Any english speaking mum´s in Germany

[chrissi1]

I live in the Wiebaden/ Mainz Area and like to meet up with english speaking mum´s.My son´s 4 1/2

hehe, the best bit is when germansd call their child Linus and pronounce it Lee-nus (shudder) or they call their Boy Noel, but pronounce it Noelle....

but that is probably just me.

Chrissi, think it's great that you are trying to teach your child a 2. language, must be difficult going. I am german and my dh is english, and we live in england...and after trying the first few years to speak german to my oldest son, I have caved in, sadly none of my boys speak proper german...and tbh, my german is probably not as good as my english now...which is really pathetic...I speak in english, dream in english, talking german feels weird to me, and apparently I speak now german with an english intonation...according to my friends.

To you,3andnomore.
Yes I have to admit it´s quite tough sometimes.At first I did´nt knew all the new words that come with a baby ,say bib nappy dummy etc and the songs...
now I know more engl.,Britsh (grinn) songs than german.( a bit sad).
i´m always learning.I struggeled for instance as my son asked me what is this called.We stood in front of a Grape Harvester.
I just thought oh please help.My dictionary could´nt so I made it up and luckily was right.not even the mothers at engl.playgroup could help.
I know what you mean with english dreaming.I was´nt sure in wich language I dreamed(as I often think in english,does that sound strange? Things like oh no don´t do that ,or shopping things).If I write a recipe it´s mainly in english or mixed,that´s is very confusing for my husband.
Until my hubby told me one morning he woke up at night to hear me say,in english: It´s activety time,but first lets sing a song.Then I started to sing.

It´s not easy if he say´s stop talking english,but yesterday he said:
Ich zeige Dir welches Buch ich mag.I like this book here!
Wow I just stood there and thought amazing!
He did´nt even notice what he did.
Then I read an english book 2 times and in the afternoon He asked hid daddy to read it again.
He said ask mummy it´s english and Owen was totally shocked that he told him it´s engl.
He looked at me for confirmation ,but I told him it´s english.
Is there something wrong??
To be true this happens to me sometimes .If someone askes me did you read it in german or english and I don´t know.

Captainmummy

Grrrrr!
Ha ha ,had to laugh myself, now you said something.
I know of course that Laurie and Ian are Scottish, and Ewan,Owen are Welsh.
My excuse is I´m German and can´t help thinking like them sometimes.
For most Germans anything British is English.
Please any Scottish and Welsh people forgive me.
If you say England in Germany it does´nt always mean England,but Wales Scottland ,channel ild.. Funnyly enough I think they say Northern Ireland ,if they mean Northern Ireland.

Had a computer prob.
I´m usually very strict about the difference.Saying I go to Wales .A friend of mine said once,as I told her we chose a name from Wales: Wales is somewhere in England ,or?
Though they all know where Scottland is(wink)
No I don´t mind you correcting me.
I´ve got noone who corrects me here so I´m grateful
Ok ich spreche ( I talk)
die Sprache (the language)
Sie ist nicht so freundlich or
Sie ist keine feundliche Frau.

3andnomore - I know what you mean about speaking german with an english accent - my mum is german (it is she who tells me my accent is rubbish, chrissi, but it's her fault, she should have taught us when we were little) and she has been here for over 40 years. She is from the old East germany, and has been told that she speaks old-east german, with an english accent! She doesn't feel she belongs anywhere! She says things like Apfelsinensaft for orangensaft (or O-saft I beleive it is now)

Ha
Apfelsinensaft!
That s good Hav´nt heared that in Years.We do have/had a different kind of language.My father ( was born in Hamburg)always says you can tell if he´s east German if he says plaste instead of plastic.Or Apfelsinensaft!!
I wonder what a old east German accent is.
When did she left east Germany.
Real saxon english is... well hard to understand.I knew someone a real saxon.no matter wich language he spoke we coul´nt understand him.Only if he tried to speak
Hochdeutsch.Though I was born and grew up in Erfurt,capital of Thuringia, we speak not exactly saxon dialect but outsiders won´t realise much.
The first I did as I came to the West,was,get rid of my east German accent.Today I can´t tell if they come from Thuringia or Saxony.How sad.
I once asked our new student nurse,where in Saxony she came from .Guess what she said.Erfurt!Ha
I´m sure Owen will have a German accent,as he´s not speaking.
Some words I say in Newcastleish,bottle for instance.Once my husband said bottle and Owen correcting him. But in the long run I´m sure he´l hav a germ.accent.Of course I like him to have a engl.accent we all like to fit in,but then it does´nt matter,as long as he can talk.
Sad your mum did´nt tought you but then I think it was´nt favoured.Today you still have to say why your child speaks second l.Even children from native engl.speakers.

Outsiders wont realise much?
Meaning they won´t hear much difference between Thuringian accent and Saxon acc.
Not good if you don´t know wher you belong to.Though after 40 years England she should feel at home there.You got more Family in Germany?

Yes I have family in Detmold near Bielefeld, I haven't been there for years. Mum has most of her family in West germany (of course it's all the same now) - only one sister (aunt) is still in the 'east'. Mum goes over about once every 2 years or so, they are quite big on having birthday celebrations, anniversary parties etc. So she goes to them. Mum says she was told not to speak german to us 'as it's rude to speak a language that others might not understand' - so even in private we still spoke english(?). Apparently the first few years of a childs life is the best time to master new sounds, so if you don't learn how to pronounce o-umlaut for example by the age of about 3, it's almost imposssible to pick up. I certainly can't pronounce it, or u-umlaut. I just can't hear the difference.
So your dh is from Newcatle? That's quite a strong accent! Does he speak german with a newcastle accent?

Morning

No no no ,My Ex is the Newcastle on.He lived in London as we met.We had a long relationship,he spoke no German so I had to learn English. He tried to learn German but it was not for him to learn.
If he was fed up with learning he asked me things like why is a chair a male (der)and a lamp female.I told him I don´t know.
He spoke understanable with some Newcastle words thats why I picked it up,Though once in hospital the nurse was convinced I come from Wembley.Anyway after so many years I´m not sure if it still sounds the same.Wish I could hear more English.Mostly it´s American , don´t like the accent much.

My Husband is also German.Though he speaks near to no English.

I´m the one who speaks to Owen, though only if my hubby is not arround,( most of the day)

That is very interesting.The Umlaut thing.It never crossed my mind that you can´t hear it .I always thought you can´t speak it but hear the difference.( like for some it´s hard to say th).
Yes I heared that the first 3 years are vital,that´s why I started from baby on but don´t know if he benefited from it as he seldom speaks.Though if he does Im gobsmacked sometimes.
Two years ago we spent a week in England and he did´nt spoke a word,even if the people arround him did´nt understand.
On the plane back he suddenly said.
Look mummy black clouds!
Grammatically totaly correct .I just sat there and he laughed at me.
or once in town I asked him.You like to ride ?( a toy plane ) and he said Nein Mammi Du must sagen Would you like to ride this plane.
I´m sure I looked a bit confused

I also wonder why some things are male or female (it's the same in most languages and is one of the reasons why english is much easier having only 'IT') I asked Mum once how they decide on a 'new' items' gender - a microwave for example. How do they decide? She didn't know either!
Also can you tell me the difference between 'Mich' and 'Mir'? She couldn't - 'you just learn'.

I find that most of the people who speak english to us on the continent speak with an American accent - they can't hear it but we can. I suppose it's from the media (films,music,TV) - lots of americanisms.
Is the reason your ds doesn't speak much because he is still sorting it all out in his head? There was a study recently that suggested that bi-lingual children were slower to talk/write in the main language, but only because they had so much more to sort out than the ones with only one language. They do get there in the end, and I have to say I am green with envy at those who can swap between languages.

Ha ha ha ,now you made me laugh.
On the continent.
I it sounds so miles away

Funny thing is if someone corrects me saying tomeeetoo instead of tomato.Grrr
I think it´s the songs.
German tv is fully translated without subtitles,maybe you know.
People are too lazy reading subtitles but then sometimes I prefer that too( with say japanese films or so)Still now that I think about it .
In school they still teach engl,engl.But somehow they say tomeeto .Strange!

About the Gender
Well I don´t realy know either but I often get furious hearing new words obviously male and they give it a femal die.
Well let me think. like..............
Only today I got anoyed about a der / die matter but can´t remember.
...

Is it true that the government is thinking about removing the (I can't do it on my keyboard, the sharfes-es ) SS? Replacing it with ss? (That makes no sense - but you know what I mean.)
Also removing umlauts, and using -ue, -oe, -ae?

The continent is miles away!!(to us!) The English do not think of themselves as Europeans. The people on the continent are Europeans. We on the other hand are English (or British).

I don't consider myself English, I am european. I would like the Euro!

The pub ist offiziell Das pub aber manche sagen der Pub.Vielleicht weil viele Männer reingehen??
Wie ich sagte,Grammatik 0. Ich erkläre es mir so.
It´s getting complicated now:

There are main words like

der Tisch
Die Decke Die Tischdecke

Das Auto
Der Sitz Der Autositz

Das Salz
Der Streuer Der Salzstreuer

Wow My Grammar teacher would be proud of me.
I did´nt realy knew it´s that way .I just tried it out.
Sounds plausible or??
You use the der,die or das
from the last word that is added like Decke.
Captainmummy you are brilliant.
Who said a Table is male I don´t know.
It´s not even that all kitchen things are female( thought about it last night in bed)
No, there are male things in the kitchen too.
Think think ,all technical things are male????? der Kuhlschrank,der Toaster,der Herd, no die Fritteuse,die Spülmaschiene,
I´m tempt to say ,you just learn,but ther must be more to it.
Thing is your mother, me ,we all don´t start to ask,we coppy mummy and don´t think why.
I know someone from engl.playgroup who studies German .I ask her.

The pub ist offiziell Das pub aber manche sagen der Pub.Vielleicht weil viele Männer reingehen??
Wie ich sagte,Grammatik 0. Ich erkläre es mir so.
It´s getting complicated now:

There are main words like

der Tisch
Die Decke Die Tischdecke

Das Auto
Der Sitz Der Autositz

Das Salz
Der Streuer Der Salzstreuer

Wow My Grammar teacher would be proud of me.
I did´nt realy knew it´s that way .I just tried it out.
Sounds plausible or??
You use the der,die or das
from the last word that is added like Decke.
Captainmummy you are brilliant.
Who said a Table is male I don´t know.
It´s not even that all kitchen things are female( thought about it last night in bed)
No, there are male things in the kitchen too.
Think think ,all technical things are male????? der Kuhlschrank,der Toaster,der Herd, no die Fritteuse,die Spülmaschiene,
I´m tempt to say ,you just learn,but ther must be more to it.
Thing is your mother, me ,we all don´t start to ask,we coppy mummy and don´t think why.
I know someone from engl.playgroup who studies German .I ask her.

oops posted it Two times.

you like the Euro??!!
Don´t, don´t
England is pricey enough,from what will you live if you get the Euro.
It´s not a Joke but the prices realy doubled!!
We got old order meal leaflets and saw it ,apart from this you see it buying things.
I bought some nice shoes for worlk for 100 Mark, now it costs 100 Euro,thats simply too much.
It´s only good for the big company´s
I would´nt mind changing money,if I would get my old prices back.Though the wages did´nt double,they stayed the same.

You mean the German goverment likes to change that.I don´t know why ,prob they have nothing to do in their offices to come up with changes noone likes .Rechtschreibreform.
Right in the middle they decided some of the new things are rubbish and the children had to learn it anew.Grrr.I still write the old way out of protest!!!
Das scharfe ss nennt man eszett!
I know British do not see themself as Europeans .that maybe safed them from the European madness!
Lucky you! United Europe would be nice but not if you get restrictions all the time, what to do or not.Sometimes I think they sat too long in their offices!( don´t live in a normal world)

Ok mir and mich.
Gosh don´t know I´ll have a look.

ok
mich ist Akkusativ,-der die Ursache und Wirkung betreffende Fall

mir ist Dativ der Gebefall,von geben
Though don´t know what that realy means
SORRY
Maybe I ask my friend about this too

Mir ,mich kommt von Ich

Ok I try myself
Ich you use in

Ich gehe ,laufe springe esse tanze hopse tausche sehe everything with e at the end

Ich gehe weg, you can´t say mir gehe weg,
mich gehe weg

Mir geht es nicht gut, mir ist schlecht,mir gefällt das nicht,mir kommt das komisch vor,

seems like that everything you feel,starts wich mir( what you feel),not well,not like,feel like something is wrong....

Mich stört,mich juckt, mich freut,mich macht das....anything with t at the end

that´s all i can come up with.

Oh my goodness -you are really good at this! I though mir and mich were 'me' as ich was 'I' , and i'm sure I've said 'ich gefallt das nicht,' or 'ich geht es nicht gut.' So that would be wrong?

I thought the ss sharfes-es was called an eszett, but was told in Munich that it is a sharfes-es, so I thought I'd been saying the wrong thing all these years! When you said about the Government cahnging things....my mum used to be taught in a dialect called Sueverin (this was in the 1920's) and the writing was completely different, lots of straight lines making up the letters. Anyway we found a letter in an old book written in Sueverin (that should be u-umlaut) and she could still read it! It was taught in the schools for a few years, but then dropped for the written way now. But she said that Postmen in the East used to have to know the Sueverin, as many letters would have been addressed in this writing. Many old people still use it, she said (and she is old herself)

Yes Hurray!!
Mir geht es nicht gut
Mir gefällt das nicht

ß-sorry but that must have be a pedant.
You can say eszett,and scharfes s

Just had ashort chat with my mother.Thought it was called Sütterlin, and yes she said sütterlin was right ,she even spelled it. My mum learned it too and I can remember a nice book my mother had with writing I could´nt understand,though I tried!
It looked nice.
We´ve got something in common.
Mothers who can write strange letters.
I can write the russian alphabet,so I can write strange letters too.
Youß any japanese?

Yes sorry It was suterlin now i remember, it was weird.

Hey you can write russian? I went on holiday to Bulgaria last year (skiing) and learnt some of their alphabet, i think it's beautiful - very similar to russian.(And it sounds very like german - their word for potato is kartoffen!I read it on a packet of crisps!) My dh has been to Russia and was given a plate with russian script on it, we translated it to read Archangel, and Aeroflot-Nord and other things that didn't translate into English. Fun, no?

I don't have any Japanese, but I do have a bit of Arabic (I went thro a phase of learning a bit of different languages, they fascinate me) and picked up some arabic script. For example I can write my name in arabic (and my name is very similar to yours )

Realy strange

Yes had 5 years of russian in school.Surely your mum must have had some too,as my mum did.
Suppose they are the same age. My mum´s 64
Perhaps your mums a bit older having no russ. in school.
Tell you what a frien of mine and me booked a holidey trip to Moscow ans ST. Petersburg.
We had to book nearly a year earlyer.
Just guess when the Departure date was.
11 th of November.( the wall came down at the 9th November) Unfair we had payed and all,so we went.Everybody was going to the west and stupid Chris is going to Russia!!
A friend wanted to visit me during that time.My mother said ,sorry she´s in Moscow....! My friend though I´m mad!
Beeing there Moscow disappointed me .Ugly dirty too big.
St. Petersburg was a Dream even back then.
I´d recomment it any time.

The funny thing about Russia was They looked at our clothes ( western clothes as I had my granny in Hamburg who sended some clothes)
They started to speak english from the start.No need to speak Russ.We could´nt speak it anyway,how sad is this .5 years. I still can a few words nobody needs like Denkmal Fenster Schluessel Milch Brot Oma.
Now who can make a sentence out of this.
I locked the grandma with milk and bread who lived near the Monument. Then I threw the key out of the window and ran with my pencil to the platform( platfomii-In russian)Things about how old are you and my name is stuck also.
They would come up to you and ask where you from .If you said Germany they asked straight away east or west .Mostly you would see the clothes and knew anyway.

Wow there it goes,arabic, as if I had known.
I´m also fascinated by language.
I think it´s interesting how similar languages are.I.e words like mammi mamma mummy mamutschka or other.
I used to learn a few french words as we went on hols to france and now I go twice a Year (sales ) to France. Strassburg,real nice town, to buy son´s clothes.Nicer than here.
I like a bit colour! Not just dark black, black ,light black,dark grey ,grey.........

Hallo, ich wohne nicht in Deutschland aber finde es toll, Eure deutsche "Posts" zu lesen, damit ich mein Deutsch etwas ueben kann. Darf ich weiter lesen, auch wenn ich nicht in Deutschland wohne?

Klar doch wo wohnst Du ?

Sag jetzt bitte nicht Russland!!!