The Awful German Language
by Mark Twain · first published 2010
41% recommend59% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A short, witty essay on German grammar, focusing on its arbitrary genders and steep learning curve. It is funny and worth reading for anyone who has studied German or wants a lighthearted look at the language.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Die schwierigsten Grammatikthemen - Prolog mit Mark Twain Es ist wahr, dass die deutsche Sprache nicht zu den einfach zu erlernenden Sprachen zählt. Sie hat durchaus ihre Raffinessen und Stolpersteine und bereitet so manchem Lerner erhebliche Schwierigkeiten. Aber nur selten verleiht jemand dem Ärger über diese Schwierigkeiten so laut und vehement Ausdruck wie Mark Twain in seinem Aufsatz "Die schreckliche deutsche Sprache", der mit der Erkenntnis endet, dass die "deutsche Sprache sanft und ehrfurchtsvoll zu den toten Sprachen gelegt werden" solle, "denn nur die Toten haben die Zeit, diese Spr
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I take that you've never heard of Mark Twain's "The Awful German Language"[0]? My favorite quote is "My philological studies have satisfied me that a gifted person ought to learn English (barring spelling and pronouncing) in thirty hours, French in thirty days, and German…
on “A Map Showing How Much Time It Takes English-Speakers to Learn Foreign Languages” ↗The Awful German Language - Mark Twain [1] I love that essay - and he agrees with you on the gender issue: --- To continue with the German genders: a tree is male, its buds are female, its leaves are neuter; horses are sexless,…
on “London Is Gonna Be Pissed, But We Prefer Berlin for Startups” ↗I’m reminded of the Mark Twain essay, The Awful German Language where he says: “In German, a young lady has no sex, while a turnip has. Think what overwrought reverence that shows for the turnip, and what callous disrespect for the girl.” Despite its age the essay*…
on “The Decline and Fall of the Latin Neuter” ↗…only effective way to learn these genders is to be smothered in the language on a daily basis—this way, somehow, one learns them by a form of osmosis. As already mentioned elsewhere, Appendix D - The Awful German Language in Mark Twain's The Tramp Abroad is a quintessential summing up of the difficulties a native English speaker has in learning German. It's a brilliant summary, not only is it hilariously funny but also…
on “DerDieDas.wtf: If you know the pain of learning the gender of nouns in German” ↗…feral tomcat a proper lady? Gosh this resonates. I remember learning "das Mädchen" and feeling my brain throw up its little brain-hands in resignation and defeat. I assume you've read Mark Twain's "The Awful German Language"? Link: http://crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Awful_German_Language The "Tale of the Fishwife and its Sad Fate" is so funny. Did you ever get a strategy…
on “Best Resources to Learn Russian? German? Etc.?” ↗Lets not forget the funny Mark Twain essay “The awful German language”. For those that haven't read it: https://www.cs.utah.edu/~gback/awfgrmlg.html
on “Why the German language has so many great words” ↗Some of the commenters here might be interested in the wonderful essay by Mark Twain: "The Awful German Language": https://www.cs.utah.edu/~gback/awfgrmlg.html It is a great read but you really need to understand German to read it.
on “German for Programmers” ↗It reminds me of Mark Twain - The Awful German Language. It combines anecdotes of an English speaker about Germans and German and makes for an amusing read for everyone. But .. please don't use any of these works as any sort of hard truth or reference.
on “On Truth and Lying in the Extra German Sense” ↗If you're not already familiar with it, you might get a kick out of Mark Twain's "The Awful German Language": https://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/texts/twain.german.html
on “Language and Personality” ↗…then pointed to the many peculiar idiosyncrasies of English and said that in any competition for same then English would likely be the winner. (BTW, you'll even find native German speakers reading The Awful German Language on Project Gutenberg.) Moreover, I learned more about the German language from Twain's writing than I ever did from the equivalent number of words in any German language textbook written in English.…
on “The Awful German Language (1880)” ↗…don't have enough skills to do without them. BTW, if one's not familiar with the difficulties of translating languages then considerable insight can be gleaned from a short and amusing piece titled The Awful German Language written by Mark Twain—it's Appendix D to his work The Tramp Aboard. Therein, he describes his experience learning German and some of what he deems as its peculiarities. Nevertheless, he rightly explains…
on “How Translation Works, Book Title Edition” ↗I have encouraged many of my friends to learn German just so they can understand the comedic brilliance of "The Awful German Language". For those who have studied German but haven't read Twain yet: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Awful_German_Language
on “Garden path sentence” ↗Not to forget: Instant(!!!) green card for anyone earning more than 65000 Euros/year. The only issue I still have is the "awful German language" ;-) http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html (Mark Twain's 1880 book A Tramp Abroad.)
on “Berlins new techno beat. why international tech startups should move to berlin.” ↗It’s a 19th century essay from Mark Twain about the difficulties learning German as an English speaker. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Awful_German_Language The title translated into German is "Die Schrecken der deutschen Sprache" ("The Horrors of the German Language") which is more appropriate.
on “Germany's State Distance-Learning University” ↗https://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/texts/twain.german.html The Awful German Language, Mark Twain
on “The Hardest Natural Languages (1979) [pdf]” ↗