Deutsch

Hi, I'm deutsian and I'm from England. Atm I study German & Linguistics at Uni and Czech in my spare time. Be sure to check out my 'Resource Directory', 'German Synonyms', and 'Vocab from Articles' sections using the 'Pages' tab at the top of the page!

[deutsian]

Wow it’s been a while since I’ve been here. I’m surprised people still follow me and actually make use of my posts ! 

I hope you’re all doing well.

[deutsian]

It’s been wonderful. Thank you for everything, Europe.

[deutsian]

Where should I star for learning German? Thank youuu

Whatever interests you really. I started by discovering German songs, but perhaps there’s some books you’d like to understand in German so you can focus on learning stuff tailored towards reading those. Or perhaps you just want to learn some casual phrases you can use abroad - Duolingo would be good for this. Maybe grammar is your true passion? In which case Hammer’s German Grammar is warmly recommended.

All you need is just to have an idea of what you want to be able to, look up the relevant words, check with natives it’s correct, and then keep practicing. There’s no ‘set plan’ - just throw yourself in.

[deutsian]

Not the last anon but I was about to ask you the same thing actually. Do you have any good resources for learning German? Online, any favorite books? I took it for like four years in middle school and high school and I have retained a little but I'd like to get back into it, so good refresher resources for basics and resources for moving forward in learning grammar and vocab would be appreciated. Thank you!

This is unfortunately a question I totally suck at, for I do not remember how I originally started to learn German (besides just learning song lyrics and delving into grammar rules - for which ‘Hammer’s German Grammar’ is a good resource). I can recommend the website Clozemaster, which generates cloze-style flashcards for you to fill out - you can pick ‘fast-track fluency’ or you could just pick e.g. top 100, top 1000 most common words which should be of some use.

If we’re talking really basic grammar, Duolingo might be a good resource. But, honestly, the words will probably come back to you without you actively revisiting them - 2 years after stopping Czech and restarting I began to recall words slowly without actually looking them up.

The most pivotal thing is that you do something about your TL every day :)

[deutsian]

Any tips for applying for work in Germany?

Unfortunately I can’t really help out here, sorry. All I can recommend is that you remember the layout of a German CV tends to be much more simplistic than an English CV (don't have to bullshit about what your responsibilities/roles were). 

Hopefully some of my followers can provide you with more tips :)

[deutsian]

German musician/band recommendations, please ♪

As of late I’m really into Mathea, Von Wegen Lisbeth, and Das Lumpenpack. Alligatoah, CRO, and Mark Forster are also good shouts. 

[deutsian]

In Czech owls go 'hů' and it's just such an adorable looking word

[deutsian]

i would like to start a petition to ban whomever invented perfective/imperfective aspect

the linguist side of me appreciates the various linguistic features of different tongues

the learner side of me is forever screaming

[deutsian]

Difficult German Synonyms - to accuse/blame

There are often multiple words in languages which have the same basic meaning, but are used in slightly different ways. Any advanced German learner has probably had qualms w/ ändern/verändern, gebrauchen/verwenden/nutzen, and many more examples. In these posts, I’ll explain these differences.

In this post: How to say ‘to accuse/blame’ in German.

1. In the the legal sense.

i) Anklagen et al.

Anklagen is the typical term when accusing someone of having commited a crime, though beschuldigen*, anlasten, zur Last legen, and vorwerfen can sometimes be used for a form of criminal accusation. The former two are used with a genitive noun, the others an accusative. The former two also are the ones which can be used as a participle to describe a person (e.g. angeklagter/beschuldigter Arbeiter), whereas the latter describe a crime (angelasteter Diebstahl).

Ex: Der Verursacher des Unfalls wird jetzt der fahrlässigen Tötung angeklagt. Tr: The person responsible for the accident is now being charged with negligent homicide.

* der/die Beschuldigte is a special legal term used when the evidence against someone for a crime is conclusive.

2. In the general, everyday sense.

ii) Beschuldigen, Anschuldigen, Bezichtigen

The most common general term for accusing or blaming is beschuldigen. Here, the infinitive construction is more common than the dative and the accusation needn’t be specified.

Ex: Sie beschuldigte den Arzt, er habe sie mit seinen Spritzen vergiften wollen. Tr: She accused the doctor of poisoning her with his syringes.

Anschuldigen is a rare, but synomous alternative. The noun ‘Anschuldigung’, however, is more frequent and synonymous with ‘Beschuldigung’.

Ex: Wer dies noch verteidigt und die Polizei anschuldigt macht sich zum Mittäter. Tr: He who still defends this and blames the police is making himself an accomplice.

Bezichtigen is an elevated synonym.

Ex: Verteidigungsministerin Ursula von der Leyen wird des Betrugs bezichtigt. Tr: Defence Minister, Ursula von der Leyen, is accused of fraud.

iii) Anlasten, zur Last legen

These mean to accuse somebody of sth./criticise for sth. and require dative constructions.

Ex a: Man wollte mir die ganze Schuld an diesem Unfall anlasten. Tr a: They wanted to blame me entirely for the accident.

Ex b: Die Sabotage wurde dem Gewerkschaftsführer zur Last gelegt. Tr b: The trade union leader was accused of sabotage.

iv) Anklagen

Although a possible synonym in everyday speech, anklagen sounds dramatic and more forceful.

Ex: Der Film klagt die sozialen Missstände an. Tr: The film denounces/attacks social ills.

v) Vorwerfen

This is most appropriate when blame comes close to criticise, and can also mean to reproach.

Ex: Man hat ihm wurde Unfähigkeit vorgeworfen. Tr: He was accused of incompetence.

vi) jdm den Schuld geben, schuld an sein/Schuld haben

Perhaps the most common spoken alternatives. To den Schuld jdm geben means you blame someone for something, and to say someone ist Schuld (dar)an/hat den Schuld, is to say they are to blame.

Ex a: Sie gab ihm die Schuld an der ganzen Geschichte. Tr a: She blamed him for the whole thing.

Ex b: Wer ist an dem Streit schuld? Tr b: Who is to blame for the dispute?

vii) jdm etw. in die Schuhe schieben

This is colloquial and means to blame someone who is innocent.

Ex: Doris hat versucht, es ihrem Bruder in die Schuhe zu schieben, aber ich habe gesehen, wie sie den Stein geworfen hat. Tr: Doris tried to blame her brother, but I saw her throw the stone.

viii) Non-Personal Object

All of the above (except anklagen) require a person to be the object of a sentence, so, should the ‘accused’ not be an object, kritisieren + an is a useful alternative.

Ex: Man kritisiert an den Videospielen, dass sie rassistischen und sexistischen Einstellungen Vorschub leisten. Tr: Video games are charged with encouraging racist and sexist attitudes.

iii. To sue

ix) [Ver]klagen

In a civil case where one sues someone, both verklagen and klagen are possible, but verklagen always needs an object. Klagen +auf = sue for (without mentioning person), klagen +gegen = another rarer alternative to verklagen.

Ex a: Der Anwalt riet seinem Mandanten, die Firma zu verklagen. Tr a: The lawyer advised his client to sue the firm.

Ex b: Die Firma wollte klagen, weil der Vertragspartner den Liefertermin nicht eingehalten hatte. Tr b: The firm wanted to sue, because the contract partner didn’t meet the delivery date.

In civil cases the plaintiff is der Kläger, the defendant der Beklagte.

Sources:

A Practical Dictionary of German Usage - K. B. Beaton Using German Synonyms - Martin Durrell Duden

Enjoy!

[deutsian]

End of Year Tag

I was tagged by @semiotics-studies​ :) Thanks!

Best experience this year: Probably therapy also & overcoming my decade-long mental illness (mine is still considered incurable by many, so I refrain from saying that word).

Best holiday: Frankfurt in the Spring. It’s always Frankfurt.

Best thing you ate: Tbh I had a vegan Bratwurst in England that was pretty incredible. Or some form of German hotdog in Frankfurt whose name evades me. Or maybe a croque in Hamburg.

Best thing you learned: That Bayern is spelt with a Y because a former king loved the Greek language so much he decreed everyone use Y instead of I. For a serious answer, Phonetics.

Best thing you did/made: I got C1 in German

Something you’re proud of: Legit how far I’ve come as an individual in spite of every obstacle in my life. I look back and for the most part, I just see overwhelming victories against all odds. My life is the best it’s ever been and I am quite possibly the best version of myself so far.

I literally do not use tumblr enough to recall blog names, and the only name I can recall is someone who tagged me haha. So please, any of my followers who read this, I insist you fill it out! 

I have almost reached 5,000 followers after all these years and I thank you all kindly for sticking with me, even though my content lately is almost non-existent.  I appreciate it a lot :)

[deutsian]

What do you like the most about the German language?

Sorry this was sent to me months and months ago, but honestly I fell in love with how it sounds. Not sure if that’s still my reason though, hmm.

I enjoy the amount of intellectual knowledge accessible in German (especially linguistic).

And [ç] is such a lovely sound (soft ‘ch’).

[deutsian]

Hi, I have a question. How do you learn vocabulary? I'm B2 in English and sometimes I have had problems trying to remember and use new words. Also, how do you find new vocubulary? I know that english is your native language but I'm asking because you said that you are learning new words and also I believe that (should I said the process? I have a serious problem using to much the) process is quite similar to learning voc in any language. Thanks in advance♡

Hey, well two important things to remember when learning new vocab is ‘repetition’ and ‘significance’. The more we see a word, the more it becomes ingrained into our mind and this is why flashcard apps are so effective - because you expose yourself to a word in a much quicker way than e.g. reading 100s of books.

Significance is important because words are not just abstract ‘things’ which don’t have any meaning. When I say a word like beauty, love, justice, equality, art, morality etc. we all have our own ideas in our head about what these are. The same goes for words like dog, cat, fish etc. if I say the word, you can form an image of one. This is what’s vitally important - you need to give the words you learn a meaning attached to a memory you already have. So if I learn that ústní voda is the Czech word for mouthwash, I can just think about all the times I’ve used mouthwash, look at the bottle of mouthwash in my room, think about adverts for mouthwash etc. It is crucial that words are connected to the experiences you already have, because it’s easier to remember something laced with emotion.

That’s why it seems easier to remember such strange words. Without even attempting to learn the word, I never forgot zlatokop because it means ‘gold-digger’ which is a notion absolutely filled with emotion itself. There are so many strange words I know in German, which I can never forget, because the fact they’re strange is what makes them memorable. When on Earth am I ever going to use the word Hosenzieher in my life, for example? Outside of this example, probably never. And yet, I doubt I’ll forget it.

As to what I use to amass large amounts of vocab - I delve a lot into newspaper websites, read novels, browse German-language subreddits and other sites, speak to Germans on some apps, and quite enjoy German magazines. Lately I lean far more in favour of learning words that I find on reddit or forums, because they’re likely to also be words people often use in speech as opposed to words found in a novel.

It is hard though and I wish I could give you some perfect solution, but I really can’t. The most effective way I know of learning words is by using a picture (or a real object) + the word (e.g. that’s how i know ten budík, alarm clock). But this is quite an arduous task. 

Apologies for the long ramble, just getting my thoughts out. I hope this helps in some way?

[deutsian]

Because English and German both are second languages to me I mix them in my head sometimes and that's why I sometimes think your avatar means we are gross instead of we are big (I like the song!)

Haha yes I do the same thing sometimes! It is a good song, but I haven’t listened to it for a while truth be told.

[deutsian]

Do you think it is possible to learn german by myself?

The C1 I attained in German has almost been exclusively from work I have done outside of my classes. My classes have been their as a source of continued motivation (forcing me to keep up German) and my degree is a necessity, but the vast amount of German knowledge I have acquired has been during my own learning time.

So yes, absolutely :)

[deutsian]

My top artists of the decade according to Spotify are all (but one) German, and my top songs are all German too.

Can I pls have citizenship now?

[czechclass101com]

School Campus Vocabulary in Czech 👨‍🎓 PS: Learn Czech with the best FREE online resources, just click here: https://www.czechclass101.com/?src=social_special_infograph_school_campus_091719

[mediocrelanguagelearner]

What the hell? Who did this? I’ll let cafeteria = jídelna slide (but when you’re at university, it’s usually called “menza”), but dormitory = noclehárna? Noclehárna is something like a homeless shelter. 

DORMITORY = KOLEJ (when talking about university, for secondary school it can also be internát)

(Also, you don’t have to say noční klub, just say klub)

[deutsian]

@mediocrelanguagelearner thank you so much. I was browsing this blog earlier and although I’m a beginner, lots of the words they used caused me to raise an eyebrow several times. I reblogged to see if someone would tell me the blog was wrong and I’m incredibly glad you did!

[hakkilintu-deactivated20160506]

~200 Basic Czech Words

funwithlanguages has a theory that you can learn to communicate in a language if you only learn 200 basic words, and they have compiled a word list for this purpose. So I’ve decided to translate the word list into my native language should anyone be eager to learn :)

Verbs (English: Czech)

be: být

there is: je

have: mít

do: dělat

create (aka “make”): udělat

cause (aka “make”): udělat

go: jít (on foot)/jet (by vehicle)

say: říct

speak: mluvit

know: vědět

think: myslet

want: chtít

like: mít rád(a) (masculine/feminine)

can: moct

need: potřebovat

should: měl(a) bych (I should, masculine/feminine), měl(a) bys (you should), měl(a) by (he/she should)

try: zkusit

feel: cítit

work: pracovat

learn: učit se

understand: rozumět

get (meaning “obtain”): dostat

use: použít

start: začít

eat: jíst

see: vidět

write: psát

give: dát

sleep: spát

buy: koupit

decide: rozhodnout se

find: najít

ask: zeptat se

meet: potkat

take: vzít

Phrases

hello: ahoj

goodbye: ahoj

My name is…: Jmenuji se…

Nice to meet you.: Rád(a) tě poznávám. (masculine/feminine, informal) Rád(a) vás poznávám. (formal or plural)

yes: ano

no: ne

okay: dobře

please: prosím

thank you: děkuji, díky

you’re welcome: není zač

sorry: promiň(te) (informal/formal)

excuse me (to catch someone’s attention): promiň(te)

well (as in “Well, I think that…”): no

Really?: Vážně?

Conjunctions

that (as in “I think that…” or “the man that…”): že

that/which (as in “the man that/which…”): který

and: a

or: nebo

but: ale

though: nicméně

because: protože

therefore: proto

if: jestli, když (when)

Prepositions

before: před after: po

of: N/A - the genitive case instead

from: od (=time, from the outside of), z (=from the inside of) to: do (=time, into), k (=towards)

in: v

at (place): v (closed spaces, e.g. a store), na (open spaces, e.g. a bus stop)

at (time): v

with: s

about: o

like (meaning “similar to”): jako

for: pro

Adjectives and adverbs

a lot: hodně a little: trochu

good / well: dobrý / dobře bad / badly: špatný / špatně

more (than): víc (než) better: lepší (adj.) / lépe (adv.)

most: nej-

enough: dost

right: správný (adj.) / správně (adv.) wrong: špatný (adj.) / špatně (adv.)

Adjectives

the, a: N/A

this: tenhle (m), tahle (f), tohle (n) that: tamten (m), tamta (f), tamto (n)

all: všichni (m pl.), všechny (f pl.), každý (=every) some: nějaký no: žádný

other: jiný

any: každý

easy: snadný, lehký hard: těžký

early: brzy (adverb!) late: pozdě (adverb!)

important: důležitý

cool: bezva(dný)

same: stejný

different: jiný

beautiful: krásný

Adverbs

very: velmi

too (as in “too much”): příliš

also: také

only: jen(om), pouze

now: teď

here: tady

maybe: možná

always: vždy often: často sometimes: někdy never: nikdy

today: dnes yesterday: včera tomorrow: zítra

almost: skoro

still: stále, pořád

already: už

even: i

Nouns

Labeled either feminine, masculine, or neuter.

thing: věc (f)

person: osoba (f)

place: místo (n)

everything: všechno (n) something: něco (n) nothing: nic (n)

time (as in “a long time”): čas (m)

time (as in “I did it 3 times”): -krát (e.g. three times = třikrát)

friend: kamarád (m), kamarádka (f)

mother, father, parent: matka (f), otec (m), rodič (m)

daughter, son, child: dcera (f), syn (m), dítě (n)

wife, husband: žena (f), muž (m)

girlfriend, boyfriend: přítelkyně (f), přítel (m)

breakfast: snídaně (f)

lunch: oběd (m)

dinner: večeře (f)

money: peníze (m, always plural)

day: den (m)

year: rok (m)

hour: hodina (f)

week: týden (m)

country: země (f)

city: město (n)

language: jazyk (m)

word: slovo (n)

Internet: internet (m)

house: dům (m)

office: kancelář (f)

company: společnost (f)

Question Words

who: kdo

what: co

where: kde

when: kdy

why: proč

how: jak

how much: kolik

Pronouns

These are the nominative (basic) forms. There are 7 cases in Czech and the pronouns are different in all of them.

I: já

you: ty (informal sg.), vy (formal sg.)

she, he: ona, on

it: ono

we: my

you (plural): vy

they: oni (m), ony (f), ona (n)