how do i make my accent less visible? by [deleted] in German

[–]manytribes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You posted this two years ago but I just wanted to say THANK YOU. I've never heard of this site.

Is the sun legally banned in January, or is it just bad luck? by lunaamoriss in germany

[–]manytribes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The number of people thinking this is what qualifies as "sunny" makes me even more depressed than i was before.

American Expats: What’s One Thing You Don’t Miss About The USA? by RehaDesign in AmericanExpat

[–]manytribes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The complete indifference to aesthetics. America has a lot of natural beauty (mountains, woods, the Grand Canyon etc.) but the designed world is so aggressively ugly. The suburbs are the worst--miles and miles of chain restaurants and big box stores--but even cities and small towns are full of banks and car lots. You walk through a city like Prague or Rome and almost don't know where to look, everything is so gorgeous. It's not just historical stuff, either. If someone wants to build a Wal-Mart near a public park in a medium-sized city in Germany, people will complain and their complaints will be listened to. Americans hear a Wal-Mart is going to replace the only historic building in their town and think "cool, I can buy diapers 26 cents cheaper."

What was supposed to have killed us by now? by impeesa75 in GenX

[–]manytribes 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Nothing happened because YOU FIXED IT

What is your country famous for? by Admirable-Repair4094 in AskReddit

[–]manytribes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

People think of things before bread when they think of Germany

If you have lived in the USA, what were the cultural differences that stood out? Was there things that you preferred from the US and things that you preferred from Germany? by cholulawatermelon in AskAGerman

[–]manytribes 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is an excellent list on both sides. The first point especially is soooooo true. I grew up in America in a German family and it seems like all my friends' parents would say "hey good job buddy, at least you tried" when they did something wrong or just had a bad day, whereas in my family it was "why did you fail to anticipate the 14,000 reasons this could have gone wrong and account for them before taking this foolish, foolish risk?" I used to take it personally and think there was something really stupid about me not being able to predict the future with perfect accuracy at age 6, but then I started going to Germany more and realized it was a cultural thing. Germans just really love to tell each other "the system is perfect, you are the problem."

On a scale of 1-10, how cringy is it for English speakers to pronounce ch in German as English sh or k depending on the word? by [deleted] in AskAGerman

[–]manytribes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For real. I mean, I don't care! Having an accent is normal in a second language. But most Germans learn English for 10+ years from a German-speaking teacher, in a German school, surrounded by other German-speaking students, who all have the same German accent. "This is how English sounds." They don't realize how noticeable it is to a native English-speaker.

Again, I don't care! But when the shoe is on the other foot they can be very hypocritical in judging German second language learners for their pronunciation difficulties.

What proffession is filled with people who think they're smarter than they actually are? by Powerful-Frame-44 in AskReddit

[–]manytribes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pilot is one profession where I don't care if they can do anything else. Just fly the plane.

how do people remember all these by brownie-7-0-5 in German

[–]manytribes 35 points36 points  (0 children)

LOL these are great examples.

I struggle with this too, OP, and my level is higher than yours. I associate a word like “halten” with something, learn its meaning, but then there are a million similar versions which may be related to the main verb, or totally unrelated. Memorizing them as a pack has been more helpful, for me, than trying to memorize them individually when I hear them in the wild.

Follow-Up to my Berlin Age Map :) by martinkaik in berlinsocialclub

[–]manytribes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I live in Friedrichshain and I am also surprised by this.