SONOG & KhabarNepal Forum

* Learning German helps students get better SAT and ACT scores At the University of California more majors require the study of German than other langauges (German 56 majors, French 43 majors, Spanish 21 majors, Japanese 7 majors)

* Among many academic programs requiring or recommending German are: anatomy, art history, biochemistry, biology, biomedical physics, botany, chemistry, design, engineering, film studies, genetics, linguistics, logic and mthodology of science, molecular biology, music, near eastern studies, philosophy, physical science, physics, physiology, religious studies, zoology

* German is a key language in the European Union and in the rapidly growing markets of Central and Eastern Europe

* Germany is America's largest European trading partner with more than 750 major American firms doing business in Germany

* 1100 German companies do business in the US

* More than 25% of all foreign tourists visiting the US come from German-speaking countries, spending more than $37 billinon annually around the world

* In a 1994 survey conducted by the German-American Chamber of Commerce, 65% of all respondents stated they were looking specifically for German/English bilingual skills

* German companies in the US pay German-speaking employees premium salaries

* The German speaking countries are among the most popular destintations for American travellers
* Many people don't realize that German is the most widely spoken language in Europe

* American history has been shaped by Germans (General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Carl Schurz, Heinrich Steinway, Johann August Roebling, Levi Strauss)

WILLY BRANDT, the former German chancellor, once said: "If I'm selling to you, I speak your language. If I'm buying, dann müssen Sie Deutsch sprechen."

NONE of the G7 (8) countries speak Spanish. While they are BOTH important world languages, an enormous amount of material is made available first and sometimes only in German in academic fields such as banking, engineering, the sciences, ANY humanities field, medicine, social sciences, etc. German companies and research institutions are world leaders in many of these areas. (Try to think of the name of a Spanish-speaking multinational with representation in the US - then think of a German one - it's easy...VW, Mercedes, BMW, Bayer, Adidas, BASF, Mentos (!), etc.) In the US when you talk good-paying jobs and $$$ people listen. The world is only going to get smaller and German is NOT just a regional language with cute Volkslieder.

German is pretty hard to learn. Either that or I'm a slow one.

I've always thought of the Germans as a basically good people, with some fine looking women, good food, technologically innovative, and stubbornly resourceful.

Since we are talking about language here are some facts about English. English is undeniably descended syntactically from Common German (the precursor to modern German), although Middle and early New English are peppered with “intellectualisms” from French and Latin and Greek, owing in part to the Normans and in part to the Renaissance on the continent. As the dominant member of Anglo-Frisian sub-tree, it survived just a bit after the Norman conquest when we see Middle English arise (in about the12th century). Middle English then gives way to “New” or “Modern English around the 15th century.

Old English is actually quite easy to learn. The similarities that you see to Old Norwegian come from the fact that they are near-siblings at this point, both descending from Germanic (Norwegian officially being “Northern Germanic”). The most commonly accepted genealogy is thus:

code:

“Indo European”
|
Common Germanic__________________
| | |
West North East
| | Gothic
Anglo-Frisian Old Norse
| |
English Norwegian

Note that I left out the other branches that do not fall in the direct genealogy. Modern German, FWIW, is under West, in the “High” family of western Germanic languages.

Wow, looks like this actually got a decent discussion going. I have no problem accepting an old germanic language as a common ancestor of the ones mentioned. Really there are some very (modern)german looking words and structures in the old english example. Nice to see a confirmation and direct path though, thanks.

A very important lesson for a happy life: never complain about people "mispronouncing" words or "getting their grammar wrong", it's a complete waste of energy and only ends up leaving you frustrated! The simple, beautiful fact of the matter is that language is the only true democracy that exists (sorry, can't remember who first said that), changed continuously by its every speaker. Millions and millions of dollars have been spent by unwise governments trying to force language to change, or stay the same. It's a futile endeavor! No amount of throwing money at it has slowed the inevitable slide of the Irish language. Similarly, the French government has repeatedly wasted millions trying maintain the language's "purity" by setting up organisations proscribing the "correct" use of French. And guess what? Even after all that fuss people still say "le weekend" and "le picnic".

Every language borrows - and changes in the process - words from other languages it comes into contact with. Are the citizens of Des Moines "wrong" because they don't pronounce the name of their city Day Mwa (roughly!)? If a concept from one language is difficult to express in another then we usually borrow the word as is. Sometimes we pronounce it pretty much the same way (e.g. macho), sometimes we don't (e.g. karaoke) because the original pronunciation doesn't really "fit" with the way we speak.

That's not really very important though. The crucial point is that the fundamental function of language is to express concepts and as long as the meaning we intend is the meaning that's understood then its job is done. So if you don't mind I'll keep on saying carry-okie safe in the knowledge that the vast majority of people in this country understand it best that way!

Fascist Wrote:A very important lesson for a happy life: never complain about people "mispronouncing" words or "getting their grammar wrong", it's a complete waste of energy and only ends up leaving you frustrated! The simple, beautiful fact of the matter is that language is the only true democracy that exists (sorry, can't remember who first said that), changed continuously by its every speaker. Millions and millions of dollars have been spent by unwise governments trying to force language to change, or stay the same. It's a futile endeavor! No amount of throwing money at it has slowed the inevitable slide of the Irish language. Similarly, the French government has repeatedly wasted millions trying maintain the language's "purity" by setting up organisations proscribing the "correct" use of French. And guess what? Even after all that fuss people still say "le weekend" and "le picnic".

Every language borrows - and changes in the process - words from other languages it comes into contact with. Are the citizens of Des Moines "wrong" because they don't pronounce the name of their city Day Mwa (roughly!)? If a concept from one language is difficult to express in another then we usually borrow the word as is. Sometimes we pronounce it pretty much the same way (e.g. macho), sometimes we don't (e.g. karaoke) because the original pronunciation doesn't really "fit" with the way we speak.

That's not really very important though. The crucial point is that the fundamental function of language is to express concepts and as long as the meaning we intend is the meaning that's understood then its job is done. So if you don't mind I'll keep on saying carry-okie safe in the knowledge that the vast majority of people in this country understand it best that way!

Very enlightning.

Great going guys, I will check more often.

Sadly it doesnt seem to get inside my mind.

To impress women?