Most German is a bit of a tongue twister for native English speakers, I think. However, you have to start with the standard phrases and "Excuse me" should come right right after "please" and "thank you" for tourists with many questions. Following those, of course, are "Weizen, bitte" and "Wie sagt man das auf Deutsch?"

Personally I don't speak German anywhere near as well as I would like - I feel silly even using the phrase "speak German" when referring to my skill level. I have a couple of university courses, 12 or so trips trying to speak it whenever I am able, and a desire to pronounce what I do know correctly in order to make up for the butchered grammar and lack of fluency. Apparently I am a notch above native English flight crews working the Canada - Germany flights in pronunciation according to that same German friend.Someday I'll check in to the Goethe-Institut and see how far I can take it.

Do you mean you say "sorry", in English, to get someone's attention?

In our state I rarely hear a woman addressed as Miss or Mrs. These days it's mostly, "Hey, dude."

Pegontheroad,

Yes, folks here in Germany refer to me as "Frau X" even though I'm not married. When I first got here, I tried and tried to get them to acknowledge my single status, but it was a total no-go. I finally got it.

s

Aramis: Ausgezeichnet as in "ein ausgezeichnetes Wort" means excellent, exquisite.

Ausgezeichnet can also mean that an award or medal has been awarded.

Weihenstephaner Bier is both ;-)

Signed
Frau Grrr (never was Fräulein Grrr!)

Aramis, please keep using "ausgezeichnet", because it is really a good word and still pretty common.

Great job here, Cowboy!

But > To attract waitstaff's (or anyone else's) attention, a very common "German" word would be "Sorry". I don't think so. Here you really must use the German word "Entschuldigung."

That's what confused Aramis, too, I guess.

Aramis asked:
<i>Do you mean you say "sorry", in English, to get someone's attention?</i>

Yes, indeed.
It's as widespread in use as "okay/OK", "live", "jet (plane)", "bye" or others.
All common AE swear words are also very common in Germany. Probably more common.

The younger your audience is, the more you can spice your German with English phrases without losing your listeners. "Yep/yup, wtf, etc." have also received their linguistic green card - at least for ages 35 and younger.


In fact, the most common "mistakes" (as those are not all real mistakes) English-speaking visitors make are:

1. You pay a lot of attention to grammar.
You hardly lose the gist of your message if you twist articles, pronouns, and so on.
As most of our grammar is either random or superfluous (usually both), it takes a lot of effort to really kill the message. Few nouns need the proper article to avoid confusion.
If you know some German, you will probably not say "Das Frau ist mit das Auto zu das Kirche gefahren um das Pastor zu treffen." - which is gramatically terribly wrong, but 100pct understandable.

2. You pay a lot of attention to the formal/informal Sie/du issue.
Compared with other languages or countries which have the same "system", e.g. France, it is now much more common to switch from formal "Sie" to informal "du" much quicker than in the past - especially when talking with people under 50.
Especially in dialects like Bavarian, the informal you is the default option. And if you visited friends and they had other friends over, it would be common that neither of you would be presented in the formal "Sie".
As a rule of thumb: Whenever it is common in AE to be addressed as "Sir" or "Madam", you would be using "Sie".
In all other cases, it depends on the situation. With "Sie" you err on the safe side, but it does not always have to be the best option.

3. You try to avoid any English words at all.
In fact, there must be thousands of English words now which have been assimilated. Often technical/ computer-related terms, like DVD player, motherboard, screen (never used for cinema, though), sh*tstorm, download, Indian Summer, and many more.
In addition, there are more English words you will have a hard time to understand as a native English speaker - the infamous "handy" for cell/mobile phone only being the most obnoxious example. "City" as synonym for "city center" or "downtown" is in the same league. You will encounter more when you travel with German Rail.

BUT:
After you spent so many brain cells to get the grammar right, there are none left for pronounciation.
Now this is really the most efficient way to mutilate your message. Short vowels/long vowels, the dreaded umlauts, a sharp s or a soft s. Where is the difference between Weg and weg?
When phrases have been borrowed more recently from other languages, they usually get pronounced as in the other language. For example: a Caffé Latte is never a kafaay lataay, a glass of Rioja needs the Spanish "j" - and if you don't stick to the English pronounciation of L.A. no one will guess that you are from Los Angeles.

So, in the words of Ms Nuland:
F--- the grammar!
But learn proper pronounciation.

Finally: If you don't know certain phrases in German, and need to resort to your mother tongue, it is always a good idea to use the most simple English possible.

Quite a tirade -- sorry! :-)

And, as ingo's assessment of "sorry" shows there can be different perceptions of what is common and what is not among native speakers.
I'm not really a linguist, but I guess that many factors can play a role like the language of your peers or at the workplace, personal preferences, metropolitan vs rural living, regional preferences (East/West), and so on.

Being the language of the most efficient country on the face of this planet, German has a tendency to assimilate foreign words that are shorter and more "on the spot". Aside from assimilating words that make you sound more wordly - usually from English.

As in the case of the East German/ Russian datscha (say: dat-sha) which designated in just two syllables a house (or something in between a small house and a cabin) on a usually small property where you spend your weekends (or evenings in summer), with or without a garden or small field for crops. The more old-fashioned phrase Schrebergarten which was used in former West Germany was more restrictive in its meaning so the use of datscha in no longer confined to the territory of the former East Germany.

But "Entschuldigen Sie bitte" or "Entschuldigung" is NEVER wrong, of course. And if you kept using it as your default phrase, you would never sound odd.

Thanks Cowboy, that makes me feel better!

By the time I remember the gender of the noun, fix the case of the preposition, align the article of the object, figure where to put the verb (independent clause or dependent clause or past tense) . . . I'm speechless.

Well, the Bavarians in my corner do a good job of understanding me, and some have even complimented me on my German. I know, though, that what they mean is,

"Your German is abominable, but you are at least somewhat understandable, and that's better than many Americans. Keep trying."

My German teacher is a stickler for pronunciation, and at every lesson, we spend 15 to 20 minutes reading German text. Not for understanding but for pronunciation. I still have fits over ö though ä isn't quite as bad.

Anyway, your thoughts here make me feel much better.

s

Oh, and next week we are staring the declination of adjectives. (Lesson #17 of Berliner Platz). I'm full of fear. Any tips, Cowboy & Ingo????

Thanks again!

s

My tip is: start learning Polish, and you will never complain about German declinations again;-)

Declination of adjectives is not that fearful, the forms are alike for all three genders in Nominativ, Genitiv and Dativ, only in Akkusativ Singular the masculine differs from the other two. There are but two varieties - either with an -e or with an -en in the end.

Thumbs up, keep going;-)

>>>My German teacher is a stickler for pronunciation, and at every lesson, we spend 15 to 20 minutes reading German text. Not for understanding but for pronunciation. I still have fits over ö though ä isn't quite as bad.<<<

Ö should not be difficult for Americans. Same sound as in "bird".
ä sound like "bear".

Pronunciation is more important than declinations. You can make yourself understandable even if you mix up genders and cases. Take it easy.

But never say "Fräulein"!

>>>How, if at all, are children addressed (i.e. on their mail) in Germany? <<<

I would omit any form of address. Just write the name:

Laura Schmitz
Bahnhofstraße 17
12345 Musterstadt
Germany

BTW, "ausgezeichnet" is frequently used to indicate it is better than "sehr gut" (very good). Translate it to "excellent", "outstanding" or "distinguished".

Eine ausgezeichnete Mahlzeit - an outstanding meal.
Ein ausgezeichneter Vorschlag - an excellent proposal.

>Ö should not be difficult for Americans. Same sound as in "bird".

Same sound (almost, a bit more closed and clear) as in British pronunciation, but don't gargle it the American way.

And yes, avoid using "Fräulein". Luckily this discriminatory term for unmarried women is more or less extinct.

So glad that quokka could explain it.
I hardly know what an adjective is :-)

If you strive for perfection in pronounciation, the biggest obstable is the American "R".

"Bird" is a good example for ö.
But to get real ö sound, you should practice to say "bird" several times and gradually phase out the "r" fully - without changing the intonation at all.

My favorite saying in German is "Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof."

For those of you who don't speak German, it means (more or less) "All I understand is 'train station.'" It would be said when reading something complicated and not understanding it.

For some reason, it cracks me up!

I learned the expression, but have seen or heard it (I forget which) only once.

This is GREAT! Thank you, Peg for starting this discussion.

On the other side of the fence, the word my German and Swiss German colleagues have most trouble with is "prize". They routinely use the word "price" when they mean prize, because in German, both are preis.

My favorite misuse of the word was a presentation intro of a woman scientist who had received an award. Fortunately, they let me proof it ahead of time. Without intervention, the intro in the program handed to all the guests would have said

"Just one meeting with this amazing woman tells you she is a lady worth the highest price you could offer!"

:-D