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German language
German is undoubtedly one of the most important languages of the European Union and is the mother tongue of about 120 million people between in Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy and Denmark.History and dialects
In the past and up to the time of the Hasburg Empire (which included vast areas in Western Europe), Germany was divided in many regions each with its own dialect. Standard German was the language of business and commerce and in some areas it was learnt as a foreign language. This makes us understand how different were the dialects one with another, sometimes there were mutually unintelligible. The first form of standardisation was carried out by writers, who tried to work with a language that could be understood by the greatest number of people. Later it came the Bible translation by Luther, which in some regions had a list of words translated into the regional dialect. The Church rejected this translation and many versions followed, going along with the changes that gradually were affecting the language.At the end of the 19th century, German began to spread as the language of education, thanks to the numerous universities that were opened not only in Europe but also in Northern America. The subsequent step in the standardisation of German came in 1870, when the brothers Grimm started writing the first dictionary (that was completed in 1960) and a few years later with the Duden handbook, a precious source of information on grammar and orthography. The evolution of German went on until the end of the 20th century, as the reform of the spelling was concluded only in 1998.
Nowadays, Hochdeutsch (Standard German) is the language of business and tourism and it is divided in many regional dialects that are spoken in different area inside Germany and in the different German-speaking countries. For instance, we can distinguish between Swiss and Austrian German and the German which is spoken in Northern Germany. These different dialects use different words or the same words with a different meaning, as "Eine Mücke" is a "house fly" in Austrian German but a mosquito in Northern Germany. Due to this numerous variations and changes, German has been defined as a pluricentric language.
Grammar
German is a fascinating language but also a difficult one. Its grammar is going to drive you crazy...German partly derives from Latin (that as for grammar is already quite complicated) but, different from Latin, its nouns inflect not only in their ending, but also in the stem. This causes trouble for learners who might have problems with conjugations, if you add to this the fact that nouns also inflect according to four cases and that there are more than 200 irregular verbs...if you can't get your head round this, keep calm and take a deep breath, because if you knew about the adjectives...each adjective goes with an article..if the article corresponds to the dictionary enter (i.e. der, die, respectively the masculine and feminine for the definitive article"a"), then the adjective ends in "e"; if the article does not correspond to the dictionary enter (des, den), the adjective ends in "en"..but there is a third possibility: that there is no article in front of the adjective..in this case, you have to look at the gender case...this was only a brief introduction to German grammar...we hope you didn't lose your motivation in studying the language...good luck!!!German Slang
After having bored you with grammar, here you can find some funny slang expressions, quite useful if you want to speak German with a certain attitude...If in germany you meet the woman of your dreams, it could be necessary to bring her out for dinner more than once...careful with money..soon you will find in a difficult situation...
- Ebbe - low tide: In meinem Geldbeutel herscht Ebbe - My finances are at a pretty low ebb at the moment
Many students at University might say this:
- Gas geben - To step on the gas; make an effort: Der Kursus oedet mich an, aber nun muss ich Gas geben, damit ich die Pruefung bestehe - The course bores me, but now I´ve to hustle to get the exam
This is the typical prhase a dad would say to his son:
- Chaot; chaotisch - chaotin; chaotic: In deinem Zimmer sieht es chaotisch aus. - Your room looks chaotic
Did you know that German summers can be quite hot? You can say that something is extreme in the following way:
- Irre - extremely: Es war irre heiss, aber wir hatten eine wahnsinnig schoene Zeit - It was extremely hot, but we`d a terrific time
Tell your german friends this phrase..it would sound nice to them:
- Kabaeuschen - little house/room: Kommst du mit auf mein Kabaeuschen? - You want to come to my place?