Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT Strips 3221 to 3225 (16 - 20 May 2016)
Case:
--- Quote from: chaospersonified on 20 May 2016, 11:12 ---Ugh, this thread, for days, has made me wish I had taken German. I feel I have a better grasp of the umlaut, but I feel that way having only heard it a handul of times, none of which I remember clearly. I can count to three, I can talk shit in the most literal sense, and that is it.
--- End quote ---
You could start with "ze Eichhörnchen - Test" - (10 Canadians pronouncing "Eichhörnchen" ('squirrel')). The first one is my favorite, since she nails the 'ö' at first 2nd try, but the way she pronounces the word, she's actually saying "Gauge-chicken" (Does the word 'Eich-Hähnchen' exist in German? Well, now it does!)
EDIT:
The unrivalled winner is woman-in-stripes @ 1:23 - She's almost perfect, just a bit more confidence and stressing the first syllable instead of the 2nd - then she'd sound like a native.
The last is guy-with-glasses @ 2:39 - What he says sounds pretty much like: "I-squirrel-shit" ("OmG! Are you alright? Should we get you an ambulance?")
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjvK8odVGT4
The vid is the "German Revenge" for Canadians forcing 10 Germans to pronounce "squirrel" - which is pretty hard for Krauts who haven't yet shaken their instinctive tendency to indicate syllabification with glottal stops.
The Germans, being too honest for their own good, haven't yet figured out that nobody actually bothers pronouncing 'squirrel' - people simply toss smth. like "skwer-rll!" out of their mouths, and crank the confidence to 11 ... :-D
--- Quote from: Perfectly Reasonable on 20 May 2016, 10:27 ---...
Very interesting. But...
Let me put it another way. I'm annoyed that Jeph seems to be dumbing down his comic so that Americans don't have to deal with umlauts.
That's my heäd cånön and I'm sticking to it.
--- End quote ---
Your dumping on Americans' difficulties with German pronunciation would have a lot more gravitas if you stopped messing up German grammar ...
Just sayin'
(The plural of "Umlaut" is "Umlaute", not "Umlauts" - Germans might use the latter deliberately, in order to mock uneducated people ... Soooooh, actually, to a native speaker, you sound like you 'got hoisted by your own petard', but: I know, I know, your Head & it's cannon ...)
BlueFatima:
Hmmm... I know this will come off as over-sensitive and ranty, but I can't keep my mouth shut (figuratively speaking). I find it cringe-worthy when people play armchair psychiatrist and label others (even fictional characters) as has been happening with Brun. There are a million and one reasons someone may talk in short sentences from being high-spectrum autistic, to being shy, to being a naturally quiet person, or simply antisocial/having to poop/PMSy/dog died—and plenty beyond that. I'd like to see where it goes or even *if* we find out why she is like this (I think she is plenty cool without a big backstory explaining her speech patterns).
On a different note, I really love how Jeph makes his characters with quirks that are just part of who they are beyond being something to poke fun at (though there's lots of humor around them, too). I've been enjoying the juxtaposition of Clinton's and Brun's very different personalities.
Betting Clinton ends up at Claire's place (I forgot—is she living with Marten and Faye now?). Good thing he made up with her. :)
pwhodges:
--- Quote from: BlueFatima on 20 May 2016, 11:37 ---(I forgot—is she living with Marten and Faye now?).
--- End quote ---
We've not been told that she is, but recently we seen her there several times (but then, we saw Dora there for ages before she moved in - which arguably marked the start of that relationship going downhill).
chaospersonified:
Case, I thank you, but I'm about 97% sure I'll never actually do that. I appreciate German culture, I definitely appreciate the people, but I know from past history that I can't learn from internet sources, video or otherwise. I took a semester of online German. I learned to count to three, and that's it.
If I ever decide to learn German, which I might, it'll be with a tutor. I need that personal connection. True of languages, true of most things in my life.
Persephiroth:
--- Quote from: Penquin47 link=topic=33364.msg1355263#msg1355263 ---
They're both named Chad...
--- End quote ---
Huh, you're right. That is a pretty big difference in appearance, though.
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