German Classes

[JohnH]

Nipwaataawi myaamia! Although for me it would be an academic exercise rather than cultural preservation.

Right. The damage done can’t be undone. But I’d like to see the current situation at least not made worse.

Glad to see you're doing your part.

German is kind of pointless to learn since it is quite rare to run into a German speaker who can't communicate in English.

Pointless to learn as a second language. As I stated previously, I think congregations composed of native language speakers (alongside people with fluency) are a good thing. I don’t think it’s good at all to conduct church in a Lingua Franca, liturgical language, or trade language.

If you disagree, please go attend your nearest Tridentine Latin Mass.

[Szdfan]

Right. The damage done can’t be undone. But I’d like to see the current situation at least not made worse.

Glad to see you're doing your part.

German is kind of pointless to learn since it is quite rare to run into a German speaker who can't communicate in English.

Pointless to learn as a second language. As I stated previously, I think congregations composed of native language speakers (alongside people with fluency) are a good thing. I don’t think it’s good at all to conduct church in a Lingua Franca, liturgical language, or trade language.

If you disagree, please go attend your nearest Tridentine Latin Mass.

The Latin Mass is an interesting example, because it actually proves my point that Christians worshiped meaningfully for over a millennium in a language that wasn’t their first.

[JohnH]

The Latin Mass is an interesting example, because it actually proves my point that Christians worshiped meaningfully for over a millennium in a language that wasn’t their first.

I do not consider reciting a bunch of incomprehensible nonsense "worshipping meaningfully". It is, indeed, rather the definition of meaningless.

[Neto]

In our public HS, only French and Spanish were offered. Not German. Okies are nice people, but old grudges die VERY slowly in the small towns. And the end of WWII was less than 20 years before I graduated HS.

My sister is involved in a German choir (in Texas). It is sponsored by a community of German immigrants there who have kept the language alive for decades. They dress up in old style German outfits, and sing for different audiences, especially around Christmas. She is also taking on-line classes - has been for years already.

My father-in-law sometimes told this joke:
A person who speaks 3 or more languages is called a multi-lingual.
A person who speaks 2 languages is called a bilingual.
A person who only speaks one language is called an American.

(My sister has been to German several times, and travels around, not just staying in the larger cities. Sometimes shes goes with some of the German-Texans she sings with, other times by herself.)

[temporal1]

Neto:
A person who only speaks one language is called an American.

i’m not sure, but suspect, one reason English is dominant is because English speakers butcher other languages so brutally, others defer to English to avoid the pain of listening.

[barnhart]

In our public HS, only French and Spanish were offered. Not German. Okies are nice people, but old grudges die VERY slowly in the small towns. And the end of WWII was less than 20 years before I graduated HS.

My ancestors abandoned the German language in the aftermath of the Civil war. After quietly returning from flights to the north to avoid compulsory war service, it was easier to keep your head down, fit in and try not to antagonize the defeated Confederates with their missing limbs and dead sons.

[Szdfan]

Neto:
A person who only speaks one language is called an American.

i’m not sure, but suspect, one reason English is dominant is because English speakers butcher other languages so brutally, others defer to English to avoid the pain of listening.

English dominates because the British Empire controlled a huge chunk of the world and American pop culture dominates internationally.

Americans mangle other languages because we’re entitled, don’t learn other languages and as John so aptly demonstrated, expect foreigners to do the hard work and accommodate us.

[JohnH]

Neto:
A person who only speaks one language is called an American.

i’m not sure, but suspect, one reason English is dominant is because English speakers butcher other languages so brutally, others defer to English to avoid the pain of listening.

What makes you say that?

[JohnH]

English dominates because the British Empire controlled a huge chunk of the world and American pop culture dominates internationally.

Americans mangle other languages because we’re entitled, don’t learn other languages and as John so aptly demonstrated, expect foreigners to do the hard work and accommodate us.

Exactly where did I demonstrate that?

I have worked for multiple multinational firms. The only place I worked that didn’t conduct business (even on their home soil) in English was at Videotron in Quebec. Nowadays Rogers has bought them and they aren’t a French company anymore.

Incidentally the dominant reason for English taking over in Montreal is because the dominant immigrant group already knows English and generally isn’t interested in learning French.

[seinetsodumm]

German is kind of pointless to learn since it is quite rare to run into a German speaker who can't communicate in English.

I can think of several reasons I personally have found to study German:
1. German is my family's heritage language
a. It makes genealogical research easier.
2. German is my church's heritage language
a. Church records were kept in German
b. Church doctrine was recorded in German
c. Early Anabaptist writings are in German
d. Anabaptist hymns are written in German
e. I remember my grandfather quoting German passages of Scripture in order to remember how he should say it in English.
3. Personal interest and goals
4. A desire to travel.
a. I've been to Germany, even my rudimentary understanding of the language was incredibly helpful.

I'm quite aware of the difference of dialects between the Ausbund, Martin Luther's Bible, the spoken language of American Anabaptist and the current spoken dialects in Germany. I have found studying one has been helpful in the others.

Seems to me like your statement is entirely subjective. Bigfoot, if you have a desire to learn German, go for it. Even if others deem it pointless.