Wer moechte gerne besser englisch sprechen?

Eine ganz spontane Idee:

Hattet Ihr Lust, hier in diesem Forenthread ein bisschen englische Konversation zu machen?

Aus meiner eigenen Erfahrung weiss ich, dass wir als Deutsche oft typische Fehler machen. Auch wenn einer wirklich gute Englischkenntnisse hat, wie z. B. Simon, schleichen sich doch immer wieder ungebraeuchliche Worte oder Redewendungen ein. Nach ueber 30 Jahren in den USA kann ich diese natuerlich gut erkennen und Euch mit sanften Korrekturen helfen.

Ich fang' einfach mal an.

Would you like to live in America, and why?

If not, why not?

Would you like to live in America, and why?

If not, why not?

I would love to live in America, because

• I love the American music very much. It is much better than the German "Ufftata" music.
• Many of my friends are living over there.
• I love the beautiful landscapes and the fascinating cities like New Orleans, New York or Chicago.

 Great idea, Achim! I would be glad to improve my English in this practical and funny way. So feel free to correct any of my mistakes during the conversation so that I can learn from them and prevent to drop once again the same bricks (ist das richtig für: "vermeiden, ein weiteres Mal in dieselben Fettnäpfchen zu treten?).

Gerade wird mir bewusst, dass ich mich noch kaum mit englischen Redewendungen und Sprichwörtern befasst habe. Und das, wo ich die Bildsprache doch so liebe! In dem Punkt muss ich mich auch unbedingt noch weiterbilden.

chefkeem: 03.09.2014 - 02:19

Would you like to live in America, and why?

If not, why not?

I haven't seriously thought about it until now.

I would like to travel to America to see different interesting places there. But living there? I don't know.

There are some nice places there, but on the other hand there are also aspects in the USA that I don't like.

I'm not sure if I would be able to feel at home there, because I don't share all aspects of the mentality. Maybe, I'm to "thoughtful" for them. Also, I prefer to eat healthier food than fast food (sometimes it is OK, but I would not nourish on it too often).

I think it would also depend from the region and the people. For instance, I would not want to live in a big and crowded city.

@ Reisefieber:

Me too, I like the American music very much.

By the way: The catchword "Ufftata music" reminds me of "Opa Hoppenstedt" from Loriot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1ZXymNeCkA

I don't have any friends who have emigrated over there. Except our community manager Achim, of course! But I meaned friends in my own surrounding / friends I know personally.

I love beautiful landscapes too - they are fascinating me even more than the cities. To give an example: In my opinion the Enchanted Rock in Texas looks great on Achims photos in his article about it: http://pagewizz.com/urlaub-in-texas-ausflugsziel-enchanted-rock-bei-fredericksburg/

Der Die Utopische. I don't have friends who have emigrated, but we got to know some new friends on our Cayamo Cruise http://pagewizz.com/warum-sagt-man-dumm-wie-brot-31573/ .

The funny thing is, we meet the same couple every year and they invited us to their home near Charleston. We have not been there yet, but we will. You would also love Charleston. It is a beautiful little city with many old houses and a flair of Gone with the wind.

We travelled around the States a lot and visited beautiful landscapes like Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon. We even went to Fredericksburg, Texas many years ago. And we found Luckenbach without GPS. You know, tourist always steel the sign of Luckenbach because of Wailon Jennings song "Luckenbach Texas".

Most of my English comes from my holidays in the States.

chefkeem: 03.09.2014 - 02:19

Nach ueber 30 Jahren in den USA kann ich diese natuerlich gut erkennen und Euch mit sanften Korrekturen helfen.

 Du kannst auch "sanft" sein?

This is meant as a joke. I hope you "won't get hold of the wrong end of the stick".

(Hoffentlich ist das die grammatikalisch korrekte Umsetzung von "Ich hoffe, dass Du das nicht in den falschen Hals bekommst". Irgendwie finde ich die englische Variante lustig, aber ich habe sie genau so gefunden: http://www.phrasen.com/uebersetze,etwas-in-den-falschen-Hals-bekommen,4334,d.html)

Reisefieber: 03.09.2014 - 18:03

Dear Die Utopische. I don't have friends who have emigrated, but we got to know some new friends on our Cayamo Cruise http://pagewizz.com/warum-sagt-man-dumm-wie-brot-31573/ .

The funny thing is, we meet the same couple every year and they invited us to their home near Charleston. We have not been there yet, but we will. You would also love Charleston. It is a beautiful little city with many old houses and a flair of Gone with the wind.

We travelled around the States a lot and visited beautiful landscapes like Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon. We even went to Fredericksburg, Texas many years ago. And we found Luckenbach without GPS. You know, tourist always steel the sign of Luckenbach because of Wailon Jennings song "Luckenbach Texas".

Most of my English comes from my holidays in the States.

@ Reisefieber: 

okay.

The only thing I knew about Charleston until now was the dance which comes from there - see it for example here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-8kK4J3s2I. But the pictures I can see in the internet look nice too.

My English comes mainly from my education and a trip to England when I was younger.

The only thing I knew about Charleston until now was the dance which comes from there - see it for example here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-8kK4J3s2I. But the pictures I can see in the internet look nice too.

My English comes mainly from my education and a trip to England when I was younger.

 Oh that's cute.:-) You remember, I love dancing. Here is Charleston

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH59AO4e3DI

May be we will stay longer in the States when we become pensioners.

Hahaha... If I would wait until I would be in this age, there would be a long time to go in the meantime.

Thank you for sharing this interesting video about Charleston (the city).

Karin:

"Dropping a brick" means the same as "dropping a bomb": telling a shocking fact.

In your context you'd better say something like, "so I can avoid making the same mistakes over and over."

"There are some nice places there, but on the other hand there are also aspects in the USA that I don't like."

Better:

There are some nice places but, on the other hand, there also are aspects of the USA I don't like.

"Nourish?" You probably meant to say "nosh" (Germ.: naschen). "Nourish" means "naehren" in German.

"I think it would also depend from the region and the people."

Better:

"... depend on region and people."

"But I meaned friends in my own surrounding / friends I know personally."

Better:

"But I meant my personal friends and acquaintances."

"If I would wait until I would be in this age... "

Better:

"... would be at that age ..."

Renate:

"steal the sign"

"Waylon Jennings"

Hehe, finding Luckenbach without GPS is quite the feat! Many would-be visitors drive right by the town marker, and several miles later they notice they missed it.

Okay, let's do it! I must admit that writing in English is much harder for me than talking. I speak English quite often since I left school, but I never really had a chance to increase my language skills for some reasons. Basically it is because native speakers are always too polite to correct me

Another reason is that I speak much more often to non-native speakers.

 I personally think that most people in Germany have an idea of the USA and the mentality of the people which is wrong. They even can't imagine how good the food is ;-)

Angela

chefkeem: 03.09.2014 - 19:51

Karin:

"Dropping a brick" means the same as "dropping a bomb": telling a shocking fact.

Ouch! So much for the subject of "Fettnäpfchen". Thank you very much!

What I also learn from it is: Never trust blindly the internet (even not online dictionaries) when researching new expressions in another language.

In your context you'd better say something like, "so I can avoid making the same mistakes over and over."

"There are some nice places there, but on the other hand there are also aspects in the USA that I don't like."

Better:

There are some nice places but, on the other hand, there also are aspects of the USA I don't like.

OK.

"Nourish?" You probably meant to say "nosh" (Germ.: naschen). "Nourish" means "naehren" in German.

I meant "ernähren" (the context was healthy food - without chemical ingredients and so on - in contrast to fast food). I prefer to use "naschen / nosh" for sweets, cookies, chocolate etc.

So would "I wouldn't feed myself (only) from it" be right in the given context?

"I think it would also depend from the region and the people."

Better:

"... depend on region and people."

"But I meaned friends in my own surrounding / friends I know personally."

Better:

"But I meant my personal friends and acquaintances."

Yes, this sounds more eloquent. Thanks.

"If I would wait until I would be in this age... "

Better:

"... would be at that age ..."

 I have inserted my comments in italic between the lines.

ultimapalabra: 03.09.2014 - 20:16

 I personally think that most people in Germany have an idea of the USA and the mentality of the people which is wrong. They even can't imagine how good the food is ;-)

Dear Angela, I never wanted to generalize something on the American food or mentality. Sorry if I had been misunderstood in this respect.

I also agree that there are some aspects in the US which are very difficult. Travelling in the US you will find people of all kind as everywhere in the world also. Some of them are very intelligent and caring, other are not. Especially in the South there is real good food. For example in New Orleans you find a mixture of French, Italian, Spanish, German and African food. There is much more to taste than burgers, steaks and fries.

Have a good night.

Hey Utopische,

Dear Angela, I never wanted to generalize something on the American food or mentality. Sorry if I had been misunderstood in this respect.

I didn't mean you

This was just about the cliché in general the typical German (does he exist?) has about the typical American (who doesn't exist either).

Angela

Karin:

So would "I wouldn't feed myself (only) from it" be right in the given context?

Say, "I wouldn't eat it too often." Or, "It sure wouldn't be my sole kind of food." Or, "I sure wouldn't feed myself exclusively from it."

After spending the first half of my life among Germans, and the second half among Americans, I tend to agree: There's neither a typical American nor a typical German. But there are regions where people are more openly friendly, especially in the South. I think sunshine does that to people.

Last year I came back from a Sunday afternoon road trip when suddenly--about 100 miles from Austin--my left front tire exploded. It happened in the suburbs of a town called Kerrville, and it left me stranded by the side of a road with little traffic. To top it all off, our cellphone battery was empty. However, after only 5 minutes, a truck stopped behind me, and the driver offered his help. One minute later, a sedan stopped behind the truck, 2 strong young men jumped out and offered their help, too.

All I had was a spare tire with almost no air in it. The two guys took my spare to fill it up at the next gas station. Meanwhile, the truck driver used his own tools to prepare my car for the tire change. It took but 20 minutes to get me back on the road. An emergency call to a road service would have taken much, much longer.

When I expressed my deep gratitude (and bafflement over the almost miraculous turn of events) to those helpful folks, the truck driver said, "Don't forget you're in Texas! That's how we are around here."

Don't mess with Texas! Achim, I agree to all you've said. People in the South are very friendly. In New Orleans, 4 years after Kathrina, even the construction workers in the streets greeted us and told us, that they appreciate Guests coming to the citiy again. I never found this in Europe.

So if I will have flat tires, it better happens in Texas!

Here are 46 super-interesting pictures with English descriptions:

http://m.tickld.com/x/46-incredible-photos-you-may-not-have-seen-before 

Which ones impress you most?

That is really difficult to say. There are several pictures which are stunning. I like the lenticular ufo cloud, the cabbage geometry and the Manhattan photo, during the time of the dinosaurs and today. I saw a film where they mentioned that dinosaurs even lived in that area many years ago.