deutsch anyone??

DEUTSCH, ANYONE ?
the "simplification" (?) of the german language that has been going on for a number of years has been challenged in the german federal court ! (yes, germans take their language seriously). on a number of occasions i have seen serious debates of these simplifications in the websites of german newspapers and magazines. earlier this month i read that the german newspaper "die welt" and the magazine "der spiegel" have decided to no longer follow the revised rules, but go back to the "old' rules - i imagine that might be the end of a modernized german language. in the meantime you can check this website for up-to-date rules of the german language >>> RECHTSCHREIBEREFORM

DEUTSCH, ANYONE ?
here is the latest report from the german newspaper "die welt" dealing with DIE RECHTSCHREIBEREFORM >>>DEUTSCHE SPRACHE, SCHWERE SPRACHE !

Deutsch anyone? Old or new?
hamburger, I read a bit of both your references thanks to the translator. To say this situation is a quandary to me is an understatement. Since I am not German it is not for me to comment on its merits or lack of them for Germans. Obviously whoever began to consider such a change in their "orthography" was was taken very seriously by others.

Because the changes were introduced into schools in 1998 and from what I understand are still evolving it creates some problems. For example, I certainly would not particularly enjoy my grandchildren correcting my speech or my writing. I can only imagine what it would be like trying to help them with their spelling and writing homework with a new orthography in progress.

Languages in any Western Country are always changing. While I was thinking of this I glanced at an old Roget's Thesaurus (1933) and many of the words are no longer in common usage. Words come and go without most of us even realizing it or worrying about it. On the other hand some of the Germans believe and probably for good reasons that other countries are having a large impact on the German language. Not only through the media but by immigration as well. They may very well be concerned that at the rate things are going the German language is in danger of being diluted if not swallowed up.

At any rate it is a generational thing. I doubt too many elder Germans are going to worry about it to any great extent. Young children will probably have a few problems if the "simplification" keeps evolving. The ones most effected may be the young adults, the working people. Plenty of room for contradictions there.

Myself, as a beginning learner of German? I'll just take what comes. I am certainly not going to torture myself attempting to learn parallel rules; the old and the new.

Viel Spass dabei wuensche ich Ihnen, Herr Webb.

I think most Germans use both - the old and the new rules. That's what I do... Whatever comes to mind first. And if I am writing on the computer, of course, the computer knows the new rules and shows me my faults :-) But there are just some words that look soooo strange written by the new rules - no, I am not adopting that.

exactly.

I can write both orthography rules. So it doesn't make any difference to me, whatever will be the default rules.

DEUTSCH , ANYONE ?
i went throught a similar experience in my early schoolyears. when i entered school (i won't tell you when, but you may guess ... ) SUETTERLIN SCHRIFT was what was being tought in school. after two years SUETTERLIN was dropped in hamburg, and schools adopted the NORMAL SCHRIFT, pretty well like regular script. i claim to this day, that the switch in script ruined my handwriting. i remember that after coming to canada and going to night-school to improve my english, i drove the poor teachers batty. of course, i had a good excuse for my bad handwriting ... being forced to change from one script to another was the cause of my poor handwriting ! (just amagine what would have happened if i had come to canada only knowing SUETTERLIN. i sure can sympathise with immigrants coming from china , egypt etc who not only have to learn a new spoken language but also a new script. ) if anyone wants to see what SUETTERLIN looks like, here it is >>>SUETTERLIN SCHRIFT

very interesting, thanks for the link.

hamburger: very interesting link. I can actually read Kurrentschrift better than I can read Suetterlinschrift. The latter I find almost incomprehensible. I think Germans are still having problems with their handwriting because of the orthographic changes over the past century -- or, at least, that has been my personal impression. I once had a project where, in connection with a lawsuit, I had to read hundreds of pages of handwritten notes, memoranda, letters, etc. auf Deutsch. My conclusion: Germans write funny.

joe : would you accept it if i would call a german's handwriting "distinct" ? THANKS ! i find that with a touch of arthritis in my hands it's best if i print - but mrs h still claims that often she can't figure out what i wrote on the shopping list; perhaps i should have become a doctor. hbg

it is indeed, but that's the unique...





probably (kidding)

Well, perhaps we can settle on "fremd." That has the advantage of a dual meaning: both "strange" and "foreign."

DEUTSCH, ANYONE ?
i recommend this "assembly of webpages" for anyone interested in the german language, whether for serious study or just for fun. give it try, you may get hooked (just don't blame me !). hbg >>> ALLES UEBER DIE DEUTSCHE SPRACHE

Thanks hbg

I hope you enjoy your cruise, btw- sounds just great.

McTag

anything has nothing to do with regelmäßig

It's a kind of joke/pun in German, Northline: 'Ich mache regelmäßig nichts#Ich mache nichts regelmäßig'

... and welcome to A2K!

welcome to a2k

Was ist aber das "nichts"?

"Nichts kann mich aufhalten" , heißt also das das Nichts ihn aufhalten kann.
Somit hat auch das "Nichts" eine eigene Betätigungsmöglichkeit

welcome , northline ! "trinke ihn maesssig aber regelmaessig ! " (underberg magenbittern = stomach bitters). hbg

should mean maessig , but maybe it will be right. Because of the orthography fight :-)

thok, i think i'll that start my own reform of DEUTSCHE RECHTSCHREIBUNG ! (we used to say in hamburg - where the inhabitants had their own rules about RECHTSCHREIBUNG : "wenn du nich weest, ob mir or mich, snack plattduetsch denn versnacks di nich "). hbg