Kultur 6

Guten Tag!

I found the first two articles - the one about the popular German tabloid and the one about the proper etiquette of knocking and entering nach Deutschland - were the two most interesting.

I guess I wasn't fully informed about the extremes of certain American and British tabloids - I knew they were just full of useless celebrity gossipy shit, but I had no idea any living soul actually read them. I was absolutely shocked to find out about the vastness of the German tabloid's audience, and how large of a role it had in the country's mass media industry. Not only did it contain all the gossipy and playboy bullshit of a standard tabloid, but it also included actual political opinion and news stories that people actually respected and trusted. Amazing. I was slightly confused, though, whether the tabloid itself was supposed to be satirical or not. The snippet about its motto being "we form your opinions, so you don't have to." This seems sarcastic, as if it's poking fun at the reliability and gullibility (not sure if that's a word) of people who take everything from the mass media at face value, but I have also heard that Europeans (or maybe it was just Italians) neither understand nor use sarcasm. It reminds me of programs like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central, which are satirical but also include relevant information.

The article about the closed doors and knocking was one of the most intriguing Kultur articles, in my opinion. It made German culture seem pretty intimidating, as if everyone wanted to be left alone and if you bothered to ask anyone for something they would be incredibly annoyed. Oh well, just something you have to deal with I guess. There's a stereotype that Americans smile too much, and maybe they are just as annoyed as Germans are with people but they just don't put forth the effort to hide it. I don't know, maybe not. An awful lot of generalizations here, which is never good when learning/talking about a different culture - that's how different cultures distance themselves from each other.

Auf wiedersehen!

AMD 6

For my final AMD - the AMD of all AMDs - I watched an episode on Looney Toons called Holzfäller-Hase, which means "Lumberjack Hare". In the episode, Bugs Bunny finds himself in the territory of Paul Bunyon, seeing a huge axe labeling 'Paul Bunyon' stuck in a tree trunk. Bugs then encounters Herr Bunyon's gigantic dog, who is roughly eight billion times the size of Bugs. As always, Bugs Bunny just barely escapes what seems to be an impending death.

Easily my favorite aspect of the episode was that Bugs kept breaking into some catchy song every time he tried to go about his lumberjack business. I would be very curious to compare the English version of the episode to this. In the episode auf Deutsch, Bugs' song rhymed, which means they couldn't have translated it literally from English. It would be very interesting to see how closely the interpreters were able to keep the meaning of the song while maitaining the rhyming pattern.

I was surprised with how easily I was able to understand the dialogue. Though I didn't always know the vocabulary, I could tell what words they were saying and see them spelled out in my mind. At the beginning of the course, I read somewhere on the website or syllabus or something that the German language was spelled exactly like it sounded, and having been exposed to all or most of the different sounds and syllables of the language at this point in my studies, I can confirm this. Not that I was skeptical before.

I know I'm going to have Bug Bunny's little working tune stuck in my head for at least two days, but I don't mind because it's a damn catchy tune. At the end of the episode, Bugs and the collosal canine become friends, which added a very nice touch. Another great scene was when a regular sized moose appears after the giant dog blows the horn, and then takes one look at the dog and runs away (it loses its comedic value when converted to text, but just take my word for it). So far, I've watched a three episodes of Bugs Bunny auf Deutsch, and I've thoroughly enjoyed each of them. This may become a regular thing for me, even outside of AMDs.

Auf wiedersehen!

Kultur 5

I especially enjoyed reading about the physical toughness it takes to walk the streets of Deutschland. Whenever I bump into anyone I'm always quick to apologize, but I like the idea of just ignoring it too. To me, it's a sign of not really giving a scheise and feeling like you have to suck up to people after accidentally bumping into them rather than just being rude about it. It seems like the accidental bump doesn't require an apology because it is just implied. I think Americans can sometimes be overly sensitive to apologizing about trivial things. Most of the time, when two strangers even slightly bump into each other here in the States, they will both apologize to each other like three or four times in a row - as if it's some kind of contest to see who can be the most apologetic and get the last apology in (in my experience, women tend to do this more than men).

I also enjoyed reading the article about Deutsch Rock-chasing. Sehr interessant! I can hardly imagine a world where it's up to the women to make the first advance - what a huge difference from the United States. Here, the guys are always the predators. I wouldn't doubt for a second that some American women have gone their whole lives without ever having to buy their own drinks. It seems almost more respectful in a way to leave it up to the girls to make the first move. It's kind of a mindset of "If she wants to talk to you, she will. So give her some space." Whereas, American guys (and definitely Italian guys) are absolutely relentless in trying to win over a girl's attention. I wonder if it's the opposite in Deutschland, where the girls are that aggressive. You definitely don't see that kind of aggression in American girls - unless she's an ex. After reading this article, my chances of moving to Germany after I graduate are pretty high. Watch out, Madchen.

Auf wiedersehen!

AMD 5

For this AMD, I watched an episode of The Bugs Bunny Show called "Lust auf fremde Federn". By my best guess, the title means something along the lines of 'The Desire for Other Feathers'. I was really glad to have stumbled across an episode of Looney Tunes auf Deutsch - I was looking for a Deutscher Looney Tunes episode for the last AMD, but to no avail (my last 2 or 3 AMDs and the majority of my essays have been about Dirk Nowitzki, so I'm glad Dirk will finally get this week off). I loved watching Looney Tunes as a kid (I still do, too), and I think it's a perfect subject for an AMD because of the cartoon's simplicity, entertainment value, and overall awesomeness.

There are two separate episodes in "Lust auf fremde Federn". In the first, Bugs and Daffy are in the mountains during winter. Daffy is, of course, trying to shoot Bugs with a 12-gauge shotgun, but Bugs has plenty of tricks of his sleeve to avoid this fate. Bugs Bunny always ends up tricking Daffy into injuring himself in some way. At one point, Bugs gets Daffy yell really loud and cause an avalanche to fall upon himself. There are also multiple instances in which Daffy comes face to face with a/some hungry Bear(s). In the second episode, Daffy Duck disguises himself as a rooster (there is a cash-prize contest for 'best rooster' somewhere), and ends up trying to escape an owl father and his son, who want to eat him for dinner.

At one point, Daffy Duck is blasted with his own shotgun due to Bugs Bunny's well-placed carrot in the barrel. Daffy then turns to the camera and shouts a very short, angry sentence. At first, all I could hear was "Ohhhh ich (something) ihn!" and the something sort of sounded like 'mag' (and if I know anything about Deutsch and Daffy Duck's general attitude towards Bugs Bunny, I highly doubt that 'er mag ihn.' So my first reaction was Daffy was saying 'I hate him!', so I looked up 'to hate' which is hassen. But after watching the scene again, it was obvious that he wasn't saying 'ich hass ihn!' After giving it some more thought, I figured he must be saying 'Ich mach ihn!' which would be the German idiomatic expression for 'I'll get him'! I think that it's important to keep in mind that every language has it's own set of idioms that cannot be translated literally. For example, when someone says 'I'll get him' they mean that they intend to harm him, rather than to literally receive him.

(The part where Daffy accidentally shoots himself and says 'Ich mach ihn!' is about 3 minutes into Part 1)

I was also encouraged that I was consistently able to recognize sentence forms, despite not always understanding the vocabulary used. I noticed the characters using the conversational past quite often, with the ge- prefix of the past participle at the end of the sentence being a giveaway. Though I was usually lost with the longer sentences, it was easy to pick out short, simple phrases such as 'schone traume!' meaning 'sweet dreams!'

I think it's important to watch television shows or movies when learning a foreign language. For one, it is comparable to practicing real-life listening comprehension. Also, I think it is essential to listen to as many different voices or accents as possible. Learning in a classroom environment where the teacher is purposely speaking slower and clearer to be understood can make it a bit of a shock when out in the real Deutsch-speaking world where there are all kinds of different speaking tones and speeds. Listening to all kinds of speakers is a huge benefit (especially in cartoons, where the voices and accents of the characters are often exaggerated and improper).

Here are parts 1 and 2:

Auf wiedersehen!

Kultur 4

I really enjoy reading these little bits of information about German culture - they're never anything that is absolutely life or death, but they're always essential parts of everyday life that one needs to know if visiting Germany. Also, the articles are really short and to the point, which is always a gut thing.

The article about bikes almost reinforced the whole tight-assed German stereotype, but I thought it was kind of funny. I would be interested to read about how the use of bikes has eliminated problems like traffic and pollution in big cities in Germany compared to American cities. The crossing the street thing had the same effect, it pained me to realize that the Germans might be as uptight as everyone thinks they are. But I don't think they are meaner because of this, I just think it's a difference in culture. I think they have the right idea, too. It seemed to me as if the primary reason for obeying the pedestrian laws was to set a good example for the younger kids to never disregard the law.

The articles about German logic and transportation kind of made me worried about figuring out how to get around when I hopefully go to German in the next couple of years. I've never been good with directions and am somewhat disorganized, so figuring out my way around public transportation has always posed a challenge to me - especially in a foreign country where the employees don't seem too willing to go out of their way to help a confused foreigner.

And I don't even know where to begin with the German nudity article. Just wow.

Gute Nacht!

AMD 4

Guten Tag!

For this AMD, I chose to watch an interview on youtube of Dirk Nowitzki in 1997, before he played in the NBA. Dirk was drafted into the NBA the following year, but around this time he had been contemplating whether to play college basketball in the United States, or continue playing in his hometown in Wurzburg.

The two-part video had English subtitles, which I think made it more beneficial to me. Although at times it was difficult to not just read the subtitles without following the German speaking, it was a lot easier to follow sentences when you have some kind of idea of what to listen for. The big gold earring hanging from Dirk's left ear was also distracting (I love the guy, but I couldn't help but lose a little respect for him).

It was way easier to pick out phrases I recognized when the interviewer spoke - he seemed to have much better pronunciation than Dirk, who is kind of mumbly. I also picked up a lot of genau's in there, and just the basic nouns and and contractions besides that. I'd imagine that the other nouns, verbs, and adjectives are mostly too advanced for a 101 student.

Here is Part 1 of the interview:
(note the conspicuous, lone golden earring)

Auf wiedersehen!

AMD 3

Guten Tag,

So for my AMD I originally intended to find an interview with Leonardo DiCaprio auf Deutsch, but I ended up stumbling upon a trailer for one of his popular movies 'Blood Diamond' and watched a few clips from that movie.

The clips from the movie went mostly way over my head (except for picking out a few common words here or there) but the German narrator in the trailer is much easier to understand. This is probably because he is speaking much more slowly, probably for dramatic effect. I was able to pick out certain phrases, like:

-Was bist du?
-Und Blut
-Er heiBt
-ein schmuggler (not sure on spelling, I'm assuming it means 'smuggler' based on sound and context of movie)

I think it would be very beneficial to sit down and watch an entire movie auf Deutsch, especially if it is one I've already seen (in English, of course). Having already seen the movie, it is much easier to follow along with the dialogue since you know 'what they should be saying', rather than trying to simultaneously translate and follow the film's plot as well.

With movies, you get to practice that listening comprehension within the natural speech of native speakers (which doesn't always come across in the textbook) and you get that whole 'real life' context to help you figure other things out. For example, a person's actions in a scene or their surroundings could tip off some vocabulary that otherwise wouldn't have been understood. It is also a great way to pick up on slang or everyday expressions that don't translate literally from English. For those who make it their goal to become fluent in a language, I'd imagine watching foreign movies would be a very effective, though at first frustrating, way to become more naturally accustomed to the language.

Auf wiedersehen!

Kultur 3

Guten Tag!

I especially enjoyed reading the two articles about German beer. I have always been fascinated in the role alcohol plays in culture and society, and there are definitely some huge differences in the way Americans drink and the way Germans (and all Europeans, really) drink.

Living on a college campus, you come to observe a lot of things about the way people consume alcohol. At U of M, the social scene really is centered around alcohol consumption. Underage drinking is everywhere, and some people really take it too far and put themselves in danger. With all of the drinking that goes on here, one might be inclined to think that the general attitude around here is 'you have to drink to have fun'. I mean, what else would you do with your free time?

Having spent a couple of months in Italy this past summer, I can say that a stereotype of Americans (American girls especially) is that all they like to do is get drunk. For young Italians, the social scene is quite different. Most of the night clubs in Florence were only occupied by American tourists (and the creepy older locals looking to prey on drunk American girls). A major difference in Italian society, however, is the lack of a drinking age. Since alcohol is available to all, maybe it just doesn't have the same luster or appeal as it does to underage Americans. But I doubt that if the drinking age in the States were lifted people would stop drinking so damn much. Very interesting read!

AMD 2

Guten Tag!

So I watched the music video for "99 Luftballons" by Nena, a German pop group from the 80's. It's a pretty popular song, and there's also an English version of the recording by the same artist that was a big hit in the States. Luft auf Deutsch actually means "air", so the title literally translates into something like "99 Air balloons".

Upon doing some heavy scholarly research (Wikipedia) I found out that this song was actually a protest song. The song was first inspired when the band's guitarist saw a large group of balloons being released into the air at a Rolling Stones concert in the early 80's. "99 Luftballons" tells a story about a group of red balloons (99, to be exact) being released into the atmosphere and being mistaken by the Soviets for some sort of military attack by the Americans. Rather than confirming that it is indeed an attack before they make any major decisions, the Soviets of course launch a full-scale nuclear attack on the United States, who in turn counters with another nuclear attack. The song's lyrics end with the narrator standing in the rubble of some city, and releasing another balloon into the air.

There are a variety of reasons that this song is so fascinating to me. For one, it is auf Deutsch. But it also has a historical and political meaning behind it, and I've long been fascinated in the relationship between history and music. On top of all that though, it's an all-around catchy song, and who doesn't love a catchy 80's pop tune? Nobody, that's who.

Auf wiedersehen!

P.s. The music video isn't exactly a masterpiece, but here it is anyway:

Kultur 2

Guten Tag!

I found the article on the staring Germans to be very intriguing, I actually went back and read it again more carefully. I've always been really interested in the small, day-to-day differences of different cultures. For example, studying in Italy this past spring, I got the chance to observe some pretty interesting daily interactions between the Italians. For example, Italian strangers greet each other a lot more often than we do in the U.S., and they also stand a lot closer to each other when they talk. I came to the conclusion that things are just different, and you just have to adapt. The social norms aren't worse, just different (although I will say the Italian men are pretty bad about harassing women, but most of the time it's harmless. It's not like there are way more reported sexual assaults or anything, I'm sure that statistics are pretty similar).

That's why I loved reading the staring article - it hits the nail right on the head when it says that this is just the way that German culture is and you just have to get used to it and not be offended. I think that's the hardest thing for people: growing up in a culture where something like staring a stranger down is rude kind of conditions your brain to think that it is very offensive. But for the Germans, who have lived with the German culture their whole lives, they have been conditioned to think that it isn't a big deal. Such an interesting topic.

Auf wiedersehen!

Matt

AMD 1

Guten Tag!

So I watched a 10 minute interview of Dirk Nowitzki from back in February. Most of it went way over my head, but it was very encouraging that I was able to pick out some words that I recognized, even with how quickly they were talking. Some of the words I recognized were ich, Deutschland, und, sein, kommen, möchten, guten fragen, and a few others. I was also able to pick out the numbers fairly easily. With enough practice and working with vocabulary, I feel like I would be able to follow the interview pretty well. I thought it was also very interesting to hear the words that Deutsch borrowed from English, which were mostly basketball terms or sports terms.


Dirk has always been one of my favorite players in the NBA, because Dirk ist gut. He's got a lot of class and he's really down to earth, and I love the fact that he's deutsche. The interview was from back in February, about 5 months before he led the Dallas Mavericks to a championship and won the MVP. Wish I knew what he was saying, because I think it would be pretty interesting to hear. After all, no one really expected Dallas to make it to the finals, let alone win it all.


I'm really happy that Dirk finally won a championship. He has had a very long career and has always come up just short of winning a title, and he deserved one more than anybody in the league. So way to go Dirk, Sie ist gut. You have really made Deutschland proud, großer Mann.

Kultur1

Hallo!

It was interesting reading this article for me, as I am a German-American myself. I had always sort of wondered why the German heritage wasn't celebrated quite as much as others: Hispanics, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Italian-Americans, etc. Even coming from a very German family, it always seemed to me like there wasn't any German American culture. We don't really do anything related to Germany in my family other than having bratwursts for dinner about every week or so (which I think has more to do with the taste than the ties to Deutschland).

Combining the contents of  this article with a little bit of my family history, a lot of things started to make sense. My dad used to tell my about how my great-grandparents had come over from Germany speaking about 3 or 4 other languages in addition to German. But being a foreigner brought a lot of discrimination in those days, so English was the only language passed down to future generations. After all, what better way was there to pin yourself as a foreigner than to start speaking another language? I grew up in the same town in southwest Michigan where my dad and grandpa grew up in, and grew up attending the same Lutheran church that they both attended. Years ago, they used to hold services in German, and my great-grandparents would sit in the congregation and make fun of the pastor's poor German accent. I guess the Lutheran church was their method of staying connected with their culture, seeing as bringing out into the open would put them at a major disadvantage in American society back then.

It's a shame that German immigrants, and all immigrants for that matter, felt so unwelcome to continue their traditions and customs in the United States. In fact, kids were taught to be ashamed of being foreigner. My Italian teacher, who has been teaching Italian for about 30 years, told us that back when she started teaching, whenever she would do an exercise where the students were supposed to give their cultural background in Italian they all said they were American because their parents had taught them not to be proud of their heritage. Now, she says that students are more than happy to share their ancestry. I think this shows that we have come a long way socially as a nation. Hopefully, we German-Americans can start to revive a sense of pride in our German heritage here in the United States.