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On October 12 2012 10:57 targ wrote:
hey zatic, I'm curious about something which is abit off topic.
so a few years back many of my friends went to Germany to do their undergrads. according to them studying there was free/very cheap (cannot remember which) as long as they passed some German exam. I wonder why Germany is so generous as to offer such cheap education to foreigners, as I've never heard of America/the UK giving such offers. is it to promote usage of the German language worldwide?
it's simply to give all kinds of people a shot at higher education regardless of the depth of their pockets.
The Goethe Institutes all around the world were founded to promote the german language
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On October 12 2012 11:29 Skilledblob wrote:Show nested quote +On October 12 2012 10:57 targ wrote:
hey zatic, I'm curious about something which is abit off topic.
so a few years back many of my friends went to Germany to do their undergrads. according to them studying there was free/very cheap (cannot remember which) as long as they passed some German exam. I wonder why Germany is so generous as to offer such cheap education to foreigners, as I've never heard of America/the UK giving such offers. is it to promote usage of the German language worldwide? it's simply to give all kinds of people a shot at higher education regardless of the depth of their pockets. The Goethe Institutes all around the world were founded to promote the german language
Dude Germany sounds awesome.
Btw, if I was to go spend a few months in Berlin, would it be easy for me to live there while only having a rudimentary (like 1 year of Uni) understanding of German?
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On October 12 2012 16:14 Shady Sands wrote:Show nested quote +On October 12 2012 11:29 Skilledblob wrote:On October 12 2012 10:57 targ wrote:
hey zatic, I'm curious about something which is abit off topic.
so a few years back many of my friends went to Germany to do their undergrads. according to them studying there was free/very cheap (cannot remember which) as long as they passed some German exam. I wonder why Germany is so generous as to offer such cheap education to foreigners, as I've never heard of America/the UK giving such offers. is it to promote usage of the German language worldwide? it's simply to give all kinds of people a shot at higher education regardless of the depth of their pockets. The Goethe Institutes all around the world were founded to promote the german language Dude Germany sounds awesome. Btw, if I was to go spend a few months in Berlin, would it be easy for me to live there while only having a rudimentary (like 1 year of Uni) understanding of German?
Definitely. Most ppl speak English and for your daily grocery stuff, just grab a pocket dictionary. Hell you can even do your theoretical drivers licence test in your mother language....
Should be especially easy in Berlin as it has attracted quite a lot of ppl from foreign countries due to being a "stylish, hip, art and creative city".
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On October 12 2012 16:14 Shady Sands wrote:Show nested quote +On October 12 2012 11:29 Skilledblob wrote:On October 12 2012 10:57 targ wrote:
hey zatic, I'm curious about something which is abit off topic.
so a few years back many of my friends went to Germany to do their undergrads. according to them studying there was free/very cheap (cannot remember which) as long as they passed some German exam. I wonder why Germany is so generous as to offer such cheap education to foreigners, as I've never heard of America/the UK giving such offers. is it to promote usage of the German language worldwide? it's simply to give all kinds of people a shot at higher education regardless of the depth of their pockets. The Goethe Institutes all around the world were founded to promote the german language Dude Germany sounds awesome. Btw, if I was to go spend a few months in Berlin, would it be easy for me to live there while only having a rudimentary (like 1 year of Uni) understanding of German?
You can get by in Germany with even less understanding of German than that. Pretty much anyone here with a college education speaks English at least fairly fluently, and you can communicate at least basic ideas to nearly everyone.
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Funny how the blog about Germany turned into a discussion over beer brands.
Also I feel that the importance/deliciousness of bread is not stressed enough in this great blog.
German bread deserves a dedicated blog of it's own. Just ask every German living abroad (sup Dario).
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As soon as someone asks about the "best" german beer, he'll get like a million different responses.
There are like 5000 different brands of german beer and depending on where you live and what you've grown up with, you'll have a totally different taste. Beware if someone says that Kölsch is the best beer though, he might be insane.
If you ever talk to a group of germans and ask them about the "best" beer, prepare yourself for a really long discussion.
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Hmm what is the average wage in Germany?
I look at food items prices but they look on par with Australia which is notorious for high living costs but we do have slightly higher average income compare to US.
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On October 12 2012 20:32 haduken wrote:
Hmm what is the average wage in Germany?
I look at food items prices but they look on par with Australia which is notorious for high living costs but we do have slightly higher average income compare to US.
GDP is comparable AU vs. DE.
Some produce is laughably cheap in AU and expensive in Germany (squash for example)
Dairy products cost multiple times more in AU - in Germany, you can get a litre of milk at 40 cents. But rent is completely different, as AU is sprawling, everyone has his 1 story house made from wood with a garden around it.
Your internet is famously shitty and expensive. The price for bottled water in Australia is a ripoff, never saw it for less than 50 cents per liter, even if buying bulk.
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What a great thread topic. Now I want to travel to Germany and I have the heads up on whats going to hit me in my pocket. Whats the internet speed/costs like there?
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These blogs are always so cool.
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On October 12 2012 22:35 GohgamX wrote:
What a great thread topic. Now I want to travel to Germany and I have the heads up on whats going to hit me in my pocket. Whats the internet speed/costs like there?
on average I'd say 25 to 30€ for a 16k download flatrate per month
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On October 12 2012 20:32 haduken wrote:
Hmm what is the average wage in Germany?
I look at food items prices but they look on par with Australia which is notorious for high living costs but we do have slightly higher average income compare to US.
Local vs local is going to be a more apt comparison. I live in Los Angeles and prices here for some things are stupidly expensive. On the other hand, some places in the deep south in the US are almost like being in a third world country.
As for a price comparison, a very large pizza in Costco is around $10. Aspirin is $14.49 for 400 tablets. The Costco brand for Ibuprofen (the generic of Advil) is $9 for 1000 tablets. Can't believe aspirin is that expensive in Germany. It's over the counter here in the US.
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I'm thinking about visiting Germany but I've heard that the south of Germany has an easier dialect in terms of pronunciation and speed for foreigners with basic German as opposed to the north. Is it true?
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Zurich15345 Posts
On October 13 2012 00:34 archonOOid wrote:
I'm thinking about visiting Germany but I've heard that the south of Germany has an easier dialect in terms of pronunciation and speed for foreigners with basic German as opposed to the north. Is it true?
I guess this is dependent on where you come from. As a foreigner you should learn High German though anyway, not a dialect.
In terms of understanding, any dialect will be difficult or impossible for a foreigner. Heck, many Germans have trouble understanding each others dialect.
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On October 12 2012 16:51 Argoth. wrote:Show nested quote +On October 12 2012 16:14 Shady Sands wrote:On October 12 2012 11:29 Skilledblob wrote:On October 12 2012 10:57 targ wrote:
hey zatic, I'm curious about something which is abit off topic.
so a few years back many of my friends went to Germany to do their undergrads. according to them studying there was free/very cheap (cannot remember which) as long as they passed some German exam. I wonder why Germany is so generous as to offer such cheap education to foreigners, as I've never heard of America/the UK giving such offers. is it to promote usage of the German language worldwide? it's simply to give all kinds of people a shot at higher education regardless of the depth of their pockets. The Goethe Institutes all around the world were founded to promote the german language Dude Germany sounds awesome. Btw, if I was to go spend a few months in Berlin, would it be easy for me to live there while only having a rudimentary (like 1 year of Uni) understanding of German? Definitely. Most ppl speak English and for your daily grocery stuff, just grab a pocket dictionary. Hell you can even do your theoretical drivers licence test in your mother language.... Should be especially easy in Berlin as it has attracted quite a lot of ppl from foreign countries due to being a "stylish, hip, art and creative city".
Thanks! If I go it will probably be to work with the Samwer Brothers in the Rocket Internet incubator. Really admire the work they've done in speeding up execution across the consumer internet space
On October 12 2012 16:53 AmericanUmlaut wrote:Show nested quote +On October 12 2012 16:14 Shady Sands wrote:On October 12 2012 11:29 Skilledblob wrote:On October 12 2012 10:57 targ wrote:
hey zatic, I'm curious about something which is abit off topic.
so a few years back many of my friends went to Germany to do their undergrads. according to them studying there was free/very cheap (cannot remember which) as long as they passed some German exam. I wonder why Germany is so generous as to offer such cheap education to foreigners, as I've never heard of America/the UK giving such offers. is it to promote usage of the German language worldwide? it's simply to give all kinds of people a shot at higher education regardless of the depth of their pockets. The Goethe Institutes all around the world were founded to promote the german language Dude Germany sounds awesome. Btw, if I was to go spend a few months in Berlin, would it be easy for me to live there while only having a rudimentary (like 1 year of Uni) understanding of German? You can get by in Germany with even less understanding of German than that. Pretty much anyone here with a college education speaks English at least fairly fluently, and you can communicate at least basic ideas to nearly everyone.
Got it. Thanks a ton =)
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On October 13 2012 01:08 zatic wrote:Show nested quote +On October 13 2012 00:34 archonOOid wrote:
I'm thinking about visiting Germany but I've heard that the south of Germany has an easier dialect in terms of pronunciation and speed for foreigners with basic German as opposed to the north. Is it true? I guess this is dependent on where you come from. As a foreigner you should learn High German though anyway, not a dialect. In terms of understanding, any dialect will be difficult or impossible for a foreigner. Heck, many Germans have trouble understanding each others dialect.
Are these dialects just different accents and minor variations in vocabulary or are they completely different languages like in say, China, India, the Philippines, etc.?
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Zurich15345 Posts
On October 13 2012 01:58 andrewlt wrote:Show nested quote +On October 13 2012 01:08 zatic wrote:On October 13 2012 00:34 archonOOid wrote:
I'm thinking about visiting Germany but I've heard that the south of Germany has an easier dialect in terms of pronunciation and speed for foreigners with basic German as opposed to the north. Is it true? I guess this is dependent on where you come from. As a foreigner you should learn High German though anyway, not a dialect. In terms of understanding, any dialect will be difficult or impossible for a foreigner. Heck, many Germans have trouble understanding each others dialect. Are these dialects just different accents and minor variations in vocabulary or are they completely different languages like in say, China, India, the Philippines, etc.?
They are dialects. Minor differences in vocabulary, but major differences in pronunciation to the point that people have trouble understanding strong dialects from different regions.
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On October 13 2012 01:58 andrewlt wrote:Show nested quote +On October 13 2012 01:08 zatic wrote:On October 13 2012 00:34 archonOOid wrote:
I'm thinking about visiting Germany but I've heard that the south of Germany has an easier dialect in terms of pronunciation and speed for foreigners with basic German as opposed to the north. Is it true? I guess this is dependent on where you come from. As a foreigner you should learn High German though anyway, not a dialect. In terms of understanding, any dialect will be difficult or impossible for a foreigner. Heck, many Germans have trouble understanding each others dialect. Are these dialects just different accents and minor variations in vocabulary or are they completely different languages like in say, China, India, the Philippines, etc.?
the dialects can be very different because some of them are based on different germanic language subfamilies. THe devide is north and south here. While northern germany speaks dialects closer to what we call "high german" the dialects of the southern parts of germany belong to another language family, which makes it hard for northerners to understand people from the south
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On October 13 2012 02:17 Skilledblob wrote:Show nested quote +On October 13 2012 01:58 andrewlt wrote:On October 13 2012 01:08 zatic wrote:On October 13 2012 00:34 archonOOid wrote:
I'm thinking about visiting Germany but I've heard that the south of Germany has an easier dialect in terms of pronunciation and speed for foreigners with basic German as opposed to the north. Is it true? I guess this is dependent on where you come from. As a foreigner you should learn High German though anyway, not a dialect. In terms of understanding, any dialect will be difficult or impossible for a foreigner. Heck, many Germans have trouble understanding each others dialect. Are these dialects just different accents and minor variations in vocabulary or are they completely different languages like in say, China, India, the Philippines, etc.? the dialects can be very different because some of them are based on different germanic language subfamilies. THe devide is north and south here. While northern germany speaks dialects closer to what we call "high german" the dialects of the southern parts of germany belong to another language family, which makes it hard for northerners to understand people from the south
That's just plain wrong.
Language families
German dialects.
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I think you shouldn't worry too much about dialects. High German is way more common amongst young people (+ they'll understand you way better than the older ones).
I'm from Munich and Bavarian is something like a first foreign language here (almost a 100% of the city people learn High German first or are able to express themselves in High German).
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EPT
