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On October 13 2012 03:54 Monsen wrote:Show nested quote +On October 13 2012 02:17 Skilledblob wrote: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 familiesGerman dialects.
oh no I didnt use perfect scientific english, clearly I have to be completely wrong 
just look at that map and you'll see what I meant.
+ Show Spoiler +
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On October 12 2012 23:06 Skilledblob wrote:Show nested quote +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
If you got a cable connection you actually get 50mbit/s and phone flat for 25€ (Unitymedia)
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Germany2686 Posts
Germany is catching up on fast internet for a fair amount of money. Especially cable (100mbit for 25€) and fiber (about the same, but small cities might don't have it yet) are very reasonable priced. Scandinavia should still be better though.
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On October 13 2012 05:11 Skilledblob wrote:Show nested quote +On October 13 2012 03:54 Monsen wrote:On October 13 2012 02:17 Skilledblob wrote: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 familiesGerman dialects. oh no I didnt use perfect scientific english, clearly I have to be completely wrong just look at that map and you'll see what I meant. + Show Spoiler +
Germany is actually like ... one of the most popular examples to bring up when linguistics courses talk about a dialect continuum. I guess he was just pissed off at your terminology, but your overall point was correct, lol.
A dialect continuum, or dialect area, was defined by Leonard Bloomfield as a range of dialects spoken across some geographical area that differ only slightly between neighboring areas, but as one travels in any direction, these differences accumulate such that speakers from opposite ends of the continuum are no longer mutually intelligible. -- Source: Wikipedia. 
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Dang, that still blows my mind every time I see how cheap beer is in Germany in comparison to water. I used to live over there not too long ago, and I still remember seeing those "Kenn dein Limit" posters everywhere, and then thinking how ironic it was that beer was so easily obtainable compared to bottled water. Still absolutely love the place though. =D
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you have the violence, we have the tits^^
thats regarding media
i dont know if it was mentioned, and i dont know the actual prices in most western countries, but i think cigarettes are expensive in germany, too. about 5€ for a pack of 20. _much_ cheaper in other countries i know..
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love your blogs, thanks a lot. Beer being cheaper than water is ridiculous
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German train efficient? SRSLY?
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On October 14 2012 16:46 JieXian wrote:
love your blogs, thanks a lot. Beer being cheaper than water is ridiculous
well that part isnt really true.
as previously mentioned tap water is amazing here. when someone says the tap water is bad in their town they dont mean its not drinkable but just that its not as perfect as others since thats the worst case.
for bottled water it depends. there is expensive water you can buy for 5-6€ /9liter package but there is also cheap brands where you pay like 1.5€ for the same amount.
beer can be dirt cheap tho. the most common cheap brand "oettinger" costs around 34cent per half liter bottle, less if you buy a whole box (5.99 for 20 bottles = 10 liter). good brands are usually around 70-90cent/ bottle and 12-16€ on the box.
still beer is super cheap cause we fucking love beer but in general its not really cheaper then water :>
in restaurants it gets much closer with a 0,4l glass of water around 1.80-2.40 and 0.5l beer 2.40-3.80.
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On October 14 2012 20:26 Aunvilgod wrote:
German train efficient? SRSLY?
only at 20°C below that the trains freeze and above that the air conditioning fails :D
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On October 14 2012 21:31 BeMannerDuPenner wrote:Show nested quote +On October 14 2012 16:46 JieXian wrote:
love your blogs, thanks a lot. Beer being cheaper than water is ridiculous well that part isnt really true. as previously mentioned tap water is amazing here. when someone says the tap water is bad in their town they dont mean its not drinkable but just that its not as perfect as others since thats the worst case. for bottled water it depends. there is expensive water you can buy for 5-6€ /9liter package but there is also cheap brands where you pay like 1.5€ for the same amount. beer can be dirt cheap tho. the most common cheap brand "oettinger" costs around 34cent per half liter bottle, less if you buy a whole box (5.99 for 20 bottles = 10 liter). good brands are usually around 70-90cent/ bottle and 12-16€ on the box. still beer is super cheap cause we fucking love beer but in general its not really cheaper then water :> in restaurants it gets much closer with a 0,4l glass of water around 1.80-2.40 and 0.5l beer 2.40-3.80.
that's much nicer to hear haha
On October 12 2012 00:30 schaf wrote:Show nested quote +On October 11 2012 17:54 zatic wrote:
Drugs. Medical drugs, prescription or not, are ridiculously expensive. One of the usual items Germans bring back home from a foreign trip is a box of aspirin. That's because original Aspirin in Germany is almost €1 a pop. Practically all medication, prescription or not, can only be sold at specialized, licensed drug stores - one of the more outrageously obvious examples of lack of free market hurting customers. The pharmacy lobby is pretty powerful though, and have successfully blocked all attempts to liberalize drug sales; And obviously big pharma is happy with the prices.
This is so true, me & my girlfriend always take the drive to the netherlands. Her anti-baby-pill costs 13euro there for 6 months, in Germany you pay like 60 or 70...
I'm willing to bet that that what it actually is in German hahahahahaha it sounds to funny in English
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On October 15 2012 00:17 JieXian wrote:Show nested quote +On October 14 2012 21:31 BeMannerDuPenner wrote:On October 14 2012 16:46 JieXian wrote:
love your blogs, thanks a lot. Beer being cheaper than water is ridiculous well that part isnt really true. as previously mentioned tap water is amazing here. when someone says the tap water is bad in their town they dont mean its not drinkable but just that its not as perfect as others since thats the worst case. for bottled water it depends. there is expensive water you can buy for 5-6€ /9liter package but there is also cheap brands where you pay like 1.5€ for the same amount. beer can be dirt cheap tho. the most common cheap brand "oettinger" costs around 34cent per half liter bottle, less if you buy a whole box (5.99 for 20 bottles = 10 liter). good brands are usually around 70-90cent/ bottle and 12-16€ on the box. still beer is super cheap cause we fucking love beer but in general its not really cheaper then water :> in restaurants it gets much closer with a 0,4l glass of water around 1.80-2.40 and 0.5l beer 2.40-3.80. that's much nicer to hear haha Show nested quote +On October 12 2012 00:30 schaf wrote:On October 11 2012 17:54 zatic wrote:
Drugs. Medical drugs, prescription or not, are ridiculously expensive. One of the usual items Germans bring back home from a foreign trip is a box of aspirin. That's because original Aspirin in Germany is almost €1 a pop. Practically all medication, prescription or not, can only be sold at specialized, licensed drug stores - one of the more outrageously obvious examples of lack of free market hurting customers. The pharmacy lobby is pretty powerful though, and have successfully blocked all attempts to liberalize drug sales; And obviously big pharma is happy with the prices.
This is so true, me & my girlfriend always take the drive to the netherlands. Her anti-baby-pill costs 13euro there for 6 months, in Germany you pay like 60 or 70... I'm willing to bet that that what it actually is in German hahahahahaha it sounds to funny in English
lol yeah, german as a language is actually very similar to chinese/japanese/korean how they will put together simpler words to describe new concepts
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On October 13 2012 02:10 zatic 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.? 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.
Yes, the differences in pronunciation are the problem. I can get around pretty easily in, say, Baden-Wurtenberg, but please don't make me visit Dresden. Is that even German what they speak in Sachsen? 
But it very much depends on how you learn German. If you just come without preexisting knowledge, then it does not matter I guess, but when you are already used to some form, it gets rough on the other side of the country.
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On October 11 2012 17:54 zatic wrote:
getting 3 pizza for €1 from the local discount store.
Bullshit...
Dr. Oetker Pizzas are at least 2.20 € a piece at steep discount rates, the non-brand-names are at least 1.50 € a piece.
I've lived just about everywhere in Germany and the prices you name are fabricated.
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1kg of tortillas costs around 12c (0.12€) in Mexico. It's so weird. I won't ever see German bread as cheap every again. Not that I ever thought it's cheap. Especially more extravagant bread stuff. I live in Berlin, maybe that's why. Fucking capital.
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On October 14 2012 07:16 babylon wrote:Show nested quote +On October 13 2012 05:11 Skilledblob wrote:On October 13 2012 03:54 Monsen wrote:On October 13 2012 02:17 Skilledblob wrote: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 familiesGerman dialects. oh no I didnt use perfect scientific english, clearly I have to be completely wrong just look at that map and you'll see what I meant. + Show Spoiler + Germany is actually like ... one of the most popular examples to bring up when linguistics courses talk about a dialect continuum. I guess he was just pissed off at your terminology, but your overall point was correct, lol. Show nested quote +A dialect continuum, or dialect area, was defined by Leonard Bloomfield as a range of dialects spoken across some geographical area that differ only slightly between neighboring areas, but as one travels in any direction, these differences accumulate such that speakers from opposite ends of the continuum are no longer mutually intelligible. -- Source: Wikipedia.
Is this actually true? Is the dialect in Nuremberg closer to Boarisch than the dialect in Würzburg?
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On October 23 2012 21:38 MoltkeWarding wrote:Show nested quote +On October 14 2012 07:16 babylon wrote:On October 13 2012 05:11 Skilledblob wrote:On October 13 2012 03:54 Monsen wrote:On October 13 2012 02:17 Skilledblob wrote: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 familiesGerman dialects. oh no I didnt use perfect scientific english, clearly I have to be completely wrong just look at that map and you'll see what I meant. + Show Spoiler + Germany is actually like ... one of the most popular examples to bring up when linguistics courses talk about a dialect continuum. I guess he was just pissed off at your terminology, but your overall point was correct, lol. A dialect continuum, or dialect area, was defined by Leonard Bloomfield as a range of dialects spoken across some geographical area that differ only slightly between neighboring areas, but as one travels in any direction, these differences accumulate such that speakers from opposite ends of the continuum are no longer mutually intelligible. -- Source: Wikipedia. Is this actually true? Is the dialect in Nuremberg closer to Boarisch than the dialect in Würzburg?
I guess both belong to the frankish dialect region so I doubt it.
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Zurich15306 Posts
On October 23 2012 08:51 DownOnMyNiece wrote:Show nested quote +On October 11 2012 17:54 zatic wrote:
getting 3 pizza for €1 from the local discount store. Bullshit... Dr. Oetker Pizzas are at least 2.20 € a piece at steep discount rates, the non-brand-names are at least 1.50 € a piece. I've lived just about everywhere in Germany and the prices you name are fabricated.
Well... When I made that comparison (about 2006) that was how much a pizza 3 pack was.
And yes, since then there has been an outrageous pizza price surge (Personally, I blame E10 fuel). So, to settle this "bullshit", here, from the actually most expensive supermarket in my area:
+ Show Spoiler [Check out the date tag] +
Yeah. Who can possibly afford frozen pizza in Germany.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Continental_West_Germanic_languages.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/OhcwM.jpg)
