False Friends // Falsche Freunde

While one is learning German, we eventually hear about something called "False Friends," or "Falsche Freunde."

Otherwise known as Übersetzungsfallen (übersetzung = translation; fallen = mistakes), False Friends can make the language very confusing.

[[edit- if you are reading this and you already know German, this post will not be that interesting, so you can skip to the end.]]

Yesterday, Billy commented on my last post with:

< "I read yesterday that the term "U-boat" is "U-boot" in German, which is short for, "underseeboot." Seriously, how difficult can it be to be fluent in German? We'd all probably be fluent in it if we could stop laughing long enough to remember anything." >

While I appreciate William's mockery of a language spoken by over 100 million native speakers, plus another 80 million non-native speakers, his comment spurred the idea for this post. Hats off to Mr. Farmer, who may or may not also be a "False Friend."

While some German words are almost identical to English words of the same meaning, many are not. But first, let's have a look at a few words that are hilariously similar to their English übersetzungen.

praktisch = practical
typisch = typical
Auto = car
Straße = street
Lampe = lamp
Reis = rice
Wein = wine
Stoff = stuff
unter = under

And then we have Billy's example, the U-Boot, which does in fact mean unterseeboot.

Looking at all this, the beginning student of German begins to feel a brief sense of relief. Maybe learning this new language won't be so hard, after all! Well, I'm sorry to say, this is where the False Friends come in to fuck up your Christmas.

Now, I will give you all a different list. The infamous False Friends:

Gift = poison
Mist = "crap!" (used as a slang, child-friendly swear word: "Mist!")
Hölle = Hell (fire and brimstone)
hell = bright
breit = wide
weit = far
fahr = drive (a car)
Flasche = bottle (think "flask")
Kaution = deposit (like a security deposit)
aktuell = recent/current
Handy = cell phone
fast = almost
bald = soon
Rat = advice
Wand = wall
Stapler = forklift
stern = star
Rente = pension
sympatisch = pleasant, likeable
nett = nice
dick = fat
groß/gross = tall/big
Dusche = shower

I find that those last 3 are the funniest. There are a lot more, but I don't want to make this post too lengthy.

So, next week I start my Orientierung (another word that belongs in the first list) and then the following week I start classes. I will not lie, I have grown much more anxious about this as the initial euphoric glow of acceptance/passing the DSH has faded. I really hope that I am able to keep up with this grad school thing in a foreign language. I already know that it will demand so much more of my time than it would for, say, a native German speaker. But, I am going to give it my best shot.

I have been trying to ride my bicycle as often as possible. I did for the past 3 days, but it is raining and cold outside today. I really like the distraction of exercise. The endorphin buzz that follows is certainly pleasant as well. I am a little bit sad that Summer is over, because now about 6 months of graylight and rain/snow await me... just as I was incorporating the bike rides into my daily routine. Maybe I will join a gym. Or maybe I will just climb the stairs in my building to the 6th floor and back over and over, potentially frightening my neighbors.

This post also marks the first time since I resurrected my blog that I've posted more than twice in 1 calendar month. Try to contain yourselves.

German Goths

I'm writing this entry, so soon after the last one, in an attempt to do this more often. I have ideas of things that I want to write about, like I said, and I just let them fade away. But if I write more often, I should be able to capture more of them.

Also, this is the last day of the month and if I don't write today, May 2009 will only have one, very lonely, angst-ridden post.

Berlin is full of goth kids. Not just kids... People. Now, for the record, I want to state that I have absolutely nothing against "goths," or people who identify themselves as "goth." It just seems to me, at least in the U.S., that goths are generally made fun of in the most brutal way. Like, almost as part of a self-identification, they choose to express that they are "different" than "mainstream" society, and therefore don't CARE what the rest of society thinks about their dyed black hair or their Hot Topic choke coller.

But here in Deutschland, while there certainly must be that element of anti-social/anti-society trend as well... it is much less so. And as for piercings and tattoos, while these are of course popular in the U.S., only a minority of people (especially under 35) are free of body modification.

These people, who would just as easily describe themselves as "punks" loiter all over the place. But one of their favorite places in Berlin is the area around the Fernsehturm (TV tower: "fern" = far; "sehen" = to see; turm = tower) at Alexanderplatz, a center of transportation and shopping in the east part of the central district of Berlin, "Mitte," where I live. The Soviets built it back in the DDR days of East/West as a symbol of their superior technology. It's the tallest free standing structure in Germany. Makes sense that there'd be punks/goths at the bottom. There is one kid I've seen a few times in the train station. He has long hair, a huge black coat, huge black baggy jeans, and he draws eyeliner from his eyes in these lines down the sides of his face in straight lines and deliberate angles like a character from a comic book.

In response to Liz's last comment and also somewhat to Billy's recent podcast, I will now say my last piece on this subject for the time being. Not because I don't think it's interesting or important... Just because I don't want it to be the only topic that repeats throughout my writing!
I don't think that nihilism (or any -ism, for that matter) is a common topic of conversation or even consideration by people who may be "less intellectual." Not that we're all geniuses. But that line of thinking is far too abstract for most people. We "smart" people like words. We like waxing philosophical about concepts using our written or spoken words. We like to exchange words with other smart people, so that we can use our impressive vocabularies to prove how lettered we are to each other. Hmm... i started by writing about nihilism and now I'm starting to sound like a narcissist.

In regards to my own nihilistic thinking, I don't think it's necessarily always as depressing and bleak as I may have made it sound before. It's not like I don't feel anything. I went to see the band Telefon Tel Aviv on Friday night and it was a truly awesome and emotional experience. It meant something to me. The friendships that I have with people also mean a lot to me, of course. I think the problem is that I don't always want to care about things. I tend to invest a lot of my energy into the few things that I really care about, and perhaps my nihilistic leanings are simply a defense mechanism because I don't want to commit to anything, or be disappointed by loss or let-downs.

I think I just need a healthy, useless distraction. I really wish I could play Metal Gear Solid 4, or Resident Evil 5. If I think about it too much, I start to feel disappointed. Then I just tell myself, "Oh well..." and stop thinking about it. See how easy that was?