Common mistakes in learning German language

German language has gained the official status in European countries and is included in among the three official languages used in European Union. German language has gained much popularity in the global world and is one of the four most learned languages of the world. In Western Europe German has been given the name as Lingua Franca as it is one of the commonly spoken languages of the natives.

German language has been included in many High school curriculum and learned by large number of people now-a-days. Learning a second language is a trend these days as there are various benefits associated with it. There are many who try to learn German with themselves and sometimes they are not able to sail through in their learning. They face several challenges which hamper their progress and consequently they are demotivated.  Here I have discussed some of the common challenges faced by people:

· German language translation:This is one of the commonly made mistakes of the people. They translate words in German language while thinking in their native language. They should think in German language without translating their mother-tongue.

· Gender differentiation: This is the second most common mistakes done by people in language learning. Not able to differentiate gender while speaking in German can lead to embarrassment. So one should differentiate gender for all nouns used in German language.

· Sentence formation: One of the major barriers in German language learning is sentence structure. German, unlike other languages places subject differently depending upon the situation.

· Misuse of prepositions: This is one of the major mistakes which can be spotted by a native German speaker. For example in German ‘for’ is replaced by ‘against’ in some sentences.

· Umlaut usage: For beginners, the usage of Umlauts is worst nightmare.  Umlauts are used only with A, O and U so you should always give attention on these letters in German language. The usage of Umlauts makes meanings of the words entirely different.

Learning any new language is difficult and it can get trickier if you don’t know the rules. Simple things like capitalization of nouns, use of preposition plays importance in German learning. 

Thirteen words misinterpreted by Germans as English

There are many English words in German language which has different meanings. This creates of confusion among native English speakers. Let us look some of these interesting words:

‘Handy’- This is one of the best examples of an English word used by Germans in entirely different way. In English, handy implies something which is convenient. However, when used by Germans, handy means a cell phone. How interesting! So let us form sentences. A cell phone can be handy for English speakers while it cannot be quite handy in case of Germans who try to buy it in UK- which is an English speaking country.

‘Smoking’- Don’t be surprised if a German asks you to dress in a smoking. In German, smoking means tuxedo which is an old English jacket.

‘Show master’- In German language, the word show master implies a TV host and not a ringmaster in circus. This word was introduced by a Dutch show master, Rudi who was a famous TV host in Germany. Likewise Germans have invented words like Talk master and Quiz master.

‘Tramp’- Tramp is German means looking cheap or provocative. So, when German daughters grew up, their mother would beg them not to tramp because it was bad and they were not at all talking about hitchhiking.

‘Wellness’-This word can be found everywhere in Germany. It is advertised in every hotel but its use in German is different from its meaning in English. In German language, ‘wellness’ is a word which denotes saunas, steam bath and massage services offered in hotels. So next time keep an eye for the signs like ‘Wellness area’ in your German hotel.

German to English translation: AN overview

Earlier it was considered that language is only limited to the domains of arts, literature, cultural and architectural studies. However, this thought has changed tremendously in the present scenarios. Now-a-days there are several other domains where language plays an imperative role like business, industry and agriculture. It does not matter which career path you choose, you might encounter situations in which language play great importance.Whether it is in business or personal communication with foreign clients, travel to foreign nation, studies in overseas you will definitely see the important role played by languages. There are more than 5000 languages spoken in the world but six languages are predominantly spoken all over the world-French, Chinese, German, Russian, Spanish and English.

All these languages have a long historical background. As far as German language is concerned, it has an enormous history. It is one of the commonly spoken languages of Europe and due to this reason most of the language learners are inclined towards learning German. Germany is becoming the important centers of business in Europe and therefore lot of people are willing to establish their businesses in this region. As a result of this, German language skills are becoming mandatory for doing successful business in Germany. At present there are more than 200 million German speakers across Europe and this number is rising fast. The growth of Germany as an important business destination is giving rise to the popularity of German language who can give German to English, German to French, and German into other language translations. 

Inseparable : Literature and their translation

In Kerala, people have read several international books in their regional language that is Malayalam. Most of them have read books from famous writers like Marquez as it is easier to get Malayalam translations of Spanish language. They often joke that Marquez is the best writer in Malayalam. Many translators in India translate novels from German to English, English to Russian, French to English, English to Italian and vice-versa.  Now-a-days, the modern novelists like Eduardo Halfon have translators working on their books despite the fact that they have been in America for several years now. However, there have always been discussions about the authenticity of translations; many say that translations never satisfy and say that it is fraud. Lately there has been a discussion on treating translated novels as a separate genre and many readers are of the view that translators are not able to translate the intended info written by the writer.

However, the truth is that writers facilitate the work of writers to reach foreign readers and without them they would have remained as an unknown name in foreign world. Writers like Chekhov, Proust, Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Kawabata, Pamuk, Neruda and other would have remained unreachable by the avid readers without the work of translators who translated their work to reach millions of population.Translation is in fact a very critical job yet translators are not given the respect and attention they deserve!

To know more about German to English, English to French translations, English to Italian translations and other language translations, Click Here..!

Speaking German isn’t that difficult : Learn how

Are you looking for some tips for speaking German language fluently? If yes, then you have come to the right place. In this blog I am going to give you some tips about speaking this language fluently. These tips will help you to learn this language fluently in no time provided you put some efforts and dedication from your side.

•  Don’t overdo with grammar
  If you want to speak German, you need not master its grammar. Most of the people find German grammar very difficult to learn and they lose hope. So, if you need to master the spoken language, you must avoid memorizing the grammar rules. Instead, learning grammar can be made fun if you read simple books in German language like children story books etc. Write to a pen pal or just scribble something every day in a journal.
  
• Engage yourself in fun-learning activities
  Languages classes tend to get boring at times. Moreover, if you want to get quick results, taking a regular course won’t be of much help to you. So, instead of enrolling in some boring German language course and getting bored with word lists and podcast, make your learning fun and easy by reading, writing and listening. As mentioned above, you must read easy books, write daily journals in German language. In addition to this, you must use German words in your everyday usage. Listen to some good music in German or watch movies of TV.  If you do all this regularly, you would be able to speak this language in quickly and fluently and won’t get bored!

   

If you want to know some more about German language learning, click here. 

The Death of 'comma'

Recently there was news which surprised everyone! It was about the abolition of comma. An English Professor John McWhorter of Columbia University said that comma should be made redundant as it is not necessary now. This news sparked lot of discussions among literates.It has been seen that some languages such as German language, there are fixed rules for the usage of comma unlike English, which makes an additional remorseful thought for the condition of this punctuation mark.

The history of Comma

Comma was introduced as a punctuation mark in the early 16^th century. It was used to show the specific meaning of the sentence/text, mainly for clarity of uncertainty which sometimes arise in particular contexts.

The redundancy of comma

Professor John says that the downfall of comma is the result of its inconsistency. In an interview with the ‘Slate’ magazine, he said that nobody can tell the reasons of anything which is logical and sensible. So they are just fashions and conventions which change over time.”

Many English users found comma extremely useful in splitting the sentences so they were not in favour of making it obsolete. Many authors such as Lynne Truss, the best-seller for her “Eats, Shoots and Leaves”, support the correct usage of comma in her writing about a panda. Comma has a useful existence in evading wrong titles, and clarifying misleading information. The discussion about killing of this humble punctuation symbol is still lingering; let us see, till when it awaits for its final dismissal from the English literature!

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German Translation Services For Your Business

If you are running a successful global business, chances are that you may require German translation services. More than 80 million people in the world are native speakers of this language in Germany and in addition to this; millions of people speak this language in Eastern Europe, Switzerland and Austria. Hence, if you are planning to do business with German speaking customers, you will have to make strategies in order to communicate with your customers/clients effectively and you are going to need English to German translation services.

German Language translation 

An apt German translation should be formal and proper consideration should be given when using titles in their translation as Germans are very particular about showing respect. You must never use customer’s first name in your German translation in your corporate communication. A professional German translation service will help you to bring perfect translations in German language which is accepted by customers. 

While you are translating your marketing content in German language, you must do a proper research about the culture of your customers so that it does not offend them in any way. Here German localization services can be of great help as they are proficient in the culture of Germans. Translation services use translators who are expert in German language and culture. Moreover they are trained and hold expertise in diverse sectors like medical, legal, oil and gas, academic, IT and several other sectors. So, what are you waiting for? Go and hire a good German translation agency for your business. 

Website localization in German Language

Website localization is very important if you want to appeal your customers with different languages and culture. It is a process of adapting your website according to the linguistic and cultural needs of the prospective customers. Website localization in German language is an important part of market campaign for any company looking for entry into Europe as it is one of the most spoken languages in Europe. German is the official language of Germany which has come up as the biggest economy in the entire Europe and stands as the country with 4rth largest GDP across the world. This country is the 2nd biggest exporter and 3^rd largest importer. Studies say that most of the Germany’s population is active consumer of e-commerce sites.  As a result of this, Germany has been showing steady rise in e-commerce trades and is exceeding the mark of $20 billion in sales. It has the second largest internet market in the entire Europe. Hence, lots of businesses and individuals are eyeing the opportunities for trade in this country.

Website localization in German language forms an important part of business planning for such businesses and industries. Website localization helps them in adapting the language, functionality and appearance of their product or service for suiting the German consumers.  If you are looking for quality Website localization in German for your business, it is better to hire a professional translation and localization company in German language. These companies hire native German speakers and localization specialists who are adept in solving the problems of localization in German language.