# Do I have a good reason for relearning German? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2011, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337 "2011-01-04T09:03:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/1 "2011-01-04T09:03:45Z")
I used to speak German fairly well, though with limitations on my vocabulary, after four years of high school and a semester in college. But for a very long time, after I started learning Chinese, my ability to speak coherently in German was totally blocked – I’d try to say something simple, and come up with the Chinese words instead; and my grammar was a mess. My Chinese is fluent enough now that I could handle both languages now, and with a bit of effort I could pick German up again fairly quickly, I think. But do I have a reason to make the effort? I don’t have any family there and I’m not planning to travel to Germany any time, and from what little I know of it I’m not necessarily all that interested in the German cultural scene. (Though maybe I’m wrong.) I am interested in global and especially financial news and upcoming ideas, but I’m not sure if there’s anything I could access in German that I couldn’t already in English. Don’t get me wrong, I _like_ German, but I guess I need some practical handle to grasp in order to rationalize the effort, if that makes sense. So – tell me why I should start reviewing the old Deutsch? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/2 "2011-01-04T11:14:47Z")
Those SOB’s will probably start another World War soon, so we will need German-speakers to read their codes, and to serve as translators at the next set of war crimes trials. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/3 "2011-01-04T13:27:41Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I used to speak German fairly well, though with limitations on my vocabulary, after four years of high school and a semester in college. But for a very long time, after I started learning Chinese, my ability to speak coherently in German was totally blocked – I’d try to say something simple, and come up with the Chinese words instead; and my grammar was a mess. LOL. The same thing happened to my ability to speak German when I started to learn Spanish. I was adequately fluent, and now, well, I suck. But: I’ve gone to Germany a couple of times in the last couple of years, and it was interesting that I was able to start picking it up again (when the Germans let me, that is) over the course of my time there. What I’m suggesting is, maybe you’ve not completely lost it; perhaps you only need exposure to it. Anecdote: My penultimate time in Germany, after having been there for three weeks, I finally had a full and complete conversation with the hotel clerk at check in on my last night. Except, as my wife pointed out afterward, in every, single, instance of “yes/ja” I would say “si.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![nani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@nani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nani)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/4 "2011-01-07T22:51:12Z")
I used to speak pretty good German too, until I started learning Chinese. I had the exact same problems as you in how Chinese would just keep popping into my head. Ich bin zai… dang! I’m trying to regain my German again. German is just fun to speak, I get a lot of aesthetic pleasures from creating sentences and complex thoughts in German. Apart from the “German cultural scene” which includes a bunch of old literature and tons of interesting anthropological research on India and other such work, it’s just a pleasure to be able to speak it, so that’s reason enough, I should say. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Tickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@Mr.Tickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Tickles)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/5 "2011-01-07T23:23:42Z")
I had four years of high school German and a semester in college, same as you, close to 15 years ago. I’ve gone to Germany or Austria about once every 4 years since, and each time it comes back very quickly. As for culture: a Wiener melange and Sachertorte. Enough said. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/6 "2011-01-08T00:08:51Z")
The plays and poetry of Schiller, Rilke, Hölderlin, Heine, Büchner, Wedekind, Brecht and Goethe. The songs of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Marschner, Weber, Brahms, Wolf, Mahler, Strauss, Berg, Schoenberg. The operas of Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, Strauss, Berg. The novels and stories of ETA Hoffman, Thomas Mann, Günter Grass. Just off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/7 "2011-01-08T00:21:04Z")
Forget the poetry and philosopy. The real question is, are there any hot single women involved? ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/8 "2011-01-08T00:35:32Z")
German is a really great language for insults and swearing. Not as poetic as Arabic, but still quite good. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/9 "2011-01-08T01:34:31Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Forget the poetry and philosopy. The real question is, are there any hot single women involved? First three singers of German I found - [Anne Sofie von Otter](http://www.imgartists.com/resources/artists/Anne_Sofie_Von_Otter_(2175)_-_Main_image_1_-_asvo_MB_2175_-_credit_Mats_Backer.jpg) [Renee Fleming](http://www.renee-fleming.com/images/ReneeFleming4b.jpg) [Diana Damrau](http://www.diana-damrau.com/photos/download/damrau02.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/10 "2011-01-08T04:35:47Z")
You can work for Siemens, Bosch or VW. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/11 "2011-01-08T04:46:05Z")
You need to brush up before you watch this: [http://www.amazon.com/Hogans-Heroes-Complete-First-Season/dp/B0007KIFK0](http://www.amazon.com/Hogans-Heroes-Complete-First-Season/dp/B0007KIFK0) ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/12 "2011-01-09T00:25:12Z")
> [@nani](#): > > I used to speak pretty good German too, until I started learning Chinese. I had the exact same problems as you in how Chinese would just keep popping into my head. Ich bin zai… dang! I’m trying to regain my German again. Same thing happened to me, but with French in place of the Chinese! Reasons why you might want to relearn German? Well, there’s always the old standby of “having a German SO whose parents don’t really speak English.” 😉 :o ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/13 "2011-01-09T00:36:59Z")
I can’t really speak German, but after years of learning enough words to read novels (and not just dry academic articles with a dictionary): Kafka Musil inter al. take your pick. It’s not the same in translation – nothing is. FYI I’m also an Austrian sympathizer and don’t care about German politics, so include Husserl to the list of Austrians above. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/14 "2011-01-09T00:53:36Z")
I’m struggling to come up with something that someone could like about German. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/15 "2011-01-09T01:51:29Z")
I wish I knew German. My company has another engineering office there and we do a lot of projects with them, so I go over there often. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/16 "2011-01-09T03:26:34Z")
Nein! ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/17 "2011-01-09T03:33:48Z")
Also you can fake knowing Yiddish with some decent German and an enhanced vocabulary – it’s gotten me someplaces in certain crowds. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/18 "2011-01-09T03:40:43Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I used to speak German fairly well, though with limitations on my vocabulary, after four years of high school and a semester in college. But for a very long time, after I started learning Chinese, my ability to speak coherently in German was totally blocked – I’d try to say something simple, and come up with the Chinese words instead; and my grammar was a mess. > > My Chinese is fluent enough now that I could handle both languages now, and with a bit of effort I could pick German up again fairly quickly, I think. But do I have a reason to make the effort? > > I don’t have any family there and I’m not planning to travel to Germany any time, and from what little I know of it I’m not necessarily all that interested in the German cultural scene. (Though maybe I’m wrong.) I am interested in global and especially financial news and upcoming ideas, but I’m not sure if there’s anything I could access in German that I couldn’t already in English. > > Don’t get me wrong, I _like_ German, but I guess I need some practical handle to grasp in order to rationalize the effort, if that makes sense. > > So – tell me why I should start reviewing the old Deutsch? Well you can curse those preachy, self-righteous, Veterans, if not for them, you’d still be speaking German. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/19 "2011-01-09T17:26:40Z")
> [@treis](#): > > I’m struggling to come up with something that someone could like about German. The fact that its logical and follows well-defined rules; that its a great language for some good cussing, and the fact that it is beautiful as a language? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337/20 "2011-01-09T17:39:12Z")
But it has 12 ways to say “the”! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-a-good-reason-for-relearning-german/566337.md?page=2)