It’s that simple…
I’m best man at a wedding in Vienna, Austria in 3 weeks time.
I don’t speak a word of German.
A good proportion of the guests do not speak English at all.
Oh, and I’m bloody awful at learning languages.
Anyone got any practical ideas?
There will be two bilingual friends there, but I thought that word for word translation might make things a bit less than ‘snappy’.
What do I do?
I’m thinking of learning some of the key parts of the speech in german verbatim, without trying to understand them. A good idea?
How long do you plan on speaking?
A speech delivered first in English, then in German would be nice. I would recommend having a translation written out phonetically, and you could follow along with it, if you’re good at that sort of thing.
It would be SO class to address everyone in both languages.
MH, that’s my thinking at the moment, though it’s a terrifying prospect. I’m thinking that the key may be to keep the English speech short and sweet, thus hopefully making the German the same.
Is there any particularly difficult German pronunciation…anyone?
Just DON’T go with “Ich bin ein berliner” (sp?)
:eek:
Yeah, better steer clear of that minor skirmish between the late 30s and the mid 40s too…
It would be well cool to do the speech in both languages!
Some German pronunciation is a little difficult (although it’s easier for us Scots!) but any mistakes will be forgiven and forgotten in all the admiration.
The German for “My dog has no nose” is…
If it was me, I would first explain that the best man’s toast is an american tradition. Then I’d keep it short and sweet, and have someone translate it for me, probably line by line. I would avoid trying to be funny, as you don’t know if the joke will translate, or be appreciated. If you want to do something like that, do it afterwards when the bride and groom come to your table, or when you’re with a group of english speakers.
Unless, of course, you WANT to be remembered as the turd that did that joke at Pete and Liesl’s wedding…
Well we Brits have been doing it for a while too…
- this is indeed a toughie.
Time to call in the cavalry - get help from someone who does indeed speak German. I’ve lived here for a year and a half now, and I’d be scared to perform anything formal in German unless I had some coaching.
OTOH, I believe there’s a comfy corner in Heaven for those who made fools of themselves in a good cause.
That being said, my suggestion would be along the lines of:
- Write down what you want to say, get together with your German coach and hammer out a translation. If your original toast contains untranslatable puns or so, be prepared to modify it.
- Write the correct German translation on flipover cards or the like.
- Write a phonetic German translation down.
- Give the speech, paragraph by paragraph - first in English, then in phonetic German while the flipover card tells the audience what it actually is you’re saying.
Everyone will admire your guts for trying to speak German, and the written translation ensures that noone gets miffed.
I know that this might or might not work, depending on the crowd etc. - but I believe this is how I’d do it.
Even if you decide to go with just phonetic German, I believe that most people will extend endless tolerance toward somebody trying to handle their language. Just make sure your translation is a good one, is all.
S. Norman
Props are always a winner so I’d suggest beginning by picking up a hidden from view and very, very large dictionary - and looking perplexed. People tend to like visual jokes. At that point, they’re on your side.
Playing on their traditional stereotype of ‘Englishness’ would also work as, might, a few oblique sexual innuendo’s (as is the English tradition) bizarrely translated.
Good bloody luck !
Whew! There is civilization outside this country!
Sorry, Andy, I didn’t realize you were in the UK. I made the foolish assumption you were here in the states where I live, and I apologize for it. It’ll probably happen again…
I’ve had to do this actually. Only it was in Mexico, and I DO speak Spanish. One of the other members of the party didn’t however, so I helped him by writing down what he wanted to say on a card phonetically. It basically started off with “Now I know I’m probably not saying this right, but bear with me” or some such, and then went into the (mercifully short) speech. Then he said what he wanted to in English, and everyone clapped. For the rest of the night, people kept coming up to him (the bride’s uncle, IIRC, about 50) and asking to see the card. They thought it was funny to see phonetic spellings, but all of them said that he was very coruageous, and he got a LOT of drinks bought for him.
Keep it short, simple, and don’t try a joke unless you have a native speaker translate it. Shoot, there’s bunches of German speakers here on the boards, and I know of one bonafide Austrian who owes us for homework translations (hey BornDodgy!)Let some Dopers have a crack at it!
It went really well, but then it couldn’t go badly, what with me being an English speaker and doing the English bit and a friend who speaks german doing the german bit. In the end it was the only way. I was told in no uncertain terms that through a microphone, my teutonic grunting was totally unintelligible.
Also, it’s much less nerve wracking to get up in front of all those people when you have someone beside you:)
Vienna is the most beautiful city I have ever seen.