Segment 27 –Everything Is Perfect In The Land Of Beer And Sausages
Typically when I walk around town speaking English with my family or friends, locals hear me; look at me; are either interested in speaking with me; or look away shyly when I say “Hola.” If there are kids around, they love to speak English with me; their parents are typically pleased with demonstrating their own proficiency in front of their kids. Sometimes, strangers come up and tell me about their experiences or family member who lives in the U.S. or the U.K. It’s rather nice, as I might normally not get to know as many interesting people otherwise.
Recently, I've noticed a changing of the winds…
- One day a mother looked at her daughter and said in front of me, “See Maria, it’s very important to practice English.” Daughter responded, “Nope, not interested, I want to learn German!”
- Then a Spanish friend in my English book club sent out an email, “Can anyone recommend a German teacher for my girls?”
- A business school Spanish friend posts picture on Facebook, “Me and my German bride…” clearly with no intentions of returning back to beloved España.
- And finally, my polyglot American friend gladly announced, “I've signed up for German classes!”
So what’s going on?
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is making heads turn in Spain. Indeed, it appears that everything is perfect in the land of beer and sausage.
The German Chancellor recently visited Madrid and extended an invitation to young Spanish professionals to apply for jobs in her country.
"After the visit in Spain, the word spread that Germany is actually looking for high-level skilled people, and this has led to a huge increase, especially from people with backgrounds in engineering, architecture, medicine, who have come to enroll in courses here at the Goethe-Institut," said the head of the language department at Madrid's Goethe-Institut.
"The problem really is that we don't have enough population [in Germany]," said the managing director of the German Chamber of Commerce in Spain.
When Angela talks, everyone listens (at least here in Spain)…
This past Spring, Germany announced that its government would provide vocational training and jobs for young Spaniards without employment in their home country…The catch, they need to speak and read German.
Nearly 300 people waited in line for nearly an entire day at Goethe Institute in Valencia, Spain to sign up for a course on the German language; an official said "A lot of them already have a good level of English but see German as key to landing a job."
The trend
- The number of German language students with the Goethe Institute rose by 7.5 percent worldwide, to about 235,000, according to the Institute.
- 36,000 of those came to Germany to study with the Goethe Institute. Of those coming from within the European Union, the number of Spaniards was up 43 percent, while Greeks saw a 22 percent increase and Italians 17 percent.
Not an easy language
German isn't an easy language for non-natives, with its long strings of consonants and hardly a vowel to break them up. It isn't always a logical language, either. If you are an English-speaker, you might catch a windfall of relief as English and German belong to the same “family” of languages, and share many similarities.
They are both Germanic borrowing heavily from Latin, French, and Greek. Some German words are already used constantly in English.
Once I said “Gesundheit” to a German au pair, she was so impressed with me. Children in America often attend a Kindergarten (children's garden). My son once described his toy as being “kaput”. I especially like the term “Fahrvergnügen”, which means “driving pleasure”, which sounds a lot like Volkswagen to American ears. Schadenfreude is that feeling you get when you secretly gain pleasure at someone's misfortune.
There are also many words in these two languages which, apart from the accents when spoken by natives in either language, are the same. Hand in German means the same as hand in English. Finger means finger, and Ring means ring. Yes, English borrowed these words from German hundreds of years ago.
Friends, or not…
But of course, German has also borrowed from other languages. Lektüre in German comes from French lecture and has retained the same meaning (reading or reading materials in original French). However, English borrowed the same word but changed its meaning to denote an educational speech (Lecture) or a teaching session. Lektüre is a false friend between German and English, but a true friend between French and German. Are you confused yet?
What about “Chef” borrowed by German from French, meaning the same as it meant in original French (boss, head, leader). But then, later, English borrowed “chef de cuisine” (head of the kitchen) from French, and shortened it to “chef”. Today, all three languages have the same word “chef”, but it is a true friend between German and French, and a false friend between German and English, and French and English. Whoa!
Ok, now I'm hungry! I have an incredible craving for Bratwurst with Sauerkraut, and Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte (Black Forest cherry cake), and of course some Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier bier. I think I need to go to Munich for Oktoberfest next year, which by the way is actually in September.
Quick Fun Facts:
- Do you know where German is spoken?
- Do you know which famous actress speaks German?
… Stay tuned for the next Segment of HT Localization Presents Language Translations for Real Life Series, where we’ll continue … with more stuff.
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This article was written by Rachanee Thevenet, Co-Founder of HT Localization. Rachanee is an Asian-American expat living in Spain with her family. She loves all things international including food, art, literature, culture, languages and people. She has years of professional product marketing expertise and global expansion experience.
HT Localization, LLC. is a worldwide translation & localization agency providing a full range of professional language translation services, including social media localization, marketing translations, website translations, software localization, eLearning materials, documentation translations, etc. With locations in the US, Spain, France, Zambia & Thailand, and coverage across all languages and most industries, HT Localization is well positioned to provide around the globe services for all translation needs.
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