By nolinguist - 22/11/2009 17:39 - Austria

Today, I arrived in Austria. Within about an hour, I realized that I couldn't understand any "German". Turns out they have a totally different dialect here to anything I was taught in school. I'm here till May. FML
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Top comments

allmidnighteyes 10

"ich liebe meine scheide" just say that everywhere you go

72 3
badbunny 0

remember, the universal language for ordering at a restaraunt is point at the item listed.

45 1

Comments

doof_fisch 2

I had four years of high school German and was an "A" student. When I finally got to go to Germany about 14 years later, I was excited about the possibility of using what I had learned. I was hiking with a friend through a forest and we stayed overnight at a hut. There were several German soldiers staying overnight there, too. They were all talking a language I absolutely could not understand. I was so upset and disappointed that the four years of German had been a waste of time. Suddenly, one of the soldiers said to my friend, "Verstehen Sie ihnen?" WOW ! I could understand that guy! My friend said, "Nein." I said the same thing. "Then he asked me in German where I'm from (Woher kommen Sie?) and I replied, "Minnesota." I asked him where he was from and he replied, "Ich komme aus Texas!" LOL And so my first legitimate, understandable conversation in Germany was with a fellow American! (BTW - I learned later that the dialect being spoken there was Schwaebisch - something that many Germans themselves cannot understand.) Bottom Line: You'll do fine. Enjoy the experience no matter how frustrating. You are building memories.

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xNephilim 18

Dude that just made my day. The area I grew up in had Schwaebisch as the local dialect and I just love hearing about it. :D My own dialect used to be semi-bad when I was younger, but as I grew up, I realized how stupid it sounded, so I kinda grew into speaking Hochdeutsch, with a few little quirks, haha.

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Elchin_fml 0

OP, relax, I live in Germany for already 5th year, and I speak no German :D And have no plans for learning it ))

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lettertjes 0

YDI for not knowing such a basic fact about a country where you're going to spend half a year. Also, you will get used to it.

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Neea 2

You do realize Germany and Austria are two different countries? Might wanna check your facts on Europe next time :P

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wiegehtesdir 0

hey i'm here until july and i felt the exact same way as you my first few weeks here. but you'll pick up the language soon enough. i'm in vienna and we have an AWESOME dialect! i can say 'shut up' like 5 different ways. just look on the bright side, at least you're not in switzerland. THEY speak really ****** up german. good luck!:)

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tamitronic 0

hehe, I'm from Austria but from the very western part of Austria. Here, the dialect is even worse und less understandable. Our dialects really really suck.

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elendiger_lumpi 0

Our dialects are the part that makes our language so adorable!

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LiLaLottie 0

i'm german and even i don't understand any of these dialects.

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lolman234 0

haha ja ich weiss wie es geht uberall in deutschland gibt es dialekte der osterreichische ist aber ziemlich schwer mach es dir nichts. du gewohnst dich bald dran

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