Novelties of Goethe’s language
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Index
The German dictionary is enriched
Volkswagen employees must speak English from now on
German news covered by German newspapers
The treatment of information by German television
As with all living languages, German is changing. Its evolution, in a global context dominated by English, sometimes gives rise to small revolutions such as the passage from German to English as the official language of the mythical Volkswagen company.
Fortunately, the German institutions that make up the press and television have always made it possible to maintain a certain stability regarding these changes, which are sometimes disconcerting.
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The German dictionary is enriched: Novelties of Goethe’s language
Studying in Germany is the best way to get to know the “buzzwords”.
Like our beloved dictionaries of the RAE and María Moliner, the emblematic dictionary of German is enriched. It was 5 years since Duden had released a new edition.
Hence the significant number of words that have appeared this year: 5,000 , bringing the total number of words in the German dictionary to 145,000.
Although to learn German, it is not necessary to know all these new terms, as a good German speaker, it is essential to take an interest, if only out of curiosity.
These are not new irregular verbs or new grammar rules, but words originated by use . Among them, you can easily learn the Anglicisms , increasingly numerous in the Germanic languages:
Selfie and its Selfiestick variant ,
Emoji,
Veggie,
Tablet,
Darknet,
Lifestyle,
Hightech.
There are new verbs that are inspired by the internet : Novelties of Goethe’s language
Liken,
Tinderen (from the Tinder app),
Facebooken and Eintfreuden
Taggen .
Other words are directly linked to the current situation in Europe, such as the refugee crisis:
Willkommenskultur: which can be translated as “host culture”,
Flüchtlingskrise: refugee crisis ,
Hasskriminalität: hate crime ,
Cyberkrieg: it is preferred to the English term «cyberwar», it is translated into Spanish as «computer warfare».
The German vocabulary is also enriched by fashionable terms such as “Hygge” (Danish way of life linked to well-being), “Roadtrip”, “Urban Gardening” (the art of farming in cities) or “Flexitarier” (flexitarian in Spanish, someone who limits their meat intake).
But all these words come from English. Are there really German words in the lot? Of course! Although the first ones on the list are not the ones you should use during a job interview if you want to get a job in Germany:
Honk: idiot,
Tüddelkram: pejorative term to designate the small unimportant things of everyday life ,
Ick: it is the way of saying “ay” in the Berlin dialect,
Futschikato: the familiar version of the German word “Weg” which means “party.”
There are other words that have been added, as ” Die Wutbürgerin” (an angry citizen. The femización of the term and this “der wutbürger” for men), ” Kopfkino” (dream, fantasy), or ” Rumeiern” (mulling over something).
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Volkswagen employees must speak English from now on
It’s better than free German classes, right?: Novelties of Goethe’s language
Between now and 2021, within the German car manufacturer Volkswagen, it will not be necessary to speak German, but English. Shakespeare’s language will thus be the mandatory working language at VW for administration, communication and group communication internationally.
And if this information could seem anecdotal, it is a small revolution for the German brand.
It is no secret, in the beginning Volkswagen , the people’s car, was an invention of Adolf Hitler.
His goal: that every German could buy a family car at an affordable price, small, easy to drive and with good performance.
War broke out shortly after the launch of the Scarab ( Kraft durch Freude in German “strength for joy”, referring to a Nazi institution dedicated to entertainment). The factory quickly became an armaments factory and it was not until the end of the war that a British man decided to relaunch the production of the Beetle , which was a success.
Then will come all the models that we already know, the legendary Transporter, whose production will soon be relaunched, the Golf, the Passat and the Polo.
Today VW has 12 international brands: Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, Bentley, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Ducati (motorcycles), Man (trucks), Scania (trucks), Nutzfahrzeuge (military vehicles).
The change to English is partly explained by this internationalization of the brand . It is a will to better integrate the expatriates who work at VW and hire more.
The adoption of English is also explained by the recent Dieselgate events and the desire to completely change the brand communication . To conquer America, English is a mark of seduction.
German news covered by German newspapers
Improve your language skills by reading the newspaper.
Learning German can be done through the German press, although some newspapers may be difficult at first.
In Germany, there are 3 types of newspapers:
Local newspapers,
The regional newspapers,
The national newspapers.
Freedom of the press is fundamental in Germany: “The freedom of the press and the freedom to inform by radio, television and cinema are guaranteed. There is no censorship (Extract from article 5.1 of the fundamental law)”. Furthermore, they are much better positioned than we are in the range of press freedom assessed by Reporters Without Borders.
Here are the main German newspapers (the top five are the most widely circulated and have a reputation for influencing German public opinion):
Süddeutsche Zeitung (general press): one of the most widely read in Germany,
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (general press): one of the most widely read in Germany and most widely spread in the world,
Die Welt (general press),
Frankfurter Rundschau (general press),
Die Tageszeitung (general press) ,
Handelsblatt (business press),
Bild (pink press), 2 million copies daily,
Berliner Zeitung,
Der Tagesspiegel,
Die Tageszeitung,
Express,
Financial Times Deutschland,
Junge Welt,
Neues Deutschland
Pforzheimer Zeitung,
Rheinzeitung.
Then there are the biggest Sunday dailies . These are often special editions of the newspapers of the week. They propose more developed articles on the news of the week:
Bild am Sonntag,
Welt am Sonntag,
Sonntag Aktuell,
Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
As in Spain, the German press has to adapt and enrich its offer to maintain its share of the market and compensate for lost sales.
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The treatment of information by German television
Franco-German cooperation is also on television.
Nothing better to study German culture than to watch the news.
Although freedom of expression was drastically controlled before the fall of the Berlin Wall, for 30 years, Germany has been able to develop a free and varied audiovisual field.
Television is organized like the country, that is, taking into account the federal state . It is the regions (Länder) that manage the television channels. ARD and ZDF are two of the main providers of public programs and chains.
The German public audiovisual seems to be independent of the state, but that is without counting on the state representatives who exert their influence on the programs thanks to their participation in the boards of directors.
Germany faces a duality between the public channel (financed by taxpayers) and the private channel (financed by advertising). Thus, these are the main public channels of German television:
3sat: cultural ambassador,
Das Erste (ARD): first German television channel,
Art: Franco-German co-production,
ZDF: second German television channel,
KIKA: is the channel for children of the ZDF and ARD channels.
Tagesschau24 (ARD),
One (ARD) ,
Phoenix: cultural television network that arises from the collaboration between ZDF and ARD,
Deutsche Welle: German public international channel. The programs are broadcast in German and English.
As with the German press, seriousness prevails, as well as local news. We also find the Dritte Program which brings together the set of regional programs. They are the “third programs”:
Bayerischer Rundfunk BR (Munich, created in 1949),
Hessischer Rundfunk HR ( Frankfurt am Main , 1948),
Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk MDR (Leipzig, 1991),
Norddeutscher Rundfunk NDR (Hamburg, 1955),
Radio Bremen ( Bremen , 1949),
Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg RBB (Berlin, Potsdam, 2003),
Saarländischer Rundfunk SR ( Saarbrücken , 1957),
Südwestrundfunk SWR (Stuttgart, Mainz, Baden-Baden, 1998),
Westdeutscher Rundfunk WDR (Cologne, 1955).
The German population can also choose between numerous private chains:
RTL Group: First in the category of private channels:
N-TV (information channel),
RTL Television (first generalist television network, founded in 1984),
VOX (entertainment),
RTL II (aimed at the youngest, entertainment programs),
Super RTL (family chain, in association with Disney),
RTL Nitro (action movies and series),
RTL Crime (encrypted chain of crime movies and series),
RTL Passion (encrypted soap operas),
RTL Living (encrypted entertainment network),
Channel 21 (tele-purchase),
ProSiebenSat.1 Media:
Sat. 1 , available by cable,
ProSieben: general entertainment, reality TV and information popularization chain. The series broadcast on this chain are mainly American. It is the second most watched private television station in Germany,
Sixx (female audience, broadcast by cable),
Kabel eins,
Kabel eins classics (series and cult films, encrypted),
N24 (information chain),
Sat.1 Comédie (broadcast by cable),
Viacom:
VIVA (second music channel after MTV, intended for a teenage audience),
Comedie Central (comedy chain, originated by MTV),
Nickelodeon.
Better than an online German course , watching German TV can be a good way to improve listening and speaking with new vocabulary.
