Germany and German culture & language [Archive]

JustBored

August 17th, 2010, 02:17 PM

Good, so I'm just gonna quote it here! : - )

Quotes from this thread: http://www.tokiohotel.com/us/forum/showthread.php?t=8146&page=96

Well not for me lol since I am Swedish but listening to the immigrants we have here it is hard to learn because we have so many vowels. But it must also depend on what language you are starting from.

It shouldn't be difficult for me, then! Italian has lots of vowels! :D

...
German grammar has always been hard for me to learn and I got tired of learning all those ders, dies & das's. Otherwise it was okay and the pronouncing in German is one of the easiest I know.

And i think Bill speaks very soft German most of the time. All of them do. German comes out so opften as harsh and edgy language, but the certain softness in the boys (especially Bill's) way to speak makes it much more gentle. Tom does the same, but his softness seems to come from time to time "lazy" pronouncing. He cuts the curves to make it flow better (at least to my ear he does so).

For the grammar part, I think latin will help, because I studied it in high-school. Well... I was supposed to study it... :p but I do remember a lot of things. :-P

The pronunciation.
I can't be so precise, I just relate to my ears, but what you and Annalein have sad makes me happy... :-P

OT. Your names are not so different... That's cute. :-P

VanessaM

August 17th, 2010, 02:22 PM

I like this site for German pronunciation, but I still have a hard time with it.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~joyce1/abinitio/pronounce/

annalein

August 17th, 2010, 04:37 PM

Good, so I'm just gonna quote it here! : - )

Quotes from this thread: http://www.tokiohotel.com/us/forum/showthread.php?t=8146&page=96

For the grammar part, I think latin will help, because I studied it in high-school. Well... I was supposed to study it... :p but I do remember a lot of things. :-P

Yes, that's true. Latin helps a great deal with grammar!

The pronunciation.
I can't be so precise, I just relate to my ears, but what you and Annalein have sad makes me happy... :-P

OT. Your names are not so different... That's cute. :-P

They are?
You can call me Anna btw. :)

Edit: Quick question. Can you or anyone else explain how to insert quotes from another thread here? Cause I want to reply to a few things that were said in the misc thread, but I don't want to do it there, it too OT.

Amdee

August 17th, 2010, 04:46 PM

No wonder I don't get it. My Latin studies have been.... non-existant :laugh:

It's funny how I find English, Swedish and German supporting each other in vocabulary etc. and even in grammar on some points, but mostly the grammar is killing me in German. I guess I was never motivated enough to actually concentrate on learning it. Now it bugs me that I wasn't.

Anna, the best way is to go to that thread, quote it as normal, then just cut the quote, come to this thread, reply and paste the whole thing you just cut from the other thread.

Gothic Empress

August 17th, 2010, 05:04 PM

I have three questions,

1. things NOT to do or say when visiting Germany?

2. and things that ok to do or say and not consider "*****ing tourist American"?

3. what do Germans think of Americans?

annalein

August 17th, 2010, 05:20 PM

Thanks for explaining how to do this, Amdee! Here goes (quotes from the misc thread):

I try to answer something since I've studied all of them as a foreign language: English, Swedish and German.

German grammar has always been hard for me to learn and I got tired of learning all those ders, dies & das's. Otherwise it was okay and the pronouncing in German is one of the easiest I know.

And hey, I like German and Germany! I've always liked. I feel homey around German people, bgecause I see lot of similarities in our cultures and in general "being"

And i think Bill speaks very soft German most of the time. All of them do. German comes out so opften as harsh and edgy language, but the certain softness in the boys (especially Bill's) way to speak makes it much more gentle. Tom does the same, but his softness seems to come from time to time "lazy" pronouncing. He cuts the curves to make it flow better (at least to my ear he does so).

Oh wow, you know a lot of languages, that's so great! And even more of an achievement as they are so different from Finnish. I don't understand Finnish at all, not even a little bit, it's so different.

And yes, I find the pronunciation easy too (well, naturally), but I guess for speakers of English it's harder as the languages differ more in that respect.

And I have to admit that I know very little about Finnish people, sadly. So we've similar cultures? Very cool, now I want to go Finnland even more (and the rest of Scandinavia. Although, is Finnland even a part of Scandinavia? I'm never sure.)

I absolutely agree on what you said about Tom's pronunciation! :laugh: He's just too lazy to pronounce words clearly. He mumbles a lot more than Bill!

Can you give examples of words like this?

Sure. E.g. 'gegangen' might then sound more like 'jejangen' (or 'yeyangen' as you guys pronounce the 'j' differently. Don't want to cause more confusion here, sorry!). Or, very typical example: 'jut' (again, 'j' pronounced as 'y') instead of 'gut'.

It took me the longest time to figure out that the letter R at the end of words is basically silent.

I know Z sounds like "ts" but sometimes it sounds to me like Bill is singing it like an English Z as in "zoo."

Oh yeah, we tend to not pronounce the word-final 'r's. At least not clearly. It might sound more like 'lieba' (instead of 'lieber'), but it's more a shwa sound (you know, the e that's sort of upside down in the phonetic alphabet?). Speakers of English never really have that at the end of a word, that's why I often hear 'Schul' instead of 'Schule'. There is a sound at the end, just not the typical 'e' sound.

And about the 'z' thing: I'm sure Bill doesn't pronounce it as in English 'zoo', that would sound so weird. Maybe he softens it a bit. Do you have an example from a song where that happens?

aww, in my experience german people are nice enough!! i've met quite a few germans through my job and they've all been pleasant people

Oh, great, that's good to hear! :)

why does german have an extra letter of the alphabet? i can't remember what's it's called- umlat maybe?- but when you see the word schisse(sp?) written in german it has a letter that's pronouced as a double s.

i'm asking these questions off my very limited knowledge of german, which i learnt about ten years ago :eyeroll: which is why i can't phrase them very well, haha

As Amdee rightly explained, Umlaute are those letters: ä, ö, ü (also possible in a diphthong: äu). They are like additional letters, kind of, you have to learn the pronunciation, it's not like a, o and u.

The word you mean is '*******' (am I allowed to write that? Edit: Obviously not. :p So it's sc*eiße, just put 'h' where the * is). And the letter ß is basically pronounced like 'ss'. It just appears in different environments (e.g. usually after long vowels and diphthongs). It doesn't neccessarily make sense, though, so no worries if this seems weird! :p

What-Else-X

August 17th, 2010, 05:26 PM

annalein

August 17th, 2010, 05:36 PM

I have three questions,

1. things NOT to do or say when visiting Germany?

2. and things that ok to do or say and not consider "*****ing tourist American"?

3. what do Germans think of Americans?

Oh, difficult! I'll try:

1. I don't know, frankly. :p I don't think we're all that different, really. We value being on time, that's not a cliché. Being unpunctual is rude, I personally have very strong feelings when it comes to this. Other than that, I don't know. It's late over here, maybe I'll think of sth tomorrow. Or someone else answers this. :)

2. Again, can't think of anything right now.

3. That differs. They are often considered to be very friendly and open, but also sometimes arrogant in a way, I guess. But this is so hard to generalise. Mh, I think the people are not unpopular over here, but the politics and sometimes also the culture might be (you know, war, not taking care of the environment, wasteful behaviour, super size burgers... that stuff). But again, you really cannot generalise that, this is just what I sometimes pick up from conversations and the media.

Hope this helps, and maybe other Germans on here can think of more than I can at the moment.

annalein

August 17th, 2010, 05:38 PM

im not sure if its the samer in english, but in french the 'ß' is called "ess-set" well it's pronounced '"ess-set" anyway, im not sure what the correct spelling is...

Oh, yes, forgot to mention that. We call it 'Eszett' (sz), so it's almost the same as in French. :)

Amdee

August 17th, 2010, 05:41 PM

Oh, I don't KNOW so much of languages. Just that we have to study English and Swedish in school and I took German in my voluntery studies.

Yep, Finland is part of Scandinavia :grin:. It's hard to explain how I gind Germans usually "homey" to hang out with, but I guess it has something to do with certain "stiffness2. I can't find a better word right now, but we are both often quite precise, reliable and have quite similar understanding of personal space. When I'm with people from Soithern Europe (Italy or so), they have a different culture in that.

And yes, Tom is just so lazy... but I like he mumbling, because it makes his speech softer. I have one favorite clip of him talking where he sounds so godd*mn sexy and basically because of his mumbling. I won't tell what it is, though, but I sometimes rewind that part of that video just because he sounds so hot in there :laugh:

Edit.

I have a question, but I'm always a bit careful to bring it up. I like to listen to opinions about it when I try to form a big picture of it.

How modern day Germans see your WWII past and Nazi history? How sensitive topic it is in these days? How people from other countries should approach the topic when not wanting to accuse, offend or otherwise cause any awkward moments?

I just remember this one phone interview with some Asian(?) radio station when they talked about movies and the host (probably not thinking at all) started to talk about Inglorious Bastards and I was gasping a little, because I think it was quite... hmm... bold move to take that movie as an example without being sure of it. I'm usually very sensitive with these kindd of things, so I was probably overreacting, but it was awkward to me.

Gothic Empress

August 17th, 2010, 06:15 PM

Oh, difficult! I'll try:

1. I don't know, frankly. :p I don't think we're all that different, really. We value being on time, that's not a cliché. Being unpunctual is rude, I personally have very strong feelings when it comes to this. Other than that, I don't know. It's late over here, maybe I'll think of sth tomorrow. Or someone else answers this. :)

2. Again, can't think of anything right now.

3. That differs. They are often considered to be very friendly and open, but also sometimes arrogant in a way, I guess. But this is so hard to generalise. Mh, I think the people are not unpopular over here, but the politics and sometimes also the culture might be (you know, war, not taking care of the environment, wasteful behaviour, super size burgers... that stuff). But again, you really cannot generalise that, this is just what I sometimes pick up from conversations and the media.

Hope this helps, and maybe other Germans on here can think of more than I can at the moment.

thank you for your answer :)

JustBored

August 17th, 2010, 06:28 PM

They are?
You can call me Anna btw. :)

Edit: Quick question. Can you or anyone else explain how to insert quotes from another thread here? Cause I want to reply to a few things that were said in the misc thread, but I don't want to do it there, it too OT.

Well, yes, more than one call her by her name here, so it shouldn't be a problem to post it... but... let's leave the decision to Amdee... : P
Even because I'm not sure if I remember the spelling correctly.

Well, Anna, people here usually call me simply JustBored, Justie or Boredy : P, because I haven't said my name after an unpleasant experience on the web (...long story short). So, choose the one you like the most, or come up with a new one, I don't mind. :D

And, Amdee was faster than me, so now you know how to quote from another thread.

...
Yep, Finland is part of Scandinavia :grin:. It's hard to explain how I gind Germans usually "homey" to hang out with, but I guess it has something to do with certain "stiffness2. I can't find a better word right now, but we are both often quite precise, reliable and have quite similar understanding of personal space. When I'm with people from Soithern Europe (Italy or so), they have a different culture in that.
...

Yes, I guess we could seem to be some sort of molesters... :lol:
But! But I have to say that, in Italy, you find the same difference between people from the north and people from the south (in general of course). I'm in the middle! : D

...
I have a question, but I'm always a bit careful to bring it up. I like to listen to opinions about it when I try to form a big picture of it.

How modern day Germans see your WWII past and Nazi history? How sensitive topic it is in these days? How people from other countries should approach the topic when not wanting to accuse, offend or otherwise cause any awkward moments?
...

That's a good question, because that is a really delicate topic. I would be a little nervous to bring it up, even if in my mind is perfecly clear that most of the people who where there at the moment don't exist anymore.
On the other side, I feel a little more relaxed, because Italy joined the "horror party", so in a way Italy in on the same ship.

I wish people were that careful when they bring up italian staff like mafia, because it can sound very offensive, that's a bleeding wound here.
I could react in a very unpleasent way if they talked like I was one of those assholes...
And so many good men and women died trying to fight it... :(

So, in a way, I can relate to the "delicate topics thing".

briar_rose

August 17th, 2010, 06:45 PM

As Amdee rightly explained, Umlaute are those letters: ä, ö, ü (also possible in a diphthong: äu). They are like additional letters, kind of, you have to learn the pronunciation, it's not like a, o and u.

The word you mean is '*******' (am I allowed to write that? Edit: Obviously not. :p So it's sc*eiße, just put 'h' where the * is). And the letter ß is basically pronounced like 'ss'. It just appears in different environments (e.g. usually after long vowels and diphthongs). It doesn't neccessarily make sense, though, so no worries if this seems weird! :p

thanks, i never knew all that!! as umlaute are just different pronounciations of letters, those aren't included in the alphabet but as β is an additional letter, where is it placed in the alphabet?

1. I don't know, frankly. :p I don't think we're all that different, really. We value being on time, that's not a cliché. Being unpunctual is rude, I personally have very strong feelings when it comes to this. Other than that, I don't know. It's late over here, maybe I'll think of sth tomorrow. Or someone else answers this. :)

germans do have a stereotype of being punctual and efficient, haha, more so than any other nation. i think it's a good thing, i hate it when people are late to meet me for something.

okay, i have another question about language:

when i hear germans (and austrians) speaking in english, i notice one of the things they do is to pronounce "w" as "v" as in "ve" and "vurk" instead or "we" and "work". when you hear native english speakers ie people from the UK, canada, usa, australia etc speaking in german, are there any particular quirks that they do, ie mispronouncing certain words or letters etc?

Gothic Empress

August 17th, 2010, 06:50 PM

I wish people were that careful when they bring up italian staff like mafia, because it can sound very offensive, that's a bleeding wound here.
I could react in a very unpleasent way if they talked like I was one of those assholes...
And so many good men and women died trying to fight it... :(

So, in a way, I can relate to the "delicate topics thing".

My father is from Italy, so i'm half. I get that all the time too. And also for American Italians, the Jersey shore ruin that, i'm not a guidette (but my sister is :laugh: )

JustBored

August 17th, 2010, 08:08 PM

My father is from Italy, so i'm half. I get that all the time too. And also for American Italians, the Jersey shore ruin that, i'm not a guidette (but my sister is :laugh: )

I understand. Personally I never got that, luckly, for my and for the poor idiot saying that... :-P

About italian-americans... I don't know what to think. I've never been there, what I know is from tv, and there... honestly, for me is another world... And I'm italian, born, grown up and living in Italy.
Stereotypes I guess.

Where is your dad from?

Oh, in Italy we say "punctual like a swiss clock". Swiss in general are considered the kings of punctuality... cheese and clock. :-P
And chocolate, yes.
But don't tell them I guy from Perugia wins every year the world-contest for the best chocolate... :lol:

Gothic Empress

August 17th, 2010, 08:40 PM

my father and his parents are from Bologna. before that my family came from Naples. I have family all over Italy.

JustBored

August 17th, 2010, 08:47 PM

my father and his parents are from Bologna. before that my family came from Naples. I have family all over Italy.

I've never been there! I've been near Naples, but not Bologna. They say is beautiful, and I have to taste the real "tortellini alla bolognese". :-P
Have you been there?

So do you speak a little italian?
I wont ask you to write anything, don't worry... :-P

Edit: Oh sorry, I though this was the What's On Yer Mind thread!
I got lost.

Mmmm... kartoffeln... :-P

Gothic Empress

August 17th, 2010, 08:57 PM

Sadly no, i never been to Italy (but on my list to trevel to!) and I know very little Italian. I basically know curse words and a few other words but that it.

JustBored

August 17th, 2010, 09:27 PM

Sadly no, i never been to Italy (but on my list to trevel to!) and I know very little Italian. I basically know curse words and a few other words but that it.

As usual... :D
Well, you need those words...
Not to call people like that...
Just in case they call you like that, so you know! :D

Mmmm Pilze... :-P

VanessaM

August 17th, 2010, 11:45 PM

Sure. E.g. 'gegangen' might then sound more like 'jejangen' (or 'yeyangen' as you guys pronounce the 'j' differently. Don't want to cause more confusion here, sorry!). Or, very typical example: 'jut' (again, 'j' pronounced as 'y') instead of 'gut'.
Hmm, I'm going to have to try to listen for these words.

And about the 'z' thing: I'm sure Bill doesn't pronounce it as in English 'zoo', that would sound so weird. Maybe he softens it a bit. Do you have an example from a song where that happens?
Lemme get back to you on that.

Oh, difficult! I'll try:
1. I don't know, frankly. :p I don't think we're all that different, really. We value being on time, that's not a cliché. Being unpunctual is rude, I personally have very strong feelings when it comes to this.
Me too! Way before I got interested in TH I used to wonder if maybe there wasn't some German DNA in me (AFAIK there isn't).

FairyWings

August 18th, 2010, 12:03 AM

You guys should check out the Germany vs. USA youtube videos from Alex and Jim. (http://www.youtube.com/user/AlexandJim) They're great insight into German culture and the guys are so much fun to watch and listen to. I'm a fan :grin: lol

And about Germans always being on time, that would explain that ONE time my German teacher was late to class (I don't even remember why lol something came up on his way to school) and he literally spent like 5 minutes apologizing to us. I felt so bad for him, you could tell he was genuinely sorry and embarrassed and he apologized to us SO MUCH. lol all of us were just like "s'okay, don't sweat it!" :laugh: aww good times, good times haha

Noelle94

August 18th, 2010, 01:00 AM

about "What not to do in Germany". this could really apply to anywhere outside of the us, but americans are much more casual than europeans. i mean, europeans are casual but in a different way that seems more upscale to americans (i.e. NO ONE over the age of 12 wears shorts except maybe on a beach). american tourists often get stereotyped but i think they act a certain way for a few reasons:

1. america is huge and you can vacation inside of your own country. why ski in andorra when you can ski in vermont or colorado?
2. americans have less vacation time. usually they only have 2 weeks and with really long travel overseas it makes it harder
3. conversion wise the american dollar isnt worth as much as a euro and most other european currencies. that makes the trip way more expensive
4. there are no surrounding countries. sure, mexico and canada but we dont really interact with them like europeans countries interact with each other. maybe if you live along the border you go back and forth across the border but that is very rare for many americans. while it is true that america is a melting pot for different cultures, its often that those small groups assimilate to american society and its not the same as visiting another country. because of this i think americans are used to everyone speaking the same language and society is the same everywhere you go in the use except for some regional differences (i.e. the southern us is more conservative)

also because american society is different than european society. when americans come over its so different and they dont have the time to really settle down into european society so they have to take the touristly route to see the sights.

wow this is a long post, sorry if this is very ramble-y!

SilverGlitter

August 18th, 2010, 01:03 AM

German culture is beautiful. :) I don't speak the language, but I admire it :)

annalein

August 18th, 2010, 04:36 AM

Yep, Finland is part of Scandinavia :grin:. It's hard to explain how I gind Germans usually "homey" to hang out with, but I guess it has something to do with certain "stiffness2. I can't find a better word right now, but we are both often quite precise, reliable and have quite similar understanding of personal space. When I'm with people from Soithern Europe (Italy or so), they have a different culture in that.

Oh, ok then. It's just that sometimes you read that it's not part of Scandinavia, so I get confused.

And I understand what you mean. Personal space is important to me, too, I don't like having it invaded too much. It's really a culture thing. I think I know what you mean by stiffness. It is often said the further north you get in Europe, the less warm and open people get. This is a cliche, of course, I don't think we're cold at all. We just value personal space more! ;)

I have a question, but I'm always a bit careful to bring it up. I like to listen to opinions about it when I try to form a big picture of it.

How modern day Germans see your WWII past and Nazi history? How sensitive topic it is in these days? How people from other countries should approach the topic when not wanting to accuse, offend or otherwise cause any awkward moments?

It depends. Personally, I'm not very sensitive on that subject. I wasn't born back then, I don't feel guilty because of it. But I hate having prejudices and accusations thrown in my face, and believe it or not, that actually happened to me more than once while abroad. I think if people are too ignorant to know their facts about something like that, they shout keep quiet about it. I believe a lot of people feel like that - they aren't sensitive about it, really, it's just annoying to hear BS about it over and over again, when really, this was way before your time.

But in general, it is still a sore subject. Actually the World Cup 2006 helped a great deal. It made it acceptable again to be a little patriotic and be proud of your country. Before, everyone was very careful not to be too patriotic as we didn't want to give other countries any incentive to accuse us of being 'Nazis'. Even today we still often feel ashamed because of our past, even though the majority of the population wasn't even born back then... So, yes, it's a sore subject in general, but I don't think anyone will be mad if you ask about it. It's just accusations and prejudices that get people mad!

Well, Anna, people here usually call me simply JustBored, Justie or Boredy, because I haven't said my name after an unpleasant experience on the web (...long story short). So, choose the one you like the most, or come up with a new one, I don't mind.

Oh, I understand completely. I'm very careful on the web, never make my personal details public, simply because I've heard to many horror stories about embarrassing situations in job interviews and such. You know, when they google you and quote things you said on the net? So I'd never reveal my last name. But Anna is such a common name in Germany, so no risk there, really.

thanks, i never knew all that!! as umlaute are just different pronounciations of letters, those aren't included in the alphabet but as β is an additional letter, where is it placed in the alphabet?

Oh, no, neither of those part of the 'regular' alphabet, they are just additional letters, sort of.

okay, i have another question about language:

when i hear germans (and austrians) speaking in english, i notice one of the things they do is to pronounce "w" as "v" as in "ve" and "vurk" instead or "we" and "work". when you hear native english speakers ie people from the UK, canada, usa, australia etc speaking in german, are there any particular quirks that they do, ie mispronouncing certain words or letters etc?

The 'w' --> 'v' thing is because we don't have that sound in German. Of course we have the letter 'w' but it's always pronounced as in 'village', never as in 'will'. But not everyone does that, it's just a common mistake.

And if you turn that around, speakers of English will often pronounce things like 'Wille' or 'Wunder' with a soft 'w' sound, as in 'will'. That's a very common mispronunciation. They often also strech vowels more than we do in German. Also, the pronunciation of 'r' is different. In English it's produced further back in the throat, it sounds harder in German.
Those are just a few examples, but those are very obvious.

Hmm, I'm going to have to try to listen for these words.

I have a clip in mind where Bill very clearly says 'Jut', but I can't find it right know. It's an audio clip of them rehearsing, but there's a youtube video. I just remember that they say something like 'I sink ve can start now' in a funny voice at the beginning. It's possibly the same clip where Bill say 'Tom, look, there's a teddy, I found your teddy' (in German of course) ;)
[/QUOTE]

You guys should check out the Germany vs. USA youtube videos from Alex and Jim. (http://www.youtube.com/user/AlexandJim) They're great insight into German culture and the guys are so much fun to watch and listen to. I'm a fan

And about Germans always being on time, that would explain that ONE time my German teacher was late to class (I don't even remember why lol something came up on his way to school) and he literally spent like 5 minutes apologizing to us. I felt so bad for him, you could tell he was genuinely sorry and embarrassed and he apologized to us SO MUCH. lol all of us were just like "s'okay, don't sweat it!" :laugh: aww good times, good times haha

I'll check it out, thanks!

And yes, punctuality is valued highly here. That doesn't mean that everyone is always on time, far from it (unfortunately, if you ask me :p).

VanessaM

August 18th, 2010, 09:37 AM

I have a clip in mind where Bill very clearly says 'Jut', but I can't find it right know. It's an audio clip of them rehearsing, but there's a youtube video. I just remember that they say something like 'I sink ve can start now' in a funny voice at the beginning. It's possibly the same clip where Bill say 'Tom, look, there's a teddy, I found your teddy' (in German of course) ;)

Hahaha, I must hear this!

briar_rose

August 18th, 2010, 12:12 PM

it's common knowledge that georg was born on the 31st of march 1987, gustav was born on the 8th of september 1988 and the twins were born on the 1st september 1989 in eastern germany but does this mean that technically all four members were born in the USSR?

VanessaM

August 18th, 2010, 12:29 PM

briar_rose

August 18th, 2010, 02:19 PM

No, East Germany was not in the USSR.

wasn't it? then what was german reunification about, if it wasn't uniting east and west germany? or else i may just be thinking of the berlin wall coming down, haha.

VanessaM

August 18th, 2010, 02:24 PM

wasn't it? then what was german reunification about, if it wasn't uniting east and west germany? or else i may just be thinking of the berlin wall coming down, haha.
East and West Germany were separate countries. East Germany was Communist but not part of the USSR. Overthrowing the East German Communist government and tearing down the Berlin Wall and was what lead to the reunification.

PockyTarts

August 18th, 2010, 02:50 PM

Oooh yay! I'm going to have fun in this thread. :grin:

You guys should check out the Germany vs. USA youtube videos from Alex and Jim. (http://www.youtube.com/user/AlexandJim) They're great insight into German culture and the guys are so much fun to watch and listen to. I'm a fan :grin: lol

Awesome! Great videos! Thanks for posting. :)
I just watched the candy one. :P

I grew up eating a lot of German sweets. I would always get so excited when my mom would bring home Milka and other German goodies like different cookies and of course, gummies. I didn't get them often so it was a treat for me.

I eat a lot of German food. Different sausages and schnitzel (<3). Spaetzle is popular in my house. Also my grandparents like to do a German breakfast when I come to visit with things shown here (http://http://www.youtube.com/user/AlexandJim#p/u/35/sivltQeBloI). Nutella is a must.

I'd like to know what kind of foods are popular in Germany now. What kind of American favorites have made their way over there?

annalein

August 18th, 2010, 04:27 PM

Hahaha, I must hear this!

Meh, I must have mixed up some videos, because I found the one I meant, but it doesn't have the part in it where Bill says 'Jut'... I'm going to post it anyway cause it's hilarious!! :grin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN3klJ-1RxE

I grew up eating a lot of German sweets. I would always get so excited when my mom would bring home Milka and other German goodies like different cookies and of course, gummies. I didn't get them often so it was a treat for me.

I eat a lot of German food. Different sausages and schnitzel (<3). Spaetzle is popular in my house. Also my grandparents like to do a German breakfast when I come to visit with things shown here (http://http://www.youtube.com/user/AlexandJim#p/u/35/sivltQeBloI). Nutella is a must.

I'd like to know what kind of foods are popular in Germany now. What kind of American favorites have made their way over there?

Aw, really, I don't even like German sweets all that much. I prefer Swiss or Belgian stuff, so yummy!

I hardly ever eat meat, so I'm not into Schnitzel and sausages, but I definitely love Spätzle, lecker lecker! I can't watch the video for some reason, so what do they say does a German breakfast include? Rolls, of course, and rye bread (Schwarzbrot, you know that? I love it!), but other than that? What's typical German, I don't even know. :p
Oh, and I love Nutella, too, so good.

As for the question: Basically everything that's popular in the states will sooner or later make its way over. :( I'm not a fan of that development tbh, because it means Germans are eating a lot more unhealthy stuff now. Although, the things that are considered typical German food (Haxe, Weißwurst, all that stuff you eat at the Oktoberfest) isn't exactly healthy either, or at least not low on calories. But it's a cliche that everyone in Germany eats like that, it's mainly common in Bavaria. We have tons of Italian restaurants, Asian food, Spanish bars, Turkish restaurants, so I find it hard to say what's typical German food.

PockyTarts

August 18th, 2010, 04:45 PM

Meh, I must have mixed up some videos, because I found the one I meant, but it doesn't have the part in it where Bill says 'Jut'... I'm going to post it anyway cause it's hilarious!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN3klJ-1RxE

LOL! That's hysterical. :laugh:

I hardly ever eat meat, so I'm not into Schnitzel and sausages, but I definitely love Spätzle, lecker lecker! I can't watch the video for some reason, so what do they say does a German breakfast include? Rolls, of course, and rye bread (Schwarzbrot, you know that? I love it!), but other than that? What's typical German, I don't even know. :p
Oh, and I love Nutella, too, so good.

Hmm...It doesn't work for me either. Try this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sivltQeBloI

I like brochen with butter, Laughing Cow and ham. My mom likes to mix this liver spread stuff with cream cheese and spreads it on crackers. *gag* I have a hard time deciding what's German and what's not, but I guess that could be considered pretty German. I'm not sure. :P

As for the question: Basically everything that's popular in the states will sooner or later make its way over. :( I'm not a fan of that development tbh, because it means Germans are eating a lot more unhealthy stuff now. Although, the things that are considered typical German food (Haxe, Weißwurst, all that stuff you eat at the Oktoberfest) isn't exactly healthy either, or at least not low on calories. But it's a cliche that everyone in Germany eats like that, it's mainly common in Bavaria. We have tons of Italian restaurants, Asian food, Spanish bars, Turkish restaurants, so I find it hard to say what's typical German food.

So you basically have a mix of everything? That's cool. :grin:

VanessaM

August 18th, 2010, 04:54 PM

Meh, I must have mixed up some videos, because I found the one I meant, but it doesn't have the part in it where Bill says 'Jut'... I'm going to post it anyway cause it's hilarious!! :grin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN3klJ-1RxE
Thank you!! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

JJ6

August 18th, 2010, 04:58 PM

And yes, punctuality is valued highly here. That doesn't mean that everyone is always on time, far from it (unfortunately, if you ask me :p).

The first time I was in Germany I was so impressed with how punctual the transport system is there (strassenbahn, trains and buses). That just doesn't happen in Ireland lol.
But the first day in the hotel when I was watching the news they were complaining about the high percentage of trains being late, even though it was only a few percent. So it really shows how German's like things to be on time.
In Ireland, 90% of transport is late and the other 10% is early and you miss it. :laugh:

__vian__

August 18th, 2010, 05:02 PM

__vian__

August 18th, 2010, 05:02 PM

JJ6

August 18th, 2010, 05:06 PM

lol, two words, Dublin Bus.

:laugh: Don't forget Bus Eireann. Even Ryanair and Aer Lingus can't leave on time.

I also love German Mustard. I could seriously eat just german mustard on bread. :laugh:

annalein

August 18th, 2010, 05:12 PM

LOL! That's hysterical. :laugh:

Right? I've listened to that so many times, it never gets old. Love the teasing about the teddy bear.

Hmm...It doesn't work for me either. Try this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sivltQeBloI

I like brochen with butter, Laughing Cow and ham. My mom likes to mix this liver spread stuff with cream cheese and spreads it on crackers. *gag* I have a hard time deciding what's German and what's not, but I guess that could be considered pretty German. I'm not sure. :P

Ok, just watched it. They're at 'Extrablatt'! Cool, they have a nice breakfast buffet, I go there often. :)

So you don't usually have meat for breakfast? I didn't know that. In Germany that is indeed very common.

And I can never understand how in America (and England) people don't know 'Quark'. So good, I couldn't live without it. So many variations, sweet, flavoured, spicy, with herbs... yum.

What's laughing cow, though? Did I just not catch that in the video? I didn't watch it too carefully. Haven't heard of it.

And the liver spread you mention (Leberwurst) is very popular in Germany. Not really my cup of tea nowadays, the idea of eating liver kind of ruins it for me, but I remember liking it as a kid.

So you basically have a mix of everything? That's cool. :grin:

Yes, I love it, too! Lots of variety :D

__vian__

August 18th, 2010, 05:17 PM

annalein

August 18th, 2010, 05:18 PM

The first time I was in Germany I was so impressed with how punctual the transport system is there (strassenbahn, trains and buses). That just doesn't happen in Ireland lol.
But the first day in the hotel when I was watching the news they were complaining about the high percentage of trains being late, even though it was only a few percent. So it really shows how German's like things to be on time.
In Ireland, 90% of transport is late and the other 10% is early and you miss it. :laugh:

:laugh: When you first started talking about the transport system being on time I was about to shout 'NO way'. I'm constantly annoyed because trains and busses are late. But it's probably like you said, we're just used to punctuality, so a few minutes delay already bother us. I know they bother me! ;)

And really? I didn't think it was so bad when I was in Ireland. But on vacation you're not stressed and on your way somewhere important, so it probably doesn't bother me enough to really notice then.

Is that them throughout the whole video?

Yes, it's them, they just talk in funny voices. :laugh: I love this audio clip, cracks me up every time!

annalein

August 18th, 2010, 05:21 PM

This might sound strange, but I love the butter I had in Germany I'm not sure if its natively German or not but it was made with yogurt? It was awesome.

Oh and Anna, weird question but do you eat breakfast on boards? I'm just wondering if its just my aunties family or a German thing...

Yeah? I love Irish butter *lol*, the one that's salted!

And I'm not sure I know what you mean by boards - the wooden or plastic things? If so, then yes, a lot of people use them. I personally prefer a plate, but I own some of those things too, just in case. ;)

Diosita

August 18th, 2010, 05:22 PM

annalein

August 18th, 2010, 05:25 PM

I will have soooo much fun here ;) Idk why but I loveeeee german! and for me it's more easy because spanish have the same thing with die der das like la el El and some vowels are the same pronunciation :)

I remember when my deutsch lehrerin was very mad when students were late and she told them that they couldn't enter the classroom for being late :laugh: she was bad ;) very bad :p

That's so common, too! At school and at uni, you're often not allowed to enter after class has started, as it disruptes the class.

And OT question: Are you a native speaker of Spanish? I thought you lived in the US?

JJ6

August 18th, 2010, 05:25 PM

:laugh: When you first started talking about the transport system being on time I was about to shout 'NO way'. I'm constantly annoyed because trains and busses are late. But it's probably like you said, we're just used to punctuality, so a few minutes delay already bother us. I know they bother me! ;)

And really? I didn't think it was so bad when I was in Ireland. But on vacation you're not stressed and on your way somewhere important, so it probably doesn't bother me enough to really notice then.

I was expecting you to say something like that lol. When I was in Germany, I had that conversation with a few people and they complained about it too. :laugh: I just don't use the transport system here for that reason. I have to drive everywhere I need to be at a certain time. Whereas in Germany it was so easy to get to places. And the strassenbahn, in particular, are very regular. If I lived there, I would be happy to use public transport most of the time, although I would miss driving my own car.

PockyTarts

August 18th, 2010, 05:25 PM

So you don't usually have meat for breakfast? I didn't know that. In Germany that is indeed very common.

And I can never understand how in America (and England) people don't know 'Quark'. So good, I couldn't live without it. So many variations, sweet, flavoured, spicy, with herbs... yum.

What's laughing cow, though? Did I just not catch that in the video? I didn't watch it too carefully. Haven't heard of it.

And the liver spread you mention (Leberwurst) is very popular in Germany. Not really my cup of tea nowadays, the idea of eating liver kind of ruins it for me, but I remember liking it as a kid.

Leberwurst! Yes. The name escaped me. :P

Anyway, meat isn't as common for breakfast as it is in Germany, but we usually eat bacon/Canadian bacon and sausage. That's it, really. We eat a lot of sugary stuff like pancakes and cereal. For Americans, the quicker the better so breakfast sandwiches, bagels, doughnuts, PopTarts, etc. is basically all we eat. *shrugs* I'll pick a German breakfast over an American breakfast any day. :laugh: We eat a lot of eggs though.

And they didn't mention Laughing Cow in the video, its actually French I believe. Its popular in the states. Its these cheese wedges that are spreadable. I like eating it straight from the package. :grin:

I'm interested in trying quark sometime, I've heard of it but never tried it.

I'm getting hungry now. Haha.

EDIT: Irish butter is very good. I like it!

JJ6

August 18th, 2010, 05:28 PM

Yeah? I love Irish butter *lol*, the one that's salted!

Kerry Gold? I think it's popular in Germany.

__vian__

August 18th, 2010, 05:28 PM

Yes, it's them, they just talk in funny voices. :laugh: I love this audio clip, cracks me up every time!

ahh cool I love it too!
:laugh:
Bill singing say what say what haha

Oh ok! thanks for answering all our questions by the way1

Oh! another thing I loved when I was ther - Kirche Banane? I think it was called that...

annalein

August 18th, 2010, 05:33 PM

Leberwurst! Yes. The name escaped me. :P

Anyway, meat isn't as common for breakfast as it is in Germany, but we usually eat bacon/Canadian bacon and sausage. That's it, really. We eat a lot of sugary stuff like pancakes and cereal. For Americans, the quicker the better so breakfast sandwiches, bagels, doughnuts, PopTarts, etc. is basically all we eat. *shrugs* I'll pick a German breakfast over an American breakfast any day. :laugh: We eat a lot of eggs though.

And they didn't mention Laughing Cow in the video, its actually French I believe. Its popular in the states though. They are these cheese wedges that are spreadable. I like eating it straight from the package. :grin:

I'm interested in trying quark sometime, I've heard of it but never tried it.

I'm getting hungry now. Haha.

Oh I see! I would get really low blood sugar by noon if I started my day with sweet stuff only! :p

And in that case, I know what Laughing Cow is. The most typical brand in Germany is Adler Sahne. We call it Schmierkäse, although I hate that word, or Schmelzkäse. I like it, though!

And you have to try Quark, it's really good, especially with herbs and then you eat it on a jacket potato.

Kerry Gold? I think it's popular in Germany.

Kerry Gold, yes, we have that here! :) Is that the only one that's salted, though?

annalein

August 18th, 2010, 05:35 PM

ahh cool I love it too!
:laugh:
Bill singing say what say what haha

Oh ok! thanks for answering all our questions by the way1

Oh! another thing I loved when I was ther - Kirche Banane? I think it was called that...

I know, I loved that part, too! :grin:

And no problem!

Kirsch Banane - or KiBa - is very popular and very yummy. :) Don't you have that in Ireland (or in America)?

__vian__

August 18th, 2010, 05:37 PM

I know, I loved that part, too! :grin:

And no problem!

Kirsch Banane - or KiBa - is very popular and very yummy. :) Don't you have that in Ireland (or in America)?

No :( we don't have it here in Ireland... Not sure about America though. Is it alcoholic? Coz i just read on wikipedia it is. Can you make KiBa at home or is it on commercially bought?

JJ6

August 18th, 2010, 05:40 PM

Kerry Gold, yes, we have that here! :) Is that the only one that's salted, though?

I'm not sure if it's the only one you have in Germany but it's the only one I can remember being there.

Do you like currywurst? My best friend loves it but I didn't get a chance to try it the last time I was there.

Diosita

August 18th, 2010, 05:40 PM

That's so common, too! At school and at uni, you're often not allowed to enter after class has started, as it disruptes the class.

And OT question: Are you a native speaker of Spanish? I thought you lived in the US?
yeah! I speak spanish but Idk why but I dont like it :laugh: I'm good with languages but not with french XD I loveee english, german, japonese, but I can't talk in french :(

I couldn't learn the numbers and in german it was sooo easy but Idk I think it was my teacher :( she was like *no! you are learning it bad* but I was saying it WELL! I think she was angry with me because she was my english theacher too and she wrote bad a word and I told her that it was bad written but I said it not in a bad way :( and she was angry with me.

someone wants to learn Spanish? I want to trade it for german :laugh: I'm seeing DW-TV and it's sooo cool!!! because they talk in german and english

annalein

August 18th, 2010, 05:49 PM

No :( we don't have it here in Ireland... Not sure about America though. Is it alcoholic? Coz i just read on wikipedia it is. Can you make KiBa at home or is it on commercially bought?

It's not usually alcoholic, no. You can easily make it yourself, just buy cherry juice and banana juice and put them together. ;) If you want it to look as nice as in the bars, you just have to add the second juice slowly and carefully, than it won't mix completely and make swirls.

Do you like currywurst? My best friend loves it but I didn't get a chance to try it the last time I was there.

Mh, I think it's ok. Again, not too big on meat, but I like the sauce! The sausage is also very fatty, so I always feel like going to sleep after eating something like that. :laugh:

someone wants to learn Spanish? I want to trade it for german. I'm seeing DW-TV and it's sooo cool!!! because they talk in german and english

I'll trade! :grin: I'd like to be able to speak Spanish, but I never got around to really learning it...
What's DW-TV?

ChikaXD

August 18th, 2010, 05:55 PM

ahh cool I love it too!
:laugh:
Bill singing say what say what haha

Oh ok! thanks for answering all our questions by the way1

Oh! another thing I loved when I was ther - Kirche Banane? I think it was called that...

As soon as I heard that I recognized that it's from this song :laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-UJGvE8vnQ Now I want Bill to cover the whole song cuz he sounded nice :laugh:

JJ6

August 18th, 2010, 06:08 PM

Mh, I think it's ok. Again, not too big on meat, but I like the sauce! The sausage is also very fatty, so I always feel like going to sleep after eating something like that. :laugh:

A German who isn't to huge on meat? lol I always feel like sleeping after McDonalds.

On a non-food related topic, do you find it strange how other countries are censored much more than Germany?

Diosita

August 18th, 2010, 06:13 PM

It's not usually alcoholic, no. You can easily make it yourself, just buy cherry juice and banana juice and put them together. ;) If you want it to look as nice as in the bars, you just have to add the second juice slowly and carefully, than it won't mix completely and make swirls.

Mh, I think it's ok. Again, not too big on meat, but I like the sauce! The sausage is also very fatty, so I always feel like going to sleep after eating something like that. :laugh:

I'll trade! :grin: I'd like to be able to speak Spanish, but I never got around to really learning it...
What's DW-TV?
yeah!!!! you can teach me deutsch and I can teach you español ^_^

DW-TV (Deutsche welle) is a news channel http://www.dw-world.de/

I was seeing the other day in this channel they went to a thing that is all mud but Idk the name, and it was sooo awesome :laugh: (my sister was like :P *why do you want to go there?* and I was like ^_^ it's awesome!!!!! I want to go there and walk in all that place that is all muddy ^_^

annalein

August 18th, 2010, 06:23 PM

A German who isn't to huge on meat? lol I always feel like sleeping after McDonalds.

On a non-food related topic, do you find it strange how other countries are censored much more than Germany?

Yeah, I know. ;) I used to be a vegetarian for many years, up until I was in my early 20s, I think. Then I got lazy and started eating meat again, but I still don't mind not eating it, really, so I usually don't, as I'm very much against animals being kept in mass stocks. If it's from an organic farm, that's cool imo, but that's very expensive, so...

And YES! Very strange, actually! I always forget when I write here, and I either edit it out last minute before posting or get ****. I just don't see what's the big deal with a little swearing. Also, I never get why naked people on TV are so bad! ;)

yeah!!!! you can teach me deutsch and I can teach you español ^_^

DW-TV (Deutsche welle) is a news channel http://www.dw-world.de/

I was seeing the other day in this channel they went to a thing that is all mud but Idk the name, and it was sooo awesome :laugh: (my sister was like :P *why do you want to go there?* and I was like ^_^ it's awesome!!!!! I want to go there and walk in all that place that is all muddy ^_^

I have no idea what that mud thing is, but maybe you'll remember what it's called. Let me know then, you got me interested now! ;)

JJ6

August 18th, 2010, 06:37 PM

Yeah, I know. ;) I used to be a vegetarian for many years, up until I was in my early 20s, I think. Then I got lazy and started eating meat again, but I still don't mind not eating it, really, so I usually don't, as I'm very much against animals being kept in mass stocks. If it's from an organic farm, that's cool imo, but that's very expensive, so...

And YES! Very strange, actually! I always forget when I write here, and I either edit it out last minute before posting or get ****. I just don't see what's the big deal with a little swearing. Also, I never get why naked people on TV are so bad! ;)

Organic food is quite a bit more expensive here too, but they are trying to make it more common and cheaper.

I found it strange at first to see how uncensored German media is, even compared to Ireland and we are not particularly strict, imo. But I actually thought it was better in some ways, absolutely nothing wrong with naked bodies :laugh:

Off-topic slightly but I'd be interested to know what you thought of Ireland and the differences between Ireland and Germany. If you don't mind.

Diosita

August 18th, 2010, 06:44 PM

Trink&Tirsh

August 18th, 2010, 06:48 PM

that is some awesome mud

i miss when playing in mud didn't make you look dumb if older than 9...

JustBored

August 18th, 2010, 06:51 PM

...
It depends. Personally, I'm not very sensitive on that subject. I wasn't born back then, I don't feel guilty because of it. But I hate having prejudices and accusations thrown in my face, and believe it or not, that actually happened to me more than once while abroad. I think if people are too ignorant to know their facts about something like that, they shout keep quiet about it. I believe a lot of people feel like that - they aren't sensitive about it, really, it's just annoying to hear BS about it over and over again, when really, this was way before your time.

That's odious, for many reasons, but especially because you were not even born... *shakes head*

But in general, it is still a sore subject. Actually the World Cup 2006 helped a great deal. It made it acceptable again to be a little patriotic and be proud of your country. Before, everyone was very careful not to be too patriotic as we didn't want to give other countries any incentive to accuse us of being 'Nazis'. Even today we still often feel ashamed because of our past, even though the majority of the population wasn't even born back then... So, yes, it's a sore subject in general, but I don't think anyone will be mad if you ask about it. It's just accusations and prejudices that get people mad!

As I said... Totally understandable.

And... to light the subject... I loved the World Cup 2006 too... :cffgrin:
This year? *goes hide*

Oh, I understand completely. I'm very careful on the web, never make my personal details public, simply because I've heard to many horror stories about embarrassing situations in job interviews and such. You know, when they google you and quote things you said on the net? So I'd never reveal my last name. But Anna is such a common name in Germany, so no risk there, really.

I wasn't completly bad, but it's so complicated... I had a huge disappointment...
So I decided to give away other informations, like about my city and stuff, and keep my name for me, and since I don't like to lie, at all, I just use a nick name, instead of saying: my name is Anna... It's kinda popular in Italy too... :p

And if you turn that around, speakers of English will often pronounce things like 'Wille' or 'Wunder' with a soft 'w' sound, as in 'will'. That's a very common mispronunciation. They often also strech vowels more than we do in German. Also, the pronunciation of 'r' is different. In English it's produced further back in the throat, it sounds harder in German.
Those are just a few examples, but those are very obvious.

Every language has their own particular sounds. Italians have a hard time with the "th", not me of course... :-P, words like rhythm are just a nightmare for a lot of italians... :laugh:
On the other hand, americans have a lot of troubles with gl gli glia glie glio glio gliu gn gna gne gni gno gnu... (similar to the spanish ll and ñ) And the "strong R".
They just can't... :laugh:
To each his own... : P

JustBored

August 18th, 2010, 06:51 PM

...
I grew up eating a lot of German sweets. I would always get so excited when my mom would bring home Milka and other German goodies like different cookies and of course, gummies. I didn't get them often so it was a treat for me.

I eat a lot of German food. Different sausages and schnitzel (<3). Spaetzle is popular in my house. Also my grandparents like to do a German breakfast when I come to visit with things shown here (http://http://www.youtube.com/user/AlexandJim#p/u/35/sivltQeBloI). Nutella is a must.

I'd like to know what kind of foods are popular in Germany now. What kind of American favorites have made their way over there?

Milka! Yummy...
Nutella is italian... :-P

...
Oh, and I love Nutella, too, so good.
...

Grazie grazie... *takes a bow proudly* :laugh:

In Italy german beer is very common, even italian, but we have a lot of german beer. And household appliances... I've had a Telefunken Tv for a loooong time! :D
And also a lot of german tourists here in Tuscany. :D

FairyWings

August 18th, 2010, 07:06 PM

Every language has their own particular sounds. Italians have a hard time with the "th", not me of course... :-P, words like rhythm are just a nightmare for a lot of italians... :laugh:
On the other hand, americans have a lot of troubles with gl gli glia glie glio glio gliu gn gna gne gni gno gnu... (similar to the spanish ll and ñ) And the "strong R".
They just can't... :laugh:
To each his own... : P

haha Italian is awesomee!! it took me weeks of practice to get the gl sounds.. the gn wasn't so hard since it's basically the same as ñ like you said.

Ahemm :eyeroll: anyway.. lol

I wish German was easier to learn. At least, German grammar makes me wanna rip my hair out :laugh: but the pronounciations aren't that bad. It's actually quite phonetic

JustBored

August 18th, 2010, 07:12 PM

...
As for the question: Basically everything that's popular in the states will sooner or later make its way over. :( I'm not a fan of that development tbh, because it means Germans are eating a lot more unhealthy stuff now. Although, the things that are considered typical German food (Haxe, Weißwurst, all that stuff you eat at the Oktoberfest) isn't exactly healthy either, or at least not low on calories. But it's a cliche that everyone in Germany eats like that, it's mainly common in Bavaria. We have tons of Italian restaurants, Asian food, Spanish bars, Turkish restaurants, so I find it hard to say what's typical German food.

That happens here too, but sometimes...
Once on the news there was this funny thing... A McDonald's in the south had to close, because in front of it there was a small sandwich bar where they did all those yummy typical sandwiches and pizza al taglio (in little rectangles) and everyone use to go there... :D

And cliches... tell me about it...
I mean... you don't think I have my spaghetti for lunch on a red and white squared tablecloth whit someone next to me playing mandolino, do you? :laugh:

VanessaM

August 18th, 2010, 07:12 PM

And about the 'z' thing: I'm sure Bill doesn't pronounce it as in English 'zoo', that would sound so weird. Maybe he softens it a bit. Do you have an example from a song where that happens?
Finally found an example! In Schwarz, sometimes his "zurück" and "schwarz" don't sound like he's hitting the T sound hard enough, so you're right that it's more of a softening than an outright Z-as-in-zoo sound.

Diosita

August 18th, 2010, 07:24 PM

[/QUOTE] I mean... you don't think I have my spaghetti for lunch on a red and white squared tablecloth whit someone next to me playing mandolino, do you? :laugh:[/QUOTE]

OMG! I want spaghetti with cheese :) and someone *Tom* playing mandolino (I loveeeee mandolino sound) and Bill and me eating spaghetti!!!!!!! :laugh: "dreaming doesn't cost anything" I think I have Italian in my DNA XD well... my name is Laura!!! (I want to go to Italy but I know there is not always spaguetti and mandolino there :laugh:)

JustBored

August 18th, 2010, 07:31 PM

Yeah, I know. ;) I used to be a vegetarian for many years, up until I was in my early 20s, I think. Then I got lazy and started eating meat again, but I still don't mind not eating it, really, so I usually don't, as I'm very much against animals being kept in mass stocks. If it's from an organic farm, that's cool imo, but that's very expensive, so...

I agree with this. I'm not a vegetarian, but we buy stuff from those places when we can, especially eggs... Poor hens... :(

Organic food is quite a bit more expensive here too, but they are trying to make it more common and cheaper.

I found it strange at first to see how uncensored German media is, even compared to Ireland and we are not particularly strict, imo. But I actually thought it was better in some ways, absolutely nothing wrong with naked bodies :laugh:

Off-topic slightly but I'd be interested to know what you thought of Ireland and the differences between Ireland and Germany. If you don't mind.

Organic food is becoming more common even here, thank God, even if we have already a lot of stuff like that, allo those Doc Docg Dop etc etc things.

I think in Italy is even worse, I read somewhere we have the highiest percentage of nuduty on tv in Europe. And in the night, in many local channels is almost porn: hot lines etc etc. But they made a law for that and now it's a little better. I'm not a prude, but children have very often a tv in they bedrooms, so you never know.

JustBored

August 18th, 2010, 07:31 PM

haha Italian is awesomee!! it took me weeks of practice to get the gl sounds.. the gn wasn't so hard since it's basically the same as ñ like you said.

Ahemm :eyeroll: anyway.. lol

I wish German was easier to learn. At least, German grammar makes me wanna rip my hair out :laugh: but the pronounciations aren't that bad. It's actually quite phonetic

Gl is not close to ll? :shock:
Well, anyway, for spanish mother tongue people is kinda easy to learn italian, and the other way around.

And thanks, I like my language, but I like spanish as well! :D

JustBored

August 18th, 2010, 07:38 PM

I mean... you don't think I have my spaghetti for lunch on a red and white squared tablecloth whit someone next to me playing mandolino, do you? :laugh:

OMG! I want spaghetti with cheese : ) and someone *Tom* playing mandolino (I loveeeee mandolino sound) and Bill and me eating spaghetti!!!!!!! :laugh: "dreaming doesn't cost anything" I think I have Italian in my DNA XD well... my name is Laura!!! (I want to go to Italy but I know there is not always spaguetti and mandolino there *laugh*)

Like Lady and the Tramp? That's cute! :D
No, it's not always like that. Honestly, I think I've never heard anyone playing mandolino live... :?
Maybe in the south you can find someone...
And there are a lot of different kinds of pasta.
Be sure to eat the hand-made one, is much much better than the one you find in boxes... I mean, hand-made pasta is the real deal. ;-)

Diosita

August 18th, 2010, 07:48 PM

Like Lady and the Tramp? That's cute! :D
No, it's not always like that. Honestly, I think I've never heard anyone playing mandolino live... :?
Maybe in the south you can find someone...
And there are a lot of different kinds of pasta.
Be sure to eat the hand-made one, is much much better than the one you find in boxes... I mean, hand-made pasta is the real deal. ;-)
I remember that one day I did hand-made pasta because I saw in tv (Donato di santi *I think this is the chef's name* ;) )how to do it and I did ravioli with cheese inside it and it was soooo good but I want to eat the real hand-made Italian ravioli!!!!!

FairyWings

August 18th, 2010, 07:49 PM

Gl is not close to ll? :shock:
Well, anyway, for spanish mother tongue people is kinda easy to learn italian, and the other way around.

And thanks, I like my language, but I like spanish as well! :D

it is close, but it's not quite the same (it also depends on where you live, but I won't go into that) the easiest way I can explain LL in spanish is like the Y sound in "young" or "you." For ex, the word "llave" (key) would be pronounced as "yabe." From what I learned in Italian class, that's certainly not how you pronounce "gl," but it's a nice start to build your way up to the proper pronounciation.

lol.. anyway.. was this the German cultura thread?? LL and GL are true German sounds!! :laugh:

PockyTarts

August 18th, 2010, 07:49 PM

Nutella is italian... :-P

Okay. :laugh:
Italy, Germany, Canada, Nutella is yummy and that's a fact. :roll: I'm so happy I can get it at my grocery store here. It's a bit expensive though. *sigh*

JustBored

August 18th, 2010, 08:31 PM

I remember that one day I did hand-made pasta because I saw in tv (Donato di santi *I think this is the chef's name* ;) )how to do it and I did ravioli with cheese inside it and it was soooo good but I want to eat the real hand-made Italian ravioli!!!!!

Well, I guess you have to come here, or... find a good recipe on the web, even if the origins of the ingredients and the manual skills mean something, but... you can have a good result all the same! :D

it is close, but it's not quite the same (it also depends on where you live, but I won't go into that) the easiest way I can explain LL in spanish is like the Y sound in "young" or "you." For ex, the word "llave" (key) would be pronounced as "yabe." From what I learned in Italian class, that's certainly not how you pronounce "gl," but it's a nice start to build your way up to the proper pronounciation.

lol.. anyway.. was this the German cultura thread?? LL and GL are true German sounds!! :laugh:

Mmm. I studied spanish, for a little while, Spain spanish :D, maybe it's a little different, like english and american english...

And... you're right, but I guess it's normal to make comparisons when you're talking about a culture with the others... :-P

JustBored

August 18th, 2010, 08:31 PM

Okay. :laugh:
Italy, Germany, Canada, Nutella is yummy and that's a fact. :roll: I'm so happy I can get it at my grocery store here. It's a bit expensive though. *sigh*

Imported stuff cost much... How much do you pay for it?

And... do you know about all the mess about Nutella?
The European Union should just shut the **** up about food sometimes... :-x

I'll pm you...

FairyWings

August 18th, 2010, 08:38 PM

Mmm. I studied spanish, for a little while, Spain spanish :D, maybe it's a little different, like english and american english...

And... you're right, but I guess it's normal to make comparisons when you're talking about a culture with the others... :-P

Yup! European and American Spanish tend to differ from each other, so yeah lol

and haha I guess xD

Noelle94

August 18th, 2010, 09:00 PM

JustBored

August 18th, 2010, 09:05 PM

Yup! European and American Spanish tend to differ from each other, so yeah lol

and haha I guess xD

:D

Do you guys like Nutella?

If you do, you MUST watch this!

This is like... the epic scene from movies in Italy! :laugh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsjpzmRIwck

SilverGlitter

August 18th, 2010, 11:58 PM

Do a lot of you speak German?

Ripitgirl19

August 19th, 2010, 04:39 AM

I have three questions,

1. things NOT to do or say when visiting Germany?

2. and things that ok to do or say and not consider "*****ing tourist American"?

3. what do Germans think of Americans?

Ok, I have no clue about your 2nd and 3rd questions, but I believe joking about the Holocaust/WWII is an absolute no. If you walk around with you're right arm up like this, you will be arrested:
(Referring to the guy next to Hitler)
http://www.buzzvines.com/files/images/wwii1-2.jpg

See, I'm the kind of person who jokes about anything and everything, so I wouldn't think twice about making a Jew joke or a Holocaust joke while in Germany and I'm sure I'd get in a lot of trouble for it. I don't mean any harm, and I have forgiven Germany and it's people for the Holocaust and WWII, because it wasn't their fault. It was the fault of a not-so-sane person who suffered some form of trauma after his mother died, and thought that taking over the world and killing anyone who wasn't an Aryan would some how make him feel better. (Or at least, that's my opinion of what happened).

annalein

August 19th, 2010, 07:59 AM

Organic food is quite a bit more expensive here too, but they are trying to make it more common and cheaper.

Off-topic slightly but I'd be interested to know what you thought of Ireland and the differences between Ireland and Germany. If you don't mind.

Yes, in Germany, too. It's becoming a lot more common, we even have a lot of organic supermarkets now, and the stuff there is expensive, but affordable. I like this development.

Don't mind at all: I loved Ireland so much! I've been there 3 times now and thought you have a lot of nature and beautiful cliffs and so on, which I love! Plus, I thought the Irish people are super friendly and open, I felt right at home there. :)
As for differences, I don't think there are that many, really. I think our cultures are similar, just I felt the whole atmosphere in Ireland a little more relaxed maybe, the people didn't seem as stiff and stressed as they sometimes are in Germany. I don't know, I just love Ireland. I've even been thinking about migrating there one day!

I wish German was easier to learn. At least, German grammar makes me wanna rip my hair out but the pronounciations aren't that bad. It's actually quite phonetic

I know, a lot of people complain about German grammar. Too many articles, too many confusing rules. Even native speakers often have problems with it. Are you a native speaker of Spanish, then? Because then it would make perfect sense that you don't have a problem with pronunciation, that's not so different in those languages.

Finally found an example! In Schwarz, sometimes his "zurück" and "schwarz" don't sound like he's hitting the T sound hard enough, so you're right that it's more of a softening than an outright Z-as-in-zoo sound.

Oh, I see! That's nothing typically German, though! It's just that Bill has a very slight lisp, and he sometimes (especially when singing for some reason) pronounces his 's's, 'z's and 'sh's funny. ;)

annalein

August 19th, 2010, 08:13 AM

i have a question! ok so ive heard by many people that germans dont say "i love you" as casually as americans. like my grandfather said hes only ever said "ich liebe dich" to his girlfriends/wife. not even his parents! in america i tell my parents and friends i love them all of the time. so, do you say something else or do you just not say i love you like that.

That's true! We don't usually say 'Ich liebe dich' unless to your boyfriend in a serious relationship. It's just not common to use it in any other context. We might say 'Ich hab dich lieb' to our friends, maybe, but not on an every day basis (at least not me and my friends and family). It's usually quite emotionally laden, I guess. It's become common to use it as an abbreviation, though (with younger kids, mainly girls). Like HDGDL (hab dich ganz doll lieb = love/like you a lot), almost every 10-16 year old girl uses that. ;)
But in general I always find it strange how Americans just say 'I love you' to basically everyone they know well.

:D

Do you guys like Nutella?

If you do, you MUST watch this!

This is like... the epic scene from movies in Italy! :laugh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsjpzmRIwck

Hahaha! What a weird video! What movie is it from?

And yes, thank you, Italy, for Nutella! Although the German equivalent is Nusspli, which I find even better, sorry! :p

Ok, I have no clue about your 2nd and 3rd questions, but I believe joking about the Holocaust/WWII is an absolute no. If you walk around with you're right arm up like this, you will be arrested:
(Referring to the guy next to Hitler)
http://www.buzzvines.com/files/images/wwii1-2.jpg

See, I'm the kind of person who jokes about anything and everything, so I wouldn't think twice about making a Jew joke or a Holocaust joke while in Germany and I'm sure I'd get in a lot of trouble for it. I don't mean any harm, and I have forgiven Germany and it's people for the Holocaust and WWII, because it wasn't their fault. It was the fault of a not-so-sane person who suffered some form of trauma after his mother died, and thought that taking over the world and killing anyone who wasn't an Aryan would some how make him feel better. (Or at least, that's my opinion of what happened).

Well, the thing is, it's always the whole country that's being made responsible for bad stuff (especially if the bad stuff is a war!). And if Germans hadn't sort of gone along with Hitler's agenda (out of fear, but still) this wouldn't have been possible on a scale like that. It just went out of hand at some point, and there was no stopping. Anyway, so I don't think the population is to be completely excused. But the thing is, none of the younger people were even born then, so it irks us if we're being made responsible still. Therefore I agree, don't make jokes about Nazis, Jews and other war-related issues! You will probably not make any friends that way.

VanessaM

August 19th, 2010, 09:35 AM

Oh, I see! That's nothing typically German, though! It's just that Bill has a very slight lisp, and he sometimes (especially when singing for some reason) pronounces his 's's, 'z's and 'sh's funny. ;)
I see, thanks!

Do a lot of you speak German?
Not me! And I'm not learning it systematically in order to speak it. I just find the subject interesting to learn about so I can understand TH better.

i have a question! ok so ive heard by many people that germans dont say "i love you" as casually as americans. like my grandfather said hes only ever said "ich liebe dich" to his girlfriends/wife. not even his parents! in america i tell my parents and friends i love them all of the time. so, do you say something else or do you just not say i love you like that.
It seems to me that it's a personal matter whether you go commonly say "I love you" to your friends and family.

ChikaXD

August 19th, 2010, 02:01 PM

annalein

August 19th, 2010, 02:08 PM

JJ6

August 19th, 2010, 02:43 PM

^^ yeah i'm American and I rarely say 'I love you' and hug my family members let alone my friends.

Question: Is it hard for foreigners to make friends in Germany? I want to study abroad but I have heard that Germans are cold and unfreundlich. (sorry if that was offensive. I'm not trying to stereotype or offend)

I'm from Ireland and my best friend went on a gap year to university in Germany. He found that it was a complete culture shock to him and in most cases he found German's to be very straight talking which can seem blunt or unfriendly. But after a few weeks he absolutely loved it because he got used to the way things were in Germany and made a lot of friends. He could speak fluent German which helped. When I went to visit I found most of the people he had met to be very friendly although some were quiet. Only one seemed unfriendly to me but that was because she did not want to speak English and I couldn't speak German which I respected. It is a German speaking country after all.

I know that wasn't directed at me since I'm not German but I thought I'd let you know of someone's experience with that.

JJ6

August 19th, 2010, 02:45 PM

Don't mind at all: I loved Ireland so much! I've been there 3 times now and thought you have a lot of nature and beautiful cliffs and so on, which I love! Plus, I thought the Irish people are super friendly and open, I felt right at home there. :)
As for differences, I don't think there are that many, really. I think our cultures are similar, just I felt the whole atmosphere in Ireland a little more relaxed maybe, the people didn't seem as stiff and stressed as they sometimes are in Germany. I don't know, I just love Ireland. I've even been thinking about migrating there one day!

I'm very glad you enjoyed your time here. I also never found there to be huge differences between Ireland and Germany apart from German's try to be more punctual. If you want we can swap places :laugh: What part of Germany are you from, if you don't mind me asking?

ChikaXD

August 19th, 2010, 03:00 PM

No, I don't think so. We're not all that cold, just not as temperamental as other nations maybe. But it's not hard to make friends, and escpecially not at university, I made a lot of friends there! :) May I ask where you want to go and what you want to study?

The univerisity I want to attend here exchanges with Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University Mosbach. I know nothing about that area or school. I would be studying business.

ChikaXD

August 19th, 2010, 03:02 PM

I'm from Ireland and my best friend went on a gap year to university in Germany. He found that it was a complete culture shock to him and in most cases he found German's to be very straight talking which can seem blunt or unfriendly. But after a few weeks he absolutely loved it because he got used to the way things were in Germany and made a lot of friends. He could speak fluent German which helped. When I went to visit I found most of the people he had met to be very friendly although some were quiet. Only one seemed unfriendly to me but that was because she did not want to speak English and I couldn't speak German which I respected. It is a German speaking country after all.

I know that wasn't directed at me since I'm not German but I thought I'd let you know of someone's experience with that.

Thanks for answering! I am painfully bad at making friends so I fear for the worst :laugh:

JJ6

August 19th, 2010, 03:33 PM

Thanks for answering! I am painfully bad at making friends so I fear for the worst :laugh:

It's no problem. And you will love it. It will just be the initial few weeks or so where it will be most difficult but don't give up. The one thing that was really weird for my friend was that grocery stores are not 24 hour and they close on Sundays and Holidays. He found that really hard to get used to and ended up with nothing in his cupboards on a Sunday. :laugh:

Baden Württemberg is a lovely part of Germany. My friend went to university in Freiburg which is the very South part of that state. I found it to be very traditional which was very beautiful.

ChikaXD

August 19th, 2010, 03:57 PM

It's no problem. And you will love it. It will just be the initial few weeks or so where it will be most difficult but don't give up. The one thing that was really weird for my friend was that grocery stores are not 24 hour and they close on Sundays and Holidays. He found that really hard to get used to and ended up with nothing in his cupboards on a Sunday. :laugh:

Baden Württemberg is a lovely part of Germany. My friend went to university in Freiburg which is the very South part of that state. I found it to be very traditional which was very beautiful.

haha I will have the same problem as your friend :laugh: I do all of my grocery shopping late late at night to avoid the crowds. haha I will learn to adapt. And that is good to hear, I really know nothing about the area or the people who live there.

Ripitgirl19

August 19th, 2010, 04:12 PM

Well, the thing is, it's always the whole country that's being made responsible for bad stuff (especially if the bad stuff is a war!). And if Germans hadn't sort of gone along with Hitler's agenda (out of fear, but still) this wouldn't have been possible on a scale like that. It just went out of hand at some point, and there was no stopping. Anyway, so I don't think the population is to be completely excused. But the thing is, none of the younger people were even born then, so it irks us if we're being made responsible still. Therefore I agree, don't make jokes about Nazis, Jews and other war-related issues! You will probably not make any friends that way.

That's what I was trying to say!...It just didn't come out right haha. But yeah, it's not your fault, so why hold you responsible? The people who were responsible are all dead by now (I think?), so you should start to relax just a little bit.

And let me just say that I think the Treaty of Versailles was totally bogus. There should have been a limit of what Germany had to pay back in reparations, and some of the stuff was just stupid.

I'm not weird or anything, I just like European History :)

Trink&Tirsh

August 19th, 2010, 04:34 PM

only place you could possibly get anything on a sunday is most likely at a gas station.

so yeah. nothing on sundays or holidays.
some places are being lenient with the whole closing early thing but not everything. most of it is

open at ten in the morning close at 6pm

only place i know that is open later is down the street and near the bus station.

JJ6

August 19th, 2010, 05:23 PM

haha I will have the same problem as your friend :laugh: I do all of my grocery shopping late late at night to avoid the crowds. haha I will learn to adapt. And that is good to hear, I really know nothing about the area or the people who live there.

He got used to it but it really was like WTF? lol But it is cheap for food and drinks and I don't know about the rest of Baden Württemberg but in Freiburg they recycle a lot and you can bring your bottles back to the shop and get money back. Maybe you have that in America but we don't here.

I would definitely consider it. It's always best to take the opportunities you are offered, imo.

Trink&Tirsh

August 19th, 2010, 05:27 PM

JJ6

August 19th, 2010, 06:05 PM

in the states you have to bring your recyclables to certain places to get reimbursed for it :roll:

which means you need a car to get to most of them
fail
here, you either go to the store or there are machines (might also be in a store, i can't recall what one of my coworkers said.)

In Freiburg it was in the store room at the back of the shop. And then in a smaller shop there was a machine. I thought it was a good method of recycling. Are you from Germany?

In Ireland we are provided with a separate bin that is collected every two weeks for recycling but they don't check them enough and people are lazy here so it's a bit of a lost cause.

annalein

August 19th, 2010, 06:50 PM

I'm very glad you enjoyed your time here. I also never found there to be huge differences between Ireland and Germany apart from German's try to be more punctual. If you want we can swap places :laugh: What part of Germany are you from, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm from the west, you probably know Cologne, right?

And yes, not so different, but I never even noticed that you guys aren't so big on punctuality.

Thanks for answering! I am painfully bad at making friends so I fear for the worst :laugh:

Oh, no worries!! Just approach others and it'll be fine. We can sometimes be a little quiet at first, but that's a generalisation that doesn't hold true for everyone. I'm quiet at first, too, but I'd say I'm very approachable despite of it. ;) So don't worry, really, if you're nice to people it'll be fine, I'm so sure of it!

It's no problem. And you will love it. It will just be the initial few weeks or so where it will be most difficult but don't give up. The one thing that was really weird for my friend was that grocery stores are not 24 hour and they close on Sundays and Holidays. He found that really hard to get used to and ended up with nothing in his cupboards on a Sunday. :laugh:

Baden Württemberg is a lovely part of Germany. My friend went to university in Freiburg which is the very South part of that state. I found it to be very traditional which was very beautiful.

Haha, yes, that's a big disadvantage of Gemany, no shopping for food at night! But, we're working on it, there are quite a few stores that are open until midnight nowadays. Nothings open on Sundays, though, that's still true!

And yes, BW is a nice area, a lot of people go there on holiday. And it is somewhat traditional, but I have friends who live there and the quite like it!

JustBored

August 19th, 2010, 08:45 PM

Ok, I have no clue about your 2nd and 3rd questions, but I believe joking about the Holocaust/WWII is an absolute no. If you walk around with you're right arm up like this, you will be arrested:
(Referring to the guy next to Hitler)
...

The guy is Mussolini...
I'm not quoting the picture... :s of those two idiots in this nice place...
My computer froze while I was writing this... it knows too... : P

See, I'm the kind of person who jokes about anything and everything, so I wouldn't think twice about making a Jew joke or a Holocaust joke while in Germany and I'm sure I'd get in a lot of trouble for it. I don't mean any harm, and I have forgiven Germany and it's people for the Holocaust and WWII, because it wasn't their fault. It was the fault of a not-so-sane person who suffered some form of trauma after his mother died, and thought that taking over the world and killing anyone who wasn't an Aryan would some how make him feel better. (Or at least, that's my opinion of what happened).

I make joke about anything too, but sometimes you just have to shut up.
Please don't take this in the wrong way or personal, I quote you but I keep it generic.
We are not talking about a war (which is already horrible), that was bigger and much worse. People can't read your mind before you make a joke and know that for you the past is the past, and even if they did, what kind of joke could you ever make?... I mean, one could think "do you really understand the extent of what happen?"
My grandfather was in the war, so my father has watched a gazillion documetaries about that stuff, and me too, since that was my house too, I've seen so many documentaries about Mussolini, Hitler, politics of the time, concentration camps... I can't even count them anymore, and I had different books for an exam at the university about concentration camps and gulags (those were in Russia for 70 years but nobody seems to know that :surprise:...) and those books go into details, as much as certain documentaries when they show films from there... (I'm not going into details here.)
You don't want to joke about that after you've seen those things, never, especially with Germans or Jews. That's just mean, even if you don't mean any harm/disrespect and you are the sweetest person ever.
I'm not angry or everything, I'm very calm and relaxed. It sounds harsh but I'm not.

...
Hahaha! What a weird video! What movie is it from?

And yes, thank you, Italy, for Nutella! Although the German equivalent is Nusspli, which I find even better, sorry! :p

The movie is Bianca, the guy is Nanni Moretti.
And... no way that Nusspli thing is better! :-P

Well, the thing is, it's always the whole country that's being made responsible for bad stuff (especially if the bad stuff is a war!). And if Germans hadn't sort of gone along with Hitler's agenda (out of fear, but still) this wouldn't have been possible on a scale like that. It just went out of hand at some point, and there was no stopping. Anyway, so I don't think the population is to be completely excused. But the thing is, none of the younger people were even born then, so it irks us if we're being made responsible still. Therefore I agree, don't make jokes about Nazis, Jews and other war-related issues! You will probably not make any friends that way.

That's the point about dictators.
One can't wake up one day and say: I'm gonna rule this place! The historical moment is fundamental, those guys are usually loved by the population at the beginning, because they fuel and ferment their feelings, which are usually of discontent, anger, disappointment and so on... Then, when it's too late, they show their real faces and people come back to sanity. Dictators always come up from a country in troubles, not from a happy and healthy one so, yes, the population can't be complitely excused. But one must also remember of all those who died trying to fight it, in their onw country. End, of course, you can't blame who was born after that.

I'm from the west, you probably know Cologne, right?
...

Nice gig there! Dreads wonderful Billa! :D

Trink&Tirsh

August 20th, 2010, 04:40 AM

no, i just live here

i did read up on customs and what not to do before i came here so i wouldn't be all culture shock though. i still don't go out much. because i can't drive.

JustBored

August 20th, 2010, 07:41 AM

How does school work in Germany?

In Italy (usually) it is from monday to saturday, but just the morning, you're home for lunch. In Germany?

I know, I could google it... :p

annalein

August 20th, 2010, 09:23 AM

The guy is Mussolini...
I'm not quoting the picture... :s of those two idiots in this nice place...
My computer froze while I was writing this... it knows too...

:laugh: Go, JustBored's computer!

I make joke about anything too, but sometimes you just have to shut up.
Please don't take this in the wrong way or personal, I quote you but I keep it generic.
We are not talking about a war (which is already horrible), that was bigger and much worse. People can't read your mind before you make a joke and know that for you the past is the past, and even if they did, what kind of joke could you ever make?... I mean, one could think "do you really understand the extent of what happen?"
My grandfather was in the war, so my father has watched a gazillion documetaries about that stuff, and me too, since that was my house too, I've seen so many documentaries about Mussolini, Hitler, politics of the time, concentration camps... I can't even count them anymore, and I had different books for an exam at the university about concentration camps and gulags (those were in Russia for 70 years but nobody seems to know that :surprise:...) and those books go into details, as much as certain documentaries when they show films from there... (I'm not going into details here.)
You don't want to joke about that after you've seen those things, never, especially with Germans or Jews. That's just mean, even if you don't mean any harm/disrespect and you are the sweetest person ever.
I'm not angry or everything, I'm very calm and relaxed. It sounds harsh but I'm not.

...

That's the point about dictators.
One can't wake up one day and say: I'm gonna rule this place! The historical moment is fundamental, those guys are usually loved by the population at the beginning, because they fuel and ferment their feelings, which are usually of discontent, anger, disappointment and so on... Then, when it's to late, they show their real faces and people come back to sanity. Dictators always come up from a country in troubles, not from a happy and healthy one so, yes, the population can't be complitely excused. But one must also remember of all those who died trying to fight it, in their on country. End, of course, you can't blame who was born after that.

I agree with everything you said!

The movie is Bianca, the guy is Nanni Moretti.
And... no way that Nusspli thing is better!

There are ongoing debates about it even here, but I like NussPli because it takes a lot like hazelnut, and I like that.

no, i just live here

i did read up on customs and what not to do before i came here so i wouldn't be all culture shock though. i still don't go out much. because i can't drive.

Oh, but in Germany you don't have to drive, really! I don't have a car and I get out plenty! Public transport isn't bad in most places, and the distances aren't that big. You should mingle, we Germans are nice enough, really. :)

Where do you live, if you don't mind me asking?

How does school work in Germany?

In Italy (usually) it is from monday to saturday, but just the morning, you're home for lunch. In Germany?

I know, I could google it... :p

It's only from Monday to Friday, and also just in the morning usually (well, till 1 or 2 PM). But they're working on the whole system right now, so more and more schools have classes in the afternoon, too, now.

JJ6

August 20th, 2010, 10:39 AM

I'm from the west, you probably know Cologne, right?

And yes, not so different, but I never even noticed that you guys aren't so big on punctuality.

I do know Cologne. I have been told it is a very beautiful city and the cathedral is definitely worth visiting.

ellie.gsfghtrj

August 20th, 2010, 10:40 AM

JustBored

August 20th, 2010, 12:56 PM

:laugh: Go, JustBored's computer!

:D
Well, it's mine... afterall... :-P (Megalomaniac...)

I agree with everything you said!!

And I'm very glad! :D

I just noticed a few typos here and there in that post... Ops...

There are ongoing debates about it even here, but I like NussPli because it takes a lot like hazelnut, and I like that.

I understand... but... but... : - P

It's only from Monday to Friday, and also just in the morning usually (well, till 1 or 2 PM). But they're working on the whole system right now, so more and more schools have classes in the afternoon, too, now.

It was even better than here, then! Just morning, no saturdays... nice! :D

JJ6

August 20th, 2010, 02:54 PM

no, i just live here

i did read up on customs and what not to do before i came here so i wouldn't be all culture shock though. i still don't go out much. because i can't drive.

Oh ok, cool. Do you live in the city or countryside?
So you found the move easier because you knew about the customs and stuff?

Trink&Tirsh

August 20th, 2010, 03:09 PM

that and i really don't go out much anyways unless i need to.
it's in the countryside i would have to say.
i smell it sometimes XD
don't mean that in a bad way though.

__vian__

August 20th, 2010, 03:23 PM

In Germany it's very unpopular and often laughed at to be a TH fan

Do you know why that is? Because my family in Germany always kind of made fun of me for liking them... Expecially my uncle - he called me Tokio Hotel for the entire week I was there until I had the balls to speak to him in German to tell him my name is Vianka :laugh: And my cousin(whos the same age as them,) was always saying they were crap and what not.

LilmiizzKT

August 20th, 2010, 03:39 PM

In Germany it's very unpopular and often laughed at to be a TH fan

Omg, are you serious? Why? I would expect ppl in Germany to like them.
And laughed at? I don't get it. But I guess it sort of makes sense. I'm still kinda lost though D:

I was just curious, what do Germans think of Canada/Canadians? Is it the same as what they think of Americans?

I know school in Italy gets out very early compared to here, my high school starts at 9:00am - 3:05pm. :/

In Germany though, is highschool 9-12? Does Germany have that? I know they have a number system which Canada does not have. (We have like 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%) In Canada, highschool is 9-12.

annalein

August 20th, 2010, 05:24 PM

annalein, can you please explain the current education system to me?
i googled some info about it but i got confuzzled with all those names, Grundschule, Gymnasium, Hauptschule and so on. i keep thinking romanian and i confuse them with other stuff.
so far i know that, after Kindergarten, you have to attend Grundschule, but what comes after that?
and how many years do you spend in those?
sorry if it's too much..

It's fine, I'll try! So yes, you go to Kindergarten until you're 6/7. Then comes Grundschule, which is 4 years. After that you go to secondary school, and it depends on your achievements in Grundschule which you go to. Hauptschule is the lowest level, you go there if you didn't do too well in Grundschule, for whatever reason. Often it's because kids that migrated to Germany don't speak the language well enough. If you're doing okay at school, but not great, you go to the Realschule. And if you're good at school and you're marks were always good, you go to a Gymnasium. This is the where you get your A-levels.
Apart from that there is also Gesamtschule, which is like a combination of those 3 options. At first, pupils of all achievement levels are together, and only later do they decide which course is the best for them, so they can either complete school after 9 years (altogether), after 10 years, or get their A-levels after 12 years. (This is new, it used to be 13 years up until a couple of years back)

It was even better than here, then! Just morning, no saturdays... nice!

Well, not just mornings anymore, unfortunately. Most schools have afternoon classes now, too, so they are building cafeterias and stuff to make those changes possible. Poor kids, I thought it was great having lunch with the family! But then again, having lunch with your friends is also great! :)

Do you know why that is? Because my family in Germany always kind of made fun of me for liking them... Expecially my uncle - he called me Tokio Hotel for the entire week I was there until I had the balls to speak to him in German to tell him my name is Vianka And my cousin(whos the same age as them,) was always saying they were crap and what not.

I believe it's mainly due to their representation in the media. Not enough serious news, not enough respect there. They started out as little boys here, basically, and weren't taken seriously at all (also due to Bill's weird appearance). And that simply hasn't changed, and I don't know what they could do to change it, really, at least not quickly. These things stick in people's heads.

To be fair, there are some serious reports here and there, and there is more respect for them now than it used to. But still, people have that image in mind, of the naive kids who were trying to be serious rockers and looked weird doing it. And it's like a running gag, almost. It's too much fun for too many people, they don't want to change the way they look at them...

I was just curious, what do Germans think of Canada/Canadians? Is it the same as what they think of Americans?

No, not at all, I think. At least for me Canada has never equalled America, and I don't think it does for a lot of others, really. But most people probably also don't know too much about Canada and Canadians, tbh. They know where to find it on the map, and that it's often cold there, I guess ;)

So, bringing up a total stereotype here: Are Canadians really afraid of the dark? (Sorry, had to :p)

In Germany though, is highschool 9-12? Does Germany have that? I know they have a number system which Canada does not have. (We have like 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%) In Canada, highschool is 9-12.

Do you mean the number of years you spend there? You start in 5th grade, and finish either after your 9th, 10th or 12th year.
I'm not sure what you mean by number system? :question:

Diosita

August 20th, 2010, 05:31 PM

here it is!!! http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4414506,00.html

and well :laugh: ... this: Wattolumpiade: the mud olympics
http://www.boston.com/sports/blogs/bigshots/2009/09/wattolumpiade_the_mud_olympics.html
this is for annalein ;) maybe you don't see this! this is the muddy thing I was talking

JustBored

August 20th, 2010, 06:04 PM

...
Well, not just mornings anymore, unfortunately. Most schools have afternoon classes now, too, so they are building cafeterias and stuff to make those changes possible. Poor kids, I thought it was great having lunch with the family! But then again, having lunch with your friends is also great! :)

That's true, lunch with your friends is nice. And it's also useful, since so many women have a job nowadays and they run home for lunch (if they can) and then run back to work. A lot of kids could be home all alone.

I believe it's mainly due to their representation in the media. Not enough serious news, not enough respect there. They started out as little boys here, basically, and weren't taken seriously at all (also due to Bill's weird appearance). And that simply hasn't changed, and I don't know what they could do to change it, really, at least not quickly. These things stick in people's heads.

To be fair, there are some serious reports here and there, and there is more respect for them now than it used to. But still, people have that image in mind, of the naive kids who were trying to be serious rockers and looked weird doing it. And it's like a running gag, almost. It's too much fun for too many people, they don't want to change the way they look at them...

It happens in Italy too, despite the fact that they sell a lot here. They were older when they became famous to everyone here, but Bill's look doesn't help... (that's a blessing and a curse for the band, in my opinion), and people in general love to hate boy bands, even if they're not a boyband, but people have the idea that they are something built by a music label or whatever. Anyway, I think people hate theme (and bands of their age in general) because of the fans. They get obsessed, very loud and annoying. As I always say: don't obsess the other with something you like! They're gonna be so tired of it they can't do anything else but hate it!

Take Twilight... enough already! :-P

LilmiizzKT

August 20th, 2010, 07:02 PM

No, not at all, I think. At least for me Canada has never equalled America, and I don't think it does for a lot of others, really. But most people probably also don't know too much about Canada and Canadians, tbh. They know where to find it on the map, and that it's often cold there, I guess ;)

So, bringing up a total stereotype here: Are Canadians really afraid of the dark? (Sorry, had to :p)

LOL, its not always cold here. Only in winter. Oct-Jan. We have all 4 seasons. It depends on where you live in Canada though. Like I live in Toronto, Canada and we are having a SWELTERING summer, like almost 35 degrees celsius or 95 degrees Fahrenheit everyday. :/

Also, how does the stereotype of Canadians being afraid of the dark come-up LOL, I've never heard that one before. The stereotypes I have heard before are:
- we say "eh" a lot (We do, but not all the time)

- we live in igloos and ride polar bears to school and our only source of food is fish (No we don't live in Igloos, ride polar bears to school and we don't just eat fish LOL , except maybe in Nunavut) :laugh:

- its ALWAYs cold here (Which its not, only in Oct-Jan which is our winter time. We have all 4 seasons.)

Do you mean the number of years you spend there? You start in 5th grade, and finish either after your 9th, 10th or 12th year.
I'm not sure what you mean by number system? :question:

Sorry, I ment for grades in school. In Canada, for kindergarden to grade 8 we have A,B,C,D or F. But for high school (9-12) we use percents (100% being the top grade percent).

Germany doesn't have 11th year of school?

I live in Canada, but my parents where born in Italy (Dad) and the Ukraine (Mom), so I'm Italian-Ukrainian-Canadian lol.

JustBored

August 20th, 2010, 07:19 PM

I live in Canada, but my parents where born in Italy (Dad) and the Ukraine (Mom), so I'm Italian-Ukrainian-Canadian lol.

We are everywhere... :lol:

JJ6

August 21st, 2010, 07:55 AM

Since we were talking about TH being unpopular in their own country. I'm interested if anyone knows what German bands/artists are popular in Germany and other bands/artists that experience the same unpopularity as TH?

My friend likes German hip hop which he always claims is popular there. He likes groups like Fettes Brot, Blumentopf and Die Fantastischen Vier. He always gives me **** (in a nice way :laugh:) about liking TH because he knows they are unpopular.

annalein

August 21st, 2010, 08:40 AM

this is for annalein ;) maybe you don't see this! this is the muddy thing I was talking

Hahaha, I've never even heard of that! Well, that is not entirely true, the term 'Wattolympiade' sounds slightly familiar, but I had no idea it's something this gross!! I love it!

The guy in picture 7 looks like Gustav, btw.

It happens in Italy too, despite the fact that they sell a lot here. They were older when they became famous to everyone here, but Bill's look doesn't help... (that's a blessing and a curse for the band, in my opinion), and people in general love to hate boy bands, even if they're not a boyband, but people have the idea that they are something built by a music label or whatever. Anyway, I think people hate theme (and bands of their age in general) because of the fans. They get obsessed, very loud and annoying. As I always say: don't obsess the other with something you like! They're gonna be so tired of it they can't do anything else but hate it!

Take Twilight... enough already!

Yes, I think success isn't even part of the equation here. They are so so successful in Germany, but people begrudge them their success. They just think that they look ridiculous, that they aren't proper musicians and that Bill needs to stfu (he even got voted the most annoying German). I can even see why, to a certain extend, Bill is very over the top a lot of the time. But I don't really understand why they care so much. It's his life, he and the people close to him are happy with it and that should be that. I find it very ignorant and intolerant what's going on in Germany sometimes, the media coverage and the way people talk about them.

Then again, Bill has said many times that he doesn't care too much, and that he is grateful for the publicity it brings to the band. And I tend to say he's right. They wouldn't be where they are today if Bill wasn't this excentric person who evokes strong feelings in people - whether they are positive or negative.

Oh, and about Twilight: Big fat AGREED! lol

LOL, its not always cold here. Only in winter. Oct-Jan. We have all 4 seasons. It depends on where you live in Canada though. Like I live in Toronto, Canada and we are having a SWELTERING summer, like almost 35 degrees celsius or 95 degrees Fahrenheit everyday.

Also, how does the stereotype of Canadians being afraid of the dark come-up LOL, I've never heard that one before.

From 'How I met your mother'! :lol:

The stereotypes I have heard before are:
- we say "eh" a lot (We do, but not all the time)

- we live in igloos and ride polar bears to school and our only source of food is fish (No we don't live in Igloos, ride polar bears to school and we don't just eat fish LOL , except maybe in Nunavut) :laugh:

Oh, but that I would love to see! :laugh:

Sorry, I ment for grades in school. In Canada, for kindergarden to grade 8 we have A,B,C,D or F. But for high school (9-12) we use percents (100% being the top grade percent).

Germany doesn't have 11th year of school?

No, no, we do have an eleventh grade! It's just that you don't usually leave school after your 11th year. After 12 (successful) years you get your A-levels, so it wouldn't make sense to leave after 11 years.

Oh, and concerning grades: There are no grades in kindergarten, it starts in primary school. And for the first 10 years you get grades 1-6, with 1 being the best and 6 the worst. After that you have a points system, with 0-15 points (15 equals A+).

Since we were talking about TH being unpopular in their own country. I'm interested if anyone knows what German bands/artists are popular in Germany and other bands/artists that experience the same unpopularity as TH?

My friend likes German hip hop which he always claims is popular there. He likes groups like Fettes Brot, Blumentopf and Die Fantastischen Vier. He always gives me **** (in a nice way :laugh:) about liking TH because he knows they are unpopular.

Yes, German hip hop is popular, I like it, too. The bands you named are good examples. Then there's also a lot of German rock bands (well, you can argue about the term 'rock bands', but they are hard to fit in any other kategory), like Juli, Silbermond, Wir sind Helden, Mia...

As for the unpopular bands: Basically any teeny band, or usually also the bands that got casted in Popstars or DSDS (the German equivalent of American idol).

Amdee

August 21st, 2010, 08:57 AM

annalein

August 21st, 2010, 09:37 AM

Amdee, I love your post!! Many things I very much agree with.

It's true, European (and especially North-European) cultures are very similar. I never felt a big difference in any neighbouring country I've ever been to.

And you're of course right that something like what happened in Germany could have happenend anywhere, and still could happen now. It is human nature to ally against a common enemy, you just need someone who's evil enough, but also clever enough to know how to exploit that. You just need someone to sense what's really bothering a lot of people and promise them to do something against that 'problem' in exchange for their cooperation... sadly it's pretty easy, really. And I don't believe anyone who says under no circumstances could that happen today. There are enough sore spots in any society and country. I just always hope people have learned from the past a least enough to read the signs better.

About your questions: There is a difference, but I can't remember what it was. Have to look it up and get back to you. It's not a big difference, though, as you can ususally study almost anything at both.

East vs. west: Well, yes, there are some lingering differences between people from the east and people from the west. It's often said their mentalities differ a lot, but I personally never really experienced this. One thing that's very obvious is the difference in wages. In the east you will never earn as much as in the west (in the same profession, that is). It's unfair, yes, but what can you do?

And about what you wrote concerning the unpopularity: Yes, we have a saying like that, it's 'Ein gemeinsamer Feind verbindet' (A common enemy connects). So true! It's like a sport to hate TH, or like making jokes about blondes. Who can think of another joke, who can find something even more stereotypical. It is a little like 'You're either one of us (those who hate TH), or one of them'. The haters most likely don't even mean any harm, really, it is just another way to entertain themselves. I also agree that we are like sheep in that respect. I bet you a lot of money that most people who claim to hate TH with a passion don't know the first thing about them. It's just because you have to hate them, it's the right thing to do if you're 'normal' (hate that word :p After all, who or what is normal? Who decides that?).

Edit: I looked up the Uni vs. Hochschule question, here's the answer: Everything that belongs to the tertiary sector of our educational system (basically where you can enrol after getting your A-levels, or in some cases a similar diploma called Fachabitur) is called Hochschule. Up until the 1960s the name Universität was only allowed if the school offered the traditional subjects of philosophy, medicine, theology and law. It's not like that anymore, but in many cases the name stuck. E.g. a Hochschule that only offered technical subject was called Technische Hochschule, and in most cases that's still the name today, even though they would now be allow to call themselves Universität.

JJ6

August 21st, 2010, 09:39 AM

Yes, German hip hop is popular, I like it, too. The bands you named are good examples. Then there's also a lot of German rock bands (well, you can argue about the term 'rock bands', but they are hard to fit in any other kategory), like Juli, Silbermond, Wir sind Helden, Mia...

As for the unpopular bands: Basically any teeny band, or usually also the bands that got casted in Popstars or DSDS (the German equivalent of American idol).

German hip hop is good, he always plays it in my car so I'm pretty familiar with those artists. I was hoping you would say at least one was unpopular just so I could give him **** too :laugh:
The main reason I too any notice of TH was because they were a German band and I wanted to get to know more German music because we had planned to move there. So I will defintely give some of your suggestions a listen. :grin:

annalein

August 21st, 2010, 09:44 AM

German hip hop is good, he always plays it in my car so I'm pretty familiar with those artists. I was hoping you would say at least one was unpopular just so I could give him **** too :laugh:
The main reason I too any notice of TH was because they were a German band and I wanted to get to know more German music because we had planned to move there. So I will defintely give some of your suggestions a listen. :grin:

Oh, you wanted suggestions? In that case, listen to Clueso, I love him!

And I'll have to think about it, maybe I can come up with an unpopular hip hop artist. ;)

ChikaXD

August 21st, 2010, 09:46 AM

It the same thing with Justin Beiber here. They either love him or love to hate him. It's quite sad actually. I think he's a talented kid.

JJ6

August 21st, 2010, 09:48 AM

Oh, you wanted suggestions? In that case, listen to Clueso, I love him!

And I'll have to think about it, maybe I can come up with an unpopular hip hop artist. ;)

He doesn't like Bushido. Although he accidently bought Bushido gloves when he was in Germany. :laugh:

I will listen to some Clueso. I was listening to Silbermond and I think they are quite good. I recognise them from MTV EMAs.

ChikaXD

August 21st, 2010, 09:48 AM

I LOVE Bushido (I know you were looking for ones who are bad but yall are talking about German hip hop so I HAD to bring him up. I really want to meet him and go to one of his concerts before I die.

laurenn

August 21st, 2010, 10:21 AM

Sido is a good german hip hop artist i think
and if you want to listen to a rock/pop german band listen to panik, they're good....
then there is chakuza, he's good haha

Amdee

August 21st, 2010, 11:06 AM

I LOVE Bushido (I know you were looking for ones who are bad but yall are talking about German hip hop so I HAD to bring him up. I really want to meet him and go to one of his concerts before I die.

Hah! I LOVE Bushido as well. It bothers me a little that I don't understand the lyrics and I'm too lazy to find out. I've understood that some of them are a bit... questionable (just hear-talk). That doesn't necessary mean that I can't listen to someone, but I'd like to KNOW what I'm listening to.

But nonetheless, I completely fell in love with his music.I like his flow very much, he has very smooth flow. I never thought German could fit into rap music, but apparently it can. I was suspicious first, had quite bad prejudities, but after I heart Alles wird gut on one Billshido-fan video, I had to surrender. :laugh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa5fqBVISmU

Also one of my friend, die hard rap listener, praised German rap in general.

Edit.
My husband asked me if I could ask you, Germans, is the band called Nachtblut how big in there? Do people know them or are they more of a underground?

Diosita

August 21st, 2010, 11:31 AM

today I was seeing the channel DW-TV and I was seeing this AWESOME show "Siebenstein" ^_^ and I fell in love with this show :laugh: I don't understand allmost everything but I think it's soooo fun and I like the stories :)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1pOweI1bErg/S1OXdHmCxMI/AAAAAAAABD0/GACpGB8Lk-U/s320/650px-Logo_Siebenstein.svg.png
I'm in love with this bird ^_^
http://www.fabula-filmpuppen.de/SCAN_5_2.jpg

vergessen3

August 21st, 2010, 04:40 PM

He doesn't like Bushido. Although he accidently bought Bushido gloves when he was in Germany. :laugh:

I will listen to some Clueso. I was listening to Silbermond and I think they are quite good. I recognise them from MTV EMAs.

I agree, Silbermond is quite good and so is Ramstein and Die Ärzte. I listen to this groups as much as I listen to Tokio Hotel, which is ALL the time :D

JustBored

August 21st, 2010, 07:44 PM

I think Th's "unpopularity" is a European thing, not only German thing. It'¨s a huge challenge to change people's views, because no matter what, it's in human nature to resist change and change your view from what you know is safe and old.

Also the "I love you"-thing is probably European (or N-European at least) thing. We don't say it eirher very easily. It HAS changed with younger people, but basically "I love you" is mainly meant to be said in a relationship and rarely on other occasions.

Going back few pages, I find the question of nazism and the Third Reich very interesting in general. Not only because I love war history, but because it gives an interesting base to a discussion of human nature and sosiological view to the question of how society - systems of people - actually work. Very, very interesting sosiological topic. My opinion is that it could have happened anywhere. What happened, was so strongly based on primal things of human nature and on those parts we are all so much alike. In theory it could happen today as well if the circumstances are right. So accusing Germans as a people or modern day people living there is narrow minded and short sighted.

Anyway, I love this thread. I've learned so much of not only Germany, but from other countries as well!

...

Edit.
About that unpopularity... I don't know if you have the same saying, but in Finland there is sayinmg "Nothing connects people better than a same enemy". I think hate toward TH is partly that. It is "acceptable", it "connects" people, it's safe way to feel part of somethiong when nodding to a same enemy and roll eyes on Bill. It's a "national virtue" to do so, it makes you distantly a "better person" when you hate TH, because you are "supposed to do so". We are sheeps like that, going with the rest of the flock most of the time trying to find a good social status in any means necessary. If hating TH gives that social acceptance, then people do it without thinking it much.

Edit. 2.
Funny thing is that the same thing: shared hatred towartd a band, is the foundation of the solitarity of the fanbase. The society's dislike is that "same enemy" to fight against to the fandom. If it would be okay to like the band, I don't think they'd have such a connected, joined fanbase.

Amdee, I love your post!! Many things I very much agree with.

It's true, European (and especially North-European) cultures are very similar. I never felt a big difference in any neighbouring country I've ever been to.

And you're of course right that something like what happened in Germany could have happenend anywhere, and still could happen now. It is human nature to ally against a common enemy, you just need someone who's evil enough, but also clever enough to know how to exploit that. You just need someone to sense what's really bothering a lot of people and promise them to do something against that 'problem' in exchange for their cooperation... sadly it's pretty easy, really. And I don't believe anyone who says under no circumstances could that happen today. There are enough sore spots in any society and country. I just always hope people have learned from the past a least enough to read the signs better.

About your questions: There is a difference, but I can't remember what it was. Have to look it up and get back to you. It's not a big difference, though, as you can ususally study almost anything at both.

...

And about what you wrote concerning the unpopularity: Yes, we have a saying like that, it's 'Ein gemeinsamer Feind verbindet' (A common enemy connects). So true! It's like a sport to hate TH, or like making jokes about blondes. Who can think of another joke, who can find something even more stereotypical. It is a little like 'You're either one of us (those who hate TH), or one of them'. The haters most likely don't even mean any harm, really, it is just another way to entertain themselves. I also agree that we are like sheep in that respect. I bet you a lot of money that most people who claim to hate TH with a passion don't know the first thing about them. It's just because you have to hate them, it's the right thing to do if you're 'normal' (hate that word :p After all, who or what is normal? Who decides that?).
...

I agree with both of you. :-)

And... about the "I love you thing", in general, I think it's the same even here, then everyone is different, so it depends...

And I hate hate hate when "TH haters" are offensive and just assume you have no taste in music and you should listen to this that and the other.
I do it already, **** **** censured by me :P, you are closed-minded and I'm not, that's the point, and they probably don't even know any TH song beside those released as singles. And they mention Beatles and Rolling Stones all the time...
I don't want to make comparisons, but Beatles, at the beginning, experienced something similar, they were considered stuff for stupid teen-girls-fans... Plus, I like Beatles and Rolling Stones, but they became legends also because of the historical moment, they were something new and revolutionary in a way, today it would be different.

VanessaM

August 21st, 2010, 10:08 PM

Yes, I think success isn't even part of the equation here. They are so so successful in Germany, but people begrudge them their success. They just think that they look ridiculous, that they aren't proper musicians and that Bill needs to stfu (he even got voted the most annoying German). I can even see why, to a certain extend, Bill is very over the top a lot of the time. But I don't really understand why they care so much. It's his life, he and the people close to him are happy with it and that should be that. I find it very ignorant and intolerant what's going on in Germany sometimes, the media coverage and the way people talk about them.
I don't know if it's like this in Germany but I've read that in England, they resent people who are successful and the more successful a celebrity is, the more they try to knock them down a peg. And it has nothing in particular to do with who they are or what they're like; the English simply don't like people who stand out that way.

XxForever_ScaredXx

August 21st, 2010, 10:25 PM

SilverGlitter

August 22nd, 2010, 12:16 AM

How would you say "Love Your Solitude" in German? I don't trust online translators anymore haha

Ripitgirl19

August 22nd, 2010, 01:02 AM

The guy is Mussolini...
I'm not quoting the picture... :s of those two idiots in this nice place...
My computer froze while I was writing this... it knows too... : P

I make joke about anything too, but sometimes you just have to shut up.
Please don't take this in the wrong way or personal, I quote you but I keep it generic.
We are not talking about a war (which is already horrible), that was bigger and much worse. People can't read your mind before you make a joke and know that for you the past is the past, and even if they did, what kind of joke could you ever make?... I mean, one could think "do you really understand the extent of what happen?"
My grandfather was in the war, so my father has watched a gazillion documetaries about that stuff, and me too, since that was my house too, I've seen so many documentaries about Mussolini, Hitler, politics of the time, concentration camps... I can't even count them anymore, and I had different books for an exam at the university about concentration camps and gulags (those were in Russia for 70 years but nobody seems to know that :surprise:...) and those books go into details, as much as certain documentaries when they show films from there... (I'm not going into details here.)
You don't want to joke about that after you've seen those things, never, especially with Germans or Jews. That's just mean, even if you don't mean any harm/disrespect and you are the sweetest person ever.
I'm not angry or everything, I'm very calm and relaxed. It sounds harsh but I'm not.

I understand your point of view 100%.

But you'd have to know me to understand how I could make a joke like that, and I've watched lots of documentaries about WWII and the Holocaust and I see how disturbing and wrong it all was, but that was in the past and you can't change it now. All you can do is prevent it from happening again.

What country are you from, might I ask?

JustBored

August 22nd, 2010, 04:56 AM

I understand your point of view 100%.

But you'd have to know me to understand how I could make a joke like that, and I've watched lots of documentaries about WWII and the Holocaust and I see how disturbing and wrong it all was, but that was in the past and you can't change it now. All you can do is prevent it from happening again.

What country are you from, might I ask?

Of course I don't know you, but I think that, to joke about it, you might at least be on familiar terms with somebody. Because those people don't know you as well.

I'm italian, it's written right there next to the post count, but I'm not on the defensive, really. I think germans get that more often, far more often that, you know... being called nazists. Italians? Well, no one really call us fascists, even if Italy joined the party, for a lot of reasons, I guess. From what I've heard, stupid jokes about mafia are far more common.

Anyway, if anyone I don't know made a joke about fascism or mafia, I'd think they are idiots or ignorant or mean or just that they don't get it. Then, I could change my mind after I've known them, but it wouldn't be a good start for sure.

P.S. I agree that the past is the past, but it's still kinda recent and, ethnic cleansings are sadly common in wars, but not with those numers and that level of meticulous organization, let's just keep it to that, so I guess that, even if you know you have nothing to do with that, you feel the burden on same level, even because (as it should), in order to avoid it, you have to remember, so it's not something you can just get out of your mind. For all this reasons, those I have already explained, and others, I do believe that joking about it it's wrong. Then, if you are in familiar terms with somebody who knows you very well (but it also depends from the situation, the person and the way you do it) maybe you can joke about it, but still... I wouldn't do it...

Amdee

August 22nd, 2010, 05:06 AM

annalein

August 22nd, 2010, 05:18 AM

Hah! I LOVE Bushido as well. It bothers me a little that I don't understand the lyrics and I'm too lazy to find out. I've understood that some of them are a bit... questionable (just hear-talk). That doesn't necessary mean that I can't listen to someone, but I'd like to KNOW what I'm listening to.

But nonetheless, I completely fell in love with his music.I like his flow very much, he has very smooth flow. I never thought German could fit into rap music, but apparently it can. I was suspicious first, had quite bad prejudities, but after I heart Alles wird gut on one Billshido-fan video, I had to surrender. :laugh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa5fqBVISmU

Also one of my friend, die hard rap listener, praised German rap in general.

Edit.
My husband asked me if I could ask you, Germans, is the band called Nachtblut how big in there? Do people know them or are they more of a underground?

I don't care for Bushido too much, tbh. I think he is (despite what people assume from his lyrics) a fairly nice guy, and doesn't seem at all stupid. I've seen him on serious talk shows and had to agree with a lot of what he said. So I like him personally. That doesn't mean I agree with everything he does and I don't know if it's neccessary to be so crude when it comes to lyrics, but that's just me.

Oh, and I've never heard of Nachtblut, sorry!

today I was seeing the channel DW-TV and I was seeing this AWESOME show "Siebenstein" ^_^ and I fell in love with this show :laugh: I don't understand allmost everything but I think it's soooo fun and I like the stories :)

OH YES, I love Siebenstein!!! I haven't watched it in so long, but I used to watch it all the time when I was little. It's so great! The raven is cool, and they even have a talking suitcase ;)

I don't know if it's like this in Germany but I've read that in England, they resent people who are successful and the more successful a celebrity is, the more they try to knock them down a peg. And it has nothing in particular to do with who they are or what they're like; the English simply don't like people who stand out that way.

Never thought about that. Mh, maybe we do that, too. I think we might sometimes have a hard time honouring others' accomplishments. So, yes, that might be part of the problem. Not sure, though.

How would you say "Love Your Solitude" in German? I don't trust online translators anymore haha

Is that a saying, like a fixed expression? Does it simply mean you enjoy being by yourself? In that case you might translate it as 'Liebe die Einsamkeit'.

ChikaXD

August 22nd, 2010, 05:20 AM

Germans deal with the holocaust better than Americans do slavery. They act as if it never happened and try to brush it under the rug, especially in the south :-x

annalein

August 22nd, 2010, 05:23 AM

He doesn't like Bushido. Although he accidently bought Bushido gloves when he was in Germany. :laugh:

I will listen to some Clueso. I was listening to Silbermond and I think they are quite good. I recognise them from MTV EMAs.

Yes, please do, he's really good (and cute ;) ).

And I like Silbermond, too. They are also quite successful with their music!

Sido is a good german hip hop artist i think
and if you want to listen to a rock/pop german band listen to panik, they're good....
then there is chakuza, he's good haha

Oh, Sido... My opinion of him is quite similar to that of Bushido (see above post). His music --> not my cup of tea. But I think he is much more intelligent than people might think.

I've never listened to Panik, and I've never even heard of Chakuza.

annalein

August 22nd, 2010, 05:32 AM

JustBored

August 22nd, 2010, 05:37 AM

I jmust admit that I never knew that mafia is actually that sensitive topic in Italy. :oops:

I've always thought it was treated mostly with slight annoyance and eye rolling, but not like it was truly a topic to be careful with. Now I know, thanks to this thread and you! :smile:

Well, I guess you can find that too, but... not really.
Italy is sadly famous for it because italian have exported it everywhere, but, I said, when you can sell something so easily... maybe it's because they want to buy it, right? I mean, criminals are eveywhere... And then, is it so different from the chinese one, or the russian one, or south american one? Not really.

It is a delicate topic because it's still there, especially in the south which is caught in a vice-like grip, and so many women and men are dead in brutal ways trying to fight it, including kids (once one was found dissolved in the acid...) etc etc, so yes, if someone call me like that, I'm gonna be very ******.

I'm happy I'm useful for this. :D

I was visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau last summer and I was positively surprised how many German tourists I saw there. I think it's wonderful to see people getting familiar with the painful past and what... harmony there were on places like those these days. They were terrible places, very touching, but how people from all nationalities felt those places together and I didn't sense any accusation anywhere on anyone.

That's really good.

Germans deal with the holocaust better than Americans do slavery. They act as if it never happened and try to brush it under the rug, especially in the south :-x

This is a very interesting consideration.

God, how many horrible things human beings are able to do... :-(

JustBored

August 22nd, 2010, 05:40 AM

I just got goosebumps reading what Amdee wrote about Auschwitz. It's such an emotionally laden topic, and we discuss it in basically every subject at school, all the time. I often thought I don't want to hear anything about this topic ever again, just because in school it's talked to death... But I still get emotional thinking about that part of our past, because it was just so horrible and also because it scares me what human beings are capable of doing. There are very good films out there, like The Pianist, but watching them makes me insanely sad and depressed. I still think it's a good idea to face a difficult topic like that, if you want to prevent something like that from happening again...

Oh, and JustBored: Why is the mafia such a sore subject? Is it mainly because people hate being reduced to a prejudice like that?

I'm very very sorry if talking about it make you sad... Maybe we could take a break from that... :-)
I think I've just answered you question, but if there is anything else I'm ready to answer, no problem. :D

ChikaXD

August 22nd, 2010, 05:45 AM

I just got goosebumps reading what Amdee wrote about Auschwitz. It's such an emotionally laden topic, and we discuss it in basically every subject at school, all the time. I often thought I don't want to hear anything about this topic ever again, just because in school it's talked to death... But I still get emotional thinking about that part of our past, because it was just so horrible and also because it scares me what human beings are capable of doing. There are very good films out there, like The Pianist, but watching them makes me insanely sad and depressed. I still think it's a good idea to face a difficult topic like that, if you want to prevent something like that from happening again...

Oh, and JustBored: Why is the mafia such a sore subject? Is it mainly because people hate being reduced to a prejudice like that?

Respect. I think it is extremely important to learn about ones countries' history, no matter how bad it was. That is a real problem in the US. They never teach all of the wrongs that have been comitted (ie. killing off of the native americans, slavery, japanese internment camps ect.) and it really irks me. But they are oh so quick to point out everyone elses wrongs. We spend like 2 months a year learning about WWII/Holocaust and the first time they really ever taught a little bit about slavery was last year in the 11th grade for about a week. It's oh so wrong. And in my state, Texas, they are taking slavery out of the history books.

JustBored

August 22nd, 2010, 05:55 AM

Respect. I think it is extremely important to learn about ones countries' history, no matter how bad it was. That is a real problem in the US. They never teach all of the wrongs that have been comitted (ie. killing off of the native americans, slavery, japanese internment camps ect.) and it really irks me. But they are oh so quick to point out everyone elses wrongs. We spend like 2 months a year learning about WWII/Holocaust and the first time they really ever taught a little bit about slavery was last year in the 11th grade for about a week. It's oh so wrong. And in my state, Texas, they are taking slavery out of the history books.

That's very very wrong...

Yes, every country has their horrible things in the past (and in the present sometimes) and "just don't talk about it because you're uncomfortable with it" is the worst thing to do. All those things you've mentioned are not to forget.

ChikaXD

August 22nd, 2010, 06:02 AM

^^Yes exactly. That's why I think it is so important to educate yourself on the issues and not rely on the school systems, government or media. Knowledge is power :)

annalein

August 22nd, 2010, 06:18 AM

I'm very very sorry if talking about it make you sad... Maybe we could take a break from that... :-)
I think I've just answered you question, but if there is anything else I'm ready to answer, no problem. :D

It's fine, no worries! :)

Respect. I think it is extremely important to learn about ones countries' history, no matter how bad it was. That is a real problem in the US. They never teach all of the wrongs that have been comitted (ie. killing off of the native americans, slavery, japanese internment camps ect.) and it really irks me. But they are oh so quick to point out everyone elses wrongs. We spend like 2 months a year learning about WWII/Holocaust and the first time they really ever taught a little bit about slavery was last year in the 11th grade for about a week. It's oh so wrong. And in my state, Texas, they are taking slavery out of the history books.

Right back at you! I think it's great that you want to know about that part of your history, too, that's really important! Now that you mentioned your school system: America is actually known for turning a blind eye to the not-so-nice parts of their history, at least in Germany. They are often criticised for it, also for media control (you know, just broadcasting what they want people to know). And I think a lot of people will generalise that all Americans are stupid and want to be ignorant, which is so wrong! Judging from the experiences I've had with Americans so far, I'd say the people there are just as nice and intelligent as people in every other country. I think we should try to separate our opinions of the country (as a political entity) from our opinions of the people living there.

Anyway, I don't want to take this too far off topic, but I just wanted to tell you that reading your post just strengthened my opion that not all Americans are ignorant!

Amdee

August 22nd, 2010, 06:36 AM

I agree with you all very much! I love to see so much tolerance and intelligent understanding on this forum. I guess we have to be. Otherwise we'd be in trouble in this nationality melting pot called TH-fandom :grin:

annalein, I'm sorry if the topic upset you. Didn't mean to. We could leave that fpr a little while, but I must say (to possibly comfort you a little?) that what was in past was in past and when we sat by the memorial next to exploded gas chambers at Birkenau, listening to our guide, there we people around the world - as far as from Brazil and Canada and all over Europe - and we were all in a same position. It was not only painful, but also quite beautiful experience.

It is said that we carry ouir father's sins to the third generation and I'm ready to believe it. We had our own "civil war" in Finland at the beginning of 1900's, where "whites" (the right wing) were against "reds" (the left wing). Only just recently those topics have been ready to be faced without too much sentimentality and the actual history study has been able to approach it without letting emotions twist it too much - mass exercutions, mass graves, political prisoners etc. We all have our past.

And abouit USA & slavery... I find it absolutely horrible that they are removing slavery from history books in Texas? No, no, not like that.

"The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again."

- George Santayana

Okay, lighter subjects, shall we? :smile:

ChikaXD

August 22nd, 2010, 06:36 AM

^^ Awww thank you Annalein! That just made my day :mrgreen: You would'nt have know this but thats one of my biggest goals in life, to break stereotypes, whether they be about Americans, Blacks ect.

ChikaXD

August 22nd, 2010, 06:40 AM

Ok here's a question: How hard is it to get into university in Germany? My German teacher told us last year that it is like close to impossible. Why is that?

annalein

August 22nd, 2010, 06:46 AM

Amdee, I love that quote - so true! It is important to not forget your past, otherwise how will you be able to read the signs if history is about to repeat itself?

And it's fine, I'm not sitting here all upset or anything. You're right, of course, the past is the past, that's why I don't take harsh comments about German history personally. I didn't do anything wrong. Plus, it was a long time ago, nothing to be done about it now. But the thing that upsets me about this really is what this tells us about human nature. And that isn't in the past, it's just how we are. We have a good side and a bad side, everyone of us. We just need to choose which to bring out. And while most of the time the majority of people acts with good intentions, it's scary to see how relatively easy it is to bring out the bad in us.

But then again, it doesn't do any good to dwell on thoughts like this for too long. I always try to avoid worrying too much about things I cannot change!

annalein

August 22nd, 2010, 06:52 AM

^^ Awww thank you Annalein! That just made my day :mrgreen: You would'nt have know this but thats one of my biggest goals in life, to break stereotypes, whether they be about Americans, Blacks ect.

Your welcome :) And that's a great goal, I hate stereotypes, too, and try not to have any. That's not entirely possible, subconscious and all. But I think it's important to question the things people call 'normal' or 'facts'!

Ok here's a question: How hard is it to get into university in Germany? My German teacher told us last year that it is like close to impossible. Why is that?

Well, the thing is, it depends on your grades. If you want to study e.g. psychology or medicine, it's very hard to get in. But other subjects are easier. Almost all of my friends from school went to university, too, and it wasn't really a problem to get in. What I don't know is whether or not it is harder to be accepted as a foreign student, but I don't think so.

Edit: Oh, and you study German at school? I didn't know it was a subject in America.

Ripitgirl19

August 22nd, 2010, 07:32 AM

Of course I don't know you, but I think that, to joke about it, you might at least be on familiar terms with somebody. Because those people don't know you as well.

I'm italian, it's written right there next to the post count, but I'm not on the defensive, really. I think germans get that more often, far more often that, you know... being called nazists. Italians? Well, no one really call us fascists, even if Italy joined the party, for a lot of reasons, I guess. From what I've heard, stupid jokes about mafia are far more common.

Anyway, if anyone I don't know made a joke about fascism or mafia, I'd think they are idiots or ignorant or mean or just that they don't get it. Then, I could change my mind after I've known them, but it wouldn't be a good start for sure.

P.S. I agree that the past is the past, but it's still kinda recent and, ethnic cleansings are sadly common in wars, but not with those numers and that level of meticulous organization, let's just keep it to that, so I guess that, even if you know you have nothing to do with that, you feel the burden on same level, even because (as it should), in order to avoid it, you have to remember, so it's not something you can just get out of your mind. For all this reasons, those I have already explained, and others, I do believe that joking about it it's wrong. Then, if you are in familiar terms with somebody who knows you very well (but it also depends from the situation, the person and the way you do it) maybe you can joke about it, but still... I wouldn't do it...
Oh, I didn't see that, I was hoping you were from Germany. I have lots of questions for Germans, I always do. But I'm from smack dab in the middle of New York, and it's not uncommon for you to walk down the street and hear someone say "Oh come on, don't be a Jew" when something isn't working right. We don't mean it in offense, it's just our style of humor I guess you could call it. And even the Jewish people we have here say stuff like that, they have no problem with it at all, it depends on where you grow up I guess. And I don't mean to forget the fact that it happened, I'm just more of a "Look up to the people who stood up for your country, to those who risked their lives and to those who lost them." kind of person, than a "Look at all the people who were murdered because other people were too afraid to stand up for what they thought was right" kind of person.

And I don't know if you've seen Schindler's list, but I highly recommend it to those would would like to get a taste of what it was like during the Holocaust. I don't cry, and I can't watch that movie without bawling my eyes out by the end.

I was visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau last summer and I was positively surprised how many German tourists I saw there. I think it's wonderful to see people getting familiar with the painful past and what... harmony there were on places like those these days. They were terrible places, very touching, but how people from all nationalities felt those places together and I didn't sense any accusation anywhere on anyone.
I'm planning on visiting Auschwitz at some point in the future (Hopefully soon!), did you have to sign up for a tour or something? I'm very unfamiliar with foreign travels, other than Canada (Which is amazing, I highly suggest visiting the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, it's much better than the American).

Germans deal with the holocaust better than Americans do slavery. They act as if it never happened and try to brush it under the rug, especially in the south :-x
Really? Up here we are plenty educated on it, in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade I swear we would spend half the year talking about slavery.

ChikaXD

August 22nd, 2010, 11:05 AM

Your welcome :) And that's a great goal, I hate stereotypes, too, and try not to have any. That's not entirely possible, subconscious and all. But I think it's important to question the things people call 'normal' or 'facts'!

Well, the thing is, it depends on your grades. If you want to study e.g. psychology or medicine, it's very hard to get in. But other subjects are easier. Almost all of my friends from school went to university, too, and it wasn't really a problem to get in. What I don't know is whether or not it is harder to be accepted as a foreign student, but I don't think so.

Edit: Oh, and you study German at school? I didn't know it was a subject in America.

Thanks for answering. And yeah I am lucky to be able to take German at my highschool (It's more of a language than culture class though). Every year more and more schools are getting rid of their German program and just sticking with French and Spanish. My teacher is retiring in two years so I don't know if the program will continue after she leaves :(

Really? Up here we are plenty educated on it, in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade I swear we would spend half the year talking about slavery.

I guess that's just the south then. There are a lot of ignorant people down here.

Amdee

August 22nd, 2010, 11:34 AM

I'm planning on visiting Auschwitz at some point in the future (Hopefully soon!), did you have to sign up for a tour or something? I'm very unfamiliar with foreign travels, other than Canada (Which is amazing, I highly suggest visiting the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, it's much better than the American).

It's quite easy to go there from the cities nearby. We were staying in Cracow (very beautiful city, I recommend highly to everyone) and at least from there there were lots of organized tours with reasonable prices. Only downside is that they are a bit rushed, but other than that: simple, reasonable priced option to visit concentration camps.

You can also travel there by yourself (about one hour or more from Cracow), but it means that you have to use local buses or trains and it can be tricky, although I've heard that it's quite simple too.

You can enter Auschwitz side earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon without taking part on guided tours, but during the busiest hours you have to take part on one of those. There is no fees for entrance and the camp is open basically every day, but you have to pay for guided tours if you take part of those. For Birkenau there is no such limitations.

Auschwitz & Birkenau are few kilometers apart, but there is a shuttle bus driving non-stop between them. I strongly advice everyone to visit also Birkenau's side. For me it was even more powerful experience than Auschwitz's side.

I hope you can have a chance to go there one day!

VanessaM

August 22nd, 2010, 11:36 AM

I jmust admit that I never knew that mafia is actually that sensitive topic in Italy. :oops:
It's a slightly sensitive topic in America too. Americans in general love seeing the Mafia on the screen (think the Godfather movies and the Sopranos on TV) but Italian-Americans are kind of touchy about it, like you're branding them all as a bunch of crooks and murderers.

Amdee

August 22nd, 2010, 11:42 AM

It's a slightly sensitive topic in America too. Americans in general love seeing the Mafia on the screen (think the Godfather movies and the Sopranos on TV) but Italian-Americans are kind of touchy about it, like you're branding them all as a bunch of crooks and murderers.

I guess media has built the impression that it's maybe "lighter" topic than it actually is by giving us those movies & tv-series you mentioned. With showing so much mafia-related products of entertainment business, it has become more "casual" maybe. Also media is not showing it as dark light as it handles things like holocaust, so I guess it's a bit twisted image then.

VanessaM

August 22nd, 2010, 11:52 AM

I guess media has built the impression that it's maybe "lighter" topic than it actually is by giving us those movies & tv-series you mentioned. With showing so much mafia-related products of entertainment business, it has become more "casual" maybe. Also media is not showing it as dark light as it handles things like holocaust, so I guess it's a bit twisted image then.
They're not really comparable subjects, after all.

And in America, the Mafia has largely been stamped out. My understanding is that in Italy it's still a fairly big problem.

Diosita

August 22nd, 2010, 03:05 PM

I have a German exchange student living with me, so I'm learning lots. xD
Her name is Jana. She's really cool.

They celebrate New Years more than Americans. Fireworks and big parties.

They open Christmas presents and have a big dinner and everything on Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas day, they don't do anything. haha.
...
here in Colombia is the same in christmas and I love it!!!!!! now I want to live in germany with all my heart ^_^ I don't like how north americans celebrate christmas :p I like to open presents in the christmas eve :laugh: it's more exciting!!

I want to ask what germans think about Colombia? well... if you know that it exist :laugh: and I know that north americans (not all) think that in my country is all about drugs and coffee :p thats not cool, I hate stereotypes, for that reason is dificult to travel to other countries because they think that we are carrying drugs :-x

JustBored

August 22nd, 2010, 09:31 PM

Amdee, I love that quote - so true! It is important to not forget your past, otherwise how will you be able to read the signs if history is about to repeat itself?

That's very important!

Oh, I didn't see that, I was hoping you were from Germany. I have lots of questions for Germans, I always do. But I'm from smack dab in the middle of New York, and it's not uncommon for you to walk down the street and hear someone say "Oh come on, don't be a Jew" when something isn't working right. We don't mean it in offense, it's just our style of humor I guess you could call it. And even the Jewish people we have here say stuff like that, they have no problem with it at all, it depends on where you grow up I guess. And I don't mean to forget the fact that it happened, I'm just more of a "Look up to the people who stood up for your country, to those who risked their lives and to those who lost them." kind of person, than a "Look at all the people who were murdered because other people were too afraid to stand up for what they thought was right" kind of person.

And I don't know if you've seen Schindler's list, but I highly recommend it to those would would like to get a taste of what it was like during the Holocaust. I don't cry, and I can't watch that movie without bawling my eyes out by the end.

I can understand a joke like that, those are very common, between and about any kind of persons, nationalities, groups, you name it... It's the concentration camps topic the one I wouldn't touch, and not just for germans or jews. That was the biggest part, but many people of different nationalities were there, including germans, and for a lot of different reasons.

I have seen Schindler's list, before it was realised in theaters for everybody actually, students could go see it for free. It's one of many beautiful movies about it, probably the best around, but there are many.
La vita è bella, Life Is Beautiful, is another movie I liked a lot, it's different and probably controversial; concentration camps survivors and their family were split about it. Many have loved it, because Benigni chose I different key to read the story, which was basically "how could a father protect his son from that?". It might seem implausible that the story inside tha camp could have gone like that, but... if you understand the point of the movie you're gonna love it. Many didn't like it becuase of the "strange fairytale atmosphere" which was there. But that's what made it original, and that's probably why it was nominated for 6 oscars and won 3, Best foreign-language film, best actor and best original dramatic score.

I've never known what germans think of it, though...

...
Auschwitz & Birkenau are few kilometers apart, but there is a shuttle bus driving non-stop between them. I strongly advice everyone to visit also Birkenau's side. For me it was even more powerful experience than Auschwitz's side.

Oh, I would have guess that...

I guess media has built the impression that it's maybe "lighter" topic than it actually is by giving us those movies & tv-series you mentioned. With showing so much mafia-related products of entertainment business, it has become more "casual" maybe. Also media is not showing it as dark light as it handles things like holocaust, so I guess it's a bit twisted image then.

Probably.
I admit my ignorance about those facts you were talking about in Finland.

They're not really comparable subjects, after all.

And in America, the Mafia has largely been stamped out. My understanding is that in Italy it's still a fairly big problem.

It is. Well, if I have to be precise... You can find it everywhere, more or less, usually less... but Mafia is from Sicily, 'Ndrangheta from Calabria, and Camorra from Campania... They're pretty much the same but not really. Not just one... three... we don’t lack for anything here... :s
And considering the number of the victims, in many ways, yes, it is a problem, a big one.

This one of the most sadly famous way they got rid of a judge and his escort...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4c/Capaci_massacre.jpg

Trinitrotoluene bomb... a lot of it!

:-(

VanessaM

August 22nd, 2010, 10:08 PM

It is. Well, if I have to be precise... You can find it everywhere, more or less, usually less... but Mafia is from Sicily, 'Ndrangheta from Calabria, and Camorra from Campania... They're pretty much the same but not really. Not just one... three... we don’t lack for anything here... :s
And considering the number of the victims, in many ways, yes, it is a problem, a big one.

Interesting, I never heard of 'Ndrangheta before.

TBH, I had a bit of a Mafia fetish when I was in high school. I even named my pet goldfish "Vincenzo" because of it. :grin:

Ripitgirl19

August 22nd, 2010, 11:17 PM

It's quite easy to go there from the cities nearby. We were staying in Cracow (very beautiful city, I recommend highly to everyone) and at least from there there were lots of organized tours with reasonable prices. Only downside is that they are a bit rushed, but other than that: simple, reasonable priced option to visit concentration camps.

You can also travel there by yourself (about one hour or more from Cracow), but it means that you have to use local buses or trains and it can be tricky, although I've heard that it's quite simple too.

You can enter Auschwitz side earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon without taking part on guided tours, but during the busiest hours you have to take part on one of those. There is no fees for entrance and the camp is open basically every day, but you have to pay for guided tours if you take part of those. For Birkenau there is no such limitations.

Auschwitz & Birkenau are few kilometers apart, but there is a shuttle bus driving non-stop between them. I strongly advice everyone to visit also Birkenau's side. For me it was even more powerful experience than Auschwitz's side.

I hope you can have a chance to go there one day!
Like I said, I don't know when I'm going to go there, but I will before I die. And my brother would probably come with me, because he and I love learning about the Holocaust and such, and he's wanted to go there as long as I have.

It's a slightly sensitive topic in America too. Americans in general love seeing the Mafia on the screen (think the Godfather movies and the Sopranos on TV) but Italian-Americans are kind of touchy about it, like you're branding them all as a bunch of crooks and murderers.
It's not a sensitive topic here, but then again the only sensitive topic here is 9/11 (Seeing as we're only 4 hours away and most of us knew someone or had family in NYC that day). But in my opinion, America just loves drama. We can never stay out of other peoples' business, and take a look at out TV shows. Jersey Shore, Jerseylicious, The real housewives of (Insert whatever city here), Keeping up with the Kardashians, etc.

That's very important!

I can understand a joke like that, those are very common, between and about any kind of persons, nationalities, groups, you name it... It's the concentration camps topic the one I wouldn't touch, and not just for germans or jews. That was the biggest part, but many people of different nationalities were there, including germans, and for a lot of different reasons.

I have seen Schindler's list, before it was realised in theaters for everybody actually, students could go see it for free. It's one of many beautiful movies about it, probably the best around, but there are many.
La vita è bella, Life Is Beautiful, is another movie I liked a lot, it's different and probably controversial; concentration camps survivors and their family were split about it. Many have loved it, because Benigni chose I different key to read the story, which was basically "how could a father protect his son from that?". It might seem implausible that the story inside tha camp could have gone like that, but... if you understand the point of the movie you're gonna love it. Many didn't like it becuase of the "strange fairytale atmosphere" which was there. But that's what made it original, and that's probably why it was nominated for 6 oscars and won 3, Best foreign-language film, best actor and best original dramatic score.

I've never known what germans think of it, though...
I've seen Life Is Beautiful too, we watched it in my English 10 class (Which is when we read only Holocaust stuff for a year) and I was so mad at my English teacher when we did. She said the movie had a happy ending, but 'forgot' to mention what really happened. But basically if it's a movie/documentary/whatever about WWII or the Holocaust I'll watch it. (Except for Inglorious Bastards, I hate Brad Pitt).

And I guess I must have said something wrong, because I would never joke about a concentration camp/forced labor camp, I just do the Jew thing. So I apologize if I offended you or anyone else.

VanessaM

August 22nd, 2010, 11:29 PM

It's not a sensitive topic here, but then again the only sensitive topic here is 9/11 (Seeing as we're only 4 hours away and most of us knew someone or had family in NYC that day).
Here's a New York Times piece about how some Italian-Americans perceived the Sopranos:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9501EEDE1331F933A25750C0A9609C8B 63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Yeah, I guess it's not a touchy subject in Maryland or Connecticut, or wherever you live.

LilmiizzKT

August 23rd, 2010, 12:55 AM

They're not really comparable subjects, after all.

And in America, the Mafia has largely been stamped out. My understanding is that in Italy it's still a fairly big problem.

My Dad was from Italy, but he was from Abruzzo/Abruzzi. But I have a friend who is from Calabria. Mafia jokes are insults really but its not like ALL Italians are Mafia related. If someone came up to me and was like: "Oh what are you going to do, call the mafia on me?" I'd be insulted of course. It would be like saying: "Oh your German, you must be a Nazi." :roll: (Which I would NEVER in my life, even THINK of saying to a German or mouthing any other Stereotype because its not right.)

For example, like in the show The Simpsons, the guy named fat Tony is supposedly Italian and in the Mafia. When my family watches the show, we just laugh because well, it is The Simpsons right, so we just laugh because well, it is a show thats ment to be funny and not hurt anyone. Family Guy does the same. (TV shows are a different scene though).

The most stupidest thing about Stereotypes is that they can hurt the most. Which is why the ones that are the most "over the line", should not be said, ever.

(I don't mind the funny Canadian stereotypes that get passed around such as saying "eh" or speaking french 24/7- got those from the movie "Canadian Bacon") :laugh:

Oh btw, I've seen Schindlers List, in my grade 10 History class. That movie definetly teaches you a lot about the subject. I could barely watch it without crying or feeling sad.

It's hard to learn about past times that have been so horrific, but you have to remember thats its in the past and has to be taught to make sure it never happens again. (Thats actually what my teacher said to my class on the first, because we were going to be learning about WWI, WWII, and all of the Genocides- past and present)

Ripitgirl19

August 23rd, 2010, 05:39 AM

Yeah, I guess it's not a touchy subject in Maryland or Connecticut, or wherever you live.
I live in New York. Most people don't know it's an actual state, so surprise! :laugh:

Trink&Tirsh

August 23rd, 2010, 07:45 AM

I live in New York. Most people don't know it's an actual state, so surprise! :laugh:

if that's true then our generation and the upcoming generation is so screwed. that's sad.
bad enough a lot of kids don't know all 50 states nor the countires from continents.

Ripitgirl19

August 23rd, 2010, 08:16 AM

That is one of the things that annoys me most about America, or anywhere really. If you say you live in NY, people automatically assume you mean NYC.

And I doubt I know all 50 states, I never paid any attention in US history, only Global haha.

Alaska, Washington, California, New York, Maine, Connecticut, Tennessee, Ohio, Hawaii, Iowa, Arizona, Maryland, West Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, New Mexico, Wyoming, Wisconsin, Michigan, Rhodes Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Oregon, Texas, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts. And then I have a brain fade and can't remember states like Nevada, Utah, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, And Minnesota. The only one I ever really forget is Montana.

Trink&Tirsh

August 23rd, 2010, 08:28 AM

you just need to sing the 50 states song.
it's every single state in alphabetical order.

Ripitgirl19

August 23rd, 2010, 08:44 AM

I can never remember that song because I can't get the the melody right haha.

But on topic, I would like to visit Hamburg and Berlin some day, any reccomended places to see in either places?

Fact: I've wanted to visit Hamburg since I was 8, just because of the name.
Fact: I'm almost 18, and I just found out we have a Berlin, a Hamburg, and other German named cities in NY. I love it =D

VanessaM

August 23rd, 2010, 09:15 AM

I live in New York. Most people don't know it's an actual state, so surprise! :laugh:
I live in New York City. Believe me, I know all about upstate New York. Four hours away from the city might as well be Los Angeles for all that we have in common.

Trink&Tirsh

August 23rd, 2010, 10:15 AM

Berlin
besides the usual Zoo/Aquarium (don't bother really, most places have a frickin' zoo or aquarium these days)

you can probably take one of the bus tour things that go in a circle pointing out stuff and then just get off at one place and follow the entire circle the second time around.
or before you go find places that you want to go to and get a map and outline things and go from there because taxi is surprisingly cheaper to get around.

annalein

August 23rd, 2010, 10:49 AM

I've only been to Berlin for a few days and to Hamburg as a child, so I don't remember much of it, unfortunately. But I'd also suggest to decide beforehand what you want to see and find out how to get there. Also, if you know where you want to go, you can easily ask for help if you're lost, most people will understand English.

Also, I tend to just ask random young people on the street about good places to party (or whatever you want to do) if I'm in a new city. ;)

Trink&Tirsh

August 23rd, 2010, 11:05 AM

Amdee

August 23rd, 2010, 04:42 PM

I recommend DK's Eyewitness Travel - tourist guides.
I know it's lame and un-trendy to use tourist guides, but they are actually useful if you want to plan things you want to see in a few days you'll be staying in a city. Very handy - no matter how "un-cool" these are. This series is very good.

http://photoload.ru/data/b2/ef/82/b2ef82bc674d2565d7819ad2c5a11d5c.jpg

annalein

August 23rd, 2010, 04:46 PM

^^ Agreed! I used them, too. You have all the info you need in one book and get lots of background information to help you decide which sites you want to see.

Trink&Tirsh

August 23rd, 2010, 05:12 PM

we sell those
every other person that buys one always comments on how expensive they are
and not going to lie, i agree with them

annalein

August 23rd, 2010, 05:22 PM

That's true, they are very expensive!! Maybe you can get them second hand, on ebay or amazon, saves a lot of money.

JJ6

August 23rd, 2010, 05:22 PM

How much are they?
My friend flew to Berlin this morning but I think he is just going to explore the city himself. When I was in Rome last year the tour prices were just stupid. We just walked around ourselves. In Berlin I would imagine it would be very easy to ask for help from someone.

Trink&Tirsh

August 23rd, 2010, 05:26 PM

nothing lower than 15 dollars unless it's one of the small ones
even those are not under 10 dollars

JJ6

August 23rd, 2010, 05:30 PM

15 dollars or 15 euros? Sorry I usually think in Euros.
It is expensive since you really only need it once. I think tourist maps and asking at your hotel/hostel is the best and cheapest way to go.

Trink&Tirsh

August 23rd, 2010, 05:41 PM

yeah, going off on your own is better. i'd still bring a map so you know where you are. and also a compass.

JustBored

August 23rd, 2010, 06:24 PM

Interesting, I never heard of 'Ndrangheta before.

TBH, I had a bit of a Mafia fetish when I was in high school. I even named my pet goldfish "Vincenzo" because of it. :grin:

Well, they're badasses as the others.

That's the problem with certain tv-show I guess, than your name your pet after some carachter (I guess). I would never call my cat with one of those guys names...

...
I've seen Life Is Beautiful too, we watched it in my English 10 class (Which is when we read only Holocaust stuff for a year) and I was so mad at my English teacher when we did. She said the movie had a happy ending, but 'forgot' to mention what really happened. But basically if it's a movie/documentary/whatever about WWII or the Holocaust I'll watch it. (Except for Inglorious Bastards, I hate Brad Pitt).

And I guess I must have said something wrong, because I would never joke about a concentration camp/forced labor camp, I just do the Jew thing. So I apologize if I offended you or anyone else.

Well, there is a happy ending... and another which is not... (I don't want to spoil.) Did you like the movie?

And about the jokes, I'm not offended, and probably there has been a little misunderstanding. :)

Here's a New York Times piece about how some Italian-Americans perceived the Sopranos:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9501EEDE1331F933A25750C0A9609C8B 63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Yeah, I guess it's not a touchy subject in Maryland or Connecticut, or wherever you live.

Interesting article, thanks.

My Dad was from Italy, but he was from Abruzzo/Abruzzi. But I have a friend who is from Calabria. Mafia jokes are insults really but its not like ALL Italians are Mafia related. If someone came up to me and was like: "Oh what are you going to do, call the mafia on me?" I'd be insulted of course. It would be like saying: "Oh your German, you must be a Nazi." :roll: (Which I would NEVER in my life, even THINK of saying to a German or mouthing any other Stereotype because its not right.)

For example, like in the show The Simpsons, the guy named fat Tony is supposedly Italian and in the Mafia. When my family watches the show, we just laugh because well, it is The Simpsons right, so we just laugh because well, it is a show thats ment to be funny and not hurt anyone. Family Guy does the same. (TV shows are a different scene though).

The most stupidest thing about Stereotypes is that they can hurt the most. Which is why the ones that are the most "over the line", should not be said, ever.
...

I've never watched a single episode of the Sopranos. I refuse to do it mainly because of how they dress... :P

And then, of course, I'm tired of this stuff. Movies like The Godfather are different, much better, don't make you like those guys, and they are good movies. :)

Ah, it's Abruzzo. ; - )

Diosita

August 23rd, 2010, 07:12 PM

they have party busses
like no lie
couldn't go because i was actually there with my family <_<.
it looked fun.

you can't see it all in one day either. definitely a place to go back to.
ooo they have bike rentals and stuff too.
hahaha I can't believe that they have party busses ;) because here in Colombia we have party busses too ^_^

and if I go to Germany (I have to go!!!) I will go to Reeperbahn ;) in Hamburg and the mudflats ^_^ but I don't know more places to go :p I'm seeing DW-TV almost all the days and they show very beautiful places :) Annalein what do you recomend me? and I want to see sexy german boys ;) and beautiful places!

VanessaM

August 23rd, 2010, 08:34 PM

Well, their badasses as the others.

That's the problem with certain tv-show I guess, than your name your pet after some carachter (I guess). I would never call my cat with one of those guys names...
Haha, it wasn't even a character's name! It was just some random Italian name! :grin:

I've never watched a single episode of the Sopranos. I refuse to do it mainly because of how they dress... :P
I'm not a prude or anything, but I watched one episode of the Sopranos and it was so filled with graphic sex, violence, and bad language that I was completely turned off by it and never watched it again.

JustBored

August 23rd, 2010, 09:03 PM

Haha, it wasn't even a character's name! It was just some random Italian name! :grin:

I'm not a prude or anything, but I watched one episode of the Sopranos and it was so filled with graphic sex, violence, and bad language that I was completely turned off by it and never watched it again.

Got it...

Those kind of scenes don't bother me, if they make sense in the movie/tv-show or whatever... It's the stereotype... Pfff...

I've never done that mistake before I joined the forum...
I mean their instead or they're... you're ruining me...
Sorry... your ruining me, its not fair! :laugh:

Ripitgirl19

August 23rd, 2010, 11:15 PM

I live in New York City. Believe me, I know all about upstate New York. Four hours away from the city might as well be Los Angeles for all that we have in common.
You're probably one of the few who actually know that then. Go you =)

And I've never been to NYC, the only reason I would go now is to see a concert or the Twin Towers memorial. I dislike it intensely.

Well, there is a happy ending... and another which is not... (I don't want to spoil.) Did you like the movie?
I loved the movie, I recommend it to anyone who wants to watch a good movie.

JustBored

August 24th, 2010, 02:58 AM

I loved the movie, I recommend it to anyone who wants to watch a good movie.

I'm glad! :D

annalein

August 25th, 2010, 05:34 AM

VanessaM

August 25th, 2010, 10:06 AM

Hey, Vanessa, I found I video for you (sorry, I still haven't found the one I was originally looking for, and I've given up hope of ever finding it again :p ): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_pCCyILsFA

There are two examples where Bill pronounces a 'g' like a 'j' (or English 'y'). One's at 0:50, he says 'festjenommen' instead of 'festgenommen'. The other is at 1:34, 'rausjesprungen' instead of 'rausgesprungen'.
Thanks for finding this!

I love the way Bill talks. I remember one of the first interviews I ever heard with TH, I barely recognized the language that Bill was speaking as German, it was just so soft and almost melodious. :grin:

annalein

August 25th, 2010, 11:21 AM

Really, it didn't sound like German to you? That's interesting, I can actually neither agree nor disagree because it's my first language. :p
But yes, I like the way he speaks, too. :)

VanessaM

August 25th, 2010, 11:53 AM

Really, it didn't sound like German to you? That's interesting, I can actually neither agree nor disagree because it's my first language. :p
Yeah, though I don't get that impression anymore. Either I'm used to his way of speaking now and I can hear the Germanness of it, or it was just that interview he was talking more softly than usual.

But yes, I like the way he speaks, too. :)
:smile:

annalein

August 25th, 2010, 11:55 AM

Yeah, though I don't get that impression anymore. Either I'm used to his way of speaking now and I can hear the Germanness of it, or it was just that interview he was talking more softly than usual.

Was that an early interview, when they were still cute and little? Cause they talked differently then, definitely. Stronger accent and all that.

VanessaM

August 25th, 2010, 12:18 PM

Was that an early interview, when they were still cute and little? Cause they talked differently then, definitely. Stronger accent and all that.
No, it definitely was not when they were much younger. It was probably from 2008. They haven't really done too many German-language interviews since then.

annalein

August 25th, 2010, 12:20 PM

Oh, well, then you probably just got used to their weird German. ;)

Amdee

August 25th, 2010, 05:51 PM

I have to agree with Vanessa. Bill has (has had?) a nice, soft way to speak German. It could be also his unique voice, because he has very pretty, soft voice, but I think it's also partly the way he pronounces. I love to listen to Tom as well, but his softness comers more of his "lazy" pronouncing/mumbling. I think neither one of them sound the stereotypical German most of the time.

Bill's voice has also changed interestinghly from his teen years. While men usually get lower voice, Bill's way to speak (even in German) has become actually softer, his voice very beautiful and unique to my ear. Which is interesting, because if you lopwer Bill's voice one octave, it becomes similar to Tom's. They have basically the same voice, but with one octave difference. As teens Bill sounded just like all the other kids, little raspy and "boy-ish", but now it's way more softer, feminine even - even if he doesn't use his "interview voicer".

I can't really say how much of it is from his voice and how much is from the way he pronounces his German.

annalein

August 25th, 2010, 06:01 PM

I have to agree with Vanessa. Bill has (has had?) a nice, soft way to speak German. It could be also his unique voice, because he has very pretty, soft voice, but I think it's also partly the way he pronounces. I love to listen to Tom as well, but his softness comers more of his "lazy" pronouncing/mumbling. I think neither one of them sound the stereotypical German most of the time.

This is interesting! May I ask what the stereotypical German sounds like to speakers of other languages? Cause I've never really thought about that. Who do you have in mind when you think of a typical speaker of German? A news anchor? Or do people also think of Rammstein (who cause a lot of controversiality with the way they speak, cause it clearly alludes to what you might call 'Hitler German') maybe?

I can't really say how much of it is from his voice and how much is from the way he pronounces his German.

I'd say it's from the way he speaks and the pitch of his voice. I find his German to be pretty standard nowadays.

Trink&Tirsh

August 25th, 2010, 06:05 PM

how is there a steroetype sounding german?
probably shouldn't even ask,
i wouldn't agree on anything, i hear it everyday, there is no "stereotype" XD

annalein

August 25th, 2010, 06:08 PM

how is there a steroetype sounding german?
probably shouldn't even ask,
i wouldn't agree on anything, i hear it everyday, there is no "stereotype" XD

I know, same for me, we have soooo many accents. But people still have a stereotype in mind, usually, don't they. E.g. when I think of Scottish people I have an idea or a stereotype of how they sound. Doesn't mean everyone speaks like that, in reality. But I'm really interested to hear what other's think of as 'typical' German. :)

Trink&Tirsh

August 25th, 2010, 06:14 PM

annalein

August 25th, 2010, 06:18 PM

can't be shy like i am.
most everyone likes to at least say hallo when walking past you.
or a smile.

i really don't like talking to people when i'm walking anywhere because , yeah, i just don't. i'm weird like that.

there was this party for a kid i'm assuming at the end of the cul de sac. all the adults were sitting at a table and talking (all that good stuff) and i walked past with my head down. head was already down , but i got a hallo. they were so nice and waving i couldn't just ignore them. so i said hallo back XD
because i'd have to walk past them again later anyways. i was taking the back walkways to a place that had a snack machine.

Oh, yeah, I know what you mean! You said you live in a small town or village, right? I'm from a small village myself, and everyone says hello when passing by. I actually like it, but then, I also grew up with it. Now I live in a rather big city, and people tend to ignore others more. I get why, of course, you can't say hello to everyone you see, there are just too many people! But I like how friendly people are in villages. Although apart from that, I'm not a big fan of living in a village, too much 'neighbour control'. Everyone knows everything about everyone, and they're talking constantly about things that aren't their business! :laugh:

Amdee

August 25th, 2010, 06:20 PM

Ugh! I can't explain what I mean! not in English at least. :sad:

VanessaM

August 25th, 2010, 07:04 PM

This is interesting! May I ask what the stereotypical German sounds like to speakers of other languages? Cause I've never really thought about that. Who do you have in mind when you think of a typical speaker of German? A news anchor?
Yes, a news anchor. Very crisp and strict, kind of like a teacher.

annalein

August 25th, 2010, 07:07 PM

Yes, a news anchor. Very crisp and strict, kind of like a teacher.

Ah, okay. That's a lot better than the alternative. We don't all sound like that, though, at least not to my ears. I hope not, strict and crisp doesn't sound so likable. :neutral:

briar_rose

August 26th, 2010, 05:19 AM

I know, same for me, we have soooo many accents. But people still have a stereotype in mind, usually, don't they. E.g. when I think of Scottish people I have an idea or a stereotype of how they sound. Doesn't mean everyone speaks like that, in reality. But I'm really interested to hear what other's think of as 'typical' German. :)

in the uk, the germans are portrayed as serious, humourless, efficicient and puntual and speak in a heavy, and quite nasal-ie manner.

of course, that isn't entirely accurate. the germans i have met do not conform to that stereotype, we just have it for fun :P

it's like we always portray the french as wearing black and white stripy jumpers, red berets, riding bicycles with a string on onions around their neck and baguettes in the bicycle basket. that isn't true either *wink*

it occured to me yesterday, what is the german word for "you"?

the translation for "hey, you", is "hey, du" whilst, "ich liebe dich" is translated as "i love you". or is it that dich is plural and du is singular?

there is one topic that i wanted to bring up: censorship in germany.

i've never been to germany but i've heard the it's not uncommon to find pornography on tv after 11pm or open up a newspaper and find nudity and music on the radio is not edited to remove profanity. is this true?

annalein

August 26th, 2010, 05:33 AM

About the du vs. dich question: It has to do with the German cases, they have different functions. So 'du' is nominative, 'dich' is accusative and 'dir' is dative.

So you'd say 'Du bist nett' when you're talking about the subject of the sentence.
'Ich liebe dich' --> direct object of the sentence
'Ich gebe dir das Buch' --> the person referred to as 'dir' is the indirect object, the direct object would be 'das Buch'

Edit: All three of those ^^ would be translated as 'you'. We also have a genitive case 'dein/deine', but that's easier to understand, I guess, because in English there is also a separate word for the genitive --> 'your'

Hope this helps, German grammar is a little complicated.

About cencorship or lack thereof in Germany: I think we've talked about it earlier in this thread or in the misc thread. I'll try to find it for you.
Edit: Go back to post #56 in this thread. :)

briar_rose

August 26th, 2010, 05:41 AM

About the du vs. dich question: It has to do with the German cases, they have different functions. So 'du' is nominative, 'dich' is accusative and 'dir' is dative.

So you'd say 'Du bist nett' when you're talking about the subject of the sentence.
'Ich liebe dich' --> direct object of the sentence
'Ich gebe dir das Buch' --> the person referred to as 'dir' is the indirect object, the direct object would be 'das Buch'

Hope this helps, German grammar is a little complicated.

About cencorship or lack thereof in Germany: I think we've talked about it earlier in this thread or in the misc thread. I'll try to find it for you.
Edit: Go back to post #56 in this thread. :)

thanks for that!! yeah, german grammar makes my head spin, it's pretty difficult when you're not a native speaker

Edit: i must have skimmed the first few pages on the thread- i missed that topic originally

annalein

August 26th, 2010, 05:56 AM

there is one topic that i wanted to bring up: censorship in germany.

i've never been to germany but i've heard the it's not uncommon to find pornography on tv after 11pm or open up a newspaper and find nudity and music on the radio is not edited to remove profanity. is this true?

I didn't read through everything we've said earlier in the thread, but I don't think we've talked about music on the radio. That's true (as is the rest of what you mentioned), we don't edit anything, really. It always annoys me so much when I listen to internet radio and they put a 'beeeeep' in place of swear words. I mean, I get why they would do that, children might be listening and all that. But it totally disrupts the whole song! I'd rather the artists didn't swear so much to begin with.

And yes, German grammar is tricky, I even get confused sometimes, despite being a native speaker. Well, not confused as in I make mistakes while speaking, but I find it really difficult to explain some rules and phenomena because sometimes they really don't make all that much sense. I'm happy German is my first language simply because learning other languages feels easier in comparison as most languages don't have as many weird rules as we have.

cherrybubblebath

August 26th, 2010, 05:59 AM

annalein

August 26th, 2010, 06:10 AM

The Holocaust was discussed some pages back in this thread, but I was curious if anyone here has ever read the book Night by Eli Wiesel? I read it in 8th grade as apart of English class, where we dedicated a fourth of the year to it and learning all about the Holocaust, Auschwitz, and other concentration camps *a survivor of the Holocaust actually came to our school for the day to talk to us*. The book is definitely one in which one will remember for a long time because of its extremely vivid and shocking details, and without a doubt one of the most mind-sticking stories I have ever read.

I haven't read that book, and I didn't know that much about the author, either. I just looked him up, and he was even awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. Although some of his statements seem to have caused some controversy, too.
So would you recommend that book? Is it a typical novel, or is it more like a documentary (don't know how to explain what I mean here... does it tell a whole story or is it more a retelling of historic facts, mainly)?

Amdee

August 26th, 2010, 09:22 AM

If you want a tricky grammar, try to learn Finnish :laugh:

For "you" we have sinä, sinulta, sinulle, sinusta, sinuun, sinua, sinulla etc.

Yep, I think we all have more or less stereotypical picture of Germans (just like we have of most of the nationalities). I don't think it as that bads as long as people understand that they are stereotypes, not necessary true or even close.

I also hate censorship with "beeps". But I must say that Germans are VERY cathegorized in porn. There are certain type of porn that comes almost solely from Germany (at least it feels like it) just like some are solely from Japan. Germany & Japan - the most kinkiest countries in the world. And I like it :grin:

I know I can't really talk about it here, so I won't, but I've always wondered why few exact genres are so dominanty coming from Germany. Japan has their own things, but that I can somehow understands because of some cultural things, but it would be interesting to fiogure out in Germany's case. I think culture affects even to porn industry in every country.

annalein

August 26th, 2010, 09:33 AM

Oh, yes, I've heard that Finnish is very difficult! And it's very different from German, so I'd probably fail dramatically! :laugh:

As for stereotypes: I agree. I have them, too, of course - who doesn't, really? It's not a bad thing, as long as there aren't any prejudices that might lead you to treat people unfairly.

And I won't go into that last topic here, PG 13 and everything. Plus, I don't think too many people would actually want to read about that. But I'll gladly share my thoughts on that via PM, if you want. ;)

VanessaM

August 26th, 2010, 09:44 AM

Ah, okay. That's a lot better than the alternative. We don't all sound like that, though, at least not to my ears. I hope not, strict and crisp doesn't sound so likable. :neutral:
No, I don't think everyone sounds like that. I saw Lola Rennt a few years ago and I don't remember thinking anything about people's accents. It's just a stereotype.

But to me, that woman that narrated most of Tom's Reebok stuff sounds horrible. Though maybe it's not her accent, but her attitude. She always sounds so sarcastic to me.

And yes, German grammar is tricky, I even get confused sometimes, despite being a native speaker. Well, not confused as in I make mistakes while speaking, but I find it really difficult to explain some rules and phenomena because sometimes they really don't make all that much sense. I'm happy German is my first language simply because learning other languages feels easier in comparison as most languages don't have as many weird rules as we have.
I'd say it's fairly typical for native speakers not to really be able to explain their language's grammar.

Amdee

August 26th, 2010, 09:45 AM

Yep, the last subject is not for this forum, so we better leave it, but if you like, my PM is always open for a good convo around the topic :grin:

And don't worry; I've studied German basics TWICE and I still fail miserably. I'm going to do it for the third time now, but with more motivation than ever before.

Trink&Tirsh

August 26th, 2010, 03:45 PM

i love the lack of censorship here.
it's like paradise.
oh, and there is nudity in the form of naked ladies, on the front of/inside (but mostly on the front page. top fold. left and/or right column) some newspapers.

i actually bought a newspaper because of that, just felt i needed to because you'd never get that in the states :roll:

cherrybubblebath

August 26th, 2010, 04:02 PM

I haven't read that book, and I didn't know that much about the author, either. I just looked him up, and he was even awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. Although some of his statements seem to have caused some controversy, too.
So would you recommend that book? Is it a typical novel, or is it more like a documentary (don't know how to explain what I mean here... does it tell a whole story or is it more a retelling of historic facts, mainly)?

Hmm, I would say that the book Night would probably fit more as a non-fiction novel... I'm viewing its wikipedia page at the moment, and there's even confusion as to if it should be considered a memoir or a novel. Elie Wiesel did go experience the horrors of the holocaust, so it is the story of him from when it first started until when he was out free, and the whole holocaust and concentration camp experience from his point of view. Yes, I would recommend reading the book, as it is a quick read *being only about 109 pages*, and it is extraordinarily informative, while also it is rather easy to get emotionally sucked into.

stylerock27

August 26th, 2010, 04:03 PM

I haven't read that book, and I didn't know that much about the author, either. I just looked him up, and he was even awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. Although some of his statements seem to have caused some controversy, too.
So would you recommend that book? Is it a typical novel, or is it more like a documentary (don't know how to explain what I mean here... does it tell a whole story or is it more a retelling of historic facts, mainly)?

I read Night freshman year of high school. I'd kind of consider it autobiographical because the author is telling about his experience in the concentration camps during the Holocaust. But its good and the book I have of it is part of trilogy of stories (Night,Dawn,The Accident).

Has anyone ever read Emil und die detektive? I have to buy for my german class and wondering if its any good.

Diosita

August 26th, 2010, 04:13 PM

__vian__

August 26th, 2010, 04:19 PM

*le sigh*
It's been a full year today since I was in Heide Park... :sad:
All the memories haha

So does anyone know any good places to visit in Germany? Like other theme parks?

Trink&Tirsh

August 26th, 2010, 04:26 PM

Phantasialand

Europa Park in the south

um

Freizeitland Geiselwind

Hansapark
i've heard this one is for thrill seekers

__vian__

August 26th, 2010, 04:30 PM

Thanks soo much! :mrgreen:

Trink&Tirsh

August 26th, 2010, 04:55 PM

also heard that Phantasialand has this one freefall where you don't even hear screams, people don't even have time to get ready to scream it's that tall :laugh:

hearing that description nearly killed me though. i was like o.O

annalein

August 26th, 2010, 05:09 PM

Has anyone ever read Emil und die detektive? I have to buy for my german class and wondering if its any good.

Yeah, I read that at school, when I was 11, I think. I remember liking it a lot, I'd have to reread it to tell you more, though (and I don't have the time to do that atm, sorry ;) ). It's more of a children's book, but I don't think it'll be boring to read as an adult! Erich Kästner is a well-known writer, maybe you can find something about the book in English even?

also heard that Phantasialand has this one freefall where you don't even hear screams, people don't even have time to get ready to scream it's that tall :laugh:

hearing that description nearly killed me though. i was like o.O

Do you mean mystery castle? The last time I was to Phantasialand was maybe 12-13 years ago (I need to go!!!), so I don't know how much has changed. But back then mystery castle had just opened, and I went on it and LOVED it!! I think it's a fairly typical free fall tower, it's dark inside and there's light effect at the ceiling, I think. It was really cool, I so want to go on it again now!!

Trink&Tirsh

August 26th, 2010, 05:10 PM

that sounds similar to tower of terror

annalein

August 26th, 2010, 05:13 PM

omg :p I don't like the censorship, I hate it in music like in "PIMP" when 50 cent sing and they cut the part, and it's stupid because all the children learn bad words from their parents or friends :laugh: my father taught me all the swear words.
and now I learned to say Schei(ß)e and I can't stop to say it :laugh: it's one of my favorites words

You know what I personally think would be better anyway? Not to let your children watch TV unsupervised! I think a child shouldn't really watch all that much TV, and if they do, they should just watch a nice, swear word free kiddie program! :) I grew up like that, and I would raise my children the same way. If you don't let you kids watch random stuff, it's no problem if there's nude people on TV around midnight and there's some swearing on music channels.

annalein

August 26th, 2010, 05:14 PM

that sounds similar to tower of terror

So have you been to Phantasialand then? If so, what did you think?

Trink&Tirsh

August 26th, 2010, 05:19 PM

nope, heard stories from coworkers that went :laugh:.

it'd be a waste to pay for me to go to an amusements park. i don't go on many rides

just the stick to the wall, and spininng type rides. or kiddie coasters and all that :roll:

annalein

August 26th, 2010, 05:24 PM

Ah, okay, well that's fine! :) I know a lot of people don't like to go on rides, and I guess it really would be a waste of money then. Cause it's not cheap, really, if you don't go on the rides. If you do, you def. get your money's worth!!

JustBored

August 26th, 2010, 07:45 PM

Which is interesting, because if you lopwer Bill's voice one octave, it becomes similar to Tom's. They have basically the same voice, but with one octave difference...

I agree with this. They use it differently, but I think is pretty much the same. In the last Thtv episode, the audi secret test drive, there is moment I thougt Tom was talking, but it was Bill. I didn't noticed at the biginning because I was watching out of the car-window, then when I watched it again, I kept my eyes on Bill and saw his lips moving, and I was like: oh, it's Bill!

Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-ZRtymFcmk
3:22

I know, same for me, we have soooo many accents.

Tell me about it! In Italy is not just accents, we have so many dialects. They're like another language!

...
i've never been to germany but i've heard the it's not uncommon to find pornography on tv after 11pm or open up a newspaper and find nudity and music on the radio is not edited to remove profanity. is this true?

It must be a european thing. Here, they use nuduty to sell anything!

About the du vs. dich question: It has to do with the German cases, they have different functions. So 'du' is nominative, 'dich' is accusative and 'dir' is dative.

So you'd say 'Du bist nett' when you're talking about the subject of the sentence.
'Ich liebe dich' --> direct object of the sentence
'Ich gebe dir das Buch' --> the person referred to as 'dir' is the indirect object, the direct object would be 'das Buch'

Edit: All three of those ^^ would be translated as 'you'. We also have a genitive case 'dein/deine', but that's easier to understand, I guess, because in English there is also a separate word for the genitive --> 'your'

Hope this helps, German grammar is a little complicated.

About cencorship or lack thereof in Germany: I think we've talked about it earlier in this thread or in the misc thread. I'll try to find it for you.
Edit: Go back to post #56 in this thread. :)

Latin, latin, that's why now I'm happy I've studied it! It's gonna be helpful! Even if we have genitive, dative etc in a way. :-)

JustBored

August 26th, 2010, 07:59 PM

Oh, do you guys know Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (Christiane F.)? I read it when I was pretty young. A good, powerful book, I'd say... The movie doesn't have that... No.

annalein

August 27th, 2010, 04:49 AM

I agree with this. They use it differently, but I think is pretty much the same. In the last Thtv episode, the audi secret test drive, there is moment I thougt Tom was talking, but it was Bill. I didn't noticed at the biginning because I was watching out of the car-window, then when I watched it again, I kept my eyes on Bill and saw his lips moving, and I was like: oh, it's Bill!

Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-ZRtymFcmk
3:22

I've listened to them right now, trying to figure out what makes them sound so different. And I think it's not just the different pitch, it's also that they have a different pronunciation. I think we've talked about this before somewhere. While Tom mumbles a lot, Bill pronounces his words really clearly and he opens his mouth more. They sound very different to me, probably for that reason.

Tell me about it! In Italy is not just accents, we have so many dialects. They're like another language!

Same here!! Sometimes I don't understand the old people of my own region if they're talking dialect! But most dialects are already starting to die out, because at school you're only allowed to speak and write standard German, so most parents try to talk to their kids in standard German, too. I find it a little sad, it's like a lot of languages dying out...

It must be a european thing. Here, they use nuduty to sell anything!

Yeah, right? And I don't even see the bad in it, really. Maybe it's because I grew up with it, but I don't have a problem with it. It only annoys me when there's obviously no proper reason for using nudity, but they do it anyway. E.g. they use naked people to sell butter, even. :roll:

Latin, latin, that's why now I'm happy I've studied it! It's gonna be helpful! Even if we have genitive, dative etc in a way. :-)

Couldn't agree more! I had to take latin at uni, and I have to say it helps a whole lot when you want to understand and explain grammar! I don't even remember that much, I don't think I could do a translation anymore. But it helps with a basic understanding of grammar, I think. Although in Germany we learn a lot about our own grammar at school, which is not a given, I think. I've heard that e.g. in England they don't really learn that much about their own language. So in that case I think latin would be a real help!

VanessaM

August 27th, 2010, 09:54 AM

What-Else-X

August 27th, 2010, 12:24 PM

Couldn't agree more! I had to take latin at uni, and I have to say it helps a whole lot when you want to understand and explain grammar! I don't even remember that much, I don't think I could do a translation anymore. But it helps with a basic understanding of grammar, I think. Although in Germany we learn a lot about our own grammar at school, which is not a given, I think. I've heard that e.g. in England they don't really learn that much about their own language. So in that case I think latin would be a real help!

nope, in english schools you dont study grammar much... :s
in france we do learn quite a bit of grammar tho...
i also did latin for 3 years in middle school, and it helped me loads when i started german, even tho id only actually been doing latin for a year when i started german. just knowing what nominatif, accusatif, datif and genetif are helps loads with the order of words in sentences and the declinaison (if thats an english word... its the french word for it anyway) of the "the"s (idk what theyre called in english <-- proof you dont learn all that ùuch grammar in england. since living in france i know the names and functions of everything to do with grammar. in french of course :s)

Amdee

August 27th, 2010, 01:32 PM

Oh, do you guys know Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (Christiane F.)? I read it when I was pretty young. A good, powerful book, I'd say... The movie doesn't have that... No.

I've read it, too! It was long time ago, so I don't remember much of it, but I remember doing it one summer, when I had a super boring summer job and I read loads of books during that 2 months.

I really think European and American ways to see sex, sexuality and nudity differs quite a lot. I thought it was just a myth, but apparently there is something real behind it. Inside Europe I think the differencies are lot smaller. We have lot more open sexuality in our societies in general, I think.

I think (just me thinking) that maybe because of those differencies the boys' (mainly Tom's) sex-related humor and kind of "openess" has been seemingly bigger thing in America than it has been in Europe. I don't know.

Dialects seem to be dying in everywhere :sad: . It happens also here. Lot of peopple also moves around and interacts with people from all over the country all the time, so it gets mixed more and more. Certain old words are forgotten, when "Finglish" (new words and way to talk in Finnish is ispired by English words) is getting more daily. Esprecially technical or internet slang is almost solely based on English.

JustBored

August 27th, 2010, 07:18 PM

I've listened to them right now, trying to figure out what makes them sound so different. And I think it's not just the different pitch, it's also that they have a different pronunciation. I think we've talked about this before somewhere. While Tom mumbles a lot, Bill pronounces his words really clearly and he opens his mouth more. They sound very different to me, probably for that reason.

I understand this. But for me it's the sound. I really don't know how to say it. I can speak another language, with a different accent or whatever, but my voice is the same, you know what I mean? : P

Same here!! Sometimes I don't understand the old people of my own region if they're talking dialect! But most dialects are already starting to die out, because at school you're only allowed to speak and write standard German, so most parents try to talk to their kids in standard German, too. I find it a little sad, it's like a lot of languages dying out...

I think in Italy dialects are very much alive. To be honest I don't like them. I really like a few accents, but not dialects. Probably because we don't have one, in Tuscany. A couple of centuries ago tuscan dialect was chosen to become the official italian, so... we do have a certain parlance/ way of speaking but the accents are those you lean when you study diction and, of course, we have no dialect. We have speech defects here and there (in comparison with the perfect italian you learn with diction), but everyone can always understand us in Italy.

Yeah, right? And I don't even see the bad in it, really. Maybe it's because I grew up with it, but I don't have a problem with it. It only annoys me when there's obviously no proper reason for using nudity, but they do it anyway. E.g. they use naked people to sell butter, even. :roll:

Yes, I mean, sometimes I'm like: do you really need nudity to sell that? Come on! :D
Not full frontal nudity, but tits are everywhere! : D
Yes, it's female nudity most of the time... That... it bugs me a little.

Couldn't agree more! I had to take latin at uni, and I have to say it helps a whole lot when you want to understand and explain grammar! I don't even remember that much, I don't think I could do a translation anymore. But it helps with a basic understanding of grammar, I think. Although in Germany we learn a lot about our own grammar at school, which is not a given, I think. I've heard that e.g. in England they don't really learn that much about their own language. So in that case I think latin would be a real help!

It's the same in Italy, especially in primary and middle school, then... it depends on the school you attend.

I've read it, too! It was long time ago, so I don't remember much of it, but I remember doing it one summer, when I had a super boring summer job and I read loads of books during that 2 months.

I remember that book very well, probably becuase I was 11 or 12 when I read it, and the topic is pretty strong.

I really think European and American ways to see sex, sexuality and nudity differs quite a lot. I thought it was just a myth, but apparently there is something real behind it. Inside Europe I think the differencies are lot smaller. We have lot more open sexuality in our societies in general, I think.

I think (just me thinking) that maybe because of those differencies the boys' (mainly Tom's) sex-related humor and kind of "openess" has been seemingly bigger thing in America than it has been in Europe. I don't know.

Maybe, yes.
Yes, no Disney talking for "our" guys, please!
Anyway, I have the impression that in Germany they are even more open than in Italy. You know... the Pope is here... But it's not just because of that...
And I remember in the summer, when I was a teenager, all the guys were really happy when the german tourist girls arrived! :laugh:

Hey, I'm not saying they are easy or something, just, maybe, more uninhibited (in general, of course).

Dialects seem to be dying in everywhere :sad: . It happens also here. Lot of peopple also moves around and interacts with people from all over the country all the time, so it gets mixed more and more. Certain old words are forgotten, when "Finglish" (new words and way to talk in Finnish is ispired by English words) is getting more daily. Esprecially technical or internet slang is almost solely based on English.

Yes, I understand when it's about technology and stuff, but in different occasions I don't like it at all. You hear those people putting english words everywhere to look more international and cool. And all I can't think is just: oh, come on, speak your own language, you're ridiculous! :laugh:

annalein

August 28th, 2010, 06:32 AM

I really think European and American ways to see sex, sexuality and nudity differs quite a lot. I thought it was just a myth, but apparently there is something real behind it. Inside Europe I think the differencies are lot smaller. We have lot more open sexuality in our societies in general, I think.

I think (just me thinking) that maybe because of those differencies the boys' (mainly Tom's) sex-related humor and kind of "openess" has been seemingly bigger thing in America than it has been in Europe. I don't know.

Maybe, yes.
Yes, no Disney talking for "our" guys, please!
Anyway, I have the impression that in Germany they are even more open than in Italy. You know... the Pope is here... But it's not just because of that...
And I remember in the summer, when I was a teenager, all the guys were really happy when the german tourist girls arrived! :laugh:

Hey, I'm not saying they are easy or something, just, maybe, more uninhibited (in general, of course).

I think it's generally really good that in Europe there are no real taboos when it comes to sexuality and everything to do with it. And tbh, I don't think it results in people having more sex or earlier. It's probably the opposite, since things that are forbidden are usually more interesting. And I personally don't think that Germans are all that easy or uninhibited in general. But maybe the open handling of this topic in the media gives that impression?

I understand this. But for me it's the sound. I really don't know how to say it. I can speak another language, with a different accent or whatever, but my voice is the same, you know what I mean? : P

Yes, I think I understand what you mean. :)

Yes, I understand when it's about technology and stuff, but in different occasions I don't like it at all. You hear those people putting english words everywhere to look more international and cool. And all I can't think is just: oh, come on, speak your own language, you're ridiculous! :laugh:

Dialects seem to be dying in everywhere :sad: . It happens also here. Lot of peopple also moves around and interacts with people from all over the country all the time, so it gets mixed more and more. Certain old words are forgotten, when "Finglish" (new words and way to talk in Finnish is ispired by English words) is getting more daily. Esprecially technical or internet slang is almost solely based on English.

It's the same in German, we call it "Denglisch". I'm often annoyed by it, since most of the time you could just say what you want to say in German, without slipping in English words here and there. I have to admit I sometimes do it when the English word just comes to me faster than the German one. But if people clearly just do it because it sounds 'cool', then I wish they didn't. With technology it's the same here, too. Almost everything is in English. That's why a lot of old people don't stand a chance to ever learn how to use a computer properly at their age, because not only do they need to learn how to deal with the technical stuff, but they also need to learn English first... doesn't make it exactly easier. Also at train stations, for example, they use a lot of English words for stuff we also have perfectly good German words for. I don't know if that's really necessary.

Amdee

August 28th, 2010, 07:43 AM

Also I think that open approaching to sexual things is for good. I don't mean that products should be advertised to kids with using sex, but open sex education, open discussion around so called "taboos", respect to various ways to express your sexuality etc. is for good. It's not a simple thing to draw the line of what is appropriate and what's not, but in generally speaking I think openess doesn't do any harm. The fact is that people will have sex. There is no such a education or treath to prevend sex between people. What we can do, is give information and options, teach good ways to practise things and prevend negative stuff like unwanted pregnancies and STD's. One option is also not to have sex and it's equally acceptable.

Intertesting statistics from http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=419&Itemid=336

Examples:

The United States’ teen pregnancy rate is over six times that of the Netherlands, almost four times that of Germany, and almost three times that of France.

The United States’ teen birth rate is nine times higher the Netherlands’, nearly six times higher than France’s, and over four times higher than Germany’s.

In the United States, the teen abortion rate is more than twice that of Germany and of the Netherlands.

The percentage of the United States’ adult population that has been diagnosed with HIV or AIDS is six times greater than in Germany, three times greater than in the Netherlands, and one and a half times greater than in France.

etc.

I'm worried how in USA so many people are trying to solve this problem by cutting down the sex education and trying to control it by making contraception more diffiucult and offer selibacy as an only option. I personally don't think it will lead into anything good.

Luckily there are also smart people understanding this differently :smile:

Anyway, physical side is only one side in sexuality, so if being correct, there should be studies of emotional & social affects of sexuality as well. I'm too lazy to start to search for them now, though.

annalein

August 28th, 2010, 09:01 AM

That's really interesting, thanks for finding those statistics!! That's actually even worse than I would have guessed, tbh. Just goes to show that you cannot solve a problem by simply not talking about it. Sex is a natural thing, and it's nothing bad, so I don't even see where these double standards come from. I blame the church (and I don't mean christianity, just the church as an institution) for a lot of that, but I won't go into that further because a lot of people might feel offended. But I just think it's very important not to treat sex as if it was wrong or unnatural. We have sex education at schools in 6th grade, 9th grade and sometimes even some 'basics' in primary school. And if you look at the statistics, it pays off. And it's not just the schools, but also youth magazines and stuff. While I'm not a great fan of 'Bravo' in general (because their a little liberal with their facts imo), I have to say that they contribute a lot to teenagers' sex education. You can send questions in and they answer them, there are 'first time' stories, pics of naked men and women (not in a pornographic way, of course!)... and that makes it easier for a lot of kids to first approach this subject.

Anyway, long ramble... quintessence: Yay Europe for open-mindedness! ;)

JustBored

August 28th, 2010, 01:24 PM

I think it's generally really good that in Europe there are no real taboos when it comes to sexuality and everything to do with it. And tbh, I don't think it results in people having more sex or earlier. It's probably the opposite, since things that are forbidden are usually more interesting. And I personally don't think that Germans are all that easy or uninhibited in general. But maybe the open handling of this topic in the media gives that impression?

Oh, no, no, please, don't get me wrong, I didn't mean that.
Now, I don't know... We are more or less the same age, it's just something I remember, when I was a teenager. It is possible that, when I was younger, Italy was more conservative about it, and people from north Europe in general were a "breath of fresh air" at the time! :P

:laugh: I wasn't sure about this expression... look what I've found...

http://oxfordparavia.it/lemmaIta31145

Tom is like a breath of fresh air... :laugh: See? I'm right!

Yes, I think I understand what you mean. :)

:D

JustBored

August 28th, 2010, 01:28 PM

...
Anyway, physical side is only one side in s.exuality, so if being correct, there should be studies of emotional & social affects of s.exuality as well. I'm too lazy to start to search for them now, though.

That would be great! Really. The emotional side is even more important, in any case, even for s.ex with no feelings involved. I mean, your owm mind balance is very important to live s.exuality in a good way.

...
I blame the church (and I don't mean christianity, just the church as an institution) for a lot of that, but I won't go into that further because a lot of people might feel offended.

I agree.
At the same time, I'm a little shocked to see so many young young girls start their se.xual activity so early, and I blame their parents for that, they didn't have a proper education in the first place, and it almost seems the they use s.ex to get what they want... It shouldn't be like that. They are gonna regret it, sooner or later... :(

This forum is prude! Forbidden forbidden forbidden... :mad:

annalein

August 28th, 2010, 01:35 PM

Oh, no, no, please, don't get me wrong, I didn't mean that.
Now, I don't know... We are more or less the same age, it's just something I remember, when I was a teenager. It is possible that, when I was younger, Italy was more conservative about it, and people from north Europe in general were a "breath of fresh air" at the time! :P

:laugh: I wasn't sure about this expression... look what I've found...

http://oxfordparavia.it/lemmaIta31145

Tom is like a breath of fresh air... :laugh: See? I'm right!

:laugh: Hahaha, how cool is that, they even now Tom in dictionaries! ;)

And no, don't worry, I didn't take your comment personally or anything! I just don't see it myself. You know, the people here aren't like super open about their sexuality, they're 'normal', I'd say. Now it can either be that I just don't see it because I live here and grew up with how we are, or it really is just the image other countries have of us. Like Amdee said, Germany seems to be exporting a lot of kinky porn, that must leave an impression of a very openly sexual bunch of people, I guess?

annalein

August 28th, 2010, 01:41 PM

That would be great! Really. The emotional side is even more important, in any case, even for s.ex with no feelings involved. I mean, your owm mind balance is very important to live s.exuality in a good way.

That's true!

I agree.
At the same time, I'm a little shocked to see so many young young girls start their se.xual activity so early, and I blame their parents for that, they didn't have a proper education in the first place, and it almost seems the they use s.ex to get what they want... It shouldn't be like that. They are gonna regret it, sooner or later... :(

This forum is prude! Forbidden forbidden forbidden... :mad:

Do you mean in Italy (or Europe in general) or in America? Cause I think a lot of girls are having sex at too early an age here, too. I don't think you need to have sex at 12, really, but that's just my opinion, no offense to anyone who did have sex at 12. ;) But still, I think it's better that they have sex at an early age and know what they're doing and how to protect themselves (not all of them, unfortunately...), than have sex at an early age anyway, even though it's "forbidden", and have no idea whatsoever how it works and what the risks are.