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Saying 555 in German is fun for me to say. But the last word (legal expense insurance) is probably the hardest to pronounce. But, “small Czech matchbox” in German really takes the cake!
@@BuckeyeGirl thank you for "translating" of describing these emojies, because I also see a symbol for each that tells me, it's an unknown emoji, I have two boxes with an X through each of them - and that in thin lines.
I think "Füchschen" is a tricky one as you see the "sch" which in this case needs to be "separated" to "s" and "ch". Then also 2 different ways to pronounce "ch" within the same word and an "Umlaut" is a must of course 😅
I had tears in my eyes from laughing! You two are unbeatable! Such a cool couple... and I think Ben is the most likeable American ever!! And Feli - the way you shine and the light in your eyes in every video just puts everyone in a good mood!!!
I was in Germany 🇩🇪 for 4 years , I fell in love with 😍 the country and the people, there is nothing in Germany I don’t like 👍. Beautiful, I wish I could have stayed there.
Personally I think the 'Dutchifications' of some German phrases is very funny. Like Frage: "Was sagen Sie?" Antwort: "Kachelhoutjes." Or Frage: "Was machen Sie den?" Antwort: "Ich mache Annanas."
Whenever I see Dutch text I'm not expecting, my brain (L1 American English, studied some Hochdeutsch) spends half a second trying to read it as German and it feels like I just had a stroke until I realize what language it is. Dutch is _mostly_ not that difficult for me to pronounce if I'm just trying to repeat what I've heard, but that "sch" sound is a shibboleth for me, just like most L2 English speakers struggle with the American English "r" or the word "squirrel."
Schreibschrift as opposed to Druckschrift? Talking about Schreibschrift when I went to school that is what we had to use, written using a fountain pen, until we were 16. From then on we were allowed to use non-cursive writing and ballpoint pens.
It could mean Notizbuch, but it is actually not a proper Dutch word. Schrijfgerei (Schreibgeräte) would have been a better example. It is the “ij” or “ei” - same pronunciation - which is very difficult for non-Dutch speakers.
I’m always amazed how well Ben plays along, he’s such a good sport! He perfectly represents so many non native German speakers! Well done, Ben, you’re the most wundervoll companion to Feli‘s show! Isn’t it interesting one of the smallest items in Germany owns one of the longest words? Streichholzschächtelchen, matchbox. Overkill, ja?
Feli and Ben, I grew up speaking German in Canada, as my parents wanted that to be my first language. I was thoroughly amused at this video. To be honest, I can follow some of the words in German but after I started school, English became my favored language and I lost the ability to understand much of what I learned as a toddler in the German language. I can still pronounce words but to actually know what they mean - probably not. I found this video hilarious and fun to watch and had to share it with my dad, who will also find it funny. Ben, you're doing an amazing job learning the language, I'm so impressed at how well you've picked it up but you also have a fantastic teacher! Thanks for sharing!
It'll come back to you. Kid of a friend of mine grew up in Germany for ~6 years (4-11 i think). He's 28 now and didn't speak any German for 15 years. Took him 3 days and he's already pretty good at understanding and speaking. Just immerse yourself and give it a try.
But if you went to Germany either as a tourist or to live there for six months you would have an advantage over people who have never been exposed to German.
You guys are adorable together. The Video was a lot of fun and struck home since I am 1 1/2 years into my German learning journey brought on in large part because of this channel.
The only part I got was -li at the end. The first time in Switzerland I went to a bar with work colleagues and we order beers. I order whatever was on tap. One colleague order a Mexican Corona beer. The waitress delivered the order and said, "....und ein Coronali." I almost laugh/spit my mouthful of beer out. So, I have a graphic anchor in my mind about the '-li' Swiss diminutive.
Hey Ben, i grew up to the north of you in Kokomo Indiana and yes one of my friends said "collar crown" for color crayon. I had to ask him to repeat it about five times until i figured out what he was saying. I think a lot of southerners relocated to our town because of the auto industry so we would have the mix of dialects.
It is often said that to learn about another culture and or language helps us learn about our own. This has happened here. When you were bringing up the 555 and how differently people in English pronounce it, it reminded me of just how often I try and keep an eye on my own pronunciation. As I finished typing that, I am also reminded of the most important thing about communications. As long as the other person understands what you are conveying, it matters not, how precise you communicate. lol
That was great. He may have the odd problem pronunciating the difficult words and sounds, but he can quite well make out the meaning of words/or even understand (written) words. Well done. It's defo not an easy language, but keep at it. You're doing so well! You got yourself a very willing and studious pupil here, Feli and apparently taught him well so far!
I took four years of German in High School, and found it relatively easy. There are many languages that are much harder - the Slavic languages, for starters. I’ve never mastered one yet. Then there’s Chinese - ver hard for non-Chinese to learn, because of the tones, the writing system, etc. Then Hungarian, Finnish, Basque - all very hard for non-native speakers.
You guys are amazing. Cling on to this chap, seriously. I had my fair share of international relationships myself. When I see the glow in your eyes (both of you) I cannot help but feel you guys are carved out for each other. I'm a native German but left "my" country back in 2003. I have been living in Paris (let's say ... the French language and I will never become close friends) and London later on. Now, I live in Switzerland. English has become my first language (due to the job). I find myself looking for the appropriate word in German while having the English word right in front of my eyes. Crazy stuff really. But I'm leaving track here. When I was living in London I had an Italian girlfriend. She wanted me to speak in German occasionally and was interested in my native language. Her mom in Italy disapproved (Tedesco) 🙂 I found this funny, we overcame the language barrier without any issues, I learned Italian, and she German whereas we were living in an English-speaking society. My point is ... hang on to this guy, he is seriously interested.
I am German - i love this channel. Its fun watching it and i learned "legal expenses insurance" today ;) Dankeschön für die ganze Arbeit, die Du hier reinsteckst!
Coming from Massachusetts where we have a non-rhotic dialect I struggled with using the letter R, especially at the ends of words. One word in particular became the bane of my existence, rühren (or Rührei). While I had no trouble pronouncing anything with an umlaut and was proud of being able to use them without problem while my American friends struggled with them, that damn word gave me a lot of grief and since I am back living in the states and rarely speak German - only read, listen to music, and watch movies and news in German - I tried using it in a sentence out loud and I am back to struggling with it. lol If you do another one of these, please consider using it so I can see if I am not alone in this!
You guys are amazing, I had a great laugh here :) I am Dutch and have learned German in school for 5 years, so these words are not really hard to pronounce for me, except for Streichholzschächtelchen (holy cow). I know that the soft ch sound is really hard for most, I remember my German teacher really did a good job forcing us to pronounce it correctly...
This is great to see - you’re so encouraging toward him! And clearly both having fun. Experienced (decades of it) German learner here: the one I still have to slow down for (so as not to mess up) is fünfundfünfzig. :). Much much harder for me than Eichhörnchen etc.
I really love your channel, Feli, because you're helping me with my pronunciations. Feli, pass this on to Ben, but I grew up saying "crowns" instead of "crayons" because my maternal family is from West Virginia and my dad's mother was from Texas (not the German-speaking community, sadly, but my great-grandmother WAS from a German family!), and after a while, Mama just called all crayons "Crayolas" so my brother and I wouldn't get corrected at school.
Hi Feli. Schöne Videos! Ein kleines Detail zum rheinischen "R" in "Porsche": Das R wird (innerhalb von Wörtern und nach Vokalen) in den meisten Teilen des Rheinlandes durch ein hartes "ch" wie in "Dach" ersetzt. Im Grunde sagt er "Poch-sche". Nur - ausgerechnet - in Köln macht man das kaum. Ein Beispiel: Der Wirt ist im rheinischen Umland der "Wicht" (hartes "ch"), in Köln aber der "Weet". Prost!
Feli und Ben sind sehr ein süßes Paar 🥹🥹🥹 danke sehr für das Video, Feli! Edit: Numbers have 'and' here in England. Like "one hundred and one, one hundred and two etc"
Yep, british english has more Sachson impact in it (old german tribe dialect). This is where the numbers are from. :D American English is way more different.
I'm American and would also say "one hundred and one" if referring to 101 of something. "One hundred and one chickens." If referring to the number 101, like in an address or an airline flight number, I would probably say "one oh one".
Do the British still use the construction “four and twenty”, instead of “twenty-four”? I know they used to ( “Four and twenty-blackbirds baked in a pie”, etc). They say it that way in German, too (vierundzwanzig,etc.)
Beautifully done. Being from the Philippines, I have 2 Tagalog phrases for you: Kakabakaba ka ba? (Does your heart beat faster?) Maalala mo kaya? (Wil you remember?)
My dad‘s favourite word for our American visitors was always “Maiskölbchen” as we used to make Fondue or Raclette for them 😅 I used the word “Bleistiftanspitzer” in a fun German class for kids - I tought each group a different syllable and made them all say it really quickly together 😊
My German pronunciation is pretty decent on the whole, but one thing I have found difficult is when two rolled rs are joined by a short vowel, as in mehrere, schwerere, Lehrerin, etc. I can do it OK now, but it's taken a while. It's hard to do a rolled r as smoothly as a German native speaker, so I think that was the source of my issue
I run into that problem all the time with learning Icelandic with words/phrase like takk fyrir, fjórir(fjórar neut. form), and þrír(þrjár neut. form) as some examples. Btw j in Icelandic is similar to the y sound in y'all. Man, þrjár is not easy to say
Nice work Ben! Match box was definitely the most difficult, but once the compound was broken up and defined it was much easier. The -chen brought back many memories of High School German class. We used to call our teacher “Frauchen” because she was very short, under 5 foot tall. It was always rewarded to find new German words and phrases and share them with her, in context. One favorite was, “Ich tänze nackt für Gummi Bären!”
"Regisseur" and "Regie" are actually French, and were overtaken into the German Wortschatz(vocabulary), actually with the same pronouciation as in French. Indeed the German word for Regisseur was "Direktor" in old days. As a French-German, I'm really surprised that this isn't known in English, since English has overtaken so many French words (> 50%) with the same spelling but totally different pronunciation, e.g. important, messsage, information ....
English don't know anything about how much is stolen. You can tell by the act of entitlement from americans already enough. It's not just not knowing but refusing to believe it which is hilariously pitiful.
Feli, please coach your American boyfriend to learn German word pronunciation in REVERSE. What? Yes! That is the best way to learn ANY foreign word. Read the last syllable first. Then the second to last, and so forth until you get the whole word. Otherwise, it's overwhelming. Second, teach him to learn the vowels and consonants in German. "ch" in German can sound more like "sh" in English with more friction under the tongue. The important thing to know with any language is that the letters do not convert to obvious English pronunciation. One has to learn each language as its own letters-to-sounds combination. I always enjoy your videos!
yeah he was overthinking how to say it, so he froze when trying to say the -chen and other parts, he just needs to figure out the logic of the language first
I think the best way for me to learn German is to actually go to Germany which I may try to go in July and that will probably be my birthday/graduation gift.
It's funny that Eichhörnchen is about as difficult for English speakers as squirrel (pronounced the English way rather than the US one) is for German speakers. You do a very good job of it Feli!
Most Germans have a pretty decent accent in French, because German shares all of those sounds with French, as well as the uvular “r”. Incidentally, what does “ecureuil” mean? I’ve never heard that word before. Something to do with horses, perhaps? I know that “ ecurie” means stable.
@@valerietaylor9615"Écureuil" is the French word for "squirrel" (or "Eichhörnchen"). Many french words starting with é have English cognates that start with s. So "écureuil" is actually pretty close to "squirrel" - although these words are pronounced quite differently in the two languages.
Fun video :) Military terms in German were some of my more difficult ones. I study a lot of history, and there are a lot of compound words that were (and probably still are) used in the army. Panzerabwehrkanone (anti-tank gun), Fliegerabwehrbeschuss (anti-aircraft barrage), Schuetzenkette (squad formation line), etc, etc
@@thedoctor755 Quick tipp to make it easier: if you encounter a german word with a z in it, which makes it hard for almost all anglo-saxon speakers, think about how you spell Aztec. Guess how "easy" it is to make people pronounce and spell my name right, even to it isn't that hard, at least when you know how to do it ... Ey = I (Eye) sen = zen bei = bye ss = ss , like in "hissing" or "kissing". There are always bridges possible, that make things easier.
Next time, can you add the indefinite article for reference? I find the hardest thing with learning German is learning the indefinite article because the sentence structure (nominative, accusative, dative) depends on knowing correct indefinite article. Other than that, I did not think those words were too difficult.
Here you go (definite / indefinite articles, examples grouped in order of appearance): (neut.) das / ein Röntgen, Eichhörnchen, Streichholzschächtelchen, Brötchen (fem.) die / eine Streichholzschachtel, Zwanzig (20), Fünfhundertfünfundfünfzig (555), Rechtsschutzversicherung, Feli (masc.) der / ein Porsche, Regisseur
A few pointers yet: 1) diminutive endings (-chen, -lein) always switch a noun to neuter (thus: das / ein) 2) numbers as such are always feminine (thus: die / eine) 3) personal names like Feli take the gender from the actual person 4) compound nouns take their gender from the final component noun
The thing about "squirrel" in German reminds me of a running gag of Jeremy Clarkson. He says that the English word "Squirrel" was difficult for a German speaker to pronounce, and the British Intelligence agencies would use that word to catch a German Spy. I know it was done as a joke, but it was funny to see them try to use a stereotypical German Accent and fail spectacularly.
There were such tricks used in WWII. Scheveningen is famous because Germans pronounce it the German way and usually can't pronounce it the Dutch way even if they try very hard. There is a real chance they used words like squirl.
Love your channel, I find if I hear the words spoken and just repeat it that's how I learn, if I see it written down I struggle, I have lived in Germany for 10 years on and off. I once sat with my brother and his wife in a German cinema in Bonn and watched Anatomie all in German and then I bought the DVD still watch it in German and have only watched it a few times in English oh and we then whent to see Körperwelten and I have taken my family to see this when it was in Canada.
Eichhörnchen ist es auch nicht überall in Deutschland - die bayrische Version möchte ich hier den Leuten erst mal ersparen - das darf mal Feli übermitteln
None of the words in the video were difficult for me to pronounce, but then again I've been living in Austria for 20 years and often get accused by Austrians of sounding suspiciously "German" (that's not a compliment by the way). There is one German word however, that continues to humble me to this day - "Reichsbrücke". That's the name of a bridge here in Vienna, and no matter how much I practice, this is the ONE WORD that's almost IMPOSSIBLE for English speakers, including me, to pronounce effortlessly. I try and I try and I try, but "die Reichsbrücke" reduces me to tears every time. I can effortlessly say words like "Streichholzschächtelchen" or "Donaudampfschiffsfahrtsgesellschaftskapitän" in my sleep, but the minute I have to say "Reichsbrücke" I start to panic and break out in a sweat! Who knows? Maybe I'll finally get it in another 20 years or so... True story: a while ago I was getting to know a new client, a 6 foot tall guy with blond hair, blue eyes, basically your stereotypical looking German. Then during our conversation he said something about slow traffic on the "Reichsbrücke" and my ears IMMEDIATELY pricked up because despite his best efforts, I heard that slight struggle of the tongue that affects all native English speakers with that word, no matter how skilled he was at hiding it. I immediately asked him in English, "warte mal, are you an English native speaker?" He looked at me with astonishment and replied, "YES, but how did you find out?" I grinned and said to him, "because of the way you said Reichsbrücke". He was amazed because he'd always assumed his German was flawless. It turns out he was a white Jamaican who met a German woman who was vacationing in Jamaica decades ago, married her, then moved to Germany where he eventually became a corporate lawyer specializing in English Common Law for export/import companies. No one believes him when he says he's Jamaican, so over the years he tried his best to blend in as German. We had a good laugh as I also shared my 20 year battle with the Reichsbrücke. A few tips for English native speakers: if you're having trouble pronouncing the German "r", just roll it like in Spanish. To German ears you'll sound like a very refined speaker, similar to the way German speaking actors are trained to pronounce the German "r" on stage. Besides, the rolled "r" sounds far more articulate than the guttural "r" used by most native speakers. As to those terrifyingly looking long words, just break them down into their most basic syllables and then pronounce each of them slowly and carefully, e.g. Streich-holz-schäch-tel-chen. We run into a lot of difficulties when we try to speak German at the same speed we would speak English. Forget it! If you slow down a bit and break down those long German words, then they'll suddenly appear far less formidable and become easier to pronounce. Don't worry about how you sound speaking more slowly than you're used to - we think we sound stupid but to German ears we sound precise and meticulous.
I think the uvular “r” is more fun than the tongue-trilled variety. The uvular “r” is also used in French, Portuguese, and Farsi (and possibly some other languages I’m not aware of.)
Rolling your R's like you would in Spanish is all good and well if you can speak Spanish 😅. I'm an Australian and our regional languages are all Asian, so rolling my R's is as foreign to me as saying g'day in an authentic Australian accent is for you. I have just started learning German, in fact it was Feli and this channel that influenced me, I've been learning Mandarin for about 10 years and felt I needed a change. The thing is, those long German words scare me a little, I know it will get easier with practice but right now it's scary.
@@utha2665I guess rolling your "r" like in Spanish would mostly only make sense to Americans since we either have to learn Spanish in high school or are confronted with Spanish on an everyday basis in America, but try my suggestion about breaking down complicated German words into their most basis syllables. That approach has helped me tremendously to the point where I'm no longer intimidated by long German words.
Yes indeed. I use the Spanish mode of rolling Rs sometimes, ususally when the word starts with an R. The speaking speed of native speakers of a language is always a challenge. For me, listening and understanding a foreign language is the most difficult and important aspect of learning that language.
yeah I always do the syllable trick, so I was always able to follow along with the word videos, people always overthink it when seeing a long word, maybe because German has the O letters/others that have different sounds
I am American of German descent and I love your videos. I was on the waiting list for your Germany/Austria trip, but they never contacted me for your recent trip. I am hoping that you will do another trip in this coming spring, 2024. Please let us know what your future plans are! Cheers
@@RecklawTheAmazing der trick ist, die langen worte auseinanderzunehmen. es sind zusammengesetzte nomen. wenn du den verbindungsbuchstaben findest zwischen jedem wortteil und die worte für sich allein zuordnen kannst, kannst du das zusammengesetzte wort aufsagen, als würdest du die worte einzeln ablesen (mit jeweil dem verbindungsbuchstaben dazwischen). bin mit deutsch aufgewachsen und das war, was ich mir beigebracht habe ^.^ funktioniert auch für das lesen allein, meiner meinung nach. (ich hoffe, mein vortrag hat dir keine schwierigkeiten bereitet haha. ich kann es auf englisch wiederholen, wenn du magst.)
@afternoonsunjeans9180 Ahah kein Problem. Ich habe das meiste verstanden (und Google Translate hat mit dem Rest geholfen). Ich probiere die lange Wörter in kleinere Wörter zu brechen aber es ist nicht immer einfach zu wissen, wo ein Wort endet und das andere beginnt, wenn mein Vokabular nicht perfekt ist. Aber alles gut. Ich lerne. Ich bin Amerikaner aber ich wohne jetzt in Deutschland also ich sollte mein Deutsch üben :)
Glad to hear they are still teaching that the „and“ in numbers refers to the decimal point. That‘s how I was taught as well. But the „and“ before the last number is indeed very common, especially in British English.
Learning German today apparently is very different from learning it when I was a kid. All the words you say all German learners will encounter, I've never encountered in my life. I never even learned the German word for squirrel, that's actually new to me, but I was able to pronounce it just fine.
Very nice video! I wonder how he would have pronounced "Oachkatzerl", the bavarian variety of Eichhörnchen. I reckon, this might even be easier! My favorite german word is "Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz" 😎
It has been decades since I had my first German lesson. 55 years. I have forgotten more German than I want to think about. That said, my pronunciation was near perfect. I still do some thinking in German, not as much as they used to but still enough. Numbers, days of the week, months, to me, those are German. I have to sometimes think about what the number is in English because I know numbers so well in German
@@thatguy8869 Cause you have to get it into your system first. When your brain has accepted the different syntax, it's getting easier. It's like with Ben in this video. As soon as he hears it, it's getting a lot easier.
I think that insurance might be called Public Liability insurance in the UK. Incidentally, I guessed the 555 and fruit but not many of the others. I have been trying to learn Spanish for many years but German is just too difficult for me.
The "Rechtsschutzversicherung" takes care of your legal fees and litigation costs in case you need representation in a civil (including labor court), administrative court or criminal proceedings against you - however, in the latter case only if you are charged with a crime that can also be committed negligently. If you are charged for an intentional misdemeanor or felony (to use the American terms which may not be exactly the same), the insurance won't deliver. Such an insurance is rather popular here, and it can be relatively cheap because German lawyers get paid according to a federal fee schedule which is not based on time but on certain steps that are performed and the "value" of the case (e.g. the sum of claims in question), so the insurance can calculate the risk very well. If you agree with your lawyer on higher fees (some work based on the time spent, but most will settle for the official fees if the client has a Rechtsschutzversicherung), the coverage of the client's cost is capped by the maximum under the fee schedule, and excess costs have to be borne by the client/insured person. Either way, hiring a lawyer or litigating is WAY cheaper in Germany than in the U.S. Part of the reason is that German lawyers are prohibited from working on a contingency fee basis, which makes it unattractive to claim excessive sums just to get a higher quota litis.
I studied German long ago, but yesterday was the first time I had heard "front ch" described as a cat hissing (in the context of singing auf Deutsch), and now it's two days in a row! Where I come from (northern Minnesota originally), "crayon" is often pronounced like the first syllable of "cranberry".
Being dutch, grown up with german tv-series subtitled it's nice to learn some german words one would not use commonly like 4 instance eichhörnchen.. which is in dutch eekhoorntje.. so all in all quite informative but pronounciationwise nailed it 10/10.
Many languages have regional differences for common words as you noted. One thing is German words is the long compound ones, something you don't see as much like in English. I have been watching a German made police detective drama set in the Berlin-Potsdam area on my local (NYC Area) PBS station 'Luna and Sophie'. It is spoken in German, but has subtitles in English. Another program on PBS I have been watching is 'World On Fire' set in WW II showing persons in Germany, French, English , Poland with home languages and captions in English as needed. I also recall a comedy sketch on TV a number of years ago where words that sound lovely in English but in German (and exaggerated) sound like something bad or ugly.
In Austria near Bavaria there is a dialect word as a fun test word, it's "Oachkatzlschwoaf". Below I have something from Switzerland, a nice but challenging one ;-) Back to my example here. People from Bavaria should be able to get it, from further away, it gets more difficult to pronounce and to guess ;-) Oachkatzl-Schwoaf. Eichkatzerl-Schweif. Eichkätzchenschweif. Eichhörnchen-Schweif. It also has to do with a squirrel, who would have thought ;-) It's a squirrel tail, the nice fluffy tail thay use to jump around and keep their balance. This word has no other meaning, it's just a fun test word like "Eichhörnchen", but in the next level of pronounciation to make it more complicated ;-) ---- Then in Switzerland they have a test word, that is "Chuchichäschtli". In Swiss German they pronounce the ch rather intense, almost like you would clean your throat ;-) Then it consists of two words, when I split it up, people from and around Bavaria might have a better chance to get it: Chuchi-Chäschtli. Chuchi Kuchi is a word in Austria. Kuchl is the same in Austria. Küche Chäschtli Käschtli Kastli (not a real word) Kasten So it is in German ein "Küchenkasten". It's a kitchen cabinet, typically a wooden cabinet on the wall of a kitchen, some could also hang higher on the wall so that you have your working area in the height between them. The trick is the pronounciation of the Swiss German word ;-) ---- And the number in Swiss German that was sounding most unusual to me was "Nünzähundatnünanünzg" ;-) Nünzäh hundat nünanünzg Nünzäh Nünzehn (not a real word) Neunzehn (19) Hundat Hundert (100) Up to this it means 19 hundred, that is 1900. Nünanünzg Nün-a-nünzig Neun-und-neunzig (99). So the whole word was 1999, like the year 1999. ----- You might find UA-cam videos with the words.
Thanks for explaining these words so thoroughly. The transitions are very interesting. Sometimes I get confused when I come across Bavarian, Austrian, or Swiss song lyrics, so this helps.
Hallo Feli, du hättest auch ein bayrische Wort nutzen können - Oachkatzlschwoaf und als Steigerung zu fünfhundertfünfundfünzig - fünfhundertfünfundfünzigtausendfünfhundertfünfundfünzig und für die generelle Verzweifelung dann - Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft aber ansonsten ein sehr lustige Video Danke und mach weiter so
In school in the US we were taught to NEVER use "and" when referring to a number over one hundred. 101 is "one hundred one", NOT "one hundred and one" and so on. But in the real world most of us actually do use "and". BTW, I'm assuming that Ben has a nice, private term of endearment he uses for you and really doesn't need to pronounce your first name (except in third person). I've heard you refer to him as "babe" 😉
Education must have changed, because everyone I know uses the "and" and was taught to do so in school back in the 80s and 90s. Sometimes you hear people say "hundred fifty" but that's Ebonics.
@@plektosgaming yeah I grew up in the 90s, don't remember being taught to not use "and", must be a generational thing back then, but we all know "and" is for writing checks
As a native Dutch speaker I didn't have overly much trouble with these words. And the longer ones don't intimidate me. The trick lies, in part, in breaking down the words into recognisable parts and pronouncing these seperately, but without stops. But mostly, IMHO, it's about realising that German is not as excessively harsh as some try to make it sound in those 'funny videos' that get posted here on UA-cam. Try to pronounce them like that, you'll break your tongue. Once you accept that German is overall quite soft and fluid, words like Czechisches Streigholzschächtelchen just roll off your tongue.
Great video. Ben did very well! As you mentioned the dialect of the Rhineland, did you know that we can pronounce the letter “g” in three different ways, even in one word? Flugzeugträger (aircraft carrier) will be pronounced as “Fluchzeuschträjer” 😉 Regarding the different dialects in Germany, you might check out a very old (ancient) clip from Peter Frankenfeld where he switches all kinds of German dialects announcing the weather forecast ua-cam.com/video/btlGMBA2XO4/v-deo.html
Genetically as a people Germans are not really Nordic, they have a very high preponderance of Eastern European blood; most Germans do not have blue eyes and blonde hair, those are traits more associated with Scandinavians. Feli looks like 75% of the German women I saw when I was stationed there in the 80s. BTW, an adorable couple!
(Native American English speaker) For numbers... In numbers generally, and indicates the final digit of a number more than 3 digits long where the penultimate digit is zero. (5603-Five thousand six hundred and two) Or For the final 2 digits of a similar number without a zero value didgit required. This version is normally used to emphasize the end of the number for dramatic effect. For US money, it is used to indicate the transition from dollars to cents when used with those units explicitly stated. ($675.42= six hundred seventy five dollars and forty two cents) Verbally, it is not uncommon practice to omit the and- using a slight pause to indicate the transition. (Six seventy five forty two) In these cases, zero value digits are indicated with "oh" or similar depending on regional differences.
I am Scottish and learned German at school and my dad was a German and French teacher. The phrase with the Czesch bit at start was the hardest for me. The ch sound is the easiest for me as we have ch in Scottish. Loch Lomond. Loch is a lake and English struggle with Loch and say Lock. Scotland has a lot of phrases of Germanic origin. *The Scottish word for night is Nicht like Nacht. Bright is bricht. Light is licht. The Scottish word for to know is called to ken (kennen). The Scottish word for a church is called the Kirk.* There is a Scottish phrase with lots of ch sounds in it that we learn from young kids. *It's a braw bricht moonlicht nicht the nicht ye ken*
6:20 I could definitely tell he had a strong accent, which I only realised after Feli pointed it out that that's maybe surprising given he's speaking a language I don't know, but I can still tell he has a strong accent. It somehow sounds like a very fitting accent for someone who works with cars haha!
Hallo Feli, i just want to say that I love the word 'Strassenverkehrsordnungen'..... and i think this word could have been in your list! in danish it is 'Færdselsregler' and that is pretty much a direct translation of 'verkehrsordnungen' the 100% translation of 'Strassen-verkehrs-ordnungen' is 'vej-færdsels-ordninger'
If you see the HBO show “Chernobyl” you will see the word “Röntgen” tossed around a lot. It is a measurement of radioactivity but I believe they said it is now outdated and or not used anymore because now everyone uses the Geiger counter and whatever units that uses.
Feli, your English is so good, it's really hard to guess you were a non-native English speaker. Now Feli, can you do some German tongue twisters? Kirche, kuche, kirche,
Hallo Feli! I did great will all of them except for the "Chech" part of the small matchbox. I even was able to say the rest of them correctly mit Erkaltung.... Tschuss!
I just discovered this chanel. I greatly enjoy it. I lived in West Germany 40+ years ago in the Army. I have lost the little German that I learned. I am close to retierment. I am thinking about visiting Germeny for 2 or 3 months. I would like to rent a flat within walking distance of a university or language school where I could go to German language class in the mornings. Then spend the rest of the day absorbing the culture. I would appreciate any advise as to which city and universty or language schools might be good.
Feli: 03:00 There are so many consonants together, which is something people say about the German language. Meanwhile South Slavic languages: --- Ben: 08:09 You could say it like "Eikchchörnkchen"! Swiss people: --- Falie: 09:25 I've been told you just drop the last syllable, you just say "mir". Danish people: Hey, that's our thing! --- Okay, jokes aside, nice video again. :) Also, I actually would like to see Ben try to pronounce the ultimate classic: "Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz" And yes, this is an actual German word that is not just made up for the sake of being long, it has a practical use (or at least it used to have one in the past). :) Either way, keep up with the content! :)
And millions of Germans born after 1985 or so will ask you: "What the hell is a check?" Last time I used one was over thirty years ago, but I do remember them from my youth.
Hallo Feli, großes Lob an Ben 😁. Er musste schon so oft als "Opfer" für dich herhalten 🤣. Aber wenn man deine Videos mit ihm ansieht, dann kann man wirklich sagen, dass er es inzwischen wirklich sehr gut kann (well trained😉). Liebe Grüße aus Franken.
Streichholzschaechtelchen is difficult because the soft CH before the T is just hard to combine. Fuenfhundertfuenfundfuenfzig is difficult because one switches from the short umlauted U to the short regular U 5 times. ue, u, ue, u, ue.
The simple secret for English speakers to master the ö sound - round your lips like you're saying "oooh", but say a long e instead. With practice, the resulting "eeewww" sound will come through. Thank you Miss Fuchs, German I, 1972 Carteret High School
Which word did YOU find the most difficult??
👉Try Lingopie for FREE (7-day trial) and get 70% off on the lifetime subscription! ▸learn.lingopie.com/feli_germany
Hallo😊
Hi
Hi Feli , your girlfriend is very pretty and feminine, is Ben short for Benilda ?
@@hungsolow7090 was zum Teufel 💀
Saying 555 in German is fun for me to say.
But the last word (legal expense insurance) is probably the hardest to pronounce. But, “small Czech matchbox” in German really takes the cake!
You two are adorable together and it makes me laugh all the time. I like when Ben is on with you.
You and Ben are the best couple on UA-cam! Love this channel.
🥹🫶
Yes! And how patient she is with him trying to learn German!
@@FelifromGermanyWhat emotes did you use? they show up as white squares with question marks in them on my phone
@@ACE112ACE112I see a smily with big eyes about to cry and the two hands together in a heart shape.
@@BuckeyeGirl thank you for "translating" of describing these emojies, because I also see a symbol for each that tells me, it's an unknown emoji, I have two boxes with an X through each of them - and that in thin lines.
I think "Füchschen" is a tricky one as you see the "sch" which in this case needs to be "separated" to "s" and "ch". Then also 2 different ways to pronounce "ch" within the same word and an "Umlaut" is a must of course 😅
Füßchen (little foot) as well.. ü-ß-ch quite tricky
Das Altersheim 'Röschenhof'. Da gab es in den 90ern mal so ein Telefon Scetch. 😂
thats a good one!
7:49 I could hear the smile in her voice as she said that, it was so cute haha!
I had tears in my eyes from laughing! You two are unbeatable! Such a cool couple... and I think Ben is the most likeable American ever!! And Feli - the way you shine and the light in your eyes in every video just puts everyone in a good mood!!!
I was in Germany 🇩🇪 for 4 years , I fell in love with 😍 the country and the people, there is nothing in Germany I don’t like 👍. Beautiful, I wish I could have stayed there.
Nothing??
AfD has entered the chat
Army or Air Force, Ralph?
Was in Germany for 3 weeks and feel the same:)
I was there for three days and felt the same.
I didn’t have a problem pronouncing these words, but I’m Dutch. We have even weirder sounds, like ‘schrijfschrift’ or ‘Duitsland’.
Even lekker isn't pronounced right all the time ;-)
Personally I think the 'Dutchifications' of some German phrases is very funny. Like Frage: "Was sagen Sie?" Antwort: "Kachelhoutjes." Or Frage: "Was machen Sie den?" Antwort: "Ich mache Annanas."
Whenever I see Dutch text I'm not expecting, my brain (L1 American English, studied some Hochdeutsch) spends half a second trying to read it as German and it feels like I just had a stroke until I realize what language it is.
Dutch is _mostly_ not that difficult for me to pronounce if I'm just trying to repeat what I've heard, but that "sch" sound is a shibboleth for me, just like most L2 English speakers struggle with the American English "r" or the word "squirrel."
Schreibschrift as opposed to Druckschrift?
Talking about Schreibschrift when I went to school that is what we had to use, written using a fountain pen, until we were 16.
From then on we were allowed to use non-cursive writing and ballpoint pens.
It could mean Notizbuch, but it is actually not a proper Dutch word. Schrijfgerei (Schreibgeräte) would have been a better example. It is the “ij” or “ei” - same pronunciation - which is very difficult for non-Dutch speakers.
I’m always amazed how well Ben plays along, he’s such a good sport! He perfectly represents so many non native German speakers! Well done, Ben, you’re the most wundervoll companion to Feli‘s show! Isn’t it interesting one of the smallest items in Germany owns one of the longest words? Streichholzschächtelchen, matchbox. Overkill, ja?
Must be pretty annoying to have to be in videos though.
@@willsee8391 Some people love it. Maybe he does? 😄
@@californiahiker9616 Yeah. I get it. To each their own.
And she is good about not being spammy and recording all the time.
Well, there is a saying that may sort of apply. Happy wife, happy life. Or maybe happy girlfriend from Germany!
Feli and Ben, I grew up speaking German in Canada, as my parents wanted that to be my first language. I was thoroughly amused at this video. To be honest, I can follow some of the words in German but after I started school, English became my favored language and I lost the ability to understand much of what I learned as a toddler in the German language. I can still pronounce words but to actually know what they mean - probably not. I found this video hilarious and fun to watch and had to share it with my dad, who will also find it funny. Ben, you're doing an amazing job learning the language, I'm so impressed at how well you've picked it up but you also have a fantastic teacher! Thanks for sharing!
It'll come back to you. Kid of a friend of mine grew up in Germany for ~6 years (4-11 i think). He's 28 now and didn't speak any German for 15 years. Took him 3 days and he's already pretty good at understanding and speaking. Just immerse yourself and give it a try.
But if you went to Germany either as a tourist or to live there for six months you would have an advantage over people who have never been exposed to German.
You guys are adorable together. The Video was a lot of fun and struck home since I am 1 1/2 years into my German learning journey brought on in large part because of this channel.
Das wichtigste ist ä, ö, ü und der Unterschied zwischen ch und ck wenn ein Amerikaner deutsch lernen will. Wenn man das kann ist es enorm einfacher.
I dont see a problem for ck, which is a short k. But for the 3 versions ch could be spelled.
And that ß/ẞ is NOT a B 😭
Oh, that feels like the easy bit... It's an alternating mix of 'ch' and 'sch' in the same word (that is actually five words) that I stumble with 😅
ß ist sz….wenn ihr jmd kennt der Altdeutsch schreiben kann, dann erklärt es sich von selbst
@@JfromUK_ And then there is tsch ....
Ben did really well :)) The Swiss German equivalent zu Streichholzschaechtlchen is just as difficult Chuchichaeschtlituerli :))
😂😂😂😂😂
I´m German and I thought as reading the swiss one: WHAT??? 😅
@@TheRealFizzbin Switzerdütsch ist eine andere Sprache... Ich verstehe das kaum...
The only part I got was -li at the end. The first time in Switzerland I went to a bar with work colleagues and we order beers. I order whatever was on tap. One colleague order a Mexican Corona beer. The waitress delivered the order and said, "....und ein Coronali." I almost laugh/spit my mouthful of beer out. So, I have a graphic anchor in my mind about the '-li' Swiss diminutive.
Uh???
Hey Ben, i grew up to the north of you in Kokomo Indiana and yes one of my friends said "collar crown" for color crayon. I had to ask him to repeat it about five times until i figured out what he was saying. I think a lot of southerners relocated to our town because of the auto industry so we would have the mix of dialects.
I’m from Louisville and Lexington Kentucky, but I’ve lived in Germany for over 50 years so it is funny to watch you two.
It is often said that to learn about another culture and or language helps us learn about our own. This has happened here. When you were bringing up the 555 and how differently people in English pronounce it, it reminded me of just how often I try and keep an eye on my own pronunciation. As I finished typing that, I am also reminded of the most important thing about communications. As long as the other person understands what you are conveying, it matters not, how precise you communicate. lol
The person who knows no foreign language, knows nothing of his own.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I lived in Germany with military for two years and loved every minute. I’m new to your channel but really enjoy watching you. Thank you!
That was great. He may have the odd problem pronunciating the difficult words and sounds, but he can quite well make out the meaning of words/or even understand (written) words. Well done. It's defo not an easy language, but keep at it. You're doing so well! You got yourself a very willing and studious pupil here, Feli and apparently taught him well so far!
I took four years of German in High School, and found it relatively easy. There are many languages that are much harder - the Slavic languages, for starters. I’ve never mastered one yet. Then there’s Chinese - ver hard for non-Chinese to learn, because of the tones, the writing system, etc. Then Hungarian, Finnish, Basque - all very hard for non-native speakers.
You guys are amazing. Cling on to this chap, seriously. I had my fair share of international relationships myself. When I see the glow in your eyes (both of you) I cannot help but feel you guys are carved out for each other. I'm a native German but left "my" country back in 2003. I have been living in Paris (let's say ... the French language and I will never become close friends) and London later on. Now, I live in Switzerland. English has become my first language (due to the job). I find myself looking for the appropriate word in German while having the English word right in front of my eyes. Crazy stuff really. But I'm leaving track here. When I was living in London I had an Italian girlfriend. She wanted me to speak in German occasionally and was interested in my native language. Her mom in Italy disapproved (Tedesco) 🙂 I found this funny, we overcame the language barrier without any issues, I learned Italian, and she German whereas we were living in an English-speaking society. My point is ... hang on to this guy, he is seriously interested.
I am German - i love this channel. Its fun watching it and i learned "legal expenses insurance" today ;) Dankeschön für die ganze Arbeit, die Du hier reinsteckst!
Love how Feli sometimes nearly dies of laughter :D Should really include more of them :))
Always such a breath of fresh air, Feli and Ben. Eure Videos sind immer klasse mit eurer engagierten Art. Besten Dank! 🤗
Coming from Massachusetts where we have a non-rhotic dialect I struggled with using the letter R, especially at the ends of words. One word in particular became the bane of my existence, rühren (or Rührei). While I had no trouble pronouncing anything with an umlaut and was proud of being able to use them without problem while my American friends struggled with them, that damn word gave me a lot of grief and since I am back living in the states and rarely speak German - only read, listen to music, and watch movies and news in German - I tried using it in a sentence out loud and I am back to struggling with it. lol
If you do another one of these, please consider using it so I can see if I am not alone in this!
You guys are amazing, I had a great laugh here :)
I am Dutch and have learned German in school for 5 years, so these words are not really hard to pronounce for me, except for Streichholzschächtelchen (holy cow). I know that the soft ch sound is really hard for most, I remember my German teacher really did a good job forcing us to pronounce it correctly...
Yay Ben! I love seeing him in your videos! Can't wait to watch!
This is great to see - you’re so encouraging toward him! And clearly both having fun.
Experienced (decades of it) German learner here: the one I still have to slow down for (so as not to mess up) is fünfundfünfzig. :). Much much harder for me than Eichhörnchen etc.
Love watching the two of you together. The level of mutual affection shines through so beautifully.
I really love your channel, Feli, because you're helping me with my pronunciations.
Feli, pass this on to Ben, but I grew up saying "crowns" instead of "crayons" because my maternal family is from West Virginia and my dad's mother was from Texas (not the German-speaking community, sadly, but my great-grandmother WAS from a German family!), and after a while, Mama just called all crayons "Crayolas" so my brother and I wouldn't get corrected at school.
Hi Feli. Schöne Videos! Ein kleines Detail zum rheinischen "R" in "Porsche": Das R wird (innerhalb von Wörtern und nach Vokalen) in den meisten Teilen des Rheinlandes durch ein hartes "ch" wie in "Dach" ersetzt. Im Grunde sagt er "Poch-sche". Nur - ausgerechnet - in Köln macht man das kaum. Ein Beispiel: Der Wirt ist im rheinischen Umland der "Wicht" (hartes "ch"), in Köln aber der "Weet". Prost!
Feli und Ben sind sehr ein süßes Paar 🥹🥹🥹 danke sehr für das Video, Feli!
Edit: Numbers have 'and' here in England. Like "one hundred and one, one hundred and two etc"
Yep, british english has more Sachson impact in it (old german tribe dialect). This is where the numbers are from. :D American English is way more different.
I'm American and would also say "one hundred and one" if referring to 101 of something. "One hundred and one chickens."
If referring to the number 101, like in an address or an airline flight number, I would probably say "one oh one".
Do the British still use the construction “four and twenty”, instead of “twenty-four”? I know they used to ( “Four and twenty-blackbirds baked in a pie”, etc). They say it that way in German, too (vierundzwanzig,etc.)
@@valerietaylor9615not these days but could have in old
English as we were originally overtaken by the Anglo-Saxons (from Germany)
Beautifully done. Being from the Philippines, I have 2 Tagalog phrases for you:
Kakabakaba ka ba? (Does your heart beat faster?)
Maalala mo kaya? (Wil you remember?)
ben‘s pronunciation got so much better. congrats!
All of them. I struggled with all of them. I even told my friend when I got frustrated "That's not A word, that A sentence!"
Superkalifragilistikexpialigetisch! (Mary Poppins)
Stop
Fleischkennzeichnungssteuerübertragungsgesetz.
♦️
@@DENVEROUTDOORMANHammer time?
Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschafftskapitänskajüte...😂❤
You two are great together, please bring him more often!
My dad‘s favourite word for our American visitors was always “Maiskölbchen” as we used to make Fondue or Raclette for them 😅 I used the word “Bleistiftanspitzer” in a fun German class for kids - I tought each group a different syllable and made them all say it really quickly together 😊
Great show, my favorite work was Feli, Thank you Feli see you next time❤❤❤❤
My German pronunciation is pretty decent on the whole, but one thing I have found difficult is when two rolled rs are joined by a short vowel, as in mehrere, schwerere, Lehrerin, etc. I can do it OK now, but it's taken a while. It's hard to do a rolled r as smoothly as a German native speaker, so I think that was the source of my issue
I run into that problem all the time with learning Icelandic with words/phrase like takk fyrir, fjórir(fjórar neut. form), and þrír(þrjár neut. form) as some examples. Btw j in Icelandic is similar to the y sound in y'all. Man, þrjár is not easy to say
Germans can say r but not grrr
Or rawr
Not that important but a funny struggle
Nice work Ben! Match box was definitely the most difficult, but once the compound was broken up and defined it was much easier. The -chen brought back many memories of High School German class. We used to call our teacher “Frauchen” because she was very short, under 5 foot tall. It was always rewarded to find new German words and phrases and share them with her, in context. One favorite was, “Ich tänze nackt für Gummi Bären!”
This is so funny! 😂 Do you know that "Frauchen" is the female owner of a dog in German? 😅😂 I love it! ❤
@@melle7362 I had no idea. Luckily she was very patient.
"Regisseur" and "Regie" are actually French, and were overtaken into the German Wortschatz(vocabulary), actually with the same pronouciation as in French. Indeed the German word for Regisseur was "Direktor" in old days. As a French-German, I'm really surprised that this isn't known in English, since English has overtaken so many French words (> 50%) with the same spelling but totally different pronunciation, e.g. important, messsage, information ....
English don't know anything about how much is stolen.
You can tell by the act of entitlement from americans already enough.
It's not just not knowing but refusing to believe it which is hilariously pitiful.
Feli that sweater looks great on you!
Feli, please coach your American boyfriend to learn German word pronunciation in REVERSE. What? Yes! That is the best way to learn ANY foreign word. Read the last syllable first. Then the second to last, and so forth until you get the whole word. Otherwise, it's overwhelming. Second, teach him to learn the vowels and consonants in German. "ch" in German can sound more like "sh" in English with more friction under the tongue. The important thing to know with any language is that the letters do not convert to obvious English pronunciation. One has to learn each language as its own letters-to-sounds combination. I always enjoy your videos!
That's a technique I've never heard before, but it sort of makes sense. I'll try it for the next few months and see how it goes
yeah he was overthinking how to say it, so he froze when trying to say the -chen and other parts, he just needs to figure out the logic of the language first
That’s the Pimsleur way!!! Awesome technique, I use it all the time when language learning.
10:31 The fact that normally it helps when she says it, but this time he just looks more overwhelmed haha!
I think the best way for me to learn German is to actually go to Germany which I may try to go in July and that will probably be my birthday/graduation gift.
Oh was ich es liebe diesen Dialekt zu hören😊 und dabei wirkt er auch noch so sympathisch 😊😊😊
It's funny that Eichhörnchen is about as difficult for English speakers as squirrel (pronounced the English way rather than the US one) is for German speakers. You do a very good job of it Feli!
Same with French, the most difficult for English speakers is écureuil, and vice versa
@@RobertHeslop Not only for English speakers! Pronouncing écureuil ist difficult for German speakers too.
@@michaelklein4656 What's difficult about it? The é/e, the u/ü, the eu/ö, and the il/j exist in both languages.
Most Germans have a pretty decent accent in French, because German shares all of those sounds with French, as well as the uvular “r”. Incidentally, what does “ecureuil” mean? I’ve never heard that word before. Something to do with horses, perhaps? I know that “ ecurie” means stable.
@@valerietaylor9615"Écureuil" is the French word for "squirrel" (or "Eichhörnchen"). Many french words starting with é have English cognates that start with s. So "écureuil" is actually pretty close to "squirrel" - although these words are pronounced quite differently in the two languages.
You are a really good teacher! I love it! 😄💝
Fun video :)
Military terms in German were some of my more difficult ones. I study a lot of history, and there are a lot of compound words that were (and probably still are) used in the army. Panzerabwehrkanone (anti-tank gun), Fliegerabwehrbeschuss (anti-aircraft barrage), Schuetzenkette (squad formation line), etc, etc
Lol, these are difficult for Germans, too. 😅
Flak is also of German origin: Flugzeug Abwehr Kanone
@@cyrielwollring4622 Ja, genau :)
@@thedoctor755 Quick tipp to make it easier: if you encounter a german word with a z in it, which makes it hard for almost all anglo-saxon speakers, think about how you spell Aztec. Guess how "easy" it is to make people pronounce and spell my name right, even to it isn't that hard, at least when you know how to do it ...
Ey = I (Eye)
sen = zen
bei = bye
ss = ss , like in "hissing" or "kissing".
There are always bridges possible, that make things easier.
@@Eysenbeiss "Donkey's bridges"? :-)
Oh my goodness, you two are awesome together. He was fantastic. What a great sport! So fun.
Next time, can you add the indefinite article for reference? I find the hardest thing with learning German is learning the indefinite article because the sentence structure (nominative, accusative, dative) depends on knowing correct indefinite article. Other than that, I did not think those words were too difficult.
Here you go (definite / indefinite articles, examples grouped in order of appearance):
(neut.) das / ein Röntgen, Eichhörnchen, Streichholzschächtelchen, Brötchen
(fem.) die / eine Streichholzschachtel, Zwanzig (20), Fünfhundertfünfundfünfzig (555), Rechtsschutzversicherung, Feli
(masc.) der / ein Porsche, Regisseur
A few pointers yet:
1) diminutive endings (-chen, -lein) always switch a noun to neuter (thus: das / ein)
2) numbers as such are always feminine (thus: die / eine)
3) personal names like Feli take the gender from the actual person
4) compound nouns take their gender from the final component noun
👍I think definite / indefinite articles are harder than the genders. I need to go back and learn basic grammar in ENGLISH, then learn this for German.
Your Trachten is BEAUTIFUL!!! I love the colors!
Stichpimpulibockforcelorum (Kräuterlikör)
I've never even heard this one 😳
The German E is also in English. It is pronounced like a short a as in the word “way”.
The thing about "squirrel" in German reminds me of a running gag of Jeremy Clarkson. He says that the English word "Squirrel" was difficult for a German speaker to pronounce, and the British Intelligence agencies would use that word to catch a German Spy. I know it was done as a joke, but it was funny to see them try to use a stereotypical German Accent and fail spectacularly.
There were such tricks used in WWII. Scheveningen is famous because Germans pronounce it the German way and usually can't pronounce it the Dutch way even if they try very hard.
There is a real chance they used words like squirl.
@@Treinbouwer if you can ask: ‘hoe schrijf je scheveningense schijfjes en groningse krentenbollen?’ You’re dutch for sure.
Love your channel, I find if I hear the words spoken and just repeat it that's how I learn, if I see it written down I struggle, I have lived in Germany for 10 years on and off. I once sat with my brother and his wife in a German cinema in Bonn and watched Anatomie all in German and then I bought the DVD still watch it in German and have only watched it a few times in English oh and we then whent to see Körperwelten and I have taken my family to see this when it was in Canada.
The Eichhörnchen In Switzerland (Züri) they call it Hänsli
Eichhörnchen ist es auch nicht überall in Deutschland - die bayrische Version möchte ich hier den Leuten erst mal ersparen - das darf mal Feli übermitteln
As an American learning German.... the R sounds and short vowels always get me.
My German teacher always laughs, but at least shes patient with me 😂
Needed this tonight. Thanks, Feli and Ben! 🙂
None of the words in the video were difficult for me to pronounce, but then again I've been living in Austria for 20 years and often get accused by Austrians of sounding suspiciously "German" (that's not a compliment by the way). There is one German word however, that continues to humble me to this day - "Reichsbrücke". That's the name of a bridge here in Vienna, and no matter how much I practice, this is the ONE WORD that's almost IMPOSSIBLE for English speakers, including me, to pronounce effortlessly. I try and I try and I try, but "die Reichsbrücke" reduces me to tears every time. I can effortlessly say words like "Streichholzschächtelchen" or "Donaudampfschiffsfahrtsgesellschaftskapitän" in my sleep, but the minute I have to say "Reichsbrücke" I start to panic and break out in a sweat! Who knows? Maybe I'll finally get it in another 20 years or so...
True story: a while ago I was getting to know a new client, a 6 foot tall guy with blond hair, blue eyes, basically your stereotypical looking German. Then during our conversation he said something about slow traffic on the "Reichsbrücke" and my ears IMMEDIATELY pricked up because despite his best efforts, I heard that slight struggle of the tongue that affects all native English speakers with that word, no matter how skilled he was at hiding it. I immediately asked him in English, "warte mal, are you an English native speaker?" He looked at me with astonishment and replied, "YES, but how did you find out?" I grinned and said to him, "because of the way you said Reichsbrücke". He was amazed because he'd always assumed his German was flawless. It turns out he was a white Jamaican who met a German woman who was vacationing in Jamaica decades ago, married her, then moved to Germany where he eventually became a corporate lawyer specializing in English Common Law for export/import companies. No one believes him when he says he's Jamaican, so over the years he tried his best to blend in as German. We had a good laugh as I also shared my 20 year battle with the Reichsbrücke.
A few tips for English native speakers: if you're having trouble pronouncing the German "r", just roll it like in Spanish. To German ears you'll sound like a very refined speaker, similar to the way German speaking actors are trained to pronounce the German "r" on stage. Besides, the rolled "r" sounds far more articulate than the guttural "r" used by most native speakers. As to those terrifyingly looking long words, just break them down into their most basic syllables and then pronounce each of them slowly and carefully, e.g. Streich-holz-schäch-tel-chen. We run into a lot of difficulties when we try to speak German at the same speed we would speak English. Forget it! If you slow down a bit and break down those long German words, then they'll suddenly appear far less formidable and become easier to pronounce. Don't worry about how you sound speaking more slowly than you're used to - we think we sound stupid but to German ears we sound precise and meticulous.
I think the uvular “r” is more fun than the tongue-trilled variety. The uvular “r” is also used in French, Portuguese, and Farsi (and possibly some other languages I’m not aware of.)
Rolling your R's like you would in Spanish is all good and well if you can speak Spanish 😅. I'm an Australian and our regional languages are all Asian, so rolling my R's is as foreign to me as saying g'day in an authentic Australian accent is for you. I have just started learning German, in fact it was Feli and this channel that influenced me, I've been learning Mandarin for about 10 years and felt I needed a change. The thing is, those long German words scare me a little, I know it will get easier with practice but right now it's scary.
@@utha2665I guess rolling your "r" like in Spanish would mostly only make sense to Americans since we either have to learn Spanish in high school or are confronted with Spanish on an everyday basis in America, but try my suggestion about breaking down complicated German words into their most basis syllables. That approach has helped me tremendously to the point where I'm no longer intimidated by long German words.
Yes indeed. I use the Spanish mode of rolling Rs sometimes, ususally when the word starts with an R. The speaking speed of native speakers of a language is always a challenge. For me, listening and understanding a foreign language is the most difficult and important aspect of learning that language.
yeah I always do the syllable trick, so I was always able to follow along with the word videos, people always overthink it when seeing a long word, maybe because German has the O letters/others that have different sounds
I am American of German descent and I love your videos. I was on the waiting list for your Germany/Austria trip, but they never contacted me for your recent trip. I am hoping that you will do another trip in this coming spring, 2024. Please let us know what your future plans are! Cheers
Als ich Deutsch lernte, wirkten die Wörter absolut traumatisch. Aber wann immer ich es endlich zum ersten Mal hörte, konnte ich es jedes Mal sagen.
Ja stimmmt. Ich finde die lange Wörter schwer zu lesen, aber sie sind meistens nicht zu schwer zu sagen
@@RecklawTheAmazing der trick ist, die langen worte auseinanderzunehmen. es sind zusammengesetzte nomen. wenn du den verbindungsbuchstaben findest zwischen jedem wortteil und die worte für sich allein zuordnen kannst, kannst du das zusammengesetzte wort aufsagen, als würdest du die worte einzeln ablesen (mit jeweil dem verbindungsbuchstaben dazwischen). bin mit deutsch aufgewachsen und das war, was ich mir beigebracht habe ^.^ funktioniert auch für das lesen allein, meiner meinung nach. (ich hoffe, mein vortrag hat dir keine schwierigkeiten bereitet haha. ich kann es auf englisch wiederholen, wenn du magst.)
@afternoonsunjeans9180 Ahah kein Problem. Ich habe das meiste verstanden (und Google Translate hat mit dem Rest geholfen). Ich probiere die lange Wörter in kleinere Wörter zu brechen aber es ist nicht immer einfach zu wissen, wo ein Wort endet und das andere beginnt, wenn mein Vokabular nicht perfekt ist.
Aber alles gut. Ich lerne. Ich bin Amerikaner aber ich wohne jetzt in Deutschland also ich sollte mein Deutsch üben :)
@@RecklawTheAmazing ah, das stimmt! ich schätze, ein großes vokabular hilft haha. ich hoffe, dir gefällt deutschland!
@@afternoonsunjeans9180 Danke! Es ist soweit toll
Glad to hear they are still teaching that the „and“ in numbers refers to the decimal point. That‘s how I was taught as well. But the „and“ before the last number is indeed very common, especially in British English.
Learning German today apparently is very different from learning it when I was a kid. All the words you say all German learners will encounter, I've never encountered in my life. I never even learned the German word for squirrel, that's actually new to me, but I was able to pronounce it just fine.
The Austrians have a different word for squirrel - Ohrkatzel.
@@valerietaylor9615 It's actually "Oachkatzerl" 😉
Not just the Austrians, in Bavaria it's called Oachkatzl as well
In Pennsylvania Dutch, we say eechhaas (oak rabbit)...at least in south-central Pennsylvania.
When inflatable Rubber tires were just invented, as you learned german, most of today used words weren't around.
Thank you for the video. I can't wait for the next show.
My Texan wife says crown for crayon. It kills me.
Very nice video! I wonder how he would have pronounced "Oachkatzerl", the bavarian variety of Eichhörnchen. I reckon, this might even be easier!
My favorite german word is "Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz" 😎
It has been decades since I had my first German lesson. 55 years. I have forgotten more German than I want to think about. That said, my pronunciation was near perfect. I still do some thinking in German, not as much as they used to but still enough. Numbers, days of the week, months, to me, those are German. I have to sometimes think about what the number is in English because I know numbers so well in German
German numbers can be tough when all numbers get jammed together. German compound words are harder to read than to pronounce (??)
@onnieduvall. Neun. Nein. Nine.
@@thatguy8869 Cause you have to get it into your system first. When your brain has accepted the different syntax, it's getting easier.
It's like with Ben in this video. As soon as he hears it, it's getting a lot easier.
@@Eysenbeiss Yes. I have more trouble reading it than speaking it.
@FelifromGermany Here in New York City, “mirror” is pronounced “mih-rer” with a short “i”, not “mee-rer” or “meer”.
I think that insurance might be called Public Liability insurance in the UK. Incidentally, I guessed the 555 and fruit but not many of the others. I have been trying to learn Spanish for many years but German is just too difficult for me.
Public Liability insurance is a Haftpflichtversicherung in German.
The "Rechtsschutzversicherung" takes care of your legal fees and litigation costs in case you need representation in a civil (including labor court), administrative court or criminal proceedings against you - however, in the latter case only if you are charged with a crime that can also be committed negligently. If you are charged for an intentional misdemeanor or felony (to use the American terms which may not be exactly the same), the insurance won't deliver.
Such an insurance is rather popular here, and it can be relatively cheap because German lawyers get paid according to a federal fee schedule which is not based on time but on certain steps that are performed and the "value" of the case (e.g. the sum of claims in question), so the insurance can calculate the risk very well. If you agree with your lawyer on higher fees (some work based on the time spent, but most will settle for the official fees if the client has a Rechtsschutzversicherung), the coverage of the client's cost is capped by the maximum under the fee schedule, and excess costs have to be borne by the client/insured person. Either way, hiring a lawyer or litigating is WAY cheaper in Germany than in the U.S. Part of the reason is that German lawyers are prohibited from working on a contingency fee basis, which makes it unattractive to claim excessive sums just to get a higher quota litis.
@tomkemp9465
If you think German is hard, try learning one of the Slavic languages. Those are really hard.
I studied German long ago, but yesterday was the first time I had heard "front ch" described as a cat hissing (in the context of singing auf Deutsch), and now it's two days in a row! Where I come from (northern Minnesota originally), "crayon" is often pronounced like the first syllable of "cranberry".
When I see a word like crayon, I wanna pronounce it French. It doesn't look English at all.
In French crayon means pencil.
My parents were from northern Minnesota, and they pronounced it “crayon” ( rhymes with “ rayon”.)
Germany is such a beautiful country!!! I would love to visit or maybe even live there😊😊😊🇩🇪❤Btw you and Ben are such a cute couple❤
Being dutch, grown up with german tv-series subtitled it's nice to learn some german words one would not use commonly like 4 instance eichhörnchen.. which is in dutch eekhoorntje.. so all in all quite informative but pronounciationwise nailed it 10/10.
Many languages have regional differences for common words as you noted. One thing is German words is the long compound ones, something you don't see as much like in English. I have been watching a German made police detective drama set in the Berlin-Potsdam area on my local (NYC Area) PBS station 'Luna and Sophie'. It is spoken in German, but has subtitles in English. Another program on PBS I have been watching is 'World On Fire' set in WW II showing persons in Germany, French, English , Poland with home languages and captions in English as needed. I also recall a comedy sketch on TV a number of years ago where words that sound lovely in English but in German (and exaggerated) sound like something bad or ugly.
In addition to the words, thanks for the hints on the videos to watch! A few I am definitely going to have to check out!
In Austria near Bavaria there is a dialect word as a fun test word, it's "Oachkatzlschwoaf".
Below I have something from Switzerland, a nice but challenging one ;-)
Back to my example here. People from Bavaria should be able to get it, from further away, it gets more difficult to pronounce and to guess ;-)
Oachkatzl-Schwoaf.
Eichkatzerl-Schweif.
Eichkätzchenschweif.
Eichhörnchen-Schweif.
It also has to do with a squirrel, who would have thought ;-)
It's a squirrel tail, the nice fluffy tail thay use to jump around and keep their balance. This word has no other meaning, it's just a fun test word like "Eichhörnchen", but in the next level of pronounciation to make it more complicated ;-)
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Then in Switzerland they have a test word, that is "Chuchichäschtli".
In Swiss German they pronounce the ch rather intense, almost like you would clean your throat ;-)
Then it consists of two words, when I split it up, people from and around Bavaria might have a better chance to get it:
Chuchi-Chäschtli.
Chuchi
Kuchi is a word in Austria.
Kuchl is the same in Austria.
Küche
Chäschtli
Käschtli
Kastli (not a real word)
Kasten
So it is in German ein "Küchenkasten". It's a kitchen cabinet, typically a wooden cabinet on the wall of a kitchen, some could also hang higher on the wall so that you have your working area in the height between them.
The trick is the pronounciation of the Swiss German word ;-)
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And the number in Swiss German that was sounding most unusual to me was "Nünzähundatnünanünzg" ;-)
Nünzäh
hundat
nünanünzg
Nünzäh
Nünzehn (not a real word)
Neunzehn (19)
Hundat
Hundert (100)
Up to this it means 19 hundred, that is 1900.
Nünanünzg
Nün-a-nünzig
Neun-und-neunzig (99).
So the whole word was 1999, like the year 1999.
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You might find UA-cam videos with the words.
Thanks for explaining these words so thoroughly. The transitions are very interesting. Sometimes I get confused when I come across Bavarian, Austrian, or Swiss song lyrics, so this helps.
Hallo Feli,
du hättest auch ein bayrische Wort nutzen können
- Oachkatzlschwoaf
und als Steigerung zu fünfhundertfünfundfünzig
- fünfhundertfünfundfünzigtausendfünfhundertfünfundfünzig
und für die generelle Verzweifelung dann
- Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft
aber ansonsten ein sehr lustige Video
Danke und mach weiter so
In school in the US we were taught to NEVER use "and" when referring to a number over one hundred. 101 is "one hundred one", NOT "one hundred and one" and so on. But in the real world most of us actually do use "and". BTW, I'm assuming that Ben has a nice, private term of endearment he uses for you and really doesn't need to pronounce your first name (except in third person). I've heard you refer to him as "babe" 😉
Education must have changed, because everyone I know uses the "and" and was taught to do so in school back in the 80s and 90s. Sometimes you hear people say "hundred fifty" but that's Ebonics.
@@plektosgaming yeah I grew up in the 90s, don't remember being taught to not use "and", must be a generational thing back then, but we all know "and" is for writing checks
@@plektosgamingi was taught not to use and for numbers. and was dor fractions. 9 and 3 quarters for example
depends on the number "hunderteins" sounds correct, but "fünhundertfünffünfzig" would be inorrect.
As a native Dutch speaker I didn't have overly much trouble with these words. And the longer ones don't intimidate me. The trick lies, in part, in breaking down the words into recognisable parts and pronouncing these seperately, but without stops. But mostly, IMHO, it's about realising that German is not as excessively harsh as some try to make it sound in those 'funny videos' that get posted here on UA-cam. Try to pronounce them like that, you'll break your tongue. Once you accept that German is overall quite soft and fluid, words like Czechisches Streigholzschächtelchen just roll off your tongue.
I agree, I had a wonderful time watching it!
Great video. Ben did very well! As you mentioned the dialect of the Rhineland, did you know that we can pronounce the letter “g” in three different ways, even in one word? Flugzeugträger (aircraft carrier) will be pronounced as “Fluchzeuschträjer” 😉
Regarding the different dialects in Germany, you might check out a very old (ancient) clip from Peter Frankenfeld where he switches all kinds of German dialects announcing the weather forecast ua-cam.com/video/btlGMBA2XO4/v-deo.html
6:05 There's nothing difficult about a little unstressed schwa. I think people just overthink it.
Ben literally looks more European than you lol
He does! 😂
Genetically as a people Germans are not really Nordic, they have a very high preponderance of Eastern European blood; most Germans do not have blue eyes and blonde hair, those are traits more associated with Scandinavians. Feli looks like 75% of the German women I saw when I was stationed there in the 80s. BTW, an adorable couple!
(Native American English speaker)
For numbers...
In numbers generally, and indicates the final digit of a number more than 3 digits long where the penultimate digit is zero. (5603-Five thousand six hundred and two) Or
For the final 2 digits of a similar number without a zero value didgit required. This version is normally used to emphasize the end of the number for dramatic effect.
For US money, it is used to indicate the transition from dollars to cents when used with those units explicitly stated. ($675.42= six hundred seventy five dollars and forty two cents) Verbally, it is not uncommon practice to omit the and- using a slight pause to indicate the transition. (Six seventy five forty two) In these cases, zero value digits are indicated with "oh" or similar depending on regional differences.
I am Scottish and learned German at school and my dad was a German and French teacher. The phrase with the Czesch bit at start was the hardest for me. The ch sound is the easiest for me as we have ch in Scottish. Loch Lomond. Loch is a lake and English struggle with Loch and say Lock. Scotland has a lot of phrases of Germanic origin. *The Scottish word for night is Nicht like Nacht. Bright is bricht. Light is licht. The Scottish word for to know is called to ken (kennen). The Scottish word for a church is called the Kirk.* There is a Scottish phrase with lots of ch sounds in it that we learn from young kids. *It's a braw bricht moonlicht nicht the nicht ye ken*
@2:36 da hatte Ben aber auch Recht !
Das Röntgen (Abkürzung: R) ist eine veraltete Maßeinheit für die Ionendosis (wikipedia)
6:20 I could definitely tell he had a strong accent, which I only realised after Feli pointed it out that that's maybe surprising given he's speaking a language I don't know, but I can still tell he has a strong accent. It somehow sounds like a very fitting accent for someone who works with cars haha!
Hallo Feli, i just want to say that I love the word 'Strassenverkehrsordnungen'..... and i think this word could have been in your list! in danish it is 'Færdselsregler' and that is pretty much a direct translation of 'verkehrsordnungen' the 100% translation of 'Strassen-verkehrs-ordnungen' is 'vej-færdsels-ordninger'
If you see the HBO show “Chernobyl” you will see the word “Röntgen” tossed around a lot. It is a measurement of radioactivity but I believe they said it is now outdated and or not used anymore because now everyone uses the Geiger counter and whatever units that uses.
Feli, your English is so good, it's really hard to guess you were a non-native English speaker. Now Feli, can you do some German tongue twisters? Kirche, kuche, kirche,
Hallo Feli! I did great will all of them except for the "Chech" part of the small matchbox. I even was able to say the rest of them correctly mit Erkaltung.... Tschuss!
I just discovered this chanel. I greatly enjoy it. I lived in West Germany 40+ years ago in the Army. I have lost the little German that I learned. I am close to retierment. I am thinking about visiting Germeny for 2 or 3 months. I would like to rent a flat within walking distance of a university or language school where I could go to German language class in the mornings. Then spend the rest of the day absorbing the culture. I would appreciate any advise as to which city and universty or language schools might be good.
Neuschwannstein is amazing. My daughter held hands with the tour guide throughout the whole tour.
This was funny, interesting and lovely to watch!
Feli: 03:00 There are so many consonants together, which is something people say about the German language.
Meanwhile South Slavic languages:
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Ben: 08:09 You could say it like "Eikchchörnkchen"!
Swiss people:
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Falie: 09:25 I've been told you just drop the last syllable, you just say "mir".
Danish people: Hey, that's our thing!
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Okay, jokes aside, nice video again. :)
Also, I actually would like to see Ben try to pronounce the ultimate classic:
"Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz"
And yes, this is an actual German word that is not just made up for the sake of being long, it has a practical use (or at least it used to have one in the past). :)
Either way, keep up with the content! :)
In the USA, as you said when writing a check, one would use AND as the period between whole numbers and fractions (cents-or fractions of a dollar).
And millions of Germans born after 1985 or so will ask you: "What the hell is a check?" Last time I used one was over thirty years ago, but I do remember them from my youth.
Yes, for sure a fun video, need more like this, it was great. :)
Hallo Feli,
großes Lob an Ben 😁.
Er musste schon so oft als "Opfer" für dich herhalten 🤣.
Aber wenn man deine Videos mit ihm ansieht, dann kann man wirklich sagen, dass er es inzwischen wirklich sehr gut kann (well trained😉).
Liebe Grüße aus Franken.
Streichholzschaechtelchen is difficult because the soft CH before the T is just hard to combine. Fuenfhundertfuenfundfuenfzig is difficult because one switches from the short umlauted U to the short regular U 5 times. ue, u, ue, u, ue.
The simple secret for English speakers to master the ö sound - round your lips like you're saying "oooh", but say a long e instead. With practice, the resulting "eeewww" sound will come through.
Thank you Miss Fuchs, German I, 1972 Carteret High School
20:49 It sounds, to me, like a short "i" sound but slightly longer. Like the "i" in "little" but stretched out. Is... that close?
The word I have most difficulty with is the name of Hamburg Airport, Fuhlsbüttel. I always say Fühlsbuttel.