German vocabulary

A terrible dream of any student – you spend years studying a language, but people, it turns out, do not speak it. Such disappointment awaits everyone who has taken on German.

What do students learn? We all learn literary German (Hochdeutsch). Good news: all Germans know him. The bad: not everyone uses it. Almost everyone speaks different dialects of the spoken language.

Why is this so and what to do about it? We will tell in this article, and in the end we will dispel the fear that provoked our entry.
Federal differences

Spoken German is a language that is very different in different lands, it exists only in the oral form, creating many different dialects. Any German, by the way you speak, will determine what federal state you are from. Residents of some regions often do not understand the colloquial expressions of residents from other regions. It is much easier for a resident of St. Petersburg to understand a resident of Vladivostok, who lives 10,000 km away, than a resident of Munich, who grew up 500 km away, understands the Berliner.

The courses will not explain that you need to greet the word “Moin!” With the Northerners, and “Grüß Gott!” With the Bavarians. These are the words you will hear instead of the usual “Guten Tag”.
Austrian and Swiss German

In addition to federal differences, there are national ones. The Austrians also speak Deutsch, but they have their lexemes, idioms, well-established expressions and completely different names for food, which are often made fun of by residents of other German-speaking regions. The Austrian is most similar to the Bavarians.

Swiss German – generally fear and pain. Even after many years of studying Hochdeutsch, you cannot guess the German “Kreuzung” – “intersection” in the Swiss “Chrüüzing”.
New German Vocabulary

In addition to regional differences, German, like all languages ​​of the world, abounds in neologisms (new words). Not so long ago, the vocabulary of modern German was officially replenished by another 5,000 words.

New words largely depend on the development of science. Technologies invent faster than names for them. Therefore, people begin to use anglicisms and adapt them to the forms of German grammar.

Interesting to know!

Studying the vocabulary of the German language, be sure to pay attention to the topic of time in German, since you will need the knowledge in personal communication, as well as when passing exams of any level. Delve into the subject, give the necessary basic information.

Among the new concepts you can see the noun “der Messaging” – “messaging.” Do you speak google in Russian? And you can say another word “googeln”. And it bends like a normal verb: “ich google” – “I google”, “du googelst” – “you google”. There is even a special preposition “googeln nach (+ Dativ)” – “to google something”. The same verbs are used in German with respect to social networks: “er / sie / es facebookt” – “he / she / it sits on Facebook”, “das Tindern” – “the process of spending time in the Tinder mobile dating service application”, “ er tindert ”-“ he sits in Tinder. ”

Have you heard about the English verb “to check”? And about the German “checken”? “Ich habe gecheckt” – “I checked.” It is read, as in English, with the letter “h” at the beginning.

New vocabulary – not necessarily Anglicisms from the media. For example, they brought in the word “Flüchtlingskrise” – “refugee crisis”.
Word Formation in German

Let us recall another funny fact that Germans can create new words with ease and to infinity, combining them into one. For example, the words “Krankenversicherungsnachweis” (“proof of health insurance”) are not in the Duden dictionary, it’s just a mix of 3 different words. By default, you can not learn all the vocabulary, because the processes of formation of new words are unpredictable, and only the most popular of them are worthy of mention in the dictionary.
Total

What to do? Nothing!

Informal language is not learned from books. Regardless of your future plans, it is worth exploring Hochdeutsch. We start with the basics.

To pass a language test, you need a formal German book. He is enough to study at a university or work, all Germans understand him. Seeing that you are a foreigner, all many will immediately switch to a speech that you understand.

At first you should not bother because of the dialects and the new vocabulary. But, knowledge of regional differences and new words will help to impress the Germans, or even pass for one of them.