and "Hous - Huisr" would be "uff" and "Huus - Hüüsr" in Vrlb (auf, Haus - Häuser). Let us just agree that the real hell of Austria is the Mühlviertel region in Upper Austria, where people famously don't know how to pronounce any consonants. I mean who would conclude that sth. like "ool" would be "Adel" (with the meaning of slurry "Jauche") and of course there are "Öapfö" (Erdapfel) and "Öödögödögö" (Öltiegeldeckel). How are these things called in the Weinviertel?

[@leonie364.]

German is so beautiful! Especially low german! Fascinating. I also love the sound of German, I like many songs.

[@MyUsualNameDoesntFitInThisShit]

Ehre Digga!

[@jamesm.9285]

Fascinating to see you do a language profile like this! I'd love more. Keep up the awesome work Olly! 💯😃

[@timdiddy9914]

Sehr gutes Video. Ich finde es spannend mal eine Sicht von aussen auf unsere deutsche Sprache zu erhalten. Very good Video. It is interesting to have a outside view on our german language.

[@herrcemacu]

you talk about the german language more positively than any german i know

[@chaosnoelle]

The reason I love my native language (German ofc) so much is because of its ability that allows us to produce chain words. It's lovely when you're a writer. I'm often frustrated when I write stories in English and am unable to keep up the rhythm of my writing because of stupid English words. My current favorite example is 'the corners of the mouth' vs 'die Mundwinkel'. Its so frustrating, needing all these words to describe one noun!!

[@ericbernardi8116]

Ich bin ein Kettenwortfanatikervollundganzzustimmer 🤗

[@scottlarson1548]

In my high school when kids chose between learning Spanish and German, the teachers all warned us that German is an extremely difficult language and would require intense learning and practicing to even understand it, and Spanish was easy because most of the words are recognizable in English. Even better, they told us that almost all Spanish nouns end in 'o' or 'a' so you'll always know their genders but you'd have to remember the gender of every single German noun. I ignored them (German pop music was popular at the time) and while the big 4X4 tables with the genders and cases were intimidating (well, even the masculine accusative case was intimidating) after a while I was surprised how my brain was processing those tables without me even thinking. It took awhile to get used to the verb going to the end at times but it made sense and like almost everything in German, it was a rigid rule. There were irregular verbs but about as many as there are in English. I liked the agglutinative words which made it easy to understand and remember new words. So often German sentences were just like English sentences word for word. I couldn't complain that conversational German really only has past, present, and future tenses and hardly any subjective tense (watch out for "wäre" though). I found that with a few exceptions words that end in 'e' were always feminine. Forty years later I'm learning Spanish and I'm wondering why those teachers lied to me. Spanish is a absolute nightmare of hundreds of irregular verbs, irregular adjectives (!), strange word orders (object object verb???), and bizarre verb tenses like past imperfect that even native speakers can't explain what they mean. I hear "sea" (subjunctive of "ser") used all the time yet no one can explain why they say it. There are dozens and dozens of Spanish nouns that end in 'a' and are masculine and hundreds that end in 'e' so you have to memorize the gender just like German. Some adjectives have different meaning depending on where they are in relation to the noun (always a fun one). Worst of all you have to accept that most Spanish words are just a collection of random syllables and if they sound like another word, odds are it's a coincidence. My favorite examples are "estrella" ("star") and "estrellar" ("to crash???"), "llamar" ("to call") and "llamas" ("flames???"). Pretending that Spanish is agglutinative like German leads to a lot of humor. For example "condada" (literally "with dice") means "county"! Don't think you can order a "pesadilla" at Taco Bell because it means "nightmare". I'm *so* glad I took German in high school!

[@DyingSunberry]

As a native speaker it never really crossed my mind how hard it actually is. Also, don’t forget the casar (to marry) and cazar (to hunt). They literally sound the same

[@MissionFreiheit]

You forgot to mention Luxembourgish. It's old middle German with a lot of french influences. It sounds very beautiful. As a native German speaker I like to speak Luxembourgish to get by in Luxembourg because my french isn't really that great anymore.

[@erik_1402]

I love that glance from outside onto our language. As much as dialects there a connected tempers.

[@jojosba2523]

Wow, ich bin sehr beeindruckt von deiner Aussprache! Das Video ist selbst für mich ein Deutsch Muttersprachler sehr informativ.

[@GordonBender]

I read "Rechtsschutzversicherungsgesellschaften" and my first thought was: Well, thats a normal word :D

[@wooperlovesbts2987]

Ist so. Das ist nicht mal so lang^^

[@jimaanders7527]

You reminded me that back in...ok, decades ago in my German classes we used stories too. I thought it was a good way to learn the language and get familiar with the culture. We also studied grammar a lot. To get all these articles and verb conjugations, looking at a chart is faster than trying to deduce the rules by analyzing a book. Then the book is a good exercise to apply the grammar. You didn't mention what for me was the real killer: verbs with separable prefixes. Those are very, very tricky. They say you can't interrupt a German speaker because you don't know what he's talking about until the very end of the sentence.

[@nisvetaninalang]

That's exactly what it is - context. That's what helped me learn the German language twenty years ago. Once you understand that, you can learn the language faster. As a Croatian who learned English with ease in childhood, German was a bit too rigid for me. But understanding the context when you speak is a better way to get ahead.

[@janetmackinnon3411]

So interesting! Thank you.

[@chrisbelay4389]

I am German with canadian relatives. I like your presentation!

[@lancedyne7027]

I'm studying applied linguistics . Love your content. So interesting

[@WaaaghMacha]

Great video! Learned something new even as a german myself :) One small correction pertaining to the example of claustrophobia and "Platzangst"...while it serves well for the purpose of showing how to combine two words into one, "Platzangst" actually means the fear of wide open and especially public spaces (which in scientific terms is called agoraphobia, I think), so kind of the opposite of claustrophobia. Definitely an easy mix-up to make and one many germans do make themselves so I just thought I'd let you know :)

[@LuxinNocte]

It actually has been misused so often that the meaning switched. Even the Duden defines it as fear of small rooms, when it's not used in scientific context.

[@Malsuc]

Exactly, thank you for saying it.

[@sunmithaarul7963]

Hey Olly Great work man Keep going 👍🎉🎉🤩

[@quantumquail8516]

My mother is from Romania and she is a so called banat-swabian. A German minority in Romania.

[@doninis1354]

I am from northern Germany (the real north) and I grew up with three languages "Hochdeutsch" (high german), "Plattdeutsch" (low german) and "Friesisch" (Frisian) that is a rare spoken langueages and we belong to rar european minorities.

[@ThePerfectRed]

The German state of Bavaria alone houses several languages of wich really heavy speakers cannot understand each other: Bavarian, Suebian, Frankian and the Uper Pallatinate. In vocational training our class cromprised students from all areas and we sometimes "collected words" Like the last part of a loaf of bread. We often found more than a dozen different words for the same thing.

[@blackraveness]

🤣 And then some guy comes from northern Germany and can't understand any of them. I was jokingly speaking to the wife of my brother, she is Schwabin. I told her about a work colleagues from Franken, which I couldn't understand, when speaking her dialect. I made some sounds which I thought it sounded:"smoi smoi o smoi". Then I told her about a vacation in Bavaria. I couldn't understand the friendly people in the small town:"Bobel bo bo Bobsel bo." And then I told her about herself, when she speak schwäbisch and I can't understand her:"Ai gerl bubserl duserl." She was giggling and found it surprising accurate. This wasn't meant to be rude, more to make fun of myself, not being able to understand other Germans. But what I found very interesting, when I begin to talk a little Platt she couldn't understand me. It just blow my mind, she understands all of this complicate dialects which are far away from standard German but Platt which is not so far away, is completely out of her understanding.

[@gianb3952]

Ich habe Deutsch jetzt für 1 und halb Jahren gelearnt. Der grammatik ist immer noch schwierig und ich mache viele Fehler, aber es ist eine wunderschöne Sprache, und ich hoffe dass ich nach Deutschland gehen kann, es ist einfach mein lieblingsland :) Herzlichen Grüßen aus Argentinien für alle Deutschsprachigen auf der Welt ❤️

[@mikkaradewagen9595]

im German! thank you

[@Eau_Yah]

I'm surprised that you didn't mention Blumenau in the south of Brazil. Blumenau has the second largest Oktoberfest in the world. The Blumenau Oktoberfest stands in stark contrast to the festival in Munich. In the Brazilian Oktoberfest the Brazilian culture brings a carnival flair to the festival and there is an abundance of dancing and exuberant celebrating.

[@jtm_muc]

I am native German and I learned some new things about my mother language. Good video

[@Steyreon]

As a German I must say, very well explained! I have learned a lot about my mother tongue 😄 I want to stress that German is a very mighty and rich language to express things, it has so many nuances, very poetic also. 😊

[@TimeturnerJ]

Fantastic video, but I have just one small correction to make: Germany _definitely_ wasn't tribal anymore around the first millennium. By then, it was divided into many small kingdoms, all of which were well-established. Ever since the Romans colonised parts of Germany, the culture and religions they brought with them spread across the land (often very violently, especially in Christianity's case), and soon, the tribal culture was no more.

[@marcovtjev]

Romans never settled the bulk of German(y/ia). Only Netherlands below rivers, most of Belgium and Germany west of the Rhine.

[@TimeturnerJ]

@@marcovtjev That's... what I said, yes.

[@weisthor0815]

as a german i would argue that the tribal culture is somewhat still alive, if only in all the different dialects spoken in germany.

[@kolli7150]

Another reason that will make you enjoy learning German is understanding all the colourful and metaphorical expressions we Germans love to use in our everyday language. So please speak German to us it will make our hearts rise (like the sun is rising - unser Herz geht auf). Like Olly did with a couple of words in this video. He has an accent - it is not a bad thing at all because it makes you sweet, interesting and shows part of your identity and personality - with all the different German dialects, Germans tend to keep their regional accents while speaking standard German as well (and even in English) :D. Stop being such an perfectionist about using the correct grammar forms if it prevents you from speaking. In most cases Germans understand you anyways. In fact in a lot of German dialects we use "wrong " grammar. It's fine because speaking of German grammar there is only one universal rule which is "Ausnahmen bestätigen die Regel" - exceptions verify/confirm the rules. ;) I really want to encourage you to converse in German (and please stop us switching to English... sometimes we Germans are such show offs and love to receive compliments for our English... 😅) and spend a joyful time here in Germany and other German speaking regions and countries around the globe. :)

[@wooperlovesbts2987]

Indeed. Most German accent sound lovely

[@joko2882]

@@wooperlovesbts2987 well, ever heard of bavarian? in the eyes of high german speakers, we speak gibberish and come from another planet

[@wooperlovesbts2987]

@@joko2882 Indeed I AM Bavarian x) I love speaking it.

[@joko2882]

@@wooperlovesbts2987 Ein (Bundes) Landsmann :) Guten tag der Herr

[@mikelastname1220]

@@joko2882 When I went to Bavaria, I actually understood them, and I barely can speak German. I think they knew I was a "foreigner" and they spoke slowly enough, and I knew enough vocabulary, that we communicated quite well. I remember in Berhchtesgaden speaking with a young lady about the age of 20, and asked a question which gave the answer of "No". But when she said "no" in her Germany it came out "NOAY! Very NOOOO - WAY! Is that a true Bavarian way of saying "no"? I think where I live in Kentucky is much like Bavaria in that we have our own southern "country" dialect. We can say "no" in several ways, "Nah!" or "Nope", or even a sound like a goat "Naaaaa"! Ha. I think I'm Bavarian and don't know it! :) Mike

[@tomasgrossmann2155]

Brazil being neglected even though there are much more speakers there than in the US, Africa or Russia and it's actually an official language in two states and taught in schools in many municipalities, not to mention the unique dialects.

[@YellowArrow]

There's a woman from Brazil studying German with me on Deutschkurs. She said that she has a German grandfather, but she has never learnt German language before. Isn't it interesting?

[@olafharoldsonnii4713]

@@YellowArrow Nazi

[@helvisea]

Very nicely done, Olly. Learned quite a bit about my own language. Thank you! 😌

[@sevenofnine1915]

haha :D Aww Olly, I'm so disappointed that you didn't even attempt to say Nahrungsmittelunverträglichkeit. I'm certain you would have done brilliantly ;) If not, it would've made us chuckle and like you even more. -- As a native Berliner I don't really get why anyone would like to learn German, but I think it's cool that you guys do! Allet Liebe aus Berlin! Ick wünsch euch viel Erfolg :D

[@armasukkomarkkulahanke125]

Great video! Just a small correction: "Klaustrophobie" is actually "Raumangst 'space + fear'. "Platzangst" does exist but is actually a different condition. It's scientific term is "Agoraphobie".

[@benanjerris6744]

Or as spongebob put it: "Er hat Angst vor Klaus"

[@Cowboy-in-a-Pink-Stetson]

fantastic video! I have been living in Germany for more than 40 years. I am fluent in spoken German and am accepted as a native speaker. I understand (most) dialects, even speaking a few myself. But ... when it comes to writing a letter or anything which requires a written document I fall down. I have to get my wife to correct the many grammatical mistakes!! Spoken German is so forgiving, but my written grammar is just atrocious. 😂

[@samygl0bal]

Fantastisches Video Easy to unterstand this 2 words 😁 Greets from Germany 🤓

[@Leonardo7772012]

The word "Geborgenheit" is " geborgenheid" in dutch. Yes , it gives a good feeling.

[@Yougaljuboja]

Oh my dear Olly, I like your channel but you missed an important point here (at least for me) : Alsatian ! I live in Colmar, Alsace, a french region which was disputed between Germany and France for centuries. The Alsacian dialect sounds a lot like german (I speak hochdeutsch and can understand it... if the speaker speaks slowly, which is rarely the case ^^).

[@annikadamaris8068]

Alsace has a very interesting culture and history. But it's true, many don't know about Alsacian, even though it clearly is a part of the German varieties and has very much in common with neighbouring dialects in Germany.

[@tummlo1]

Alsatian is a alemanic language, like at Baden-Württemberg, Switzerland and Vorarlberg. I,m from Basel, Bale - the "Capital of Alemannia" "Elsässisch isch ä alemannischi Sproch, wie im Badische und in de Schwyz." Süd - Badener und Vorarlberger (Österreich) bezeichnen ihre Sprache auch als Alemannisch.

[@Mara-me4fk]

Actually low german isn‘t so dead at all, in my family we speak it. It evolved into dialects, in the north there are many different forms and local differences, but for quite a number of people it is their first language.

[@hightidemidafternoon]

Absolutely! I have to second this comment. I consider platt (the variant spoken in west Mecklenburg and Ostholstein) my mother tongue.

[@maeve615]

So I'm listening to this while doing other things and at 8:15 , I did not know of TX-German dialect existence and my ears went "WTF? German with a Yee-haw accent???" and immediately rewound the video xD

[@jyro_447]

This is one of the most wholesome thumbnails I ever saw ... love it ♥️

[@tinomertens7805]

Beautiful explained Vielen Dank

[@elearmorning]

As a native German speaker, please don‘t panic if you can‘t understand a native speaker at first! Almost no one speaks perfect standard German, everyone has some form of dialect, and as he mentioned it can be hard for even native speakers to understand those sometimes. Personally I can understand most southern German dialects quite well, like Bavarian, Schwäbisch and even Swiss and Austrian German, but anything further North is going to be a challenge for me! Just keep immersing yourself in that dialect and you‘ll learn to understand it! It really isn‘t because your German is too bad!