Guest editor Dave Baxter experiences culture shock of a linguistic kind

Culture shock is a strange phenomenon which many are vulnerable to  and living abroad for the first time in my life, I have certainly  been at risk. Germany varies wildly from my native country, England,  in various respects. The people are different and so is the culture. People here are more abrasive but can also be more cheerful.  Living here is much cheaper, at least for now. The food, the hair styles and the systems of law are also very different to those at  home. What has really “culture shocked” me, however, is the language.  I find it much too English.

My first shock was seven months ago, at a time when I had lived in Germany for just a few weeks. My flatmate, a native speaker, one day  left me a note with the message ?Sorry, hab deine Milch geoeffnet!?,  explaining the necessity to use my milk at the time. Socially, and in  terms of practicality, this was not a problem but the linguistics bothered me somewhat. The word “sorry,” for me, was unexpected in my new land; it has an English origin, and there are original German phrases conveying the same meaning. Why was it used? Ten years of  learning German  scribbling new vocabulary, grammar tests, speaking and  writing exercises had failed to prepare me for “Denglisch” or “Neudeutsch.”

These terms describe the strange composite of English and Deutsch,  though English seems to have greater influence out of the two. A few  German-orientated phrases, such as “Zeitgeist” and “keeping Stumm”  have developed in English, yet the foreign phrases placed casually  into use by Germans are multiple. “Sorry” can be accompanied in  conversation by fellow Anglicisms such as “last but not least,” “strange,”? “ladies and gentlemen” and even “touchscreen.” More  Germanised examples are “chatten,” “flirten” and “downloaden.”

Though shocking, this strange development is not without its causes.  English, hailed by many as the “world language” has become fashionable here and it is hard to avoid exposure to it, mainly in the form of American films and music. And somehow, it has crept into the German language, phrase by phrase, giving the Germans the option of using original German words or switching them for a “Neudeutsch” alternative, depending on the context.

This may make it easier for some to learn German but is it natural? As a long term disciple of the German language and its daunting mass of verbs, vocabulary and conjugations, I have built up a respect for  the differences it has from English. It almost seems a waste of time  to learn the original words when a modified form of my mother tongue  seems more commonplace. Why, for example, say “komisch” when I can use  “strange” to the same effect and seem more German?

The advance of “Denglisch” is a sad development because it removes the most charming difference a country can offer: the new, unique language to be mastered. English is already widely spoken in Germany and  should be separate from the original “Deutsch.”Instead, it is  gradually eating away at its meaning, and damaging a vital part of the German identity.

Copyright Expatica 2008