AMD 6

For my last AMD I watched my favorite TV show, 30 Rock, in German. I was surprised at how much I understood. Not extremely surprised though, being a TV junkie. It was very easy for me to guess what things meant because I understood the context. Some of the words were not changed or were at least very similar to their English counterparts. Zum Beispiele:

• Tracy frequently says "Yo" and "Hey Jacky-D". These did not change in the German dub. 
• Tracy is always contractually obligated to bring up "Wayde Boggs Carpet World" whenever possible. In the German dub Tracy said "Wayde Boggs Teppich Welt"
• Someone in the show asked for "Trinktjoghurt" (drinkable yogurt)

One of my favorite quotes from 30 Rock is in this episode so I was so excited to hear how it was said in German! This is what I heard at least, I'm not sure if it's right: 

     Liz: Schau okay aus?

     Cerie: Ganz genau sehen sie aus!

     Translation:

    Liz: Do I look okay?

    Cerie: That's exactly how you look!

AMD 6

     By accident I actually stumbled upon what I was going to do for this AMD. Earlier today I was watching interviews with Tom Hiddleson (Loki from the Avengers) and found this interview. In the beginning I recognized the word Superheld. The main interview portion is in English, but I could see some of the German culture we read about, for example the host had no problem saying Tom Hiddleson had a poor body, while the British, American, and Australian (Tom Hiddleson, Mark Ruffalo, and Chris Hemsworth) thought that was a little rude and seemed surprised but laughed it off. At another point during the interview the host started talking about pony ad's which I and the actors were very confused about. I googled pony ads looking for an exclamation, and eventually I found this on a blog.
     "I too had to google that pony advertising thing, it was just too confusing. And somewhat intriguing. So, what actually happened, is that the Green Party wants to stop pony riding at fairs, etc. During a speech, the leader of the Liberal Party criticized the Green for wanting to ban so many things, like cigarette advertising for example. Then he was supposed to mention the pony rides, but accidentally said pony advertising, which has caused a wave of jokes on Twitter and so on. That's all. And apparently, before the guys showed up on the show, Stefan Raab had presented a few clips that showed what pony advertising could look like."
    Overall though I did like this interview, and while the host seemed kind of ill-informed, it was still fun to watch and maybe even makes me believe that Germans do have a sense of humor.

AMD 6

For my sixth AMD, I decided to set my phone to German, making sure that I remembered the steps I took to change the language, just in case I don't recognize particular words when I went to change it back.  At first it was pretty easy to navigate through, since the icons that represented functions in English remained intact.  Several words were easy to identify without the icons, such as "Fotos," "Temperatur," and "Was heute geschehend" (What's happening today).  Things went south however, when I got a phone call from my parents.  Although I was able to pick up the call with no trouble, spending time on the phone for a good 12 minutes made me forget about the steps on how to change the German settings back to English.  After failing several times trying to find the the location on the phone where the language settings could be altered, I stopped for a minute, relaxed, and decided to use my head for once.  Beginning by pressing the "Menu" icon, I went into  ""Einstellungen," which I realized meant "Settings;" from there I easily found "Account Einstellungen" (Account Settings), Sprache (Language), and from there I made it to "Englisch."

Hallo? Hallo?

Although this was a somewhat "unpleasant" experiance, I am still currently messing with other forms of media, such as Facebook, and putting them in "Deutsch," and navigating with the "new" language.

AMD6

For this weeks AMD, I changed the language on my iPad's Siri to Deutch and tried to converse with her.  She had some difficulty understanding me at points (but I'm blaming this one Apple voice recognition technology and not my language skills!) but for the most part I was able to successfully ask her questions and get answers.  Her favorite color was odd, she said "Meine Lieblingsfarbe ist... naja, eine Art Grün, aber mit mehr Dimensionen." I guess computers see things differently than us.

She didn't respond well to my affections.  When I said "Ich mag dich," she replied, "Alles klar."  When I told her "Du bist meine bester Freundin," she responded "Wenn du darauf bestehst."

We got into a bit of a fight then, and she refused to answer me anymore...

AMD6

  Für die AMD6 habe ich die Simpson's gesehen. I watched the episode "Auf diese Lisa können sie Bauen." In the episode Lisa misreads a price tag and buys an expensive Bauen (purse). I was able to pick up multiple vocabulary terms, for example there was a part where the grandpa said "Geld zu geben" and then gives the Simpson's his money. The grandpa also said "Ich habe...Präsident geschrieben, which from chapter five I know means he wrote to the President. Also when Lisa goes to the cash register to the cashier said "fünfhundert dollar." and Lisa becomes frighten for the expensive price and a lady waiting in line says was ist los? which I recognize from a Lola Rennt worksheet. (What is the matter)  I enjoyed watching the clip and I wasn't completely lost which was really cool!

Kultur 5

For my Kultur 5 reading I focused on "No Blood, No Entschuldigung," "German Erotica: The Land of Beer Sausage and Sex Shops," and "Toilet Training for Visitors." It was very interesting this time around to read about how different German culture is from American culture in the aspects these articles focus on. It is certainly interesting how open German culture seems to be about sex and sex shops. A welcomed change from a too-prude, overreactive American culture. Still though, it struck me as odd that the shops could be literally anywhere - including in the middle of a mall. I also was amused by the fact that Germans don't say "excuse me" often at all. It seems to fit in with the German stereotype of being serious and a bit rude (even if that is untrue) and is in stark contrast with overly apologetic America. Finally it was odd to learn that in many German public bathrooms there was an attendant that you are expected to tip. It just seems weird to have someone staying in a bathroom all day, making sure it stays clean and fresh... Although there are plenty of places in American that I wish did have this service!

AMD 1

Asher Strayhorn AMD 1
     For the first AMD, I chose to watch a bunch of Teletubbies auf Deutsch.  It was soo entertaining and seemed to be sort of helpful.  I learned loads of random infant-like things to say or things infants should know.  Die liede were in Tinkiewinkies Tasche.  Die Wolke schweptet in dem Hausburg?  Green really is grün.  Schnee=snow.  Teletubbies seems like a good way to reinforce first language learning in infants and possibly second language learning in older kids, possibly infants too.  You hear a healthy amount of simple things and you hear the Teletubbies repeat most of it.  Ich liebe 
Teletubbies auf Deutsch.

Kultur 1

     I really enjoyed reading about German Americans.  How they've lost a lot of their culture over the years, where they settled, and why they came to America.  I may havwe learned more if I weren't such a slow reader, but that's all I got to.  I found it somewhat interesting that there are so many Germans in the U.S.  Even being from an area densely populated with Germans, I still would have thought more English people would live here, how ever small England is.  One of the reasons it was surprising probably had to do with the fact that they have merged so much culturally now with other European Americans.  They've come to be simply "American", as the article described German Americans' own thoughts about their ethnicity.
     The stuff about the history of German immigration and where they moved in in the U.S. was the other part I read.  Northern Midwestern states was where they settled.  The (farm)land was something they were really after in order to have property to pass on to their offspring and the terrain reminded them a little of European terrains.  This opportunity for land was one major factor of the mass immigration from the mid 19th to early 20th century.
     The article probably went on to say other things about the German American transformation to simply American.

Kultur 5

I found the "No Entschuldigung" article to be quite funny. Despite having brushed up against a few people in a crowded room or on the street, or stepping on a few feet getting off in a hurry, I try to say "Sorry" if I can. Yes, I have missed saying it a few times, and- as I'm sure Germans could attest- nothing happens if you don't say sorry in these kinds of situations (at least not in my experiences). I honestly think that Americans are too concerned of clearing their conscience of any wrongdoing. However, what wrongdoing is there in accidentally rubbing shoulders with someone on the street? Are you supposed to stop them and plead for forgiveness? Maybe I too have just "come to terms with more day-to-day physical contact", as the Germans have. However, I don't think I would be comfortable plowing through a crowded room like and Arctic ice-breaker. 

Kultur 5

For the article "Women in Germany", I was not too surprised to learn that women's' rights are at a level similar to those in the USA. The only difference between the two seems to be that fewer women have high ranking careers in Germany compared to men. This article seemed to be the only one that showed similarities between the USA and Germany. I found it interesting that although Germany can seem similar to the USA, there are many different parts of their culture that clash with ours. For instance, in the way Germans flirt seems much less aggressive and more committed. I have heard of Klofrau's in the US but they definitely do not seem to be as common as they are in Germany. I was also surprised to read about the street etiquette in Germany. Its not too difficult to give a quick apology for getting in someone's way so it seems odd to me that they don't.

Kultur 5

I found the articles for Kaptiel 5 Kultur assignment interesting choices. From what I have read before, I got the sense that Germans have different cultural behaviors than I am used to, but I think the fact that they rarely say Entschuldigung. Saying excuse me has been something that's been drilled in my mind since I could speak, and is just a concept that is so familiar to me, out of politeness if nothing else. So, I cannot think of it being acceptable not saying it. As for the article on the sex shops, I find it humorous how casual Germans are about them. It's true though, about the location of them in US cities, well from what I've seen in NYC. They aren't hidden or in bad neighborhoods, but they are not as open as German ones, as described in the article. I also think it's funny to read about flirting in Germany. I always hear about my best friend's experience with German guys, and now I wonder if they are the way the are because she grew up in America. It's also a good thing to know if I ever plan on going to Germany. The Klofrau is something I have heard of though. Many of the restaurants I've been to in New York have "sanitary assistants", but instead of tipping only 30 cents or so, they expect to be tipped at least a dollar. Granted, it depends on the quality of the restaurant. Lastly, I found the statistics and other facts about women in Germany was very interesting to read about. 

Kultur5

For the Kultur 5 I read the article No Blood No Entschuldigung, If I had gone to Germany before reading this article I would of probably felt very disrespected, and my visit would not been pleasant. Now that I know Germans do not tend to say sorry for a simple bump in the shoulder, when I go to Germany, I will understand that for them a push or any light physical contact is not a good enough reason to say "entschuldigung". I will avoid saying that word, (unless of course I see blood) just so I won't be targeted so easily as a tourist. The second article I read was Flirting with Fräuleins, Hunting for Herren.  I thought this article was really funny I can just imagine a German woman getting offended by a tourist complementing her, or a German man getting overly excited because an American girl sparks a conversation with him. I also thought it was very interesting how flirting changes in different regions of the world. Alike languages, flirting actions can be misinterpreted and misjudge easily.

AMD 5

For my fifth AMD I went to youtube, and since on my free time I look up tutorial videos on how to do hair and makeup. I decided to mix pleasure with work and watch a hair tutorial in German! I typed in Deutsch Haare, and a video titled Wellen mit Glätteisen und Welleisen, which means waves with straightening iron and curling iron. As I was watching the girl said it was chic and sommerlich, which is coincidental since Kapitel fünf talks about weather and sommer is summer, so I am guessing sommerlich is summery. I was able to understand a few terms like Gummiband which I remember Katy said meant rubber band back in kapitel eins. After watching the hair tutorial, I decided to watch a nail tutorial that demonstrates how to do ombre nails schnell (fast) und einfach (simple). Although I do not understand everything at the begining of the video she says "heute" which is today, so I am guessing she says today I'll show you....
From the vocabulary I have learn so far, I was really surprise that I was able to understand a great part of the video, and got very excited. Since the video showed every step as she explained it was easier to relate her actions with words that I know. It was a fun AMD!

Kulture 5

I remember when I was in Germany and wherever I went I always asked how to say sorry, however when they told me about entshuldigun I gave up fairly quickly and resorted to pardon with a french accent, that way they would think I'm french instead of american.  One thing that I did really like about Europe in general was how friendly and open the people were, and how it is not awkward to have so many sex stores, or to go to them. Whereas over here we are a lot more conservative. I also liked how it was much easier to talk about sex and it was not an awkward conversation to have with people you didn't know terribly well. However, even with people you know well talking about sex can be and awkward conversation. While I was in Europe I looked at a few sex shops, one of which was three levels, and I always found it really interesting to see what the Europeans were into. I personally still do no understand the candy bras or panties because the candy will just get wet from trying to eat it and then make everything sticky. Also, who has the patience in that scenario to eat all the candy. There is lingerie that does a much better job. Anyway, I appreciated the Europeans openness. I also experienced how forthcoming the women can be, and in some cases I felt like I had to be the conservative one and that the girls were the ones making most the moves. Not to say it was just me, I think it was just because of the culture, and possibly because I was foreign. 

AMD 5

Apart from pretzels and bratwurst, I was curious about other German food. Some German folk tales are even about food, like Hansel and Gretel, and after WWI and WWII there were huge food shortages where many people were starving. In the north, there are a few traditional soups, such as eel or vegetable stew. In the center there are a lot of bread and cereal made from Buckwheat and Rye, one favorite dish is pears, green beans, and bacon. I at least do not understand how pears and bacon can go together, in a meal. The middle of the country is famous for its white asparagus and its pumpernickel bread. However, it seems that the Germans like their pork, for instance there is a mustard ham that is famous all over Germany. Additionally, Germans love their sausages. This disappoints me a little bit because I do not eat pork, and it's a little saddening when most of a countries signature dishes involve pork because then I cannot try them out.

However, they do have a Black Forest cherry cake and a cherry brandy from the Black Forest area. I would really like to try these because cherries are very big here in Michigan since Michigan is the largest cherry exporter in the world. This could be due to Germans who came over here because there is a large German population in Michigan.


http://www.foodbycountry.com/Germany-to-Japan/Germany.html#b

AMD 4

Today I read a few articles on how Germans feel about having the best performing economy in the eurozone, and how they feel about bailing out other countries, most notably Greece. The first article I read said that only 53% of Germans seemed to be against the bailout, which to me was very surprising because I expected there to be many more Germans. However, the last article I read, which was not dated, quoted a German man saying that about two thirds of the people in Germany oppose the bailout, which to me makes more sense. I am curious however if they know how much they rely on these other countries, mostly like Spain and Italy, and if that plays a large roll in their decision. Because, if all the other major economies are not doing well, then Germany will most likely follow because they rely heavily on exports. Another interesting thing was that A.M. was starting to lose favor within her own party over the bailout issue, and there are almost enough people in her party that are voting against the bailout, that she will possibly have to start relying on the opposing party to keep bailing out Greece.

One of the most interesting things I learned though, was that while all the other economies around them have been seeing declines and recessions, Germany has seen growth. The reason stated was that due to some prior reforms when the global recession began, Germany quickly turned it around by cutting some pensions, and in return has enjoyed continued growth. This growth has accelerated since many companies are now moving to Germany since they have lower taxes, and the economy has not felt the hardship as those around it.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/26/us-eurozone-germany-poll-idUSTRE81P0BW20120226
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economywatch/germans-edge-key-greek-austerity-vote-nears-829606

AMD5

For this AMD, I changed the language setting on my Facebook to Deutsch. I could understand most of what was going on because I recognized some of the words, but I was also able to follow along by remembering what the different phrases originally were. This also helped me to learn some new words. Some of the phrases are: like = gefällt mir; comment = kommentieren, mutual = gemeinsame. It wasn't too difficult to use facebook in this form, but after awhile I started to forget what the different phrases meant and had to rely on the location that they appeared on the page. I really liked this AMD assignment since it helped me to learn some new vocabulary!

Kultur 5

I think I'd like visit the German Countryside.  It seems like it would be nice.  Ich finde aggressive crowds in the city to be not a lot of fun.  I wonder if the standard personal space distance is closer to that of the US or that of Latin America, that latter makes me very uncomfortable.
I would definitely be embarrassed to be seen walking out of a shop like that.  The online equivalents of these shops that are popular in the US for this reason, I wonder if that is less true in Germany.
They make it seem like bathroom attendants are only in Germany, I've seen them in a bunch of places in the US.  They sometimes sell candy, whic always seemed weird to me, for whom does being in the bathroom make want candy?  It would not be fun to be in Germany and have to use the bathroom without any cash, do they accept major credit cards?
Flirting in Germany sounds great for guys, they don't have to do anything. Just a quick glance and then it's on her.  It sounds like a terrible time for foreign women, I wonder if that was by design by German women to prevent foreign girls from coming in and stealing their men.
They could be doing this because they are now working more.  It is encouraging to see that Germany is making such great strides towards employment equality between genders.  Perhaps that is part of the reason that their economy has weathered the European credit crises so much better than many of its EU neighbors.

AMD5

I looked up Deuglisch in wikipedia.
German-spoken area now keeps absorbing new words directly and some Germanized English words.
1.Ich musste den Computer neu booten / rebooten, weil die Software gecrasht ist.
For here, German take word reboot and add standard German ending -en to it to make a new verb.
And gecrasht is made to be a perfekt tense of crash, with seine( ist here). 
2.Hast du schon die neueste Firefox-Version downgeloadet / gedownloadet?
schon-already, and gedownloadet for download in English.

The Pseudo-anglicisms seems more interesting to me since I will probably make that mistakes by using wrong words. 

Smoking[20]

dinner suit

I also listened to a song called "Denglisch" produced by a cappella group Wise Guys.
 They are totally irrelevant! So if I didn't know this before going to Germany, ''no smoking'' won't remind me with formal dress for a event..And it might happen that everyone is well dressed up except me, who might be wearing jeans as always..

Kultur 5

As you are well aware these articles are pretty up front and don't beat around the bush however this one takes the cake so far. I had absolutely no idea that Germany had so many sex shops throughout the cities. I always have known about the beer and the open air markets and even some of there department stores but never this. I also find it weird that Germans will use sex shops as a point of reference.Another thing that I found quite interesting was the Kolfrau. At some of the very upscale places in the US you have bathroom attendants its rare but they do exsist, but they don't even expect a tip. I found it weird that they expect a 30-50 cent tip whether your at a formal place or informal. When I was in Germany I also noticed that they do tend to avoid saying sorry and or excuse me. These articles help enforce the fact that Germans are a touch off kilter.

Kultur 5

In the first reading, 'No Blood, No Entschuldigung', the sentence that Germans are inherently rude really surprises me since I was always considering Germans as a polite symbol. The descriptions about how they plow grimly ahead on the way and how they react after stepping on one's feet are really interesing. In the last paragraph, the writer use a sample of being jabbed by a bitter old lady who wants to clear place for his grandson to again, demonstrate the impoliteness of germans.
Besides, the sex shop culture is really impressive since Germans are even more open to the sex shop. The author says sex shops are located all over the Germany, and the location of sex shops are not restricted to be away from a respectable institution like church. But the traditional opening hours are really inconvenient and one might have to wait until week days to shop.
It's good to know that I need to bring plenty of coins with me when go to the toilet in Germany. Since the Klofrau is paid poorly and the earning from toilet attendents takes a large part of their earning, coins are significant to them. And too much or too little is no good, 30-50 cents are appropriate.

Kultur 5

Once again I found these articles quite interesting. I have no idea what to make out of the Klofrau. I truthfully think it would be annoying to have to pay for public restrooms whether they might be clean or not. On the other hand though I can see how even though it's a lowly job, its still a job and they are still making money. I don't know what jobs these bathroom attendants would be doing other wise. Though if I lived in Germany I would not want to be a Kolfrau and spend my whole day in a bathroom. Also I do find it odd that sex shops are just a normal thing for Germans. I just find the whole idea kind of odd because it is completely the opposite of what we do here. Even talking about sex shops is weird. It makes me wonder how Germans respond when their small children ask about these shops. I suppose they are pushed into have a birds and the bees talk just a bit early! The other article I read that really struck me the most was what comes off to tourists as rude, but is actually a comfortableness with lack or personal space. I find it interesting because I've heard stories of in Japan people will cram onto trains until they are completely full, but this seems to be a different kind of closeness. Germans are just very blunt and have things to do, and I think quite literally, they don't let anyone stand in their way.

Kultur 5

I read the article about the Klofrau. I found it so interesting that they actually have this as a job. Here in America being the garbage man was already bad enough, but cleaning toilets of drunk people at a bar would be much worse, considering what you would have to deal with. Although I do like the concept of this job because I have a phobia of public bathrooms. There is something about them that is just so dirty and cannot seem to get past that. Although when I went to a restaurant called Quartinos, in chicago, they had this similar custom.  know Quartino's is an Italian restaurant but I am assuming they wanted to make it as Italian as possible. I know Italy also has a "toilet lady," and the restaurant had this adaptation of it. As i began to remember on my trip to Europe most every country I visited had this as a job opportunity. I guess it must be a European custom to do so. Even though the article did mention the small decrease of the job opportunity. I found this article to be very interesting and showing us more about the German culture and how the country works.

Kultur 5

I thought that the article, "Street Rules: No Blood, No Entschuldigung" was pretty interesting. Up to this point in the course, I have begun to view Germans more and more as robots who are obsessed with statistics but are lacking in emotions. This article has basically concluded my hypothesis as correct. If someone were to storm through crowds, elbowing people, and not caring at all in the United States, that person would get yelled at and possibly hit for their rudeness. It is funny and fitting that Germany would be the complete opposite. People there do not care and willing shove people in order to get to where they are going on time. I can completely see this happening in Germany too after everything else that we have read about the country. It is weird to imagine a world where people walk through each other as so peaceful, but I guess that the Germans understand one another. I just hope for their sake, that Germans visiting America don't walk through New York City elbowing and shoving people to get them out of their way.

Kultur 5

I was pretty surprised that Germans don't say Entschuldigung that often. To me, that seems very rude since in America we are taught to be polite to people and not just jab someone in the ribs and not say sorry or excuse me. Flirting in Germany seems so strange. It seems kinda creepy to just stare at her for a moment and that's it. I always thought that Germany was similar to America but the more articles I read, I realize that has some big differences.As for the article on German sex shops, this is the first thing that popped into my mind was...

...and I'll just leave it at that.

Kapitel 5 Kultur

These readings didn't quite peak my interest as much as others in the past have, despite some of the attention grabbing headlines! Of course there's always something to be learned and a few points did stick out to me.

First of all, I didn't like the depiction of the U.S.'s prudishness in the "German Erotica: The Land of Beer, Sausage and Sex Shops" article. I understand where these stereotypes come from, those who are very conservative are pretty vocal about it, but in cities, sex shops are not nearly as rare as this article makes them out to be. Ann Arbor has Bongz and Thongz as well as the Safe Sex Store, and I'm sure that's not it. When I lived in Chicago there was no scarcity of erotica supply shops. Of course, in the suburbs things are a little different, but I'm sure the same can be said about Germany's cities vs. their more rural areas.

I really love the idea of the Klofrau. I'll give her all of my spare change in exchange for a clean bathroom. Public restrooms are some of my most feared and avoided places in most cases, so to have the assurance of a recently cleaned toilet is a great idea to me. It breaks my heart to hear that the profession dying out.

I didn't take much from the "Women of Germany" excerpts. I read through it, but I think it was just too many dry stats in a row for me to handle. 

The "Bekannte oder Freunde" bit from the book was the most interesting to me out of all the readings we had for this chapter. It's just strange to me that forming a friendship is so formal, when to me, friends are some of the most informal people in my life. The idea that there is even a ceremonial drink to mark the occasion is so odd! I like it though, as I've always had a few very close and important friends and I feel like German culture places emphasis on the importance of the few people that are considered Freunde, not Bekannte.