Atticus, there are several places in Berlin for this kind of thing. The Distel on Friedrichstrasse is good too if you can keep up with the political stand-up comedy, a knowledge of German politics being a requirement.

If you are more into opera, then a city with 3 subsidised opera houses will cater to your needs. I saw Wagner's Ring cycle over 4 days in the Staatsoper on Untern den Linden for what is now €40. Amazing. There is never an excuse to be bored in Berlin.

Slim Buddha wrote:

Atticus, there are several places in Berlin for this kind of thing. The Distel on Friedrichstrasse is good too if you can keep up with the political stand-up comedy, a knowledge of German politics being a requirement.

If you are more into opera, then a city with 3 subsidised opera houses will cater to your needs. I saw Wagner's Ring cycle over 4 days in the Staatsoper on Untern den Linden for what is now €40. Amazing. There is never an excuse to be bored in Berlin.

Do they still have the all night indoor bicycle races with dinner, dancing and a band ?

I'm struggling with the pronunciation of 'ch' auf deutsch.

Examples.

Sicherheit

as in sisherheit ?

Nachrichten

as in nack rishten?


Richtig

As in rishtig ? or is the ch like the ch in Irish 'ach'

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

I'm struggling with the pronunciation of 'ch' auf deutsch.

Examples.

Sicherheit

as in sisherheit ?

Nachrichten

as in nack rishten?


Richtig

As in rishtig ? or is the ch like the ch in Irish 'ach'

You have a small hair stuck at the back of your mouth. You need to get rid of it discretely. Open your mouth a little and expel some air from the back of your throat...

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

I'm struggling with the pronunciation of 'ch' auf deutsch.

Examples.

Sicherheit

as in sisherheit ?

Nachrichten

as in nack rishten?


Richtig

As in rishtig ? or is the ch like the ch in Irish 'ach'

This depends totally on where you are. No kidding. In Schwabenland every"ch" is pronounced "sh" whereas in Berlin, "ch" is pronounced "ck", sometimes with a faint "e" after it. eg. "Icke". You will never hear "icke" in South Germany. In Bavaria, the sometimes delete "ch" altogether. eg. "Do you like me? " is "Mags mi'?'" in Bayerisch. In Schwyzzerdüütsch, which is what I am condemned to hear daily, the "ch" sound is everywhere so that words in standard high German like "Kuchenkasten" (kitchen drawers) become "Chüüchichääschli" in Swiss German.

Ah so. My dealings for the next few years will be in the Frankfurt - Karlsruhe area. They are softer on the 'ch' I think.

Depends on word too does it not. Maybe I'll tune into a web station and listen for a while

I've wondered about the 'ch' too. Is it like Oxford English which pronounces certain things in certain ways - 'bus' is more like 'boss' but elsewhere in England you'll get a different sound for 'bus' but it won't be like 'boss'.

The 'r' in German - in Berlin it's not pronounced, I take it, while in Bavaria it's rolled like some Scottish roll it, or Spanish if you know that one (very hard for me at first)

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

I'm struggling with the pronunciation of 'ch' auf deutsch.

Examples.

Sicherheit

as in sisherheit ?

Ich glaube, dass sikerheit ist.

Quote :

Nachrichten

as in nack rishten?

Das ist korrekt.

Quote :

Richtig

As in rishtig ? or is the ch like the ch in Irish 'ach'

Ich denke, dass richtig ist wie "ach" auf Irisch.

From the best of my memory, even for a lot of people in Berlin, it s a soft sound in the palate and not a hard k.

Ah jaysus ye're all confusing me.

I'm going back to Frankfurt on the 21st. I'll ask the shopkeeper there.

cactus flower wrote:

From the best of my memory, even for a lot of people in Berlin, it s a soft sound in the palate and not a hard k.

Obviously you were listening to people from other parts of Germany, cf, particularly Schwäben. Real Berliners are particularly proud of the hard "ck" sound. My son, for starters.

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

I'm struggling with the pronunciation of 'ch' auf deutsch.

Examples.

Sicherheit

as in sisherheit ?

Nachrichten

as in nack rishten?


Richtig

As in rishtig ? or is the ch like the ch in Irish 'ach'

I love this stuff - sound shifts, dialect and pronunciation that define how people speak and experience language.

As I recall - and I'll be glad to check this out later in full, there were two main sound shifts that saw German form into its own language as distinct from other European and other Germanic languages. These started in the area south of the alps and so the sounds are more shifted, if you like, the further south you go - Switzerland, Austria, Bavaria and Schwaben. So everything sounds slushy and gurgly with 'ach' as in Irish ach and is gorgeous to listen to. The effect of the sound shifts, particularly the second one which distinguishes German from other Germanic languages such as English and Dutch, had less impact as it moved north, so the sounds in Berlin are closer to English and Dutch with the hard k, as is suggested elsewhere.

Really, EVM, how you pronounce it will depend on your teacher and where he or she learned her German but if you want to go for something more authentic, I'd suggest the Irish 'ach' sound because - and forgive my absolutely groundless bias here, I think that 'rishtig' - and I know that there are Germans who use that pronunciation - sounds like a foreigner learning German. I have no scientific basis for saying that, rather a snobbery or personal dislike for its lack of real Germanic bite. Practice prolonging the 'chchchchchch' sound. It's rather lovely.

Slim Buddha wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

From the best of my memory, even for a lot of people in Berlin, it s a soft sound in the palate and not a hard k.

Obviously you were listening to people from other parts of Germany, cf, particularly Schwäben. Real Berliners are particularly proud of the hard "ck" sound. My son, for starters.

Does he say "Ick bin Berliner"?

B funf aktuelles.

http://www.br-online.de/br/jsp/seitentyp/liveStreamFenster.jsp?welle=b5aktuell

cactus flower wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

From the best of my memory, even for a lot of people in Berlin, it s a soft sound in the palate and not a hard k.

Obviously you were listening to people from other parts of Germany, cf, particularly Schwäben. Real Berliners are particularly proud of the hard "ck" sound. My son, for starters.

Does he say "Ick bin Berliner"?

When he calls me on the phone, he always announces himself thus "icke bin's!".

Monntag gehe ich wieder nach Deutschland . Wunderbar.

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

Monntag gehe ich wieder nach Deutschland . Wunderbar.

Geil EVM. Wo fahren sie in Deutschland? Berlin? Dortmund?

This is all good fun, but I'm thinking it's no wonder EvM is confused.

Slim Buddha wrote:

This depends totally on where you are. No kidding. In Schwabenland every"ch" is pronounced "sh" whereas in Berlin, "ch" is pronounced "ck", sometimes with a faint "e" after it. eg. "Icke". You will never hear "icke" in South Germany. In Bavaria, the sometimes delete "ch" altogether. eg. "Do you like me? " is "Mags mi'?'" in Bayerisch. In Schwyzzerdüütsch, which is what I am condemned to hear daily, the "ch" sound is everywhere so that words in standard high German like "Kuchenkasten" (kitchen drawers) become "Chüüchichääschli" in Swiss German.

Nice tour of deutsch lands, but a little bit of exaggeration, I think. In Schwabenland the ch is very close to sh, but not quite. Similarly, in Berlin it's not quite ck. Any sound in between sh and ck will do nicely to be understood. I would say the Irish ch with a slight hint of sh is just about the standard German pronunciation of ch.

The Swiss accent is indeed remarkable if you hear it after being in Germany. I once went by train from Stuttgart to Milan, a most delightful journey. It was fascinating to hear the accents as people got on the train in Zürich and other Swiss cities.

As for the r sound, I always think that in much of Germany it's the same as the French r -- pronounced back in the throat. Think of Rue de Rivoli. Talking of Rue, I always think there's no difference between the French u and the German ü, but I remember some pronunciation authority telling me otherwise. I do believe life is too short to figure out all the slight differences...

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

Monntag gehe ich wieder nach Deutschland . Wunderbar.

Geil EVM. Wo fahren sie in Deutschland? Berlin? Dortmund?

Nach Frankfurt Flughafen und dann ?? (and then on to) Karlsruhe mit Zug.

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

Monntag gehe ich wieder nach Deutschland . Wunderbar.

Geil EVM. Wo fahren sie in Deutschland? Berlin? Dortmund?

Nach Frankfurt Flughafen und dann ?? (and then on to) Karlsruhe mit Zug.

If you are in Karlsruhe and the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) are in session, check out the robes they have. Very shiny crimson jobs, very Studio 54 late 70s vibe off them. Amazing altogether, for the highest court in Germany.

Herbst in Zürich. Kalt und sonnig. Îch müss die Bilder aussortieren. Später werde ich die besten Bild hier veröffentlichen.

This sounds lovely Slim Buddha, but you're having the same trouble with hosting as I have.

cactus flower wrote:

This sounds lovely Slim Buddha, but you're having the same trouble with hosting as I have.

Indeed, cactus, and you know how much I love IT.

Audi had nice instructions for how to put up a photo from our own pc or phone, but I can't find them. I am missing one vital step.