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Why we should learn German, by John le Carré

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Mervyn Henderson (X)
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Donaud ... kapitän Dec 17, 2020

See, that's the smart way around to quote it. And there was me thinking the longest I'd ever seen was "Geschwindingskeitbeschränkungen" in Wir Lernen Deutsch II (the green one).

P.L.F. Persio
expressisverbis
 
Matthias Brombach
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Not always ... Dec 17, 2020

P.L.F.Persio wrote:

Of course it's all relative. Hitler's German was despicable and ugly


... and it is a myth that he was always the shouting and spitting person we know from documentations. Once I heard some original audio files and in good quality where he spoke in a smaller setting to his comrades explaining a certain situation I can not recall now, but I wondered if it really was Hitler: Speaking in a calm, quiet and sober voice, not charming, but also not shouting and without foaming. More than a chairman speaking to his Board of Directors. Reality and truth appear in many features and in many voices.
Criminals like him don't always come with weird features and a mad voice. Perhaps some of you know the movie "Der Untergang" ("Downfall") from 2004, based among others upon the memories of his secretary, Traudl Junge. Isn't he really charming to her in the first scenes of the movie? And is that dialogue spoken in a per se ugly language?

[Bearbeitet am 2020-12-17 16:13 GMT]

[Bearbeitet am 2020-12-17 19:39 GMT]


Christopher Schröder
P.L.F. Persio
expressisverbis
Mervyn Henderson (X)
 
Christopher Schröder
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Godwin's law was an easy win Dec 17, 2020

"As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1"

Surely, the longer any discussion goes on, the more likely someone is to be compared to absolutely anything - Hitler, Gandhi or a cauliflower.

(Edited because I originally picked a grammatically unsound and nonsensical wording of this law off Google without reading it. Duh. Karma, like. Must try harder.)

[Edited at 2020-12-17 16:26 GMT]


Matthias Brombach
P.L.F. Persio
expressisverbis
Mervyn Henderson (X)
 
Christopher Schröder
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"Geschwindingskeitbeschränkungen" [sic] Dec 17, 2020

Mervyn Henderson wrote:

See, that's the smart way around to quote it. And there was me thinking the longest I'd ever seen was "Geschwindingskeitbeschränkungen" in Wir Lernen Deutsch II (the green one).


You're not learning

My ancestors are turning in their graves...


P.L.F. Persio
expressisverbis
Mervyn Henderson (X)
 
Tom in London
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Mussolini's Italian Dec 17, 2020

Matthias Brombach wrote:

... I wondered if it really was Hitler: Speaking in a calm, quiet and sober voice, not charming, but also not shouting and without foaming.


Long before his great imitator (Hitler) came to power, Mussolini was already inspiring him with his haranguing speeches, deriving in part from the linguistic rebellion of the Futurists and D'Annunzio. But it wasn't until I had got some mastery of Italian that I began to actually understand what Il Duce was saying. On one occasion (filmed for posterity by the Istituto Luce) he paid a visit to see how his new cities in the reclaimed swamps were coming along. I could hardly believe my ears when he told his audience of exhausted workmen "They tell me that some of you have been complaining about the work, the conditions, and the mosquitos. Let me just say: the next time I come here, I'm bringing guns".

[Edited at 2020-12-17 16:31 GMT]


P.L.F. Persio
Matthias Brombach
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Matthias Brombach
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Yeah, I know those books ... Dec 17, 2020

Mervyn Henderson wrote:

"Geschwindingskeitbeschränkungen" in Wir Lernen Deutsch II


Aldi (or was it Lidl?) sometimes offers those "books", drafted, published and (automatically) translated by one of these Chinese, Bulgarian or Indian publishers nobody knows, and full of spelling errors. In one of them, I could spot the before mentioned movie ("Downfall") as "Der Durchfall".


P.L.F. Persio
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Mervyn Henderson (X)
 
Matthias Brombach
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Good point! Dec 17, 2020

Tom in London wrote:

deriving in part from the linguistic rebellion of the Futurists and D'Annunzio.


We should not forget, that people speaking in front of an audience in those times used to use different rhetorical measures than are common today. Speeches were usually shouted in almost all countries and several parts of the speech were stressed in a way nobody would do today. To appear powerful, to make the impression of being very convincing, to have to say something important and true.


expressisverbis
P.L.F. Persio
Christopher Schröder
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expressisverbis
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I don't know a single word of German... Dec 17, 2020

... but I like to listen it in songs, I consider it a beautiful language.
In fact, I like to listen other languages that I am not familiar with, pleasing to the ear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUBaSdBzLaE

[Edited at 2020-12-17 17:13 GMT]


P.L.F. Persio
Thomas T. Frost
Matthias Brombach
Mervyn Henderson (X)
 
Thomas T. Frost
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The Karla Trilogy Dec 17, 2020

Tom in London wrote:

I tried to read "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" (or whatever it's called) but after a few pages I found it horrible and flung it contemptuously across the room. John Le Carré is greatly overrated. However the television series of "Tinker, Tailor" is pretty good because it clears out all the tedious English public-school c*ap, and the turgid prose isn't there.


I don't have such an Irish temper, but it's a relief that I'm not the only one to find him greatly overrated. I managed to get through the entire Karla Trilogy, out of which Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the first, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. The second book, The Honourable Schoolboy, is a boring hotchpotch.


expressisverbis
Christopher Schröder
Tom in London
 
Thomas T. Frost
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Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän Dec 17, 2020

P.L.F.Persio wrote:

Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän

Is the spelling correct now? I can't feel my eyes anymore.


You forgot an F. 😊

It's Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän.


Matthias Brombach
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Mervyn Henderson (X)
P.L.F. Persio
Sarah Maidstone
 
Thomas T. Frost
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Durchfall Dec 17, 2020

Matthias Brombach wrote:

Mervyn Henderson wrote:

"Geschwindingskeitbeschränkungen" in Wir Lernen Deutsch II


Aldi (or was it Lidl?) sometimes offers those "books", drafted, published and (automatically) translated by one of these Chinese, Bulgarian or Indian publishers nobody knows, and full of spelling errors. In one of them, I could spot the before mentioned movie ("Downfall") as "Der Durchfall".


A case of 'verbal diarrhoea', perhaps. 😁


expressisverbis
Matthias Brombach
Mervyn Henderson (X)
 
Matthias Brombach
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Be careful with singing Germans*... Dec 17, 2020

expressisverbis wrote:

... but I like to listen it in songs, I consider it a beautiful language.

...wearing sunglasses!

Xavier has for certain reasons got a similar (but more questionable) reputation like this guy (you don't need to listen to the song completely):

https://youtu.be/HBGnU4Q5pRg

*and others


expressisverbis
Christopher Schröder
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Thomas T. Frost
 
Thomas T. Frost
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Schlager Dec 17, 2020

Matthias Brombach wrote:

expressisverbis wrote:

... but I like to listen it in songs, I consider it a beautiful language.

...wearing sunglasses!

Xavier has for certain reasons got a similar (but more questionable) reputation like this guy (you don't need to listen to the song completely):

https://youtu.be/HBGnU4Q5pRg

*and others


That sort of 'music' is a crime against humanity. It could be used for torturing foreign spies. I need to clean my speakers now.


expressisverbis
Christopher Schröder
Matthias Brombach
Mervyn Henderson (X)
 
expressisverbis
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I will, Matthias! Dec 17, 2020

He's cute!
Thank you for your warning!
If I go to visit Germany, I'll be really careful with singing Germans wearing sunglasses


Thomas T. Frost
Christopher Schröder
Matthias Brombach
Mervyn Henderson (X)
 
Christopher Schröder
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Pffft Dec 17, 2020

Thomas T. Frost wrote:
You forgot an F. 😊

It's Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän.

Now that is highly contentious. Next you’ll be banning the ß 😱

Also contentious, but I’ll put it out there anyway:
The only decent music ever to come out of the German-speaking world is yodelling.


Thomas T. Frost
expressisverbis
Mervyn Henderson (X)
P.L.F. Persio
 
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Why we should learn German, by John le Carré







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