Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Learning German

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I have wanted to go abroad and take some German classes. I have heard that in Austria they speak a more pure form. Any German speakers out there? I am interested in your feedback. I am considering Vienna but am open to any and all suggestions. Thank You

hi there, sorry, absolutly wrong. Those guys in Austria do something "near" the bavarian dialect. The "pure" German is about in the region surround Hannover. But if You have classes there will be no difference. have fun Gar

The purest german is spoken in the north around Hamburg (the german equivalent of Parisian French). however like french, educational institutions generally teach the 'pure',ideal form, avoiding dialects (such as you would find in austria, switzerland, and other parts of germany)

Thank you for responding, I am going to investigate some schools. I cannot wait as I have always have wanted to go to Germany.

Have a look at the Goethe Institutes (situated in many German cities) - they are quite expensive, but I believe they are very highly thought of. See http://www.goethe.de/i/eniindex.htm Having said that, when I was in Germany I took a 2-week "holiday course" with the Sprachzentrum Eine Welt in Goettingen - more of the cultural immersion and trips to places of interest than an academic course, although we ended up knowing quite a bit of grammar too! http://www.sprachzentrum.de/

Hi Patricia, the best german is spoken between Hamburg and Hannover. Es pecially in austria and bavaria a very rare german is spoken. Even germans find it hard to understand. So you will be definitely on the safe side to learn accurate "Deutsch" with the Goethe institute ! Best regards Shain/Germany/Düsseldorf

Nearly all Germans are bidialectal. They grow up speaking a regional dialect in the home and learn "High German" through the media and in school. Those who have made it through the basic educational sequence can use High German, no matter what their regional dialect. They will sound a little different from place to place when they speak High German because of the sound system they acquired as children, but they will use most of the standard High German vocabulary and grammar with you wherever you are. The people in and around Hanover are fortunate in that their regional dialect is very close to High German already, so they don't need to change their speech much when they get to school. The only advantage I see to picking Hanover is that you'll be able to communicate with the uneducated (store clerks, etc., in some parts of the country, may be unintelligible to you if they can only manage their regional dialect) more easily. It's not a matter of "purity" in Hanover or "bastardization" of the language in the other 99.9% of the German-speaking world. Regional dialects are just far more common and diverse than they are in the US. High German isn't "ideal" - it's just a convention for keeping communication going between different regions that would otherwise not understand each other.

I took an 8 week German language course from New York Univeristy and when i got over to Germany, all the native speakers did was laugh at me and my "American German". Might as well just go there speaking English.At least they might try to respect you then.

Is there any use for German other than traveling? I have a daughter who is about to graduate from high school. She has been taking German for the last 6 years. She wants to be a communications major when she goes to college. Any ideas for a communications major so that all these years she has invested in studying German won't go wasted?

Depending on her exact interests, translation is always useful, particularly for work with non-profits, major firms, and in literature.

Avoid the German/Duch border area where they speak Plattdeutsch (low german). To be avoided.

Patricia, central Germany is usually considered the "best" German for the average German spoken in the marketplace. Any reputable school will teach standard high German (Hochdeutsch). Avoid Switzerland. Schweizerdeutsch is unintelligible unless you are a native. Dave, anyone who is bilingual is a step ahead career wise. Your daughter can go into teaching, government service, international business, law, etc. There are lots of options other than "just traveling". Viel Glueck!

Interesting topic and very good answers. German is too hard on my mind because I have to change my whole way of thinking. I am action-oriented and to say the verbs at the end of my thought is just too much!!!

ah, but what about (a) seeing the context before the action happens (b) delayed gratification? (not entirely frivolous points). Also, having gone through irregular verbs in other languages than German, I believe there is a lot to be said for the benefits of learning any foreign language as a mental discipline and as a reminder of different habits of thought and the underlying cultural reasons for them..

I lived Baden for a while after having studied German from grade school through college. I could hardly understand a word they said down there. One day, there was a vistor from Hamburg whom I understood perfectly. When I told him that I was surprised because couldn't understand anyone in Baden, he said, "Don't worry, I can't either." I know some Swiss people at home. They are even worse