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jstroem's review
4.0
"The awful German language"
Seing that German is my third language, I thoroughly enjoyed this. It gets four stars because I felt like Twain was very simple minded in some of his arguments (I do understand that this is comedy, but I'm a language nerd ok).
For example, the idea of long words. In German, you can put different words together to build new words. In English, you often use even MORE words inbetween to connect them. Yes, Rechtsschutzversicherungsunternehmen is a ridiculous word, but according to me, this function gives the language a creative side. Also, you can do basically the same in a lot of other languages (such as in Swedish, my mother tongue) and it's rather a case of English being afraid to put words together. Or at least that's my take on it.
Read this if you're at all interested in German, if you just started learning it or if it's your first language - it's hilarious. If you don't have any clue about German, you probably wouldn't understand much I'm afraid.
Seing that German is my third language, I thoroughly enjoyed this. It gets four stars because I felt like Twain was very simple minded in some of his arguments (I do understand that this is comedy, but I'm a language nerd ok).
For example, the idea of long words. In German, you can put different words together to build new words. In English, you often use even MORE words inbetween to connect them. Yes, Rechtsschutzversicherungsunternehmen is a ridiculous word, but according to me, this function gives the language a creative side. Also, you can do basically the same in a lot of other languages (such as in Swedish, my mother tongue) and it's rather a case of English being afraid to put words together. Or at least that's my take on it.
Read this if you're at all interested in German, if you just started learning it or if it's your first language - it's hilarious. If you don't have any clue about German, you probably wouldn't understand much I'm afraid.
jordan_west's review
4.0
As a student of both English and German studies, reading this book was inevitable for me. So when researching for my thesis paper (a comparison of English and German in terms of which of them sounds worse to the listener - apparently German - and why it does) I found this interesting and hilarious essay.
This is something students of German Studies should definitely read during their studies because it provides a different perspective on our language - especially if German is one's mother tongue.
Nonetheless, I don't agree with everything Twain discusses in his essay. I can see where he is coming from, but most of the time his translations and the critique he bases on them are not quite right. When contrasting the onomatopoeia of English and German words that supposedly describe the same thing, he, for example, translates "storm" as "Gewitter". He then goes on about how the sounds of "Gewitter" do not fit what "storm" describes, completely neglecting that the correct translation would be "Sturm". It does not take a scientist to see that those words are very identical - when it comes to the vowel - and both words perfectly capture and represent the darkness and atmosphere of this whether. This mistake can be found with several of his examples.
Besides, the English language, too, has some words that even I need time to analyze before even remotely being able to understand what the fuck someone wants to say.
Twain also goes completely overboard with "Zug" und "Schlag". His descriptions are completely exaggerated and this is another reason why I cannot give this a 5/5 rating. Yes, I get that it is supposed to be a humorous read (at least to some degree), but the base of his argumentation is just not sufficiently build.
This brings me to my last point: it is no secret that the German language is difficult. I know more than enough native speakers of German who still cannot use the genitive or dative and who cannot see the difference between "das" and "dass". These people have all graduated from school years ago. Twain claims he can properly judge and criticize German after 9 weeks of learning the language, which is complete bullshit.
So this read should not be taken very seriously.
It was still very hilarious and entertaining, though.
This is something students of German Studies should definitely read during their studies because it provides a different perspective on our language - especially if German is one's mother tongue.
Nonetheless, I don't agree with everything Twain discusses in his essay. I can see where he is coming from, but most of the time his translations and the critique he bases on them are not quite right. When contrasting the onomatopoeia of English and German words that supposedly describe the same thing, he, for example, translates "storm" as "Gewitter". He then goes on about how the sounds of "Gewitter" do not fit what "storm" describes, completely neglecting that the correct translation would be "Sturm". It does not take a scientist to see that those words are very identical - when it comes to the vowel - and both words perfectly capture and represent the darkness and atmosphere of this whether. This mistake can be found with several of his examples.
Besides, the English language, too, has some words that even I need time to analyze before even remotely being able to understand what the fuck someone wants to say.
Twain also goes completely overboard with "Zug" und "Schlag". His descriptions are completely exaggerated and this is another reason why I cannot give this a 5/5 rating. Yes, I get that it is supposed to be a humorous read (at least to some degree), but the base of his argumentation is just not sufficiently build.
This brings me to my last point: it is no secret that the German language is difficult. I know more than enough native speakers of German who still cannot use the genitive or dative and who cannot see the difference between "das" and "dass". These people have all graduated from school years ago. Twain claims he can properly judge and criticize German after 9 weeks of learning the language, which is complete bullshit.
So this read should not be taken very seriously.
It was still very hilarious and entertaining, though.
relatifcreatif's review
4.0
I think this book was hilarious and a better read than I ever could have imagined. It isn't just perfect for foreigners who are new to the German language but also for people like me who are German. Although German is my mother tongue Mark Twain still teached me a few things and hinted to some points I could do better. I honestly would recommend this book to everyone, no matter if German is their mother tongue or a language they are currently learning.
bluli's review
4.0
This is basically Mark Twain ranting about how hard it is to learn German. And it is very funny.
This text should be taken with a grain of salt, because many of the things he lists, which make German so unbearably hard to learn, are not at all exclusive to German. And it is also over the top.
This booklet is for the people who are struggling to learn German (or any language) and who want to laugh in agreement and not feel alone with their frustration.
This text should be taken with a grain of salt, because many of the things he lists, which make German so unbearably hard to learn, are not at all exclusive to German. And it is also over the top.
This booklet is for the people who are struggling to learn German (or any language) and who want to laugh in agreement and not feel alone with their frustration.
hershey's review
5.0
I told my Swiss friend that I'd started learning German. She gave me this book as a response, to deter me I guess.
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