The Awful German Language

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1. hilbert42Feb 2025
   "…human translators are very often under imense time pressure and that sadly leaves a mark on the translations."

   I've worked in an international environment where technical conferences were common and where both speakers and audience members were from various countries. Whilst almost everyone had a smattering of English many speakers chose to speak in their native languages so they would not be misinterpreted because of their limited second-language skills. Thus conferences had to be equipped with simultaneous interpretation and numbers of interpreters who translated on-the-fly into several different languages, English being the most common one with both native English and foreign language speakers doing the translations. A similar arrangement applied to other languages.

   What impressed me greatly is how very competent these translators are, especially so given that presentations were usually of a technical nature and that they were translating in real time. They had precious little time to think of context let alone time to 'beautify' the translation into idiomatic or technical English (I only wish I was that competent in just one foreign language).

   One doesn't expect interpreters to be expert in every technical term or jargon of a specialist technical subject so occasionally some phrase or term would be translated in the literal sense of the words instead of the more usual lingo/jargon that we professionals use in English but that never mattered as the meaning was always clear.

   Moreover, many technical words are similar across a number of languages so it's often easy to get the gist of what's said in a language at the same instant the translator is translating them. For instance, I've a smattering of French and German so I'd recognized some of those words from those languages without translation.

   Even with limited second-language skills I'm acutely aware of the limitations of translations. I have several different translations of a few important works and it's very instructive to compare their differences. This is very evident when one compares differences in emphasis and phraseology between various translators, and it's even more so if one is able to read the original text—even if one has to struggle to comprehend it.

   What's immediately obvious from comparisons is how difficult it is to convey the full meaning and feeling of a work over to its translation. Good translators not only have to be fluent in both languages but they also must be able to convey spirit of the original with empathy and feeling into the translation. In fact, I'm often surprised how accurate and sympathetic translations are to the original text given that often there are very different constructs between languages, it's a testament to how very skillful many of them are.

   Still, when one has only the translation and nothing else to reference it to one must always be wary of the accuracy of the translated text. I've also some books that are translations from Classical Greece that fall into this category such as those translated by the 19th C. classicist Benjamin Jowett. As I've almost no understanding of Ancient Greek I can only go on Jowett's reputation that his translations are faithful to the texts. Of course, translations are always a second-best but unfortunately most of us don't have enough skills to do without them.

   BTW, if one's not familiar with the difficulties of translating languages then considerable insight can be gleaned from a short and amusing piece titled The Awful German Language written by Mark Twain—it's Appendix D to his work The Tramp Aboard. Therein, he describes his experience learning German and some of what he deems as its peculiarities.

   Nevertheless, he rightly explains how some German words aptly convey human emotions and feelings in ways that are more effective and suited to the task than their English equivalents. What he's saying in this context is that a translator must be skilled enough to craft and tailor the transition into English so as to not lose the full meaning and feeling of the German text. It's highly a recommended read and there are many copies of it on the internet.

   (I'd add it's a shame Twain didn't write one about English. English is a damn awkward language with odd inconsistencies and many peculiar spellings that often drive native speakers to despair. All up, I'd reckon English would leave German in the dust for odd rules and exceptions. Any foreign-language readers who read this then you have my most sincere sympathies).

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2. flocciputDec 2024
   If you're not already familiar with it, you might get a kick out of Mark Twain's "The Awful German Language": https://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/texts/twain.german.html
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3. hilbert42Dec 2022
   I've often thought the only saving grace for those learning goddamn English as a second language is that they are spared all this gendered nouns nonsense (that is except for a few special cases).

   Gendered nouns, both in French and German, have always been a problem for me. German came later but I recall at school that the beginning of each chapter of my French textbook had a list of nouns each preceded by its article and learning them was a pain. After school I'd sit on my bed bashing my head against the pages of the textbook whilst trying to learn these damn genders, they made no logical sense to me and rules for remembering them had so many exceptions that they were essentially useless. I hated learning them.

   German was a whisker easier in that I was in German-speaking Austria when I was learning it so I was exposed to the nouns' usage on a daily basis. For me, the real gotchas in German were its damn declensions!

   In my opinion, the only effective way to learn these genders is to be smothered in the language on a daily basis—this way, somehow, one learns them by a form of osmosis.

   As already mentioned elsewhere, Appendix D - The Awful German Language in Mark Twain's The Tramp Abroad is a quintessential summing up of the difficulties a native English speaker has in learning German. It's a brilliant summary, not only is it hilariously funny but also he gives some excellent examples from different aspects of the language such as separable verbs, gendered and compound nouns and those damn German adjectives.

   It's a while since I've read it so I can't remember chapter and verse but I'd thoroughly recommend anyone interested in the matter of German genered nouns read his bit on the 'sex' of fishwives and young girls. Appendix D also has some unforgettable comments on the length of German compound words—something to the effect that 'they stretch across the page like mountain ranges' and are long enough 'to have perspective.'

   It's a must-read.

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4. hilbert42May 2021
   "...despite Mark Twain's vicious rant,"

   I don't believe Mark Twain's Appendix D is vicious nor a rant. In fact, it is a brilliant piece of humorous writing in its own right and I would give a great deal to be able to write and communicate as well as that. Furthermore, having worked in both Austria and Germany I've known several native German speakers who are fluent in English and who laughed themselves almost hoarse after I brought it to their attention. They weren't a bit offended by it, they then pointed to the many peculiar idiosyncrasies of English and said that in any competition for same then English would likely be the winner. (BTW, you'll even find native German speakers reading The Awful German Language on Project Gutenberg.)

   Moreover, I learned more about the German language from Twain's writing than I ever did from the equivalent number of words in any German language textbook written in English. Clearly, I cannot do justice in the space or time available but let me mention a few instances.

   "These things are called "separable verbs." The German grammar is blistered all over with separable verbs; and the wider the two portions of one of them are spread apart, the better the author of the crime is pleased with his performance."

   The 'REISTE AB'/'departed' example that Twain quotes is both humorous and very memorable: "The trunks being now ready, he DE- after kissing his mother <...> <...> ...more dearly than life itself, PARTED." After reading this it's almost impossible for someone who is learning the language to ever let separable verbs pass them by without noticing them.

   "These things are not words, they are alphabetical processions."

   Of course, they are. And as Twain points out they also possess 'perspective'—and many native German speakers would agree with this assessment, in fact some are quite bemused by the fact that their language has the world's longest words.

   "<...> Of course when one of these grand mountain ranges goes stretching across the printed page, it adorns and ennobles that literary landscape—but at the same time it is a great distress to the new student, for it blocks up his way; he cannot crawl under it, or climb over it, or tunnel through it. So he resorts to the dictionary for help, but there is no help there."

   Not only is this wonderfully descriptive prose but it's in fact true. To prove the point, here are a few more that are not included in Twain's text:

   Rechtsschutzversicherungsgesellschaften

   Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän

   Betäubungsmittelverschreibungsverordnung

   Bezirksschornsteinfegermeister

   Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft

   Whew, that's 79 or 80 letters depending on which spelling one uses.

   "One cannot overestimate the usefulness of SCHLAG and ZUG."

   That's very true, and so are very useful (and somewhat tiny) words such as zu, bis and nach — that is, once one gets to understand their German nuances (initially their usage can be confusing—at least I found them to be so given that to, till and until in English are used in a somewhat less prescriptive way.

   "The Germans do not seem to be afraid to repeat a word when it is the right one. They repeat it several times, if they choose."

   Until I read this passage, it was never evident to me that we native English speakers actually go out of our way to avoid word repetition.

   "In the daybeforeyesterdayshortlyaftereleveno'clock Night, the inthistownstandingtavern called 'The Wagoner' was downburnt. When the fire to the onthedownburninghouseresting Stork's Nest reached, flew the parent Storks away. But when the bytheraging, firesurrounded Nest ITSELF caught Fire, straightway plunged the quickreturning Mother-Stork into the Flames and died, her Wings over her young ones outspread."

   Even the cumbersome German construction is not able to take the pathos out of that picture--indeed, it somehow seems to strengthen it. This item is dated away back yonder months ago. I could have used it sooner, but I was waiting to hear from the Father-stork. I am still waiting.

   There are some German words which are singularly and powerfully effective. For instance, those which describe lowly, peaceful, and affectionate home life; those which deal with love, in any and all forms, from mere kindly feeling and honest good will toward the passing stranger, clear up to courtship; those which deal with outdoor Nature, in its softest and loveliest aspects—with meadows and forests, and birds and flowers, the fragrance and sunshine of summer, and the moonlight of peaceful winter nights; in a word, those which deal with any and all forms of rest, repose, and peace; those also which deal with the creatures and marvels of fairyland; and lastly and chiefly, in those words which express pathos, is the language surpassingly rich and affective. There are German songs which can make a stranger to the language cry. That shows that the sound of the words is correct—it interprets the meanings with truth and with exactness; and so the ear is informed, and through the ear, the heart."

   With these wonderfully perceptive words, Twain not only shows us what a master he is at conveying his message but also that he is an acute observer of human nature. It is also indicative that his knowledge and fluency of German is higher than one may gather at first glance. Here, I can attest to the validity of what Twain says in respect of these German words. For instance, Schubert's remarkable song cycles Die schöne Müllerin (The Fair Maid of the Mill) and Die Winterreise ([the] Winter Journey) often reduce me to tears. Also, I find the pathos and heartfelt meaning of these words abundantly evident whenever I wander though a German Friedhof (cemetery). These powerful and yet unusually simple German words stare back from nearly every Grabstein if so as to remind one of one's own mortality.

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5. derrizMar 2021
   I’m reminded of the Mark Twain essay, The Awful German Language where he says:

   “In German, a young lady has no sex, while a turnip has. Think what overwrought reverence that shows for the turnip, and what callous disrespect for the girl.”

   Despite its age the essay* is well worth a read for native English speakers struggling to learn German.

   * https://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/texts/twain.german.html

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6. darklajidJun 2019
   It reminds me of Mark Twain - The Awful German Language.

   It combines anecdotes of an English speaker about Germans and German and makes for an amusing read for everyone. But .. please don't use any of these works as any sort of hard truth or reference.

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